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A few are paying attention to the fact that I put my foot down last year and refused to file the returns until I was paid. They are coming in check or cash in hand. Amazing....and they are sending new clients. I did seriously judge one client who ran several scenarios past me; such as taking her friend's three children as dependents because the friend was on disability. The next one was, could she take her boyfriend's daughter because the mother was willing for him to take her as a deduction this year. Then the mother changed her mind because he was behind on child support. I told her to come and pick up her papers. She was always at least a year behind in paying. YES, I am judging.

And rightly so. We have to consider, IMHO, the honesty of our clients. We all have some that we accept at their word, and some that we ask to see their receipts, etc. Based on our feelings of their honesty. So when a client says things that make it clear they are not only willing to cheat but actively looking for ways to cheat, it seems to me we have no choice but to fire that client.

I recognize this is not the most professional approach, but I would not be able to listen to that. I would have to mention the spirit of the EIC is for those who find themselves out of work and not for those who choose not to work. Yes, there are many who freeload and the EIC is not perfect by any means, but I wont have someone like that sit in front of me and complain about low EIC refunds and not catching a break on hospital bills. It's her choice not to work and it's her choice not to have health insurance. It would be my choice not to complete her return. I couldn't complete it and would place everything back in the envelope and hand it back to her, telling her to go to H&R. May not be the right approach to increase my income, but it certainly would be the right approach for me personally.

does anyone else think it is just NUTS that the regs. old and new have us scratching our heads over how to treat a toilet. And having to depreciate it over 27.5 years make me laugh out loud.

Marilyn, Sounds like it's time to open the Comparison form...but hooray for you if your clients will let it slide that they have a balance due for "no apparent reason". The Comparison form will let you nail what happened in 2014 that was different in 2013. I usually find a change in jobs together with a change in withholding (claiming more exemptions) is usually the culprit. Once I show my clients that it was THEM and not my preparation skills, they leave satisfied with plans to correct their withholding....or plans to call me BEFORE they take an early distribution from a retirement account as 20% is usually not enough withholding tax. On second thought, maybe you do have the right idea with the "no apparent reason" theory. Take care, Cathy

There was a really great article in Forbes today and it was put in a q/a conversation between the author a tax preparer that was funny also. http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2015/02/14/repair-regulation-relief-what-does-it-really-mean-not-as-much-as-you-think/

I love it when people cry the rich don't pay enough and when I ask how much they think they should pay they haven't a clue or come up with a % lower then they currently pay.

Last year, my WI returns rejected also in identity theft cases. They never used to. I had a call last night from a gal who had identity theft in 2012. That had all gotten taken care of. Yesterday, she got a letter from the IRS saying that she owed $30,000 some dollars for 2012, but it was not her SS#, but was her correct name and address. She is no longer my client due to divorce, so I won't have to fix this one (again)!

Maybe it's because the states don't have as elaborate detection systems as the IRS does, at least that is what one article I read was saying. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/11/column-weston-taxfraud-idUSL1N0VL2SG20150211

My response:

Terry, you'd have to use the worksheets. It uses the amount the student spent on himself during the year for support, not how much he earned. He could have saved every penny except for the rent that he paid to mom. You didn't say how much the rent was. I know you've already looked at it, but by the time you add up the fair rental of the house, utilites, food and divide that by the # of people, that in itself can be a substantial number. Anyway, it sounds like you don't prepare the mother's return.

And I agree with both of you: I just am not willing to tell them that it makes sense for them not to have insurance. I prefer to point out the facts on both sides of the argument IF ASKED and let them decide what if anything they should do. i am not going to tell them it makes economic sense to forgo insurance when I have not got a working crystal ball.

I tell people: Did you have insurance last year? they say no. I say... You will have to pay a penalty this year. and they answer no problem. I say... for next year, you should have health insurance or the penalty will be double or more. They say, no problem. I go and prepare this year's taxes because that's what they hire me for. I don't sell insurance and I am not in a position to force them to buy health insurance.

By your reasoning, Pacun, it makes sense for anyone to pay the penalty rather than purchase health insurance as long as the penalty is less than the cost of the health insurance. Nobody, no matter how healthy, can be sure they won't get sick or be in an accident and need medical care. That is why we have insurance. And when people without insurance get sick or injured and need care they can't afford, many times hospitals and medical practices wind up providing that care without getting paid. And that drives up medical costs for all of us.

Until they have an accident or get really sick. But then, many will just look for the "program" that will pay those bills for them too. I do not like being told I have too -- on most anything BUT some things I can understand --- car insureance, fire insurance, etc., etc. as it the burden is not only on me but on someone else ---- now if those folks just wanted to NOT be card for, etc. and possibly die ---- but there are "programs" for that too and in some cases --- the government even makes it illegal to chose to die ---- unless by cop maybe === but then the poor officer gets grief ---- usually more from them having to take a life (self incrimination, etc.) even when the "public" takes them to task for doing their duty --- but I am biased due to "pass life". Bottom line, if they can "work" the system and save money --- they are allowed --- but it does not make it right to pass the bill onto others, if it can be prevented. AND NO --- I am not in favor of ACA as current --- some great ideas and some fair "fixes" but NOT done as congress has. (Thant is another discussion and has nothing to do with "politics" just common sense and doing what is best for country, not just to get noticed and have a job.

