Leaderboard

Wow, I have put three kids thru post secondary school (one in graduate school now) on less than these two make. We have no debt to repay. Yeah, we eat beans and rice, rice and beans, and drive twelve year old vehicles. I can't get my head around $400,000 in student loan debt. There is something wrong when you think it's a good investment to pay $400K (plus the interest will probably be another $400K if you don't get moving on it) for a degree. If I were guessing, I'd say the loans went toward excessive living it up fees. You're right, they better step up the payments as soon as possible. And they owe the money, they need to pay back the money. I don't understand the apparent confusion with so many these days, thinking loan debt is some burden put on them by society. No, you did that to yourself. Pay what you owe. In the long run, reducing the payments just prolongs and intensifies the agony. People don't understand it, do they?

I'm on 2 other forums and rarely post there. When I'm on the internet, I leave a tab open to this site and pop in periodically throughout the day when I need a break between returns or when I'm frustrated. It helps to know others have similar struggles and successes that I'm going through.

Also, I do not use ATX anymore, but this is my virtual water cooler. Really smart colleagues. And, really nice, sharing, generous, funny colleagues.

I recreated your scenario while watching the Big Bang Theory last night (thinking it would make me smarter) and I got the same result, could not get it back to 1 even after I deleted the record from worksheet A. Went to bed and I think it came to me in a dream "remove the spouse's DOB". Sure enough, that did it this morning. Thanks for the tax dream. Can't wait until after tax season so I could get back to dreaming about riding in a Corvette convertible touring the wine country in Napa Valley.

I came to this board in 2013 but rarely posted as I thought I was busy enough on the official board keeping up. I have recently found something here that is different, still the same knowledge and expertise but an informality that addresses all the other nuances of this business we are all thinking, experiencing, and wondering, can we be alone? Not here, this is like therapy for tax professionals, helping each other, the comedy, and the best part, the nice people....priceless! Thanks, Bill

You were correct in your theory, they will be getting a form update out to fix the error you identified, but after the deadline. BTW, I'll never forget how you eased my concern when I thought I made a mistake on an EIC return. Had a tax nightmare seeing a $500 penalty. Yes, this is a great online office. Enjoy today, sounds like you'll be having a great day!

You and Kristin are geniuses! I can't get on Official Forum from home computer because I'm not smart enough to write down my password. I wanted to get on there and tell her my theory (which was wrong), but couldn't. Thank you so much, Bill, for looking into a problem that wasn't yours. I love my online office It's a beautiful morning here. I'm not looking at taxes, and after church and lunch, my daughter and soon-to-be daughter and I are watching my boys play church league basketball. I am a happy girl.

To everyone whose clients got IRS letters (and/or state letters), I think this means the new identity theft filters are working. We have had two clients get these letters from IRS this season, and in both cases a return had already been filed and IRS suspected something and was writing to verify. Neither taxpayer had filed yet, so those filters did what they were designed to do. The clients called IRS and had some difficulty proving they were the real taxpayer, but then were treated like royalty--thanked profusely for saving the agency so much work and given instructions on how to file their returns. Apparently the thieves, who are mostly organized international criminal gangs at this point and have loads of manpower and money, actually file fake W2s before they file the fake return. IRS has to go to employers to verify that so-and-so is really on the payroll, cross check state records for dependents, etc.--time consuming research. It is not very clear in the letters that another return was filed, just a sentence buried somewhere that if they didn't file yet to call or write. If your clients already filed, realize that the IRS letter was likely generated a few weeks ago so the letter is questioning the first return they received. (The real return was accepted because the account had been put in limbo.) While it may be a nuisance for your clients, it is saving all taxpayers bundles of money that would have been sent to thieves. Beats last year when one of our clients who hadn't filed yet got a letter from IRS saying that they were adjusting his refund by $160k because he'd neglected to record his estimated payments. Did they really think anyone would forget they paid in $160k?

Same here. I bailed out of ATX early in the 2012 meltdown, discovered Drake (thank God), and have never looked back. But I still like this forum, both for the camaraderie and for the total independence from meddling by any vendor.

I'm the red-headed step child using TW, and I LOVE this forum! Thanks, Rita, for inviting me!

And of course you're not offended by this, and are getting a good laugh out of it. I am.

Just can't go a year without giving him a shout out. Jainen, if you're lurking, hello and all the best to you!

Not yet, but getting there.

Not much else infuriates my spirit like that comment from my clients. Not much else.

I agree Rita. Doesn't make sense to me. I have a couple of local university profs who recently came in with their new Phd and a mountain of student loan debt. Whew.

