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Yes, this is the problem right here. Friend calls me at 6:30 last night, I ignore her and call on the drive home. She's on Husband # 4, who left in October, can I file HOH (NOOOOOOOO) and Husband # 2 won't let me claim Kid # 3 (it's his year and he raised all three of your kids, two of whom are not his, while you stayed home). Would it be terrible of me to hit send with Kid # 3 on there? Me: YESSSSS. Cricket sounds. I hope she divorces me.

Oh, you mean the Audited Financial Statement that I slaved over and you never paid me for because you didn't need it? That one? And it might go downhill from there. Do you have the email request from him that he sent you in 2013? That thing would receive new life. Brother, I'm healed. Either way, you have the request today, and I'd be replying with an invoice, and "Sure, I just need to be paid or it's not a valid Financial Statement cause it has to be a compensated auditor, you know, my hands are tied. (I just made that up and sometimes it's appropriate to do that.)

I hate these forms. That. is. all. Hate them! I still have one client left to work through and hope that the client doesn't have to send any W9s at this late date. I am having a devil of a time with these and W2s this year. Client picked up W2s yesterday and told me the employer address was wrong and has been wrong on all the partnership returns and payroll filings for about 4 years now. Uh, I'm not a mind reader and do not have a crystal ball. About 4 yrs ago, she switched from a p.o. box to using a street address. I always include a bill with the package and have never mailed her anything. It's nice that she waited 4 yrs to tell me! Same client told me last year to change address of an employee on the W2 and that employee had been using a relative's address to qualify for in-state tuition cost in PA, when she really lives about 1/2 hr away from here in the other direction in DE. Me yesterday ---> For another client, today I drop off 1099s, w2s, payroll returns when I'm out running an errand because I think this will be quick. Ooooohhhhh nooooooooo! One half hour later, I'm still trying to explain how the W9 request for TIN works because their company needs to request 2 or 3, and yet they received a request for one and that totally confused everyone there!!!! Why are we sending them if the same people are requesting them from us?! Me again today ---> and I really wanted to .

Hahaha, you are gold! My tech guy hates me, too. The other day he was here, and I was drinking coffee. I said, "Hey, I just installed java."

Rita - my tech guy hates me. I have kept every email from the beginning. So yes, I do have the original email and email exchanges after the bill was sent. Ms TabbyKats - thanks! Here is what I decided to send and his response: "Are you certain that it is Audited Financial Statements you need? This is where we had issues last year. I did supply you with the Audited Statements and billed you and you said you never requested the Audited Statements and will not need Audited Statements in the future and did not pay the bill. Just want to make sure I know what you need." Client's response: "Is it just the financial statements? And once we have our NEW business on its own I will take care of that bill. I apologize it has taken so long not your issue I know just wanted to explain." So I sent him the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss out of QuickBooks (that I know are clean since my firm cleans them up) and told him to see it those will work. His response: "OK this should work, the state wants me to do an audit every year and I told them they are to expensive to have done every year. All (the business like mine) in PA are fight this." Good luck with that fight. I guess I will have to go back to my "half the projected fee before we start" routine. Sounds like I will get paid for the one I did - eventually - and will still be able to keep the client. Another couple of weeks and I probably would not have been so nice.

I used to refuse to do any 1040s before 2/7, but I have a few that are just a W2 and maybe a 1098. But forgetting you took money out of a retirement plan could happen to anyone. I'd just smile and amend. They'll learn their lesson when they have to pay your bill.

just got my Federal refund drop in to my checking account. So I guess things are starting to roll. I done 24 returns and she was one of the first.

Why are people in such a hurry? This is why I try to get them to hold off until February. I just e-filed the return last night and get a call tonight at 10:09 that a rollover 1099R was in today's mail. I asked her if she was positive that she had everything and she definitely didn't have anything else. It won't make a difference in the tax return, but she will get a letter down the road. I'm tempted to just wait for the letter instead of amending.

I had one already this year who said "You have to charge me more this year because I have this student loan interest and this Health Insurance thing" (Those who can least afford it are most often the most generous"!

Hopefully this will bring a smile to most.

