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My door is glass so I had one installed thru the wall. Yes, that's a metal trash can to catch the records.

ATX is a very high quality tax software program for an EXPERIENCED tax return preparer. The CPA designation does NOT indicate such experience. I am seeing statements and questions in your posts that indicate very light experience in preparing personal tax returns. As an E.A., my studies and testing were 500% more about tax and preparation than the CPA exam. Your statement is demeaning and condescending. I would have handled the situation you described in less than 5 minutes by knowing how the return is supposed to be prepared and when it is correct, and making sure the numbers flow and are entered appropriately. For the record, I live in Ohio (check the name) and do about 5 DE returns a year. Never have had any issues with multi-state.

Food for thought

Catherine....One of em.

Almost the same here. The book is on my desk and the disk has been filed. I downloaded the program last week and installed it. The packaging of the disk is getting cheaper and cheaper every year - but that does not bother me. I have yet to be able to prepare a return with the packaging.

Yes, I've mentioned this myself before but Eric said something about issues with trying to minimize all that space on top. And maybe the locked topics could be a link or some other way to access without taking up all that space. Of course one of my personal problems is that I have to have the display on the screen large enough to read. If I reduced it to, oh, 75%, then I could see new topics listed but couldn't read them. Even with my new eyes

Elrod's picture reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes snowmen pictures.

LOL

Well, Peter, if I may speak for everyone here, you insulted almost all of us in one way or another. First, you insulted EAs directly. Second, you insulted the ATX program that almost everyone here uses successfully and has done so for many years, and most here really enjoy the program and its features. Third, you insulted all of the CPAs saying we are all anal and thereby also insulting anyone else that isn't a CPA by implying that non-CPAs aren't sticklers for detail or that their professional designations were somehow easier to obtain. Then, you insulted me indirectly by not listening to my posts where I basically hand held you through the mechanics and some theory related to Delaware nonresident returns until I gave you some of my background. And now lastly, you've insulted all small firm owners as being "greedy" and making you "bend over backwards." After I gave you the first answers and a link to the instructions, you should have gone back and used that to learn about the form and where you were going wrong in your preparation, and not continued on in an argumentative tone about what should be included on the return. Also, I have to say that firm owners or supervisors in tax prep firms, whether they are CPA or EA firms, are not able to devote this level of hand holding to each individual member of staff, especially when things heat up and the season gets rolling. I know because I did the hiring for the firm I worked for, was the supervisor that had to keep work flowing and help the underlings, and did about 85% of the review of products before they were finalized. Our group here is comprised of mostly very knowledgeable and well-seasoned tax professionals that don't feel the need to put out all their credentials in their usernames or signatures, and we all give freely of our valuable time to help each other. I'd also venture to say that most of us are also the firm owners, a mix of solo preparers and those with employees.

Jack is correct in his statement that ATX is a quality product in the right preparer's hands. Each of the programs the OP mentioned would be able to do this return in question, but each tax preparer must still know the rules and proper reporting of the items on the returns, and should never rely solely on any piece of software to produce a result without knowing when inclusion or exclusion of an item is proper. Relying on any software without knowing what's right or wrong is a crutch to be avoided and will only lead to errors on returns. Knowledge and experience are equally or more important than the amount of professional credentials or letters one can list after his name. Still, we all were newbies at one point and had to start from there. I don't care if it's EA, CPA, RTRP, or whatever...I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly, the unethical, and the incompetent preparers in each of those designations. Over the years I've also seen some bad professionals that must have been good at test-taking, but they surely couldn't apply what they learned. I've also seen CPAs with MSTs that were excellent and specialized only in the tax area, and other CPAs that worked in audit that couldn't even do the most basic of returns. I don't think we should make blanket statements about what CPAs can or cannot do, or EAs for that matter, because I've seen the work of some unethical EAs too, so I think we should look at what experience each person brings to the table and go from there. Thanks, off my soapbox now.

Excuse me Peter, but I take that as a slight. As an EA, I dedicated the same two days of my life to an exam (8AM to 4:30PM), had the four parts scored on the same type of weird scale (1/3 or whatever pass), and have to take the same continuing education (24 hours required by the IRS, 30 by the professional associations; you might have to take more). The exam has changed some since I took it, but it's still a bear that requires months of study. Unlike a CPA, all four parts of my exam were devoted to tax. Only one of your was. Also unlike a CPA, I am licensed to practice in all 50 states; you can probably practice in one. I work at a CPA firm. One CPA gives us most of his tax work to do. The other does his own tax work but gives me his tough situations, the ones that require legal research or considerable knowledge that takes time and patience to learn and apply. The CPAs do audit work that I cannot, but that has to do with training and education, not software. By the same token, they give me their tax work that they cannot or choose not to handle because of my training and education. I'm glad I work for them and not you. How can you imply that a software program that doesn't seem to handle multistate issues is "okay" for anyone who does serious taxes? I guess you don't think EAs do serious taxes. You are an accountant who also does taxes. EAs are tax professionals who also do some accounting.

Between the huge graphics and white space and the pinned posts, I have to scroll down just to see new posts. I know, I know, #firstworldproblems, but still.

