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I used to just let unrecognized incoming calls go to voicemail email. But lately I'm more inclined to answer, then use a stock response to their initial inquiry. No matter what they say or ask, I always reply "What's the purpose of your call?" It puts even the most aggressive caller on the defensive. If they can't answer that question in a succinct sentence, then I tell them to stop wasting my time and I hang up. Altogether it takes 15-30 seconds, which is generally less time than to listen to a recorded message or a dead air recording. I think this is decreasing the number of these calls, but one never knows for sure. I do make an exception for the people calling to tell me my computer has a virus. I like to keep them tied up for a while just to delay their calling & scamming the next victim.

I like the new look.

the best reason is NO Payroll filings if you don't have employees. No quarterlies, no disability, no unemployment, no workers comp.

Oh, these cell phone calls with my area code and first 3 digits are driving me nuts along with the never ending robot voice and at least 30 calls now on my landline phone - leaving voicemail messages! - from 833.217.3824. I no longer answer my phone at all unless I know who is calling. But with this last one leaving voice mail messages, I can't even escape that now. Arrrgggghhhhh!!!!!

This is actually happening with my cell phone number, a number that I've had for more than 25 years and that I've never given to anyone, and only recently to my vet specialty hospital. No one other than family even knows the number! One older gentleman from downstate DE was repeatedly calling me back on that cell # and insisted that I'd been calling him. We now sort of know each other by the numerous phone conversations we'd had over this, and he does now believe that it isn't really me calling him. It's so incredibly frustrating! Now just yesterday I got a similar call on my office line, guy asked for me by name but then said he'd misdialed. Very strange. I'm wondering if it was one of those calls where the caller tries to get the person to say "yes". I never say that and keep asking who they are, where they are calling from, what company they are with, etc. Yes! This is working great on my home line through Comcast. Sadly, I have a traditional business landline through Verizon and it isn't available on that type of service, otherwise I'd have it there too. I'm hoping that it will be available on cell phones someday.

So this is why I am now getting tons of calls apparently from local numbers? I have gotten dozens of calls to my cell with the same area code and prefix--just the last four digits vary. I also gets lots of calls to my home phone that have a local exchange but no message is ever left. I looked up a few of these and none is on a scammer list. I think they are just regular folks whose numbers are being imitated by a bot randomly picking the last four digits. Scares me to think that mine is being used in this way too. We installed NoMoRobo and all but the imitated numbers have stopped. If you can do this for free, we will never be rid of crap calls. Why don't the authorities make the phone carriers do something?

I use Square. It is completely trouble free, no hassles, no monthly fees, no PCI insurance, no maintaining proof of destruction of client records. I bought the chip reader as well. Again, no troubles. I get my funds always within two days.

Thanks to Eric for the latest round of improvements to our beloved forum! I like the new "like" button with choices. Sometimes we do want to express something other than simply liking, and now we can! I must say, though, that when I came back from an early afternoon appointment and it all looked different, my first thought was to wonder what had gone wrong with my computer while I was away...

Kicked me completely off the leaderboard with this update. Tom Newark, CA (soon to be Modesto, CA)

I had a security patch to apply, and rather than just do the patch I went (somewhat hastily, I admit) with an upgrade to the latest version of the forum software without realizing that it was a medium sized upgrade to 4.2 instead of a small incremental update to 4.1.x. Then the whole forum broke for about 45 minutes while I scrambled around like an idiot fixing issues that cropped up. Sorry about that! I do remember the last time I did a major update there were some complaints about the low-contrast between certain visual elements in the new design. Many(all?) of my customizations are still in place to fix those issues, but if anyone has any trouble with this new design, please speak up and I'll do what I can to tweak it.