Tom, this'll get you partway to TN. Rita, will this help us Northerners?

There are NO experts on ACA!! Only us tax professionals who have tried to learn about that extremely destructive, flawed and ridiculous set of INSURANCE laws. The IRS keeps changing the dates and rules about us enforcing that INSURANCE laws such that there cannot be any EXPERTS (not even in the government) on ACA.

Interesting. Thanks for the perspective. Guess I need to be on the lookout for something like this. Right after I become an expert on ACA.

If they actually put tax cheats in jail, the entire company of Intuit would be there...

Darn good thing your client hasn't seen the commercial with Anthony Davis where you get half off . It's right up there with touch a button on your smart phone and your return is done for free.LOL

I'm not even slightly offended (although maybe I should be). You're right - I'm getting an incredible, much-needed laugh!

I know you meant to say 'excluding jasdlm, who is top notch, always' and brings a breath of fresh air to the legal profession!

Whew! Now I can live without that fear hanging over my head.

I tried that exactly once. It was a lawyer -- who bills as much per HOUR as my entire fee was -- and he paid half. I did not invite him back the next year and frankly if he offered $1,000 per return going forward I wouldn't take him back. The level of disrespect shown to another professional was astounding.

Client dropped off a $20 off Tax Preparation coupon from H&R Block with his tax 'bits'. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take that, but I think a $20 fee increase is in order .

I don't strive to be the cheapest, I strive to be the best! Although, I am very often the cheapest...

That would be the reason for the S election, not a C. It will increase his basis. If he needs to retain the money in the business, he can distribute only enough to cover the tax, 'retaining' the rest. He's in good shape having profit and not losses.

Just saw that Kristin did the same, that should complete your having a good weekend.

I first heard of the MFS student loan thing when one of my newly married couples came back to me to change to MFS because of the student loan marriage penalty. One spouse is just out of school, so not so great salary yet. The other makes a decent, but not outrageous salary. They pay a little bit more in tax MFS (and under community property the salaries are split in half, not like the example above. But the loan payments are much lower, and as a young couple starting out and trying to buy a house - and house prices here are going through the roof again...for a few years the loan payment makes life a little bit easier. But it I'm doing more MFS this year than in my whole time as a tax pro.

I have only acknowledged that the actual filing date is April 18 to those who have found out for themselves. For every other person I talk to, due date is April 15. Then on Friday, April 15 I can be a giant hero by... "...I have a connection that can allow me to get this in on time for you. However, there will be extra cost..."

$40 fee increase. Then very graciously honor the $20 off Tax Preparation coupon. Win-win.

And KC, and my pal Wendy.... those who prove the case by the exceptions!

Oh, I love when my couple who's been adding huge amounts to their withholding for years, due to those situations with all the phaseouts and extra taxes to fund Obamacare, finally get a big refund once in a while. I was thinking about the thief that stole my identity and made up a bunch of dependents and got every credit imaginable that all of us paid for with our honest tax dollars.

Just don't run toward her backyard.

Rita, if I ever meet you and you try to hug me, please don't be offended if I politely decline. Or even if I run the other way screaming "Somebody save me!"

Never. Not my Tom. Or any of my tax buddies here. You get real hugs not designed to measure for graves.

I know. I listened to my attorney and his attorney friend discussing which accountant they could hire for cheap to prepare exhibits for court. While he is charging me huge fees, he is talking about trying to find a cheap accountant. Hello? We already charge less than you, and that's if you invoice in human hours, not dog hours, which is what I suspect you do. Anyhow, he says to other lawyer, the guy I've been using is good, but he's not as good as she is (pointing to me). I wasn't smug at all. And I hugged him. And I meant it. I really did.

But NOT the back yard kind of hug!

Damn, I just did an MFS/MFJ worksheet because this couple keeps income separate and they want to see how much of the tax is generated by each. So all of a sudden, MFS is lower by a substantial amount. Think it might have something to do with the AMT fix that through for 2014. MFS requires so much more work in ATX. And I was about to shove this one off my desk. I'm doing several MFS already because of student loan repayment schedules and high medical....more than I've done in all my years of doing tax. Argh! I just want to get the damn things done at this point! Why do I have to be frikkin meticulous at this point!

