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We just want you to be completely happy and pleased with our donations. We all understand the costs of running a business and the behind the scenes costs as well. All of us appreciate when we get quality professional service, and that is definitely what we are receiving from you.

I don't charge more, because there is no such thing as "late in the season" for me. I use extensions to take Apr 15 off the table as a meaningful date, so there's no need to treat returns coming in now any differently than those that came in back in Feb. They drop the info off, I give them an extension, and we move on. Since this effectively increases the number of returns I can file, and take the pressure off me, I see no reason to charge them more. An hour of my time in March or April is the same value as an hour of my time in May, June, or July as far as I'm concerned.

Guy called me Friday the 5th, can I drop off Saturday the 6th, no, please wait till next week. He drops off Saturday the 6th. I refrain from killing him because I knew he would do that, and my daughter is here in the office studying. And I love her and don't want her to see a dead body until she gets out of grad school. He comes in with another form Wednes the 23rd. No, I hadn't done the return. I know better with him. That's right, you better say my hair looks nice. That's right, you better come to a rolling stop as you lay that gently on my desk and turn around and don't let that door hit...

It's Started...........

Eric, If people want to donate twice, please don't issue any refunds. Let them sleep well knowing that they have donated to a site that helps them from time to time. Thank you for you hard work.

Thanks for explaining that, Eric. We appreciate everything you've done and continue to do for us, and we want to make sure you are taken care of also.

Google tells me I may be Alice Dilbert. Fist of Death. Nice.

Rita, is your real name Alice? And do you know someone named Dilbert?

Today I felt bad for a client who gave me all the detail documents to support all of their charitable contributions. Included were several "donations" to an organization holding a carwash, the other was for a sub sale. So what do I do? I carefully deduct the value of the car wash and the sub from each of the donations. I felt like Ebinizer Scrooge. The next client that I work on, had a business with over $30,000 of office supplies and expense. I inquired if there were any significant purchases, and also asked him to groom through his records in case something was misclassified. His answer: "No big purchases, all good." Sometimes I feel sorry for the clients who bring in all their receipts and details.

From Pub 970: "To determine if total distributions for the year are more or less than the amount of qualified education expenses, you must compare the total of all QTP distributions for the tax year to the adjusted qualified education expenses." There is no requirement to pay these expenses in the same year - only that the same expenses cannot be used for other education benefits. (Bolding is mine)

Me too. This site helps me in many, many ways, including helping me to not lose my sanity. Thank you. Terry

No, but I no longer prepare last minute returns.

Not because of the date alone, but I do find that I charge more for can't get it together the later they are at can't get it together. I think that's more a function of Rita wearing on. I, too, love extensions, and never fuss at people for coming in too late for me to get their return done by April 15th. I just keep cool (well, I pretend to keep cool), and say, "Hey, thanks for bringing it in, I'll have to get you an extension, just like I get myself one, and I'll get to it as soon as I can." I go back to normal hours on April 15th and get to it when I get to it. Happy for the work. I also do not have a deadline for dropping off, because I'd feel obligated to get those returns done. I feel like that is fair. And clients do, too. Trust me, they do. If I give you a deadline, I'm imposing one on myself. Prefer to be laid back about it. There is never a time from last week of January on that I am caught up. It would be worse if I had more drop offs because of a deadline I set. I already can't get done by April 15th. And, that's just fine, because April 15 means nothing with automatic extensions.

This on youtube looks like SO much fun -- and so pretty, too! Easter Eggs - super pretty

If someone is absolutely determined to file by 4/15 and I have to bump them out of the regular queue, I charge a "rush" fee (or something similarly named) and tell them specifically it is because other people must wait so that I can complete their return. Hopefully teaches them something plus reimburses me slightly if there are folks I then have to contact who expected to be finished. But normally - nope. I *love* extensions as I cannot see the point in killing myself to finish a return by a deadline when the client got me papers late.

One of these days, the IRS will catch on, that as long as income and withholding statements are not verified BEFORE issuing refunds, there will be fraud. I don't for the life of me, understand this "pay now, ask questions later" mentality of the government. Give employers until the end of January to file W2s, give the IRS until the end of Feb to verify them, and start filing returns in March. Can you imagine the fraud that would be put to bed if they did this simple thing?

..........and maybe a generator.

Time to get out the heavy equipment. Bigger coffee mug, industrial pencil sharpener, heavier paper clips, and those big pocket folders. Extra strength Tylenol wouldn't hurt either.

Let the 1041 preparer prepare the 1040. Back off. Too many red flags and concerns.

Thank you!

Thot I'd followup on this from forever ago. As I mentioned in my OP, I made the jump to Drake last May. Garsh, I wish I'd done this years ago. Sure there have been a few learning glitches but now that I have the hang of it I'm finding that my prep time is about 50-60% what it was previously with ATX. Further, the software has worked flawlessly. Both the last two years I ran into a serious bug that ATX software engineers took two days to figure out. Get this. On Feb 27 I got an e-mail from someone at CCH offering me 2 years for the price of 1 if I'd come back to TaxWise. I've never used TaxWise! I did use ATX (and its predecessor) for more than 20 years. On Feb 27. I guess they thought I was waiting for mid-March to start preparing returns.

You could just enter the loan interest on the 1099-Int entry. You don't have to enter a Federal ID number. That way you're not overriding, and also not saying you financed a mortgage, which did not happen. I think what you did, override line 8 on page 1, will be fine, too. I do it a lot.

I *think* you attach the POA to an 8453 and send it to IRS. Everything else is done like any other e-file.

