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You absolutely should not base your life decisions on the result of your income tax return. IMO

It is not possible for me to know or care about those other benefits....My job is to understand and explain the tax benefits...or lack thereof.

I root for nobody other than the Green Bay Packers.

I want a fat client copy so I can charge a fat fee!

It's sad that she lost some credits, but you should look at the total picture, she also gained other benefits, as his wife.

We never combine years when paper-filing. We put each in their own envelopes, and we space out the mailings by 1-2 weeks, as told to the client. This lets the IRS properly enter each filed year into their systems in order.

It's lots of fun. But you also need to have a ready answer for that rare client who will ask what happpens if you accidentally shred somehting important. The answer is: "We can always get a duplicate. Most of the time it only takes 5-6 weeks." Be sure that you're shredding something while you say this. It's even more effective if the shredder is so noisy you have to raise your voice to be heard over the whining and grinding sounds.

I tell client that either organize or pay me $75 an hour to do your job. Most of them do it and once in a while I make extra money. Pay my son to organize and pay him half. Works best for me.

Speaking of Body Lotion; one of my clients last year brought me a bottle of aromatherapy "Stress Relief" lotion. It is Eucalyptus Spearmint.; which is supposed to clear the mind and the Spearmint Essential Oil is supposed to uplift. Boy, do I need that today. Have noticed that some of my clients are trying it out too. So Funny sometimes, the things that they notice.

On the other hand, I have a few clients who mail me a signed blank check along with their paperwork. Of course, they are long-time clients, but still! Those returns get done immediately.

Interesting post from ATX: Jane P, The payer information is not transferred using the Import/Export method. However that is the recommended way to move your return data to a new machine as the backup/restore feature for 2013 works best on a local machine, but is not the most efficient when moving to a new machine, which has been enhanced for the 2014 software. If you have access to the original machine that the data was stored on, a flash drive, and both machines are connected to the internet I would suggest a call to Support and we can make sure we move the necessary data over to the new machine for 2013, which will include your companies, payers, and preparers. Beau Product Support Representative CCH Small Firm Service

I have a couple like that too. One in particular did over a million dollars in business in 2014 almost by accident. But he cannot pay his four figure sales tax on time every month - matter of fact, hasn't for a couple of years. This guy is just managing the business (as opposed to owning it (mommy and step daddy own the business but are simply investors). I had a meeting with the three of them mid-fall and told the manager that his margins are entirely too tight if he cannot pay the bills with that kind of revenue. He gave me every excuse in the book why he couldn't broaden the margin. He headed me off at every suggestion. At the end of the meeting he said he needed to borrow some more money to pay the bills. I looked at the owners and simply asked - are you willing to put more at risk based upon what you have just heard? They looked at the manager and one of them said something like - make it work, we are not investing or borrowing anymore money. So far, it has been the same old, same old. Time will tell who cracks first.

They HAVE hired me to do it. And they give me the information late. Every. Single. Time. They don't think my fees are bad. But the problem is they don't even care about the penalties. People like this can never run a business. So much better off working for someone else who has some self-discipline.

Yes, you should do what I did and believe all that stupid crap he said. Haha. Not really. Well maybe.

Agree with everything Easy said -- except new laws taking effect in June or any partial year. Remember the years when we had two mileage rates during one calendar year? When I'm king of the world, all tax laws will take effect 1 January, but as Easy said, at least six months after voted and final.

I root for the commercials!

Which is exactly why I never print tax forms as duplex. Too easy to overlook a page.

Additionally --- if the IRS was allowed to do things in a sensible way --- receive data from employers, etc. up to end of January or February --- with the employees receiving there data by say mid-March or April with tax filings from "we the people" April/May through June or July so everything could be matched --- there would be a LOT LESS SCAMING from all and thusly, less money lost. Of course also have Congress mandated to have all changes for tax issues done and TOTALLY decided by the previous June --OR nothing takes effect until the following June (which means the following tax year too). Of course, common sense as mentioned by you with the PTIN system and the above seems to be NOT AVAILABLE to our elected leaders (NOT Political, as both parties seem to be at fault). By the way --- from my law enforcement days (applies to POLITICIANS too) -- there is profit in confusion!

We always print one-sided. We're also stuck on the tail end of some fairly unscrupulous and stupid lease and maintenance contracts for a few photocopier/printer/scanner units. I'll be fixing that crap this year, and it's looking rather probable that we'll ditch the standup units in favor of some desktop printers, like the Brother HL-5450DN ($160, with a per-page cost of about 0.4 cents over the life of the printer).

We customized the Billing form for how we bill. We have a combination of type-of-client billing, with by-form billing. We make price additions to a base, largely due to certain forms, and then subtract due to any discounts that apply.

This calculator does all the magic: http://www.valuepenguin.com/ppaca/exchanges/ I played with it today for a few hours, verified calculations by checking healthcare.gov Bronze and SLCSP rates for several scenarios and everything was matching.

Military absence is considered temporary despite any calendar considerations. His home is still the same place. My position still stands.

Maybe I should start charging $1 for every client who uses my Stress Relief Lotion.

