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"I just want to sit down with you and discuss some things." It's just part of being on the tax season struggle bus that people start businesses in June and want to "discuss" January - April, isn't it? Every. Year.

Everybody but that guy wanting to "discuss" was great. He's late on every sales tax return, late to pay me, then wants to know what exactly counts as a business expense. Uh, what you actually pay for a business purpose. For example, my fees, oh, here's another copy of the statement I gave you last week, this will count for 2015, thank you.

It is way too early in the season for these things to be bothering us. Make no mistake - they are bothering us. But I think all the angst surrounding this season has us all on edge. I am also fighting the battle to tell some folks to take a flying leap and I will supply the take-off module. We are still knee deep in payroll reports and of the 60 some that we have done we have had to re-do two. Who told these folks that they are allowed to critique our work. Fact of the matter, neither mistake was ours. One duplicated a paycheck and did not bother to tell us. The other forgot to include the pension contribution for the Pastor. On another note, I had a call today from a long time client that bought a pickup truck from a dealer on the other side of the state line. Client calls to ask me how he pays state sales tax on the truck. What, the dealer did not know the answer to that question? Fortunately that call came today and not a month from now. I still have some stored up "nice thoughts". I used a couple of those up today.

Take your pick...............

My husband's idea is that every law should have an expiration date. That way a bad law can be let die without fanfare or assignment of blame or finger-pointing, and the good laws that need renewing will keep the legis-vermin (my term, not his) busy enough to cause little additional damage.

Someone please send a truckload of chocolate to TN in a hurry. There is a storm brewing out there that might do real damage if there is not an intervention. Tom Newark, CA

Hi.... I need my taxes done.....What do you charge....? You look kinna old.....Do you know the current laws?

Spent 5 days in Key West, FL...ran the half marathon...now back home. I feel refreshed and ready to take on this season...at least that is what I am telling myself.

I saw Rita B in the upper right of the picture; pushing toward the front row. Right behind her is Judy.

My choice would be that, going forward, every new law should have to include the elimination of two old laws ! And every new regulation should require the elimination of three old regulations.

That is a variation on my thought. I would make every law be resubmitted if less than 50% of the congress who voted for it were still in office. That way, when we throw the bums out who make bad laws, the law goes with them. Right now, we throw them out when they get too aggressive, but they still leave their legacy behind. Any law that passes three times under this rule would be deemed acceptable and no longer need to be re-voted. Tom Newark, CA

For improvement purposes the new Regs identify the following separate units of property for buildings: 1. Building Structure ( Exterior Walls, Roof, Windows, Doors etc) 2. HVAC 3. Plumbing 4. Electrical 5. Escalators 6. Elevators 7. Fire Protection & Alarm Systems 8. Security Systems 9. Gas Distribution Systems 10. Other Systems Risk: Taxpayer may have expensed in past years as repairs expenditures to any of these identified systems which under the new Regs would require capitalization. In which case it may be necessary to execute a Change in Accounting Method with a positive 481 (a) adjustment spread over 4 years Reward: Conversely Taxpayer may have capitalized in past years expenditures to any of these systems which under the new Regs would require expensing in which it may be necessary to execute a Change in Accounting Method with a negative 481 (a) deductible in the current year. Opportunity: The ability to make a partial disposition election and recognize a loss on for example: the disposition of an elevator which was replaced. Went to a class on Monday which covered this in depth. Posting here helps me remember what I learned. Lee Barckert

Customize Master Forms. Check the box to decline.

Actually, I have not heard much about the wireless charging but the tech doing my pacemaker interrogation last week said that the technology for the interrogation (where he checks the leads, the pacemaker and makes any necessary adjustments) is Wi-Fi technology. My pacemaker is in a pocket just below my collar bone and it is very visible. Apparently when it comes time for a battery change (which is the changing of the whole pacemaker) they just open the previous incision and pull the old pacemaker out, unplug it, plug the new one in, stick it in the pouch and stitch up the incision. Funny story about my implantation. It was an ordeal that had me flat on my back for over 15 hours but that is a story for another day. This story has to do with when I got home. Rebecca (my wife) right after we got in the house and were standing at the dining room table says, "let me show you what I got at the gift shop while I was waiting for you". She pulls this long box out of a bag and opens it up and pulls out this long magnetic address bar to put in the front yard. I think I must have JUMPED fifteen feet backwards. Magnets are not a friend to pacemakers. The size of that magnet could have stopped my pacemaker. I still wonder about her motive. :)

I am so thankful for you guys.

Rita is the absolute BEST at the snarky one-liners!

Knock yourself out, John. And if you see my slacker client, knock him out, too.

Is there anything else included in the bill? Often what keeps a perfectly sensible piece of legislation from passing is that something totally unrelated gets tacked onto the bill because it otherwise doesn't have a chance of slipping through and then you either pass something stupid to get something reasonable or you vote against something you might want to pass. I would say there ought to be a law, but we already have too many to keep up with.

