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Let's see, your rental house is supposed to disappear from your tax return, with no trace, and magically show up on your adult son's tax return? We told you we can't do that. The email she sent back said the wrong thing "as I said, my son will be claiming the rental house this year on his taxes". My response..."We will not play those games and we will not be preparing your taxes. If your new preparer needs anything, like the basis of the rental home that was on your tax return last year, we would be happy to provide it. Best of luck to you." It makes me feel a little bad that she only has a couple of days to find a new preparer and put her story together in a way that they will buy it. Tom Newark, CA

I've had a couple this week. They avoid CPAs (too pricey) and shop the small independents (like me) for the cheapest rate. It's almost a pattern; they call for an "appointment" (I take everybody as a walk-in) and are disappointed when I say so (their stuff is very "important"). But they ask anyway how much for, like "a small farm rent and one or two W-2s" (to them, everything, including 1099s is a "W-2"). So I, always looking to drag in new blood (it's getting scarce), will quote maybe $225 or so to get 'em in the office (while I detest "up-selling", I'm willing to compromise to a certain extent for the greater gain). Later in the afternoon, a spiffy crew-cab pulls up in front of the office and I can see him/her sifting through their papers. The longer it takes them to exit the car, the problems grow exponentially. Then they deposit either a cardboard box or accordion file on my desk. This last guy with the "small farm and a W-2" DID have a small farm rental, but he also had 14 separate 1099s, one a non-farm box 7 requiring at least a C-EZ, and including a Morgan-Stanley 1099-B listing 19 individual stock sales (no, all basis was NOT reported to IRS, and an 8949 WOULD be required rather than lumping everything as totals on a long and short "D"). Mercifully, this ended quickly when, still-undershooting, I told him it was at least $500 and he quickly stuffed everything back in the box saying "Oh, I can't afford anything like that." This, as he tucks away his 1099-INT of $3,800 or so and a 5498 listing $160K. When he leaves, I ask myself why did I bother since you can almost smell 'em when they call.

If the client picks up my work, they pay me before they leave the office. If the client picks up their paperwork to have it done someplace else, they don't pay me, but they also don't leave with one syllable of my work. It's not worth the hassle to try to collect. If they want to go elsewhere, be done and carry on. You don't want that client, and you don't want ill will.

I have an EA, as well as a bachelor's in accounting. I have a woman working for me who just passed the EA exam, and yet she can't seem to correlate the information that she put on the exam with the real world. One of these days I might take the CPA exam, but so far I have not had the time, energy or money to bother. I don't think the letters after your name are nearly as important as what you do with what is between your ears.

Yeah, and I'm over here with no initials but purty good at Google and I got a 1900 square foot commercial building with a possum or something under there tearing up creation. Got a trap set, hope I get him today. And there's a tax preparer and a feed store and a golf course here every 2.13 miles. The cost of living is cheap, and if I wanna charge less than you people in those rip off states, it's my prerogative. And y'all don't be fussing, we got a week to go and we're fam. Don't make me cry. P. S. I'm gonna crush the Enrolled Agent exam in 2016.

I didn't fire anyone but had the safisfaction today of: Giving a client an earful for calling with questions about how to prepare her quarterly payroll forms that aren't even due until the end of the month. I don't prepare them because it costs too much and they are so easy to do. She did the same thing last year and I yapped at her last year, too. Neighbor who self prepares his tax return wants me to help him figure his way out of paying tax on a 1099C. Hubby had already given me warning. Thank goodness for caller ID. Never picked up the phone. Never will My cousin is a merry globetrotter. She hasn't filed in a few years and IMs me for help yesterday "because all of a sudden it's really bothering me". Honey, wait another week and you won't even think about it again until next April. In the meantime Google foreign income exclusion. Client makes an apt on 4/8. I tell them they will need an extension. They cry bitter tears. I look at their paper work and I see that they will owe a chunk. I tell them this. The guy looks down his nose and tells me they are "proud to pay their fair share" and why don't I just get busy on that tax return because they don't an extension. So, I do and they owe north of $10k. It pleased me to listen to them babbling with shock. I also tacked on $125 PITA fee. Some days are better than others.

We've had this discussion before and need to get away from who has what letters after each of our names. I continue to be offended by remarks that seem to indicate that a CPAs level of knowledge is somehow inferior to that of EA. To earn that designation, we had to have a college degree in the field, years work experience with %s in each area, as well as passing the exam. In addition to the area of tax, that education and experience gives a more well-rounded base of knowledge to be able to handle those entities that others of you struggle with. In addition to that, please keep in mind that many CPAs do choose to practice in only one area, and may choose to focus solely in the area of tax, just as you yourself have done. Also, many of us CPAs that do choose a tax-only focus have gone on to earn advanced graduate degrees such as a Masters of Taxation, and that includes some of our membership here. Please don't lump us all into one giant generalized melting pot that makes it seem inferior to your passing the EA exam. Truly, there are some on here with fancy letters after their names that can't seem to figure out how to Google or think to look in the forms' instructions! /rant

Yeah, fired my first this year too about a week ago. She was trying to talk me into getting fitted for an orange jumpsuit. Now she's begging to come back. I guess she couldn't find anyone to play ball with her. I'll take her back because a longtime client but now she has to play by my rules. An extension is in order so it's going to be a long game, but at least I have a box seat and I get to enjoy the game.

