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That would make too much sense. Lets go after people who are trying to better themselves by getting a degree rather than those who are scamming the EITC. So, to show our frustration, we should prepare the original return without the Ed credits, and then mail in a 1040X so those lazy ba$t@rds at the treasury can have plenty of work over the summer going through paper returns. Tom Newark, CA

Too bad the IRS won't slow down the refunds on returns with EIC, at least until W-2 income is verified.

In light of the circumstances, I see no reason not to have both.

^ LIKE. I've reached my quota for the day for clicking the like button Yes, and instead of finding some logical way to identify or deter those fraudulent EIC returns in the first place, they'd rather go after the preparers by imposing higher penalties because that is the easier, more lucrative path.

Check out this link from another tax forum for a great discussion on this matter: http://www.taxprotalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1621 also check out Rev Proc 2014-16: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-14-16.pdf#page=25 And Rev Proc 2014-54: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-14-54.pdf#page=92 Of course, when I read the regs, my eyes glaze over and I start drooling because my brain has turned to mush!

And, probably, if that is the case, many of us will volunteer to prepare the return pro bono.

My phone has been crazy busy today, and frankly I'm not ready. I've been trying to get over the flu and am so far behind. It's going to be a long long long season I do believe

I don't know if there are additional updates recently. I printed out my organizers in early December and mailed them last week. The 'simple' organizer (don't know why they don't have distinctive names) is vs 5 on my program and the multipage (8+ mailing slip and Custom) organizer is vs. 7. If others have later versions, you and I are in the same boat with outdated organizers. I will live with it, though, as I use them primarily to prompt folks to recall what they need to provide and what last years' figures were without having to dig out the returns.

i would think there will be huge errors on this issue. along with the elections related to rotable parts, expensing amounts under $500 etc. this almost seems like something the irs will use this years down the line as a slam dunk to hit any client under audit.

Those that followed the old rules are not compliant with the new rules. So, those supplies and repairs that were over $200 ($500 if elected at the beginning of a tax year, but who knew to do that two years ago?) should be on the depreciation schedule. And, that expensive roof repair that's being depreciated may be a repair after all and need to come off the depreciation schedule. Both those cases need 3115 (or an amended return if recent enough). Once a client is under audit, it's too late to file 3115. Form 3115 is due by the filing date, including extensions, of 2014 tax returns. I'm going to put a lot of clients on extension to buy time to do the best for my clients. And, to see where the understaffed IRS will go with this. (If it were me, I'd audit biz returns, including schedules C, E, and F, without 3115s -- low hanging fruit.) I hope this is not a pet project of the IRS, because I have never filed a 3115 except in classroom situations. Have taken hours of classes and read tons of texts and those Rev Procs that make your eyes glaze over. Have a stack nearly a foot high to re-read from courses and forums and such this month. Heard of some large firms that have their backroom interns churning out generic 3115s to slap on every tax return. I find this much scarier than ACA, at least for my clients.

Only if you take me your tax preparer.

I actually got all the bookkeeping done for my husband's 1065; all reports printed and can start working on it when the phone isn't ringing. I am not liking this already. Forgot about all the interruptions. I'm with Deb; not ready and thinking it will be a long season. New clients calling to reserve a spot right along with the old. Consultation first thing this AM. Client is now going to set up payroll (as she should) but has been paying her subs WAY too much to the point of having little to nothing left for herself. Yippee!!!! I truly don't have time for this. I am leaning more toward lemon bars than chocolate. Will send my chocolate to Judy (before hubby eats it).

I will say two things: I do feel that tax season has not started and some of the answers are too hard on this board. I don't mind if they do it to me but we have to be sensitive to other people. If we continue to be hard on people, we are going to lose good people and that's not the idea of this forum. I don't send the organizer to my people (so, to an extent I agree with Jack). I feel that if people answer the organizer correctly, the tax preparer only plugs in numbers on the tax software. (That's my personal choice). So, not having a lot of questions about ACA on the organizer is not an issue for me. Keep in mind that only 20% of the population will be affected by ACA, so for a lot of our clients ACA doesn't apply because they will check yes to: Did you and the people on your return have insurance all year?

When I fall flat on the floor, I take that as a sign that I needed a five minute nap anyway and just go with that while I am down there!

