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I'm going to respectfully disagree with this statement. Unless NECPA is an employee under the direction of a someone telling her how to do her job, I think she can decline any engagement for any reason. As a business owner, I have decided not to prepare the returns of people just because I had a "feeling" they were hiding income. I judged them. Now, it would be different if I refused to treat somebody who was bleeding to death. The persons simply went elsewhere. I am not making this post with a mean spirit, and hope it is not taken that way, but people running businesses still have some freedom here. I think.

Unless it involves refusing to take on a client in the LGBT community......then you need to be VERY careful how you word your reason, because clearly some of them are just looking for someone to sue.

Wouldn't a better mental picture be a squirrel with a tennis racquet in hand, and having just committed a foot fault?

When I saw the odd message about "SQL Server Error" or something like that yesterday, I only had a couple of thoughts: 1) "Something got sideways in cyberspace." 2) "Eric will know what to do and when to do it." Thanks for all you do for this forum, Eric.

I know this sounds insane, but I download them both and pick and choose the pages that I want to print. Generally, I prefer the original organizer, but if my client has a business, rentals, etc, I choose those pertinent pages to print. I gave up sending organizers to all clients years ago. Am now to the point where I create and send an organizer to the clients who want and will use one; I print and keep the organizer for the ones who don't and won't and keep it for my own use. After all, the organizer is more for our benefit than for theirs. As I said before, some clients are adamant about having one. Others have their own methods of organizing their information; and some pay more because they don't do either.

I would say the odds are about 100%. Bet he didn't issue 1099-Misc forms to subs and cheats at cards, too.

No, then you send them to me. I do work remotely and will prepare returns regardless of the state they are in. I'm up to date in all the state's laws regarding same-sex couples.

Wouldn't it be unethical to ask the parents about son's income? It appears as though this potential client is an adult. I would never ask the parent of an adult client about the adult child's financial matters without that parent having durable power of attorney. For the record, I would decline to accept this client. I can be objective and perform due diligence but I do not do EIC returns without a prior longstanding client relationship and that happened exactly once in 15 years. My business is in my home though mostly electronic and I only take referrals and do not accept all of those. I do not typically document my reasons.

Every time I see the "SQL Server Error" I picture a squirrel making an error!!!

One single return, even if signed, will not get you "lumped right in there with the rest of" the bad preparers. But the call has to be yours, because you have to be at peace inside. I do like Sara's option: "Explain to the parents that you'd really like to help their children out but the IRS has strict controls over EITC returns and the responsibility is so great that you can't do it without interviewing the children and charging a reasonable fee for the risk." While I'd never say Block or JH can do a much better job than me, I have told some potential clients that these chains are experts in EITC returns, and are less expensive than me.

Howdy, It's been a rough 24 hours.   I have very few details at this point about what is going on -- the data center where my server lives had/is having some very serious issues, possibly related to some bad OS/software updates.   My entire server was inaccessible for about 12 hours yesterday, then it seemed to be working fine for about 6 hours, then went down again for a short time yesterday evening.     The data center assures me that they are doing everything they can to restore normal service, but they are working server by server and they maintain hundreds, if not thousands of them.   So, my apologies for the downtime from yesterday, and for whatever additional hiccups we have ahead.  Once they have finished their work, I expect them to share the details of the outage, which I'll post here.   What a nightmare.  I may start shopping for a new hosting provider.  Again.   PS - Of all of the sites hosted on this server, this is the one with the most frequently updated database.  If you notice any missing posts, threads, etc, please let me know.  

My reason for turning people down is always the real reason; I can't handle any more work. I barely sleep as it is and it's not fun anymore.

I've only heard good things about it.  My parents paid an early termination fee for their POS system and switched everything to Square.  Got rid of their cash register and terminal in their store and replaced it with an iPad with weighted stand (that incorporates the swipe doodad) with a bluetooth cash drawer and receipt printer.   My dad, who is... uhh... not very good with technology, was able to figure it all out very quickly. 

Love it! It's fast and convenient, but the reader can be a bit tricky at times.

We use it like it a lot. It's nice not to have to pay a monthly fee during months where we have no charges. I bought a touch screen pen so people don't have to sign with their finger.

Thanks Eric.....we all know that you do your very best for us. I am happy to know that it is not my computer that is acting up.......again!

NECPA, is it possible that the son had income from his illegal activities? It's still taxable even if from illegal operations and could potentially knock him out for EIC depending on the level of his other income in '11 & '12. That may get you off the hook for the EIC, but the due diligence would include asking the parents if there is any other income, legal or illegal, that should be reported. If you do prepare the return, I think you should treat it like any other professional engagement, due diligence included, and sign you name. Otherwise, send them to one of the big box chains that handle EIC returns all the time.

OP- As a tax preparer you are supposed to be objective. Ask his parents the questions if you can't speak to the client. I bet if you had access to the life story of every client....there would be some that did far worse than this man. Nobody likes what he did...but if he's entitled to an EITC, then he's entitled to an EITC. It's the govts decision...not yours. I wouldn't do this one and omit my information...because if he gets questioned, for sure he will say that you prepared the return. And that's gonna look a whole lot worse for you than if he gets questioned and your name isn't on it. If he's single the chances of him being questioned approaches zero. If he's HOH...which a couple of kids and a Schedule C...high risk. Your job is to prepare taxes....not to judge people.