I personally don't pay too much attention to who has what label and try to treat everyone here equally. I do get perturbed each and every time I see a comment about the CPAs though, because to the best of my recollection, none of the CPAs helping out on here has ever said or implied the reverse, you know, implying that that EAs (generally speaking) could be weak in some areas that we end up dealing with and asking questions about. Joan's post above was spot on, we don't go down that path on this forum.

I sympathize with the "make 'em pay" viewpoint, but I respectfully disagree. We all have a right to be paid for our work, but accepting payment for anything carries with it an implied acceptance of some responsibility. We all know that isn't the case, but most clients don't. So when this scheme blows up and they get audited 2 or 3 years from now, and dad is dead or incapacitated, they are likely to come back to you since they paid you for "some kind of help" in the past. It isn't right, but that's how things often work. Who needs the hassle? If I'm in this situation, I'm giving them back their original documents with no charge, and wishing them well. That way if they ever return for any reason, I'm free to say "I couldn't help you then and I can't help you now." Oh, and one more thing. As Catherine rightly said, "Before you go, I'd like to have my business card back. "

I sometimes leave my machine on when it's backing up as I want to leave and I'm not willing to wait until it finishes. There are also night owls here who start work at 5PM and go overnight. I hope we're all taking the time to sleep! I have gotten VERY cranky about needy clients. If they're not willing to stay up for me, I'm not willing to stay up for them. End of story. And don't even TALK to me about those who want fast turn-around so they can go on vacation for three weeks. Those people come closer and closer to getting dope-slapped (I won't -- but I *will* think about it!).

You do not want ANYTHING connecting these fraudsters to you. Hand them back their papers and don't even let them take your business card let alone any of your work. Tell them that when (not if; when) the IRS audits them they are NOT to come to you as you now know they are willing to ignore the rules.

Previous preparer charged $366 for wages, pension, Sch A, Sch E missing the depreciation, South Carolina (also missing the depreciation, of course). Oh, and $11 in interest income. Check. Any price is too much for what this guy got in 2014.

My original post was the last of a series of back and forth emails to the client, where we explained to her that she could not move the home off of the return without a disposition of some sort. We explained that it could be a gift with a gift return or a sale, but there needed to be a disposition of some kind. The client tried to do this same thing with another rental 3 years earlier, so there is a pattern. So I get an email this morning that says she "forgot" that the rental was on her return and she is sorry for the mis-understanding. Bovine Excrement! Still not doing the return. I don't have the patience for this crap at this time of the year. I have a full slate of appointments today and I just don't need the aggravation. And it is baseball season and the Giants are 2-0 against the Dodgers. That is more important to me than working with a retired teacher who wants to drag me into her redneck probate schemes so she can continue to get her PTC on her Obamacare plan. Tom Newark, CA

I am feeling very fortunate to have a client base of 500 and I only take personal referrals. I did some marketing 15 years ago when I started working for myself, but the clients I got from real advertising (online) were never loyal. Never. More importantly, I work from home and I prayed about not having strangers in my home. This was the answer. I wasn't having to support myself back then or I would have starved by year 3. I turned away maybe 5 this year because they didn't know someone personally. One told me that several people recommended me but didn't have one particular name. I asked how... They said I was mentioned on a military spouse website. I told them (husband and wife on the phone) to make a friend and give me the name! LOL So, the "shoppers for prices" take care of themselves. I don't take them. It's really different working from home. I don't think I could do that so easily if I worked from an office on Main Street.

Mine with "W-2s and a rental property," showed up yesterday. Turns out the rental property is in SC and HRB completely missed the depreciation in 2014. It never occurs to me to ask WHERE rental properties are. Well, it does now. And yeah, one of the "W-2s" was military retirement. Thankfully, all I had told him about price was that I am usually less than HRB. (Always, but I was trying to play it close to the vest.) He wasn't really a shopper, because he was happy with what I said. I think he just knew he paid too much in 2014. When I fix the 2014, I think he'll be a loyal client in the future. And I have never seen so many pages of bull crap unnecessary and meaningless paper in my life as was in his copy of 2014. * The above comments are not intended to bash every HRB preparer, just this one in My Town, TN.