Whew!!! I just had one of clients leave that drinks and smokes and literally smells up my office to point I want to puke. Half the time he can't remember what he has done with his documents, dumps a pile of letters; etc, on the desk for me to rummage through, and couldn't tell me if he paid his vehicle taxes or not. BTW, current license tag and in NC if you don't pay the vehicle taxes... not sticker and no registraton. It killed me to have to take time and look them up on the county website as the air in my office was no longer suitable to breathe. He has been coming to me for quite a few years now and I have to go through the same air filtration process when he leaves each year. I can definitely prove all of those febreeze commercials wrong. It takes at least two or three applications to begin to clear up smell. So, this year I raised the price of preparing his return with the idea that it would make him mad and he would go somewhere else. Not a fat chance. He didn't even blink at the increased price and wrote the check. Now he says he is headed to Costa Rica to leave in a year or so and needed tax advice. I naturally told him that I was not an expert on foreign taxes, US taxes when living abroad; etc, and advised him to find an expert in this area. Nope, wants me to bone up on this. At the very most I have one year here in the US left with him and if we do business when he is in Costa Rica or wherever he goes, the only thing I'll have to fumagate is the envelope when it gets here. Ok, rant over and the febreeze has finally taken over!

Sent to me by a friend -- really funny. Less than three minutes. The "Manslater" from 2010.

If I have to install previous software then there is an extra charge. The worst one I have had was ten plus years which had to be filed to complete an OIC. I got the retainer up front which included an additional amount for each year I had to complete. Normally, within a year or two I do increase the fee a small bit for the same reasons that have already been mentioned here.

Yes, isn't that the truth. However, I have very few clients who even Gross $100,000; but know exactly what you are saying.

Last year I did a return and the total tax was around $100,000 right after that return I did one for a guy that paid $0 and still got a $5,557 refund. I wanted to scream

It's for 2014. Just had my first one where the parent was too smart to pay me to do Junior's return ($35), and Junior claimed his own exemption. It's a little aggravating that I still don't understand the letter. At least 2012 and 2013, the client letter gave the mailing address on an amended return. This letter still says I'm e-filing Junior's amended return. I know, it's something easy, but you don't know what you don't know. Junior is just not getting a letter, and of course the address is on the far right tab of Form 1040. It's all good, just irritating to be wasting time.

I had three delinquents and a current last year, all from the same person. I got a retainer up front for half and DID charge more than I normally would have, but I didn't think of it as charging more for a delinquent return. The IRS would have prepared his SE returns from the transcripts otherwise and I was able to save him several thousand dollars. Since we were already working with an agent, I guess I figured if I didn't get the second half, I would still be OK. However, client was pleased with the results and paid up. What I was charging extra for was the unnecessary waste of my time, especially when he turned out to have two years when he didn't even owe.

I have charged more to prepare prior year returns due to having to review prior year laws, working on something that's not fresh on my mind nor anyone else's. Or, I've taken my price for the highest priced year (taxpayer filing multiple years at once) and used it for all the years, even when a year might be simpler, for the same reason, dealing with multiple year's laws. All that is for the clients that have brought their materials after the year, after 15 October or the next year or years later. I have had years where I had their returns in what might've been a not too late time, but something like Hurricane Sandy or ear surgery or whatever delayed my preparation. In those cases, I hold the price on multiple years the same. Or, discount a single, almost current year. It's not a punishment for filing late. (The governments will take care of that.) It's due to needing more of my time to review, proofread, etc., when I'm not working in the most current tax year. Line numbers are different on forms. Laws did or did not get extended. Tax prep software evolves. Fewer people around to ask that could be working on a similar issue from a prior year. That sort of thing.

Paid in advance!

Around here, $250 would rent a room -- with no house privileges, no kitchen privileges, no food, no garage, no storage, no laundry, no dry cleaning, no shopping for the roomer, no anything at all except maybe a mattress.

Having raised 3 sons, I assure you if he eats at least two meals a day at home most days, no normal 'rent' would ever cover that 'perk' for a teenage boy.

Where is NC 8453 The NC 8453 is no longer a requirement. The taxpayer will not have to complete or sign a NC 8453 and the form will not have to be retained by the tax professional. The tax professional will continue to retain NC 8453s from previous tax year in compliance with the three-year rule. NC also does not require/support an EF signature form such as the 8879.

I agree with ILLMAS. I have had this happen a couple times and both times resulted in letter writing campaigns with the IRS. You are doing nothing wrong. The IRS simply is not recognizing the entity as an S-Corp. The last one I had, after the efile rejected, I filed it via paper. That resulted in communication from the IRS which actually simplified the letter writing campaign. Good luck!

Couldn't get to church this morning and instead poked around on facebook and a couple of friends whose posts I follow, had some doozies today. Wednesday Addams (Addams family) is all grown up - and responds to catcalls. Language warning. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/13/wednesday-addams-reacts-to-catcalling_n_6677674.html The guy who records the voice of Winnie the Pooh, reading Darth Vader's lines (I haven't listened to this in full yet - the sound quality isn't the best and the howling winds outside are making it hard for me to hear).