IRS Dragon small business card dragon (mine has blue crystal eyes)

Great to know you are both out there, one of the features that makes this place special. While I only do a handful of simple S Corps where something might come up, may I offer in return that I can fix your watch or bicycle, and cook you a 5 alarm chili.

New client never heard of deducting medical insurance premiums on Sch A. I questioned this during the review of their 2014 return. No medical expense deductions and the cost of their insurance premiums exceed the 10% floor. 2015 expenses are even higher previous preparer didn't tell them this. So they say. These folks have rental property and don't know what a depreciation schedule is. Depreciation shows on Sch E on 2014 return but they don't know what it is being depreciated. Previous preparer did not provide the depreciation schedule and there is no form 4562 in their return. Next one, guy comes into my office with a handwritten 2014 return that he prepared himself. Took the wrong education credit and screwed himself out of about 1500.00. Has a kid in school first year so AOC. He leaves happy and I have a 2014 return to amend. All good so far. Same guy calls and says he is preparing return for a friend and doesn't understand the ACA and where or how to input the information (hand written paper return again). I blow him out of the water with all the different ACA calculations, form 8965, 8962 and the formula for determining affordability using the poverty level calculation. Of course, the went through it quick and technical. He says "I think I'm in over my head". Me - Yep you are fixing to blow another hole in your foot. Now he wants to pay me to get his butt out of a jamb with his friend. Yes, I will charge accordingly. But the nerve of some people! (This is a good place for the head banger emoticon)

I have. An extra $175 above your regular invoice if you want to drop it off after April 1st, and have it done by April 15th. I set up appointments for everyone before April 1st. If they miss it, they pay. My time is MUCH more valuable before April 15th. I file as many extensions as I can, but they pay if they do not want to extend.... Rich

Wow. I have really long hair, and I regularly send a 12 inch bunch to an organization that makes wigs for children. I have a tax practice, so I think about deductions often, and it never even occurred to me to consider deducting the cost of the haircut. Eeegads.

Please, do not try to cover my entire hosting bill, that's crazy. This site uses 10-12% of the server's CPU, and a smaller fraction of the bandwidth/RAM/disk space. It's not the only website on my server--it shares resources with a couple dozen other websites that I'm paid to host and maintain. I'm coming out ahead, and this forum pays for the resources it uses and then some. If anyone donates twice, I'll issue a refund.

I agree with Gail. From the last section on this page at IRS site it says: Signing a joint return when spouse is not available If your spouse is serving in a combat zone and you do not have power of attorney, you can still create a self-select PIN for your spouse and e-file the return. After e-filing your return, just submit a signed statement explaining your situation with Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return, and mail according to the instructions. If you have power of attorney for a military spouse or anyone who must file a tax return, you can use the self-selection PIN method to sign their return. You must also attach the power of attorney to Form 8453 and mail both to the IRS. Again, you should follow the mailing instructions on Form 8453. Form 8453 can be used to submit any required paper documents in support of your tax return.

I understand. Recall the $53 haircut issue I recently raised. Client cut her hair and rather than leaving it on the floor to be swept away, gave it to an organization for wigs. She had a definite benefit and would have cut her hair anyway. Group consensus was to let it go. I still feel a bit uneasy, though.

Awwww I remember how fun it was to color eggs! Does it still smell like vinegar?

but that means that Social Security would not get the information first, then you have a big agency fight. file with both making all W2 efile

Thank you Eric. This is the only forum that I follow on the internet. I really appreciate those who contribute, and the way that you and the moderators keep the site professional (and fun). I love "Laugh of the Day." I also have found important answers to issues that come across my desk--usually at just the right moment. So now I have just contributed my two-cents, and $$! Keep up the great work.

With Easter around the corner maybe a day off to rest for the final push. My kids want to know when we color eggs. A tradition in our family along with a sitdown Easter dinner. Dang now I hungry again.

I too think that Eric should have at least his hosting bill covered. Eric can you tell us and if we ALL shared in some respect of it, upgrades and improvements would not be as harsh on the pocketbook. Thanks Eric for a fine job.

Do you have a transaction history for the student? Even though they only paid 9K, they could still have incurred more than that as QEE. Room and board can be used as QEE for a 529 also.

My filing instructions state, "If after three weeks you have not received your refund, you may contact the IRS at 1-800-829-4477." And, I highlight it in yellow along with the amount. I still get calls. But, I like to think fewer calls.

I send clients the link to the "where's My Refund" from MY web site - hoping they look there first, next time. A vain hope, I know.

You yell at your clients right up front?

I just turned 70 Sunday and, frankly, prefer to be considered a woman. Kind of a respect thing to me... Meanwhile, good for you for continuing to practice your profession. That is inspiration. I am training for a marathon now, ran 18 miles last Saturday with 20 this coming Saturday. I do hope to inspire women and girls alike.

Any female younger than me is a girl. I'll be 80 next month.

Yeah, we know. We know how to handle it. You've seen the letters in the software. We also have clients who cannot read. Why are we yelling? Feb 19 is more than three weeks ago. So is Feb 29. So, if these were your clients, they'd be allowed to call you. And you could yell at them.

I happen to have a broken bicycle and chili is always a good idea

I would say it is far higher.

Here you go.

Jack, Part III of Form 8965 seems to indicate a person can get an exemption without going to the Marketplace. Part I seems to be for Marketplace granted exemptions. My original post doesn't apply for my client but it seems an exemption could apply to some without going to the Marketplace.

Just figured it out. You have to enter "ND" for property type.