I quote high on the phone. It never ends up being high when I get into their stuff, but at least I'm closer. And, I weed out the price shoppers who would go somewhere else after a year anyway. If they sound really complex, I tell them I'd be glad to quote them a price after they drop off last year's return for me to look at. Hardly anyone does that. Plus, I'm taking NO new clients now unless they go on extension. Hardly anyone calling now does that, either.

this is what i'm starting to look like this year.....................

Initials don't mean anything, there is book smart and real life smart. All it means is that at some point in time someone learned some book knowledge and regurgitated it at test time. It does show the person has the ability to learn but not to retain or apply the knowledge. By best preparer never passed the exam nor bothered going for EA but he thinks about every entry and is very smart. A CPA can prepare financial statements, it has nothing to do with taxes. I took some tax classes that mostly dealt with theory. Never saw a tax form in school. -Michael CPA, MA, BS, BA. [ oh yeah, EMT, CPA, 1st Dan Ju Jitsu, and according to my staff a real PIA]

I'm a very early riser (and early to bed), I do get a ton of work done early and like to check in here for breaks. But this morning I happened to notice that one of our Super Stars has been up all night. I hope it's not insomnia and she is taking care of herself because they don't pay us enough to lose sleep.

I also consider my specialty taxes, schooled in accounting and I'm a CFP and literate in other areas of personal financial planning areas, I sell no products. I pride myself in researching what I don't know and will be available all year to a client. But nickel and diming me on my fee or saying I'm too expensive (which I am not), I have no time for these people.

Glad you're OK. I'm an early bird and when I checked in to catch up and saw you posting all thru the early hours I just wanted to be sure you weren't burning the midnight oil. I've been there and know what that can do to you. I'm guilty too because sometimes I wake up at 1am if I fell asleep at 7pm and I need to be extremely quiet going up to the top floor home office, but Allie my little Yorkie runs to keep me company (see her on my profile page). Now we have to work on Possi to make sure she gets her beauty sleep, because working all night requires time and a half pay, that's union scale for tax preparers. Norma Ray told me this.

Yeah, getting all the We're-going-on-Spring-break-so-I'm-ready-to-sign-my-returns-before-we-leave calls now. I get a lot more work done after the phone stops ringing (even though I let it go to voice mail, the flashing light won't let me forget) and after my husband goes to bed. I still haven't trained him to stop coming in and sitting down in my office, not to talk to me when I'm in my office. I close the door, ignore him, think aloud so I keep my train of thought when he interrupts, bluntly explain what I need; maybe he's un-trainable. I go to bed when I'm too tired to work. Then, I sleep late, letting all the calls and emails collect in my inbox, hopefully answering all the questions I sent late the night before. It's usually faster than talking to clients who jump right into politics or their upcoming trip! I have to sleep four hours per night in my CPAP (97% compliant) or Medicare won't pay for the machine and supplies. Six hours is enough to work, usually. Now, I have my alarm off except when I have morning appointments, and have been sleeping seven. But, I look forward to eight or nine for a couple months to fully unwind after the 18th.

I'm sorry, Catherine. I can't imagine what you've been going through.

Does she have a government pension in addition to a rental property and PTC? Seems reasonable. /s

Dead in the water for eight days with computer issues. My town tried to evict us. Does that say enough about what kind of season this has been for me? And for real, the practice is going up for sale after 4/20. I'll teach and keep a couple of low-rent or family clients.

Nor do I. I do enjoy getting clients whose previous preparer overcharged and made mistakes like overlooking depreciation. Win / win. Happy / Happy.

I went into the season very tired already with all of mom's rehab problems (she's back to her own home and doing great now) and my ailing dogs. The returns have been mostly smooth sailing, picked up a few nice new ones, and no problems with software. The biggest pain has been one of my largest C corp clients that is negotiation a sale and is driving me crazy with requests for information, calls for explanations and clarifications, calls from their business broker, calls from their attorneys.

I have no need for clients that come to me because I am the cheapest. I do NOT give price quotes over the phone and, like Lion, "...I'd be glad to quote them a price after they drop off last year's return for me to look at. Hardly anyone does that..." I have one complete file drawer full of "came to me because I was cheaper" clients and they all left the next year. I am a qualified, trained and certified professional. I do NOT consider it a "constitutional right" for tax preparation to be cheap and easy. Think Doctor, Lawyer, Plumber, Electrician, Auto Technician... I am JUST as much a professional and do not need to discount my work.

Raise your rates, girlfriend. Then you have to do less digging....

I don't know who it was, but I do know I was up all night. All. Night. I'll be draggin' All. Day.

I hope that's it. After all, they don't pay us enough to close tabs. Psssshhhh.

Now, I feel really bad. This has the smoothest most trouble free tax season I have ever had. D@#, I have probably just hexed myself !