Small Business Healthcare Relief Act of 2014 Introduced Could Change HRAs for Small Group Employers The Small Business Healthcare Relief Act of 2014 was recently introduced to a congressional committee by Reps. Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (R-LA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) on December 11, 2014. If the new bill were to pass, small employers would no longer have to worry about violating the health reform law by offering a stand-alone Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) any longer. Under the new bill, small employers (49 or fewer employees) could: Use pre-tax dollars to give workers a defined contribution Allow employees to use those pre-tax funds in an HRA to purchase healthcare coverage on the individual market and for qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses Avoid financial penalties for providing these types of funds to employees The legislation has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, so only time will tell what Congress might have in store for Health Reimbursement Arrangements. In the meantime, contact your Representative about supporting H.R.5860 — Small Business Healthcare Relief Act of 2014 in support of permitting small businesses to use pre-tax dollars for assistance to employees purchasing policies in the individual market What are the chances this will pass in the next month or two ?

The humidity was 90% so my time suffered, but it was in Key West, so it was amazing. I try to get at least three runs in per week during tax season...more than anything as a stress-reliever. I will also be doing the Flying Pig half in May. I ran my first ever half marathon last September and ran 4 more after that...Air Force (Dayton) was quite the experience (HUGE crowd) but I think my favorite was the inaugural Grand Lake Half...along Grand Lake St Marys from Celina, OH to Saint Marys, OH

Good job, JB! Care to share any details? I coach a half marathon group, currently run/walk. I ran the inaugural Queen Bee Half in Cincinnati last October, third in my age group. I ran the first 2 miles as a coach for one woman who then told me to go on. Without that, I would have won my group so no coaching for the next one. I want to win it! I will be doing the Flying Pig in May as a coach. The training during tax season helps my sanity, how about you? I'm lucky with a home office so can take off during the day, if need be. Keep up the good work!

nom nom nom nom nom ...... time to pull out the reserves: a pack of Junior Mints in my desk drawer.

Hit reply. Then hit "more reply options" then attach a file using the "attach files" utility Can you guess I want to see the photo, too?

easytax, If your question was for me, we do not offer a payroll "service". We offer payroll "software". We try to limit our assistance to the operation of the software, but do get asked about operating a computer, as well as questions on payroll preparation and reporting. Most of the ACA questions I am getting are based on "someone" telling my customer to alter the W-2. Since I am not in a position to give tax advice to my customers, I am doing mostly "steering" to information for the employer to refer to. I sometimes will add something along the lines of "while not specific advice for your situation, I might..., but I would certainly seek the written opinion of a local tax professional who backs their written advice with a written guarantee and E&O insurance." I also point out, if they are paying for a person/ company to manage/provide their health coverage, part of that payment likely includes advice on administering their plan, including proper reporting advice. The stories I could tell if this was not a public forum...

I found this site with a complete listing of extension requirements for the States. http://www.irs.com/articles/state-tax-extension-information

Yes, glad you are back, just remember in future that even if you change software, you do not have to leave here. We do not discriminate.

This makes way too much sense for the politicos in Washington to pass. Tom Newark, CA

I just did a return for a lady who had no insurance but was under the filing threshold. She has been my client for ten years. I didn't charge her anything to check that box on Form 8965. I feel fine with that. It's best for me to play it by ear. Just like I don't have a set fee for Schedule C. It's all relative. Now, when somebody comes in here with a new $40,000 pickup and gets $5,000 EIC I feel fine changing it up.

Administrator's (reply to my e-mail: "Yes, his wife and kids are covered." Crying. Ok, let's try this again...

Yes, I went through it two years ago, and we had just had our 50th anniversary. How did I handle it? I cried, I even argued a little, but then I realized I was focusing on ME, rather than on him. I never wanted to lose him, but he was hurting unnecessarily and once I focused on that, the right decision was clear to me. Remember, too, that whether you turn off the machines or not, she's going on. But she will still be in your heart. Trust me, you will still feel her.

*grabby hands*

Honestly, why? Regulation isn't the problem with erring and fraudulent tax preparers. The problem is that the IRS is nowhere near where it needs to be in providing consequences to tax preparers. For example, PTINs should be put on hold if there are too many erring returns submitted under them; the PTIN hold could then be noted in the efile rejection process, hence alerting the ERO. Regulation as indicated by the RTRP program is the IRS model for what's supposed to happen. So we already know how 'effective' it will be. Clue: Telling a fraudulent tax preparer to take 15 hours of b.s. online courses just so he can keep filing his frauds, changes nothing except to provide yet another financial opportunity for yet another parasite (the trainers and certifiers) who feeds on the industry and taxpayers. The fraudster preparer will just slap down the $200 and take the courses and keep filing EIC and Sch.C/E, as well as outright identity thefts. The erring preparer may have a better idea, but he was always supposed to be kicked in the butt by his clients and the IRS anyway.

So an old smartphone with no phone contract, but connects through your wifi? Now my hopes are up!! Do all smartphones have the jack for the square device to plug into?