No it doesn't. It would be the same number of clicks to view them in a different forum. I never use most of the pinned posts anyway, so their just taking up screen space.

I finally got it sorted out. Their website was no help at all. Thanks for you help...now on to the ATX program. Ran into errors. but only getting started on sorting it out. Have a great day!

Unused business use of home expenses are lost, except for mortgage interest and real estate taxes which are always allowed.

I don't think that you can take business use of the home expenses in excess of the net profit of the business. The rest is a carry-forward.

I have a really nice free-standing white mailbox that locks and has a slot to drop things off and a clip inside a closed door to leave things. Even has a red flag that they can put up to alert me that they have dropped something off. I got mine at Menards and my carpenter mounted it alongside the step leading into my home office. My handicapped people can get close enough to it with the car if they have to. Must be going on at least four years now and we love it. The generous slot is also inside of the closed drop-down door. Measures about 10" by 12".

I got a locking USPS mailbox and installed it on the wall outside my office. Installation access is from inside the open box, so once it is closed and locked it is a secure as the fastenings.

I had a carpenter client who installed a large mail slot in my front door. One of the best things I've done! I do remember the hand-built mailbox you remember, so think that preparer will jump in with his details.

I guess that all of the above is the reason why I purchase the All States handbook every three years. Wisconsin has enough reporting peculiarities of its own to merit assuming that other states do as well. And so our season begins!!!

This is great for some clients but not for others. I think I will ask some of my "younger" businesses to write accounting procedures that say they will expense items costing $500 or less, thus allowing them to use the "old" new rules. Newer businesses might not need to expense those higher amounts because their taxes are low anyway and may hurt themselves in later years when income rises and they don't have much to depreciate. As for keeping a separate schedule for property assessor reports, I know what's right and what's too much of a pain in the ..... I echo jmdaviscpa: " LOL." But I do follow the IRC to the letter.

John, while all of that is true, Drake is far less intuitive and may not be the best choice for this new preparer. That brings up the issue again on placing too much reliance on the software as a crutch though, but it is up to him to choose what best suits his methods and needs.

I am a CPA that has used ATX for 16 years and feel that ATX prepares correct returns for my clients. I prepare returns for many different states and they all are handled differently. You have to read the instructions to make sure that the return is prepared correctly. The state rules often change every year, just like federal taxes. You are able to override many lines by right clicking on the entry and selecting override. I am careful when I do that, because many times, the program is smarter than I am. There are way more expensive programs that will streamline more items and Drake is reasonable with great customer service. By using this website or the ATX website, you can get help from many knowledgeable tax professionals. ATX monitors their website and will help as much as possible.

ATX produces a schedule of the Federal AGI with a total column for Federal and will show the breakdown by TP and SP. If only you work in DE and your wife has no DE income, then only the person with DE income needs to file a DE return, but the DE return, page 2, col 1 must income ALL of that one person's Federal income. Col 2 will report the DE-source income that will be used to calc the proration % on page 1. I can tell you almost with certainty that if the person has worked all year in DE with decent income, then it will almost always be beneficial to file the DE return on a MFS basis because of the graduated rates. Even for residents, this is true, and the only returns I have where it is not beneficial is where one of the person's in the couple has low enough income that the gross tax for that individual is less than the exemptions and other credits where some of that tax benefit of the exemptions is lost by filing MFS. In those cases, the joint calcs must be run to see if the loss of tax benes still outweighs not subjecting the taxpayers to the higher rates in the higher brackets that might result from choosing to file joint.

Congrats on becoming a CPA. Again, I can't say why Pro-fx did that, but I'm surprised the partner said it was OK or that DE didn't send a notice. If both you and your wife have DE income, the col 1 of the 2 returns should definitely add up and agree with the Federal income. Perhaps you got lucky and it fell under the radar, but I wouldn't be comfortable filing the return as you described and you may yet receive a notice. BTW, I've worked solely in public accounting since 1981 and have been a DE CPA for over 30 years, if that means anything to you. One cannot rely SOLELY on any program for proper reporting. If the input isn't exactly correct, any program could spew out incorrect reporting. The preparer still has to know that the resulting output is correct. You'll have to read the instructions I linked to and decide how the income should have been reported.

Peter, the Delaware 200-02, page 2, col 1 (the left-hand col) should report ALL income shown on the federal return for that individual if MFS, or all Federal income for both people if filing DE on a joint basis. Column 2 on page 2 is where the DE sourced income is shown. Delaware changed this years ago to include all of the income and all of the deduction and exemptions on a total basis based on the Federal income in col 1. From there the DE tax is calculated on the total of all income, no matter what state it is from. Only then is the proration calculated for the DE sourced income reported in col 2 as a % compared to the total, and that % is then applied to the tax. In that way, the income has the potential to be taxed at a higher rate because of the graduated brackets that DE uses. I can't answer why Pro-System handled it differently, but you should look at the instructions for 200-02 to see that the correct handling is as I've described above. I am a Delaware CPA.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here. I'm very thankful to know each and every one of you and to be a part of this wonderful group.