Just today a client forwarded a K-1 from an attorney who apparently prepared it and pointed out to him that the $70,000+ dividends were all qualified and would be taxed at 15%. Um, did this attorney know the client's other income? Did this attorney ever hear of the NIT? Does this attorney know that above a certain income level, the rate is 20% plus NIT? And I will be the one to have to explain it to the client. Grrrrrrrrr. And then there are the real estate attorneys (agents are famous for this as well) who tell the buyers/sellers that they can deduct all their closing costs, fix-up expenses, etc. Oh, the deductions they will get, even if they bought the house in December and didn't make any mortgage payments yet. Double Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

A few years ago I asked some IRS agents who were classmates in a graduate program with me whether the IRS had any way of knowing if one spouse itemized and the other did not. All of them said that unless the other spouse was under audit for some other reason, they were not authorized to go into that person's return. This conforms with a recent TIGTA report that the IRS isn't doing a very good job of tracking this. They could probably solve the lack of oversight by a computer programming detail, but we all know how behind their computers are. So I guess it's up to us, fellow preparers, to enforce the law as written knowing full well there is little chance of the IRS noticing. I do ask clients if their estranged spouse itemizes; if they say s/he owns a house and makes six figures a year (= lots of state income tax to deduct), I make the client itemize. If they say they don't know, I do whatever works best for the client. Let the IRS figure it out. Even though they require me to do their work, I am not on their payroll, do not get their cushy benefits and retirement plan. I work for and get paid by my client.

Don't be so modest, you're a great EMT, worked in a rough area and most likely saved lives.

Absolutely. RIch

You're the best Rita, and I could tell you can handle anything that comes your way. I hope you get that possum so you could tell me how to get rid of the skunk that's been ripping up my lawn every year looking for grubs or whatever. This city kid needs some help.

Did you have to mention dogs and smoke detectors in the same post? lol My husband frequently sets off the alarm with his cooking because he burns things under the broiler, and now the dog practically panics when she sees him working around the stove or oven. The other night I was sitting on my outdoor office steps with with her in my arms and in stocking feet and no coat until that blasted thing stopped its chirping, and by then MY dinner was as cold as I was.

This is hysterical, cause I thought it had to be Yardley CPA because of posts two and three, and I was scratching my head cause Yardley sure is a masculine looking gal.

Catherine, I have enjoyed your posts over many years and you've always been extremely helpful when others (including myself) have needed help. I hope all your problems are solved soon. Best wishes and best of luck to you. Terry

CPAs are the cream of the crop in our profession, there's no disputing that. There is so much to know out there that letters after a name are an indication that you have made an extraordinary effort to acquire the knowledge needed to be a professional. There are also people out there without credentials who are very smart, I've seen that in the engineering field and tax preparers who are self taught and very good at their trade. But in any profession, and it can't be generalized, there are people with credentials that are just not that good. Yes, they passed their exams, but they they never kept up. I don't see that here, because if any of us was one of them, we wouldn't be here. You're here because you're good and care about what you do.

Yup, MSBA Taxation here. AND I understand accounting. Should I start saying 'unlike EAs who only focus on tax and aren't trained in accounting' every time we are discussing a business entity with a balance sheet?

Catherine - I hope things turn around for you. But you know - clients are like gum stuck on your shoe........

My specialty is taxes, unlike CPAs who must train in auditing, accounting, etc., as well as taxes. I aim to charge more. Still running about 20% less, but getting there. Also, I aim to charge more than HRB. Came from a premium HRB office and held prices constant for three years for continuing clients, but higher for new clients. That was years ago, so all prices increase now. In pricey Fairfield County, people think you're not good if you're not expensive.

I only have last years copy of their prior returns and last year dad made it so they paid $0 income tax and I suspect it's been that way for years. It just makes me so mad that I did the work, pointed out what dad did and asked if there was information I did not have. They'll get their papers back BUT NOT over the weekend and NOT before 9am or after 6pm

Move your biz back home. Don't tell the PITAs where you are. Or, even the nice clients, if they have returns you don't enjoy preparing, boring, complex, out-of-state, biz, whatever you like the least. By invitation only. You'll scale back your biz but also have lower overhead. Of course, you'll be here with us no matter what you do with your biz!

Male Bovine Scat is the better term. You do not need clients like that. Consider: "What other things is she not telling me..." I have no need for clients of that mindset either. When the IRS changed and started enforcing Circular 230, and now my neck is on the line, those kind can seek a less informed victim to do their unethical transactions.

I have a feeling she's getting some well deserved rest as I don't see her here now. And I hope you get your rest too. They do sleep deprivation to prisoners, well, I guess in a way we're prisoners too.

You could have waited another week to say that for safety's sake, although I've been thinking same except for a few brief head bangers. This is my problem week, they already started calling. Time wasting April fools.