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I am working on one of those chronically derelict late filers now - and what a nightmare. I NEVER charge this guy enough for this return. It is my own. I am thinking about farming it out next year.

This has been a very stressful year. Tax season was awful. Fighting with Hubby to the point of tears and door slamming. I hate it when he cries. Then, our beloved dog Molly passed away at 14 years old from kidney failure. She was our last pet. I do not want any more pets. After she died, Hubby said let's go to La Jolla CA and just stay there until we feel better. It was a good idea. My stress level has gone down so much that I feel better than I have in years. There isn't any elderly pet to medicate and feed and pamper and worry about. Hubby and I can finally travel together, worry-free, and stay away as long as we like. I feel so much better that I'm looking for other ways to relieve stress and I'm looking at that every day. Dumping clients who are a continuing source of teeth grinding stress has been cathartic. I'd rather be poorer and happier than have that hard money that comes from dealing with them. Thanks for responding. I was feeling inadequate and weak for not being able to deal with these late returns.

I used to say their fee made them worth the pain - I've changed my mind. Fired my 4 worst clients in the past 12 months - my level of happiness has gone up considerably. I don't need questions at 9pm on Saturday night that are deemed emergencies, I don't need someone informing me I'm untrustworthy for something that wasn't my fault, I don't need someone who wants me to argue they shouldn't have to pay estimated tax payments.

Remember, years ago, when it seemed everyone had one of those "Baby on Board" signs in their cars? A woman I worked with at that time had a different sign: "Ex-husband in Trunk" and she had a crappy old tie that dangled out on one side...

I usually don't fire these types of clients - I let them fire themselves. I tell them when they bring their stuff in very late that I am under no compulsion to meet the deadline. If the return goes delinquent, it is no fault of mine. If they choose to take their work elsewhere, they go with my blessing. My drop dead date for drop offs for the April deadline is the beginning of the third week in March. Because I do not want to work those kind of hours in October, my drop dead date for drop offs for the October deadline is September 1st. In my way of thinking, it is all about my running the business instead of the business running me. I find I am much happier when this the case.

Something Similar, Catherine....

I have fired clients. Generally NOT for chronic lateness. For those, I simply tell them that they WILL NOT have their returns ready by the deadline and will have to pay penalties for late filing. Then I do them as I can. And if the holiday season gets busy and I don't actually get to the return until the first weeks of January, that's fine by me. However, I *do* charge a late filing fee which is hefty. Had one guy (whom I fired for other reasons) who never got me 1099-MISC information on time. Ever. Eventually I was charging him $20 per form (my standard) and $60 per form late fee: $80 each. He just paid my bill... don't even know if he ever saw the separate line item late charge. As Margaret noted, and as I have to re-learn every couple of years myself, we simply can not allow ourselves to care more than the clients care. That way lies madness. (And anger; a different kind of mad-ness.)

This industry in and of itself is stress just by definition. Finding ways to relieve that stress is paramount. Just as importantly is removing additional stress from it. Admittedly, I did not get that for the first 20 plus years I was in it. By the time it finally dawned on me, the doctor was implanting a piece of titanium in my chest so my heart would keep going thump, thump, thump. Barb, I applaud you. But I will be quick to point out that pets are a great stress reliever - their end of life issues notwithstanding. I get it. I buried my best friend, a German Shepherd named Flower, eons ago and said I would never put myself in that position again. It took me 25 years before my wife felt comfortable bringing Maggie (another German Shepherd) home as a pup. In hind sight, I deprived myself of shear joy for most of those 25 years. Oh, we have had dogs all along, but I had little attachments to them like I had with Flower or have with Maggie. But enough of that. As to stress relievers, this forum has to be right at the top. Rita, don't be too hard on that client. The grief associated with losing a parent causes the best of us to put off things that we don't want to deal with.

As we are responsible people for ourselves; our clients need to be responsible for themselves too. We may lose dollars but doing what is right and proper pays and is actually easier than doing wrong. You NEVER help someone by enabling them to do or continue to do something that ultimately can hurt them. Eventually even procrastination hurts those who do not learn to be timely --- your peace of mind is more important!

The value of peace of mind (yours) is something no customer would be willing to pay. It is an easy thing to come to realize, sometimes a bit tougher to enforce. I do not see this as getting crankier (at any age), just wiser than most. Of course, wisdom usually comes with age and experience... or in some cases, by accepting the advice of those with more of either. I always internally cringe when someone says "the customer is always right". In reality, a particular customer's opinion/goal is not always mine. The most recent is a customer who insists they want to process a client payroll which I can show (via IRS rulings) is not proper. My customer keeps saying they have differing rulings (which have yet to be shared with me). I have to look at my customers as a whole, and not make it any easier to do something I know is not proper, but remain ready and willing to review the opposing IRS rulings, should there actually be any shared.

I don't fire people for being late, but I don't pull out all the stops to do their returns on time either. I do understand every single opinion in this thread. I feel you I really do. I'm sending another reminder to the apparently very busy young lady handling her deceased father's final 1040. She has very nice business cards, but I think that's about the extent of her business acumen. I really thought the world of her daddy and recall what a sweet gentleman he was as I pound out this email with the help of the new equipment Abby introduced to us in "this could come in handy for certain clients". My goal is to scare the crap out of her, but if she doesn't take swift action, it's her inheritance she's wasting.

We're waiting for a K-1 from my mother-in-law's estate - were supposed to have it weeks ago. Then I can finish our returns. Ugh. It has been an absolute albatross this year.

These days, either one will get you pulled over. I think the dummy parts would get you more than just a stern warning, though.

Yes, I have fired clients, well, only two, who were like this. As you noted, it isn't worth it to you or me to care more about their returns than they do. Recently I have been going on dive trips in the fall so have a much earlier deadline which has been honored. And I build in plenty of time for me to complete the work. About a month out I remind those stragglers that I will be out of the country so they should start looking around for someone else. This year, no stragglers! Well, there are the new clients, one now in Berlin never having filed but we are almost caught up from 2011 and another new one who has to wait until Oct. 6 to meet the physical presence test. But her returns are actually finished. Cranky is okay!

Got mine ordered. Thanks. Whew. How long have we waited for THIS?

This year I asked my chronically late filers to have their paperwork to me by Aug. 31st. Amazingly, most of them have complied. I have two clients who just seem never to be able to get it together until October and then it's a real struggle for me. I just fired one of them and am waiting for a return call from the other and I want them to go elsewhere too. Do you ever fire clients who habitually wait until the very last minute? There is no fee high enough to compensate for the grinding frustration. Or, maybe I'm just getting crankier in my old age....

Or at least, never accept a thumb drive from him.

This should probably be a sign that you should disassociate yourself from that associate.

https://i.imgur.com/PcZb5vI.mp4

Decedent's Estate The fiduciary (or one of the joint fiduciaries) must file Form 1041 for a domestic estate that has: Gross income for the tax year of $600 or more, or A beneficiary who is a nonresident alien. So you don't have to file, but if it's a final return, you'll want to file to pass out the excess expenses, etc.

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.