"It appears ‪#‎IRS‬ will be holding refunds on returns with American Opportunity Tax Credits until the 201519 cycle (Mid-May) so they can verify receipt of the 1098T from the colleges and universities. Taxpayers should be informed of the reason the refund is being held and that once the 1098-T from the accredited institution is verified, the refund will be released. Otherwise, they will receive a letter (4800C) to inform them if further documentation is required to allow the education credit." Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University Source: https://www.facebook.com/centeraglawandtax

As of today, I know of no further updates to the 2014 organizer being sent to current subscribers by CCH/ATX. Up to now, I've been in dialogue with one of their troubleshooters over the mailing slip remaining in the organizer packet despite unchecking all known boxes to remove it, however, I've not heard from him since last Friday. There's also a known issue of additional blank pages being generated and installed in the organizer while printing. And, occasionally, the program generates the short version of the organizer rather than the detailed organizer even though he box to force detailed organizer is checked. So, as long as David has downloaded the latest version of the 2013 program, or used the link found on other threads for prior years to download the zipped version he should be able to print 2014 organizers from the 2013 program.

You must do the latest program update for 2013 in order for the organizer to be completely functional. Turning off automatic updates is a HUGE mistake on the prior year programs. I cannot imagine what reason you have for doing that? If you intend to e-file any 2013 or 2012 tax returns, you must also do the program updates for both years as well.

They need another piece of paper, one more box checked off, to cover their butt. Why not make the decision on due diligence/logic instead of checking every box? Too hard, I guess.

What about that partial roof replacement that's still on the books but a decade later the whole roof was replaced? I just got a new client with pages and pages of his depreciation schedule, every line reading "equipment." Does he have three furnaces still being depreciated? Dozens of computers, many now in the hands of his children? He's an artist and has no idea. Extensions. Lots of extensions to give me time to ask lots of questions.

ok, since we are hijacking this thread to a thread about banks, here is my personal experience. I did a refi just last Monday. at that time they did an appraisal. The bank screwed up since I wanted a Heloc at the same time. so the heloc is now scheduled for next week. But first, the bank is insisting on a new appraisal. The bank is eating all the expenses of the Heloc so I don't really care but do they think the property value changed in 2 weeks enough to warrant a new appraisal? I am just annoyed that I will have to stay home for this one morning.

some people [lecturers] are recommending to adopt the new regs going forward and not back, since this would be a near impossibility. I haven't decided what I am doing but no matter what, the client will be signing off on what is done in my engagement letter.

During February.

This was posted on the facebook page of the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University, which stated its source was "an IRS contact". My quick search didn't turn up any other source or information about this, but that doesn't mean this might not be true. I wouldn't be surprised if this was true. As always, ask for more information and documentation than simply relying on the amount that is reported on the form 1098T. Why doesn't the IRS require that the 1098T include a box for the amounts paid, instead of only reporting the amount billed? I suppose that would be too logical.

OK, here is what I came up with. TP determines gross income from business. This amount is the first limit on SE HI deduction (nothing new here, this is how we always did this). TP determines the amount he paid PLUS the amount of credit he has to pay back subject to the clawback limitations. This was a really good article on this issue. https://obamacareguide.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/self-employed-health-insurance-deduction-the-iterative-calculation/ Tom Newark, CA