And it's a good lesson for them to pay for their impatience. Two tax returns for you. Life lesson for them. Win / win.

But don't amend until you get the ack. They are very easily confused, you know.

And, of course, Judy, the client never thinks the fee for those forms is low enough. After all, you just need to enter the amounts, the computer does all the work.

I totally agree with Pacun on this one. Maybe even a little more than your standard for amending...

You charge them for their mistakes, correct? Amend and charge them.... after all it is not your fault.

OK, I'm not a fan of Intuit either, but my first reaction to this was that ATX could have taken a lesson from this. This is more than any of the ATX customers received about the disaster of a program that ATX put out for 2012.

Is coffee your daily grind?

Too much java will cause extreme hyperlinks...

I missed that it was a rollover. If the 1099R is done correctly, you shouldn't get a notice. As for doing it now, why? Tell her you'll do it in May.

Haha, while you are at it discussing this, find out if he'll need audited financials for 2014. Depending on the timing of when you issued the 2013 statements and invoiced for it, you will not be independent if the unpaid fees go beyond one year. The state isn't going to accept compiled statements, no matter what the reason your client is involved with the state.

A bit softer.... "As soon as you pay for it, you can have it". Remind him (great if in e-mail) that he claimed he never requested it and now the price is more because of the rush.

Are we having fun yet?

Don't forget that this young lady provided or NOT provided more than 50% of her own support based on the circumstances. That's why I like to do both returns. If she is a dependent, remember to add her income when using the exemptions on the parents return. I wonder if the box on line 61 of 1040 gets grey out when someone is filing as a dependent (I doubt it).

Well, a bit more violent than my usual response but I do like it when a client 'offers' to pay additional money (and when did that ever happen?).

Intuit wanted a price increase. So they "unbundled" the Sch C/D/E/F from the "normal" TT package. People complained. So What. Then they realized that they were not selling as much product. Uh-oh! That is not good. So, lets send out an apology letter. Lets offer folks a coupon for next year, and/or some sort of "discount". But we still got our price increase... They do not care unless sales drop. Rich

Maybe next year she won't show up at all if "she won't like it". My take is completely different. We all forget things...and a rollover is very easy to forget. I don't know if she is a high income person, the fee you charge her, the complexity of her return, or if she "forgets things" every year. However...this 1099-R will not affect anything....and most likely this will just be 2 pages. I'd give her 2 options: 1. We can do nothing...and then when you get "the letter" you'll just need to send in the 1099-R at that time 2. Wait until after the season...and I'll amend. She'll be happy....and next year you raise her a few dollars. It's called "good customer relations".

The only ones I transmit this early are the repeat clients that I know well and I know that the ONLY things they have are W-2 and 1099-HSA....and I know because I also do the payroll for the place where they work. Other than these few, I urge caution because like was said above....clients always forget about those various 1099s...oh and that W-2 from the place that I worked a month last January.

All the ones you know about. You are just tempting fate, you know.

I'm very excited because I had to use spreadsheets to do these calculation last year. Edit: I just checked the Basis worksheet (for 1065 & 1120S) and it's been updated too! Yay!

There have been 5 or 6 posts. 1. Several where everything was fine preupdate, now the program won't even open. 2. 3 or 4 where the users keep trying to run 2013 & 2014 simultaneously and 2014 keeps crashing.

And it always will be on that list, because, while it's hard to con an honest person, it's easy to appeal to people's greed.

Max, Your assumption would be correct. They need to produce their records for each year, and 2009's records could also assist you in completion. This may also help you............. http://www.irs.gov/irb/2004-22_IRB/ar17.html Good luck.

Hahaha!!!!

As we near the W2 deadline, for me, the most common issue is the S Corp owner who is a DIY payroll and tax person. Inevitably they had no idea of the ramifications of ACA on their own health insurance. A large percentage of those are not happy about me directing them to a local tax expert to clean up their mess... (Had three of these already within my first 30 minutes of opening for the day.) So far, only one is a one employee setup, and I still suggested they get at least annual outside advice...