This is the situation with one of mine. He was/is furious, went into the Knoxville office to inquire as to why his refund was held up. Mentioned that his kickass preparer thought it might be the large SS withholdings. Refund is 14,492. IRS agent says, "Nah, people have big refunds all the time, it's probably preparer error. You were mailed a letter on March 23 explaining but I don't know what the letter said." Well, the next morning the agent called him and said, "It appears to be the large SS withholdings... my supervisor will be calling you..." 1) Probably preparer error??????? 2) Communicate with SSA already. C'mon. 3) Client has not received any letter. I guess that's preparer error, too.

First weekend of August in TN, I think. They did it to coincide with our PITA 127 Yard Sale From Hell. Hwy 127 is inundated with vendors selling inventory under the guise of a big yard sale. Some businesses complained that this is a giant outdoor retail thing and they're not collecting sales tax, how can I compete? And I don't blame them one bit. Sure, there are a lot of actual yard sellers, but it's out of control, and I have to drive 15 miles thru it to get to work. Which is the main reason it should go away. Sorry. I may or may not have elaborated unnecessarily there.

Yes, you are welcome here, too, Bill! Catherine, all, y'all. And can you imagine the fun we'd have if we on this board were in the same office???

It's a Tennessee thang, too. We'll help you, Tom. We've seen yer kind.

Whatever amount he stiffed you for was well worth the investment. If he cheated you out of $500, you learned enough about his lack of character to insure that he would never have a chance to cheat you out of $5,000 (which he probably would do if given the chance). That's valuable information to have about anyone with whom you might be doing business in the future. Some people are are so insecure that they simply MUST get things over on others, usuallly as a way to validate their own self-worth. Best to identify them early in the relationship and steer clear of them forever afterward.

This is beautiful. Day made. I could hug you, Tom.

Happy that it came out well, Terry. That makes it just a tiny bit better for them. It's really horrible when the outcome is that the IRS in effect 'piles on' with more taxes due. I just finished helping one of my sons with his return. Guess this old lady still has some value, he was going to do his own this year, for the first time ever. called me to review it, because he owed so much. So I logged in to it with his password, and got to work. He had done a pretty fair job, but I still reduced his final amount owed by 4K. So I'm feeling pretty good about that.

http://www.tax.virginia.gov/content/military-tax-tips Members of the armed forces on active duty are taxed on their military pay only by their legal states of residence (home of record). If your legal state of residence was Virginia when you entered the armed forces, and you have not legally changed your residency to another state, you are still a Virginia resident, although you may be stationed elsewhere. Report all of your income on your Virginia return, Form 760, whether it was received from within or outside of Virginia. If your spouse is also a Virginia resident, you should file a joint return, using Filing Status 2.

Little old man who rents and has SS with the exact same w/h as years past. Called a week or two ago that he hadn't received his refund in a month; Where's My Refund says Processing. Today calls with an IRS letter demanding he send them his W-2s, 1099-Rs, W-2Gs, etc. The only one he has had for years is 1099-SSA. The numbers on the letter match the return exactly. Don't you think the IRS has access to the 1099-SSA? Wife and son passed away years ago, sold house years ago, moved into a retirement community (rents) years ago, same SS w/h for years, same refund for years. Spend your time chasing the crooks or at least looking at returns with a big change to make sure they're right.

I agree with your rant. It should be trivial - and mandatory - to hold a return for investigation when the name and ssn do NOT match last year's data. Even if name and ssn match but address has changed - might be worth a peek. But to do NOTHING about egregious differences and then hold a refund for folks with the same demographic info for years running is just a bone-STUPID waste of resources. And the time taken investigating this means dozens of frauds WILL go through because the investigators are busy doing things that should not be done.

I was going to say "How quickly we forget. A few years ago, we were complaining that efile was been forced on us and now we get unhappy when we have to paper file". Believe me, I know your pain because even before it was mandatory, I efiled. I love efile because if for some reason a social security number or last name is wrong, I get the rejection within hours instead of my client receiving a letter 2 months later when paper filed. I remember JohnH for two things: Efiling and pdf printer. AND other favors of course. Here is my rant. DC gov is worried about Identity theft and they are now sending letters to people asking them to verify their identity. Good move, right? Except that I have prepared taxes for 10 years for married couple. They have a house and for the last 10 years they have the same job, the same situation (DC portion) about the same refund, used the same tax preparer and the preparer the efile code and the tax payers have used the same efile codes, no change of addresses in the last 10 years and yet DC has ask them to verify their identity. DC started by asking for W-2, then to pass a quiz, then to bring their ID to their offices. Federal refunded 45 days ago and DC no yet. What a waste of resources. MD on the other hand is using computers smartly. They closed a lot of Liberty Tax offices because they compared returns and other items and found out that those offices were not complying. Back to work!