I, too, have sent an email to Drake regarding their form. I addressed the email to both support and sales at Drake. As of this writing I've received a what appears to be a computer generated reply from Drake software support assigning a "ticket number" and commitment for an agent to respond as soon as possible. Here is the content of my email to Drake: "Hello Drake Support and Sales, Let me start by stating I am not a current Drake program subscriber. I use CCH/ATX and have done so for over 13 years. You don’t currently support payroll tax return preparation and that is a significant part of my practice and why I am not a Drake subscriber. This past Saturday I attended a tax seminar that included a copy of your sample page from your 2014 organizer that demonstrated the ACA questions your subscribers are asking their clients to provide to their preparer. Unfortunately for me, CCH/ATX placed only 2 sentences in the general area of their organizer and I believe it is woefully short of the requirements taxpayers need to provide to properly prepare a tax return. Attached is a PDF I made from a scan of the sample page that I received. You’ll see I have made it a page I can print and send to each of my clients for them to fill and return to me. Please note that I have kept the Drake copyright statement and page number intact on the page. I send out 300 organizers and typically receive back about 100 or so each year. I believe that up to 50% of my clients may be required to answer the ACA questions in detail as shown on your organizer page. May I have your permission to include this blank form with the organizers I am sending to my clients? Your help and cooperation is greatly appreciated. Sincerely," David W. Ristau CPA KC, yes I remember when you opened this forum and I remember joining shortly thereafter. FWIW, I tend to not spend a lot of time on official or unofficial forums, since as a 1 man shop time does seem to get short during tax season, particularly when software vendors such as CCH/ATX seem to forget what it's like to actually prepare a return and meet face to face with clients. I had thought that after the 2012 debacle CCH/ATX had learned from the mistake of selling an alpha and beta stage product as being finished. I served as one of their beta testers for 2013 and again for 2014 software. IMO, as long as the focus of tax preparation software remains on the best product to service a client, both preparers and the public benefit. When cost-cutting and cutting corners take precedence in order to improve the bottom line, preparers and the public suffer. I can't answer why CCH/ATX chose to limit the organizer questions for ACA to only 2 sentences. Nor is it really my responsibility to do so. It is, however, my responsibility to seek out solutions for my clients. In this case, Drake has a solution to a need my clients face: providing me with information to prepare a complete tax return. I'm not interested in plagiarizing Drake's form and I have not ever claimed their work as my own. Their copyright and form number remain on the page I prepared from their sample page. Drake includes their ACA organizer sample page on their own website. I believe the email I sent to Drake is a reasonable request. We shall see.... FWIW, CCH/ATX response has been to deny me access to their community board over the matter. Typical corporate response, IMO, to shoot the messenger rather than correct the issue or solve the problem. So, perhaps Jackal in Ohio was correct about CCH/ATX not caring. I'll return to post Drake's reply to me when it lands in my in-box. In the meantime, I'll be going back to monitoring this forum with minimal input. David W Ristau

Judy, post your mailing address, and I bet you'd get LOTS of chocolate! Heck, I'll send some right away.

CT also has the 1099Gs online. And, we stocked up on chocolate at the factory outlets after Christmas. My hubby is taking no chances that I'll get even crankier!

My apologies to David for making any suggestion about his choice of software, but not for deleting the pdf. Once he utilized the information to create his own page of questions, I did leave that text up in both this thread and the one in the ACA forum also. FWIW, Drake DOES have a problem with the direct scan of its materials. I spoke with a company representative this morning and he was shocked to see that its one support page, current organizer, and practice return are accessible by the public. He confirmed what I already know, that Drake's support section is NOT for public consumption and is meant to be for only purchasers of Drake software, and is accessible with a user name and password via their support link on their site. He said Drake copyrighted materials should NOT be included in seminars or posted online without their permission, and was distressed to learn that the specific material I was talking about is the ACA portion of the organizer because, obviously, this is the brand new portion of their current product. All of this information is being sent up to the powers that be about the support site and the materials being included in a seminar package, and he said that Drake always goes after those that use their materials without permission. Drake has their own complete training center, their own presenters, and host seminars all over the country and online for their users. They have no need for their materials to be spread or used by outsiders for marketing or to impress anyone, especially when they have no control over how that person will present their materials. Yeah, I need a lot of chocolate...and maybe a chaser of something else too!

Well, I could use some chocolate. Just sayin.

We held our annual partnership meeting in Hawaii, so that makes our trip deductible. (dad mom and son are partners)

This is where I store my resources as well! And I don't trip over them all that often anymore. What's a couple of face plants per season anyhow?

Some POSSIBLE answers to share with those clients (or maybe just to ease the pain):

33. Why do I have to pay tax on the gain of a muni fund???? They are tax free!

32. I don't remember getting all that money (in reply to 1099, K-1, etc)

n) I'll just drop off my taxes on April 15th and they'll get done that day, right? n+1) {in the middle of tax season} I need you to file my last 6 years of taxes. Can you do that in a couple of hours? I've gotta get to Florida tomorrow. n+2) I need my {current year minus 8-12 years} taxes. Just pull me a copy, including all my W-2s and 1099s. n+3) I know it's a capital gain, but there must be some way you can get me out of paying taxes on it. I swear, I feel like socking these people right in the nose when they pull this crap on us.

It is my experience that, until a business shows a PROFIT of over $100K, there is no tax benefit that outweighs the extra expense to being an S-Corp. (legally, that is) I have yet to see as start-up business grow that large in 2-3 years.

Yeah, but the mechanic, who pays child support to the hair stylist, keeps that one alive.

20. You are not a cannibal tax accountant right? So you won't charge an arm and a leg right?

14. I left all the dividends in my brokerage account so I never received that income.