Sort of unrelated, but this thread made me think of my guy, who came in the day after dropping off his return to ask me: Oh, yeah, I'm retiring early. What am I going to do about health insurance? Beg pardon? I was calm on the outside, but on the inside I killed three people. Insurance salespeople, Nancy, and POTUS make a lot more than me, and you are asking me this question????? I pretty much told him (in my sweet way): I don't have any insurance to sell, affordable or otherwise, so if you're looking for me to solve this problem, I guess you better keep working, Buddy.

If I file early, then an identity thief cannot file a federal, CT, or IL, return using my SSN. But, he can file in other states. Lots of other states.

The scammers have chosen the states because no one would think they would. http://www.tax.ohio.gov/IdentityTheft-IDQuiz.aspx This is what Ohio is doing. Thousands have been sent so far.

Thanks, Lion, those are good points and so is the link.

Catherine, you've been snowbound too long!

You can help him fill out his info on the support worksheet. He can take it to his mother or ignore it. For my clients, the house, family vacations, the car the kid drives, the insurance and gasoline, the allowance, skis, new clothes, etc., even if the parents aren't paying tuition (and they usually are paying tuition and rent the kid's apartment and...) almost always means the student is not paying over 50% of his own support. But, when I'm in doubt or one of the parties is, we fill out the worksheet.

Amen to that! If I hit that lottery I would definitely hire someone else to do my returns. Let them have all the fun they can stand. Heck I might turn into a day trader. Imagine the fun with that!! Had a client today that would rather pay the penalty. What can you say? I gave them all of the information available to me regarding the penalties next year and so on. So... let them choose. Not my job to sell insurance or force them to be compliant to some ridiculous pile of crap like the ACA.

If I hit that 500m lottery, I sure as heck won't be worrying about clients, the ACA, or repair regs and the 3115 ever again. Maybe I'd even hire someone else to prepare my returns.

You have to determine the support issue. In the Pub 501 there is a worksheet to determine the dependent's support. If I am thinking correctly, college tuition can be a factor if paid out of pocket. But.... grants and scholarships negate that part of it. Don't forget the possibility of the AOC. Here is what totally baffles me. I had to pay for my education due to income limitations. Granted this was back when rocks were invented, but I was refused a grant once when I was unemployed, had to move back home, and my retired father made too much income on his pension. Now, Mr. #$@%^Obama wants to give everyone a free education at any community college. I attended community college once too and had to pay for that as well. Rant over

It doesn't help when people are being bombarded by TV commercials showing tax preparers shoving pallets of money out the back of airplanes & floating down into their living rooms. It feeds their perception of the "handout" mentality surrounding the free money concept of tax refunds.

I only wear it to take the dogs out when it's super cold and never drive in it. I like to drive with lighter clothing on anyway, and I can feel the seat heater on my back better. Definitely a first world problem. lol

Agree with that. We do our job, if clients do not do what is required and "choose" the penalty, we can not force them NOR should we have to.

The high here on Sunday is forecast to be -2; the low -15 with -35 degree wind chills. Come on man!!!!! Oh well - the springs, summer and fall here make these days tolerable. I can almost hear the hum of the mower in my ears with the sun on the back of my neck. The sign at the end of my driveway when you turn on to my property reads "A gift from God". The sign over my front door (on the inside) says "Heaven is a little closer on the porch". That pretty much sums it up. I feel warmer already! Come on winter - give it your best shot!

It was cold and windy here last night. Lows tonight and the next few are to be 11, 4, 0, and 6. High wind advisory in effect until Sun 2pm with winds 25-35, gusting up to 60 mph and that may cause power outages. I'm getting out the big poofy coat that makes me look like the michelin man, or the little brother Randy in the movie "The Christmas Story" that fell down in his snowsuit and wasn't bendable enough to get back up. Yep, that will be me.

The attached is part of our roof AFTER my husband got about of foot of snow off of it. The windows you see, if I stand next to them outside, have the bottom of the frame about at my shoulder level. The bluish-toned photo is from BEFORE.

Jim, Thanks for the info. So the process is exactly what I had to do with 2013. Go to the 2014 Admin Console, Start the Servers, Wait a minute, Start ATX 2014 ( takes about a minute) Other than this annoyance, no other problems. As far as I am concerned the program is running better than it has since 2010.

I don't really try that hard not to judge, I admit. I would NEVER go to pick up my professionally prepared tax return without a check or cash for the diligent, overworked, preparer like two of mine have done today. These are not new clients, either. There is just an abundance of thoughtlessness these days. And, I'm being generous. On a happier note, another one picking up was delighted that the refund was only $3. He's a smart cookie and plans well.

Frikkin' Unbelievable Nonsense FUN Tom Newark, CA

I just finished with single client 70k AGI without health insurance. Penalty came out 1% to $643 and when I asked him about this, he said, if I buy insurance, cost me 4000k so just pay penalty and still coming out ahead. Every case this year is FUN!!!!!!!!!