If using the Windows methods to print (and few programs do not), programs can only make requests. Printer software and hardware may or may not offer the requested item, and in some cases, especially with a new model printer requiring new printer software, may not be coded correctly and fail. (The most common issue with printer software is handling the copy count correctly.) Personally, duplex is fine for file copies, but I do not use them for submitted items. The IRS is getting a bt testy if a form fails scanning. A badly printed/folded/smudged duplex is more likely to fail over a badly printed/folded/smudged single side printed. The cost of postage and paper is nil compared to a delay waiting for manual processing, or even a penalty for a non-scanable form.

She is fine with my additional fee. She is mad at the insurance guy that talked her into rolling it over and told her she wouldn't have to show anything on her taxes. I know that it's more money for me, but I have so much on my plate now, that ANY more work is more than I need. I have to go buy a new QuickBooks and install it, because my client swore that he didn't upgrade, but when I put in his flash drive, sure enough, it's a newer version.

Lila the giant dog got loose this morning...and she is a runner...cancelled all appointment and initiated a 2-hour search. No luck....I was frantic, but resigned myself to the fact that there was nothing I could accomplish by repeatedly driving around various neighborhoods. I put the word out to friends, facebook, and local animal shelter and got back to work. within 10 minutes of opening the ATX program back up, I received a call from a local Veterinarian informing me that a local auto-body shop had my dog. A mechanic had seen Lila running outside and called her...she eagerly came because she does not know a stranger. He took her to a vet next door and they scanned her microchip. Since I had registered her microchip through 24PetWatch, they were able to get my contact information and called me. I went to the Auto-Body shop and there was Lila...sitting and happily watching the guy sand the hood of a car....so all is well....but the funniest part is that after driving many miles all over looking...where do you think this auto-body shop and Vet were located? the end of my street....no more than 100 yards away.

Glad the giant dog is back home and your story had a happy ending. None of us need that kind of stress.

NECPA, your point about holding off until February is a great one. I have completed and filed one 1040 so far because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything is in. The only ones that I will prepare for the next week are the Corps for which my firm does the books. I know everybody's practice is different and the stresses and pressures come from varying degrees, but I just will not be muscled into preparing 1040's (with the exception of that one) in January or the first week in February. KC - good point. They (the clients) are very easily confused. We in this business, with a completely different frame of reference, too easily forget that. Thanks for the reminder.

Just in case anyone is worried about cbslee's post, it is from Nichols Patrick's FREE Hot Topics section. Thanks for sharing it, cb.

She will absolutely get charged and she won't like it. Maybe next year she won't show up until it all comes in.

I don't efile the 1099s until at least mid February so that anyone that might need a correction has time to give them to me. Easier to correct it if I haven't filed yet!

Disclaimer: I don't have any clients on Medicaid, but I think your client, the parents, might have a problem. Here are my thoughts on this. According to the instructions for form 8962, the person or couple taking the dependent exemption for someone in their "tax family" are the ones that must reconcile any amounts received as advanced premium tax credit, but because the daughter & granddaughter are not required to file a return, the daughter's and granddaughter's MAGI isn't included in the calcs for reconciling the APTC. Because your question is an interesting one, I did some poking around on the internet and found a site for WA state medicaid expansion. One of the points states that the new methodology for determining Medicaid eligibility is based on MAGI and also that household composition mirrors federal tax filing rules in most situations. This is the site that I was looking at; see item #3 on this page: http://www.hca.wa.gov/hcr/me/Pages/faq.aspx Please don't take this as any kind of final answer to rely on because I really don't know if this is correct, or if the site I was looking at is even the program in your state that the daughter and granddaughter supposedly qualified under, but reading some of that, I'm beginning to wonder if they truly were Medicaid eligible. I hope we have some others from WA that will weigh in, or that you'll post how you end up handling this because I'd like to hear what the final answer is.

That makes me very happy!

Sorry Pacun,...Your post just gave me a headache.

I think Dan is right on the money here. And attorneys already understand the need to 'keep it legal', so you won't have that problem. No need to keep the bank account, just send letter to the relevant parties stating that the receivable has been transferred from XYZ LLC to Bob X, PLLC [or PA, or Corp], etc. and where to send their payments.