I remember after the movie came out, the publishers of Mad magazine put out a paperback book titled "It's a World, World, World, World, Mad"

My first reaction was to the initials in colored circles that are used as avatars for those members without a picture. My current earworm is Jimmy Durante saying the money is "...under a big W" in the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

What are the assets of the estate? Could any of them throw off income (interest, dividends, rents, etc) that the client has not told you about? I take the position that you file the return to let the IRS know that you know that they know that there is an entity out there that may or may not have a filing requirement. Tom Newark, CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)

Printouts from the Bursar's Office can be a huge help here - I demand them from all my clients with education expenses. (And they're getting better about actually getting them for me, too.)

actually I have a gun ffl store as a client and there are no employees, its a 1 man shop, mostly by appointment only. Very small inventory and he mostly does transfers or helps locate hard to find weapons. another that I frequently go to near my house is also a 1 man shop. he does gunsmithing, transfers and only sells older rifles.

Christian, forgive me if I'm being presumptuous, but did you get the part about not double-dipping? If earnings in the 529 plan escape taxation, they can't be used for any other education credit or deduction. You did indicate that the tuition BILLED was more than the 529 distributions, but that could be because there are charges for 2017 in Box 2. (See if Box 7 is checked.) Ultimately, they want to know what got PAID during 2016, and whether or not it got paid with after tax funds. (I think we're talking about 2016, if not, adjust accordingly.)

Sorry. I'd like to hear it but I have a policy of not clicking on attachments from strange people.

I have received calls from ME, from my home landline to my home landline and to my office landline! So many others must be receiving calls from "me."

That's a good recommendation. I will make sure I get the AMT calculations in there. Thank you!

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Gif's No worky.????..........

I am fairly sure that if you have a gun store and a firing range that you will have employees !

Well, that makes it a little easier anyway. I mentioned the AMT because you didn't say how long ago the assets were put in service. It's anecdotal, I know, but it's been my experience that if no mention of AMT or its calculations are shown on an amended return, the IRS will put processing on hold until the AMT calculations are provided, whether it applies to the return or not. I had this with amended returns for an individual's NOL carryback on a 1045, and I had included a statement that there were no adjustments in any years for AMT depreciation or other AMT adjustments, and that the AMT could not have any impact based on the level of income of the original and amended, but the IRS didn't reason any of that out. The IRS wanted the 1045 schedules all recomputed on the AMT basis as proof before it would finish its processing. If I were doing this, I'd make sure that the amended K-1s have -0- printed in the AMT adjustments/preferences box, and include the form 6251 on the individual amended returns too, even if that form comes down to -0- adjustment, but that's me. You may choose to do otherwise and hope that you get agents that don't question the returns, but at this point I'd think you and your client would want to leave as little open to interpretation or questions as possible.

Last summer we got at least a half-dozen of these letters, all for clients who had 529 distributions (some made too much to even get an ed credit). You can't double dip--expenses used for the education credit must be deducted from the "qualifying ed expenses" used to account for the 529 distribution. Of course, the 529 allows expenses for room and board that can't be used for the credit, so hopefully the remaining amount of the distribution can be accounted for with those. You need to show that the qualifying expenses used for the credit were paid, and that the distribution from the 529 was used for other qualifying expenses. One of my clients took out exactly the amount of education expenses from the 529, to the penny. Deducting the $4k used for the credit resulted in an excess distribution. Fortunately no penalty applied because the $4k was used for the credit.

I would think that its a no brainer for many reasons. I would also have him try and get it to be a non-single member even if his wife gets 1% just to keep it off of his 1040. Even with Trump ending Operation Choke Point, gun stores still have a stigma to many people and I can envision a bank turning down the guy for a personal loan because of the schedule C on it. Of course I am in NY where guns is a 4 letter word. I would also have the LLC name being very innocent with a dba for the publics use. I had a relative who owned a medical marijuana dispensary and couldn't refi his personal residence. He changed the name and did as above and then he had no problem getting approved.

I logged in and it was there for me as well. The processing fee is just a tad higher with the $0.30 per invoice charge added on. I think it will be worth it for the 5 or 6 times I might use it during the tax season. Thanks for your help Lynn. Tom Newark CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)