Rich, I appreciate what you are saying, and the only reason I posted this is because I thought there was a chance, knowing the TP as well as I do. The real challenge is finding a business discussion that will happen on the cruise. Like I told the TP, if they brought a couple of contracts and negotiated them while on the cruise, if they did something substantial that could be considered a business purpose, then we could follow the documentation rules and try to beat an audit. So I printed out an article that told him exactly what he would need to document and his response was "I would spend the whole 10 days writing everything down." This TP is "documentation challenged" to the max. Decided he would just pay for it and call it a vacation. The client he is taking has done a significant amount of work with the TP business over the years, and as often happens, they became close friends and they vacation together occasionally. It is too much for him to risk an audit. Again, I appreciate what you are saying, and I take your advice seriously. Thanks Tom Newark, CA

I have stuff in the guest room across the hall and stuff under my desk and under my other desk. And, now with no clients around I have about a dozen stacks on my desk, four stacks stuffed in the bookshelves on top of the neatly aligned folders, another half dozen stacks on my other desk, and another half dozen crates, shopping bags, etc. on the floor! And, don't even get me started on my own tax returns/documents for the last half dozen years in a huge stack totally unassembled in the closet, almost reaching to the pole. I will clean before clients arrive in February. Except for the closet and guest room. My office looked like the pictures for about 12 hours!

Rita: I like that. Mind if I use it sometime?

Exactly. I still don't know what to do, and I will look for more "guidance". And maybe a nice candy bar as big as my head.

Actually, this and the change in the definition of "full-time" under the ACA from 30 hours to 40 hours, does have a reasonable chance to pass. The R's can not and never will repeal the ACA. But they can pass a technical corrections piece. And these are some of them. JMVHO. Rich

I love how they call these wordy, contradictory statements "guidance." I did notice this statement in the Forbes article: "The guidance makes clear that the penalty does not apply to a plan that has only one participating employee." Now I am not sure which guidance it refers to, but if the church's plan has only one participating employee (the pastor) and only one eligible employee (since everyone else works less than 30 hours per week), does that mean you are okay? I don't know.

Makes me feel a LOT better. All I did today was field phone calls and walk-ins and try to train my new assistant. One thing about her, she is determined.

I have 3 ready to go but always wait until 2 days before the last date of the of the first week to file. It's been a busy first day but I don't want to be the first in. Let the IRS screw up someone else's return.

Wouldn't having a cow be a good thing in your area?!

Jack, I hear what you are saying, but I also know my client base. I could go out with a very high charge and blame it on the POTUS, but that is still taking money out of my client's pocket. A lot of my clients are simple returns, and they are used to paying a certain amount. An extra $100 for 15 minutes of interview and form entry is too much. And remember, some of those forms are going to be required multiple times on the return. You may still be right, and I may be giving away my expertise at a low price, but I have to run my practice for the long haul. Tom Newark, CA

Yes, I do want the forms to autofill as well. And, I want the program to explain to the client WHY they should be on extension. And, dust/vacuum my office

I stayed up all night cleaning my office before a photo shoot for CCH's Partners magazine back in early 2011. It has never looked like that before or after! The NY photographer and his stylist made my office look great in the magazine, but weren't styling me. They had me change clothes multiple times, so my hair was full of static electricity and my makeup was disappearing. They moved things out of my office and into my office and had an amazing setup of lights and reflectors. http://community.cchgroup.com/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/1061-102-1-1038/Dollars%20and%20Sense.pdf The Dell monitors swivel, so I can turn one toward a client when needed. I've swapped them around so I have a portrait on the right with government forms/return that can turn toward client, portrait in the middle with data entry, and landscape on the left with my email on the right half and on the left half email for two large clients, this and other message board, sometimes FaceBook, Twitter, news, etc. When I receive client documents electronically or have scanned them, I display client documents on one of the halves of the landscape monitor. All the monitors can swivel portrait to landscape and swivel around also.

Looking at your profile pic... Do you have any employees named Abby?

I love my three monitors.

Tom, From Pub. 463 To meet the directly-related test for entertainment expenses (including entertainment-related meals), you must show that: The main purpose of the combined business and entertainment was the active conduct of business, You did engage in business with the person during the entertainment period, and You had more than a general expectation of getting income or some other specific business benefit at some future time. Business is generally not considered to be the main purpose when business and entertainment are combined on hunting or fishing trips, or on yachts or other pleasure boats. Even if you show that business was the main purpose, you generally cannot deduct the expenses for the use of an entertainment facility. See Entertainment facilities under What Entertainment Expenses Are Not Deductible? later in this chapter. You must consider all the facts, including the nature of the business transacted and the reasons for conducting business during the entertainment. It is not necessary to devote more time to business than to entertainment. However, if the business discussion is only incidental to the entertainment, the entertainment expenses do not meet the directly-related test. See below link. http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch02.html#en_US_2013_publink100033852

Yes, I have one. Don't ask me to explain it, but I love it. Just like bacon.