No. Not a dependent. Correct, a dependent does not answer the question on Line 61. Discovered that today.

Even worse are all the staples I have to remove. Especially love when someone takes a form out of the envelope and then staples the form to the envelope.

"Corn Huskers Lotion" here. Sadly the edges of my fingers and knuckles get so dry that they crack and bleed during tax season. CHL is pretty good at controlling that.

I think I have it figured out now. It is just the way the instructions are written that got my boxers in a bunch. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Tom Newark, CA

It's ususally a retirement plan.

Have you tried Zim's Crack Creme? Or Gold Bond Triple Action Foot Cream? The former has a cinnamon-y scent and the latter (which works great on super-chapped ultra dry hands) is more peppermint-y.

Pretend that strength is spelled correctly.

Customizing forms is one of the best features in ATX. 1040 check third party designee, check to print Line 44 Tax Calc, Line 48 Foreign Tax Credit, Line 64 Federal income tax withheld, AGI Split All EF info forms check ERO/Practitioner, ERO entered, and enter ERO PIN All biz returns check May IRS discuss return with preparer. K1 Input (1120S) check calculate basis, check to print allowed & carryover worksheets. K1 Input (1065) check to print allowed & carryover worksheets and PTP worksheets (this was tricky this year. You have to check PTP on Input first, then uncheck later). 1065 Line 20 check to supress preset descriptions, check to NOT print Sch L Balance Sheet per books worksheet, 1120S Options check complete sch L and M1, line 19 check to supress preset descriptions, check to NOT print Sch L Balance Sheet per books worksheet, Print Sch M2 worksheet. 1120 Options check complete sch L and M1, line 26 check to supress preset descriptions, check to NOT print Sch L Balance Sheet per books worksheet. Sch B (1040) Check to print Sch K1 (1120S) check to print page 2 codes, uncheck print K1 letter, check to print shareholder basis, uncheck print K1 letter, Input-shareholder entity type I Sch K1 (1065) check to print page 2 codes, uncheck print K1 letter, check to print partners basis, basis summary & capital summary 1040-ES check Round to 100 Bank Account Info check personal, check No for foreign, check all jurisdictions We customized the hell out of the 3115 this year.

That is EVIL!! I think I will adopt that process immediately!!

And I hold that dividend check I discovered for ransom.

I love opening envelopes for a couple of reasons: 1) It elminates the possibilty of the client throwing away something important; 2) If the client is sitting there while I open the envelopes, it creates some entertaining moments. As I pull out the boilerppate stuff, I immediately shove it into the shredder while I'm conversing with the client. It's just too much fun watching the expression on their face as they secretly wonder if maybe I just shredded something important while that machine is loudly grinding away.

This shit should not be this hard. Excuse my French. Thanks Ladies. Tom Newark, CA

I agree with Ron; mail in separate envelopes. Once I sent two years of amended returns for a new client in one envelope. I thought I made it as clear as Catherine did with bold print, highlighter, sticky pads, etc. I thought that there was no way they could miss one, but they did. The one they lost was for 2010 with a $20,000+ refund. They processed the 2011 which had a small balance due. Took awhile to straighten that out.

Gotta love IntelliConnect: U.S. Master Tax Guide (2015),1010A.Legal Fees and Costs Related Information – Federal An individual can deduct from gross income attorney’s fees and court costs incurred in connection with an action involving: (1) a claim of unlawful discrimination; (2) certain claims against the federal government; or (3) a private cause of action under the Medicare Secondary Payer statute ( Code Sec. 62(a)(20)). 12 The deduction is limited to the amount includible in gross income on account of a judgment or settlement, whether as a lump sum or in periodic payments. The deduction is claimed by entering the amount and "UDC" on the dotted line next to line 36 of Form 1040 and including the amount in the total for that line. An “above-the-line” deduction (formally referred to as an adjustment to gross income) is also allowed for court costs and attorney’s fees paid by or on behalf of the taxpayer in connection with any whistleblower award under Code Sec. 7623( for providing information regarding tax law violations. The deduction cannot exceed the amount includible in gross income as a result of the award ( Code Sec. 62(a)(21)). 13 The taxpayer claims this deduction by entering the amount and "WBF" on the dotted line next to line 36 of Form 1040 and including the amount in the total for that line. For deductibility of legal fees associated with the production of income, see ¶1093. Footnotes 12FED ¶6002; FILEIND: 9,088; PTE §5,805 13FED ¶6002; FILEIND: 9,088

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

No, they cannot split the tax benefits. See pub 17, page 31 Sometimes, a child meets the relationship, age, residency, support, and joint return tests to be a qualifying child of more than one person. Although the child is a qualifying child of each of these persons, only one person can actually treat the child as a qualifying child to take all of the following tax benefits (provided the person is eligible for each benefit). 1. The exemption for the child. 2. The child tax credit. 3. Head of household filing status. 4. The credit for child and dependent care expenses. 5. The exclusion from income for dependent care benefits. 6. The earned income credit. The other person cannot take any of these benefits based on this qualifying child. In other words, you and the other person cannot agree to divide these benefits between you. The other person cannot take any of these tax benefits for a child unless he or she has a different qualifying child.