No, in order to lose S status under the rule we are discussing, it has to have the excess passive income for 3 consecutive years AND ALSO must have accumulated E & P on the books. You stated that yourself earlier in this topic in bold in your post #12. If this entity has always been an S corp and you say it doesn't have accumulated E & P, it won't lose S status. If it doesn't have accum E & P, not only will it NOT lose the S status under 1362(d)(3), it also won't be subject to the "sting" tax on its net passive investment income either. The first article that I linked to specifically discusses how S corps can distribute accum E & P to get it off the books so that it can avoid these 2 things occurring.

There's another one of these with band names; The Who is on first, also The Band and The Guess Who. Really excellent. I'll dig it out and scan it.

Jklcpa This corporation is an S corporation ever since. It was never a C corporation therefore there is no A&E. Why do you think it will not have technical termination ? My uderstanding if an S corporation has passive income for 3 years it terminates. As per PLR 200527013 if corporation's rental income is only income it derives I think it is income pursuant to conduct of active trade and business "In PLR 200527013, the IRS described how an S corporation that owned rental farmland would avoid these tax penalties. Based on several factors, the IRS determined that the business activities amounted to the conduct of an active trade or business and, therefore, the rents would not be classified as passive investment income. The same analysis has also been applied to an S corporation that owns a rental building. In PLR 200339042, the IRS concluded that rental income from commercial buildings was not passive investment income. Therefore I think owner needs to paid payroll showing officers compensation and show rental income as ordinary business income. So I need to move assets from 8825 and link to 1120S ? Because after 1031 exchange when replacement property was bought I included under 8825

I send out Organizers. I am like Jack, I use it internally to make my process easier. I tell clients, you don't have to fill it in, but you have to bring it back Usually, I print all of them (400+) and them assemble them as I watch the NFL playoffs. However, in my case, my clients have a lot more going on then just a 1040/state/schA. If you have a lot of "simple" returns, then printing all the organizers may not make sense... The ATX Comprehensive Organizer is "fine". I would make it more complete/interactive if I was in charge, it is one of the area's that has not seen much, if any improvement over the 12 years I have been using ATX. The Mini-Organizer can have some utility. Rich

This may meet your need. I am NOT a member but some are and I believe it has been mentioned here on the forum that they are a decent society. If you're like most experienced tax professionals, you know the basics of the Affordable Care Act - the Individual Mandate, the Premium Tax Credit, the Individual and Employer Shared Responsibility Penalty. But are you ready for the real-world application? Did you know that refunds may be delayed if the forms and worksheets aren't completed correctly? We'll provide you actual forms, checklists and examples of what to expect this tax season. Get the answers to your questions about ACA. Tax season is just around the corner, don't ignore the changes that must be made. Space is limited and spots are filling up quickly! November 4 November 6 Upcoming webinars: The ABCs of Form 3115 Office and Field Exams: An Expert's Perspective The Complicated Issues of Insolvency View all upcoming webinars

Mircpa, does this S corp actually have accumulated E&P? That would only come about if the company was formerly a C corp or may have "inherited" the accum E&P in an earlier tax-free reorganization with another C corp that did have the accum E & P. If your S corp doesn't have accumulated E & P on its books, you will not have the technical termination of the S status. It also wouldn't be subject to the passive investment income tax either. I have several more links that may help you - "Taking the 'Sting' Out of S Corporations' Earnings and Profits" from the Journal of Accountancy, Jan 2011 - the article talks about the tax traps of excess passive income in the S corp and possible solutions including how to structure distributions to pay out the accum E & P, or how to make an election to pay out accum E & P before AAA http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2011/Jan/20103334.htm "Determining the Taxability of S Corporation Distributions: Part II" from The Tax Advisor, Feb 1, 2014 - more in depth about the taxation of distributions from S corps with accum E & P, more examples. This article also includes a link back to the Part I of the article from the month before. http://www.aicpa.org/publications/taxadviser/2014/february/pages/nitti_feb2014.aspx "S Corporations and Rental Income" from the NY State Society of CPAs CPA Journal Online, from 2006, includes a discussion of PLR 200339042 where the IRS ruled that the rental income received into an S corp from commercial real estate wasn't passive because of significant management services provided by the S corp. The article includes a list of those services that were provided. http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2006/1006/essentials/p44.htm

It's always great when solid citizens get EIC. I wouldn't want to help the guy, either. The parents, yeah. I guess you have to decide if you can stand it in order to take a weight off the parents. Tough call.

Jack, the new forms (3 I believe) were released in draft form just a short time ago. Last year we learned about the NIIT and Medicare surtax, and the info was available on what employers needed to do in the line of reporting, credits, etc. For 2015 we're getting into the individual side of it--shared responsibility, minimum essential coverage, exemptions. The Regs just came out, so it's not like we all just woke up. How did you have access to the 2015 details, regs, forms, two season ago?

Not a snowball's chance in Hades that the lame ducks will touch the ACA. Anyone wanna bet?

You'll have to spend about $2000 to get the highest end model, probably.     The form factor might be a tablet, but it's normal PC / Laptop hardware.  In terms of power, it's no different from a laptop with a Core i7 and a 512GB SSD.   The problem for me would be the keyboard and maybe the screen size.  Even with the more expensive ($130 extra) Type Cover, the key travel is shallow.  Text size on tax forms might be on the small side viewed on a 12" screen also.