Leaderboard

The IRS wants us to do their job for them. They think of us a free labor. If they want us to do this work, prices will have to rise substantially, first to cover our time, and second to cover our liability for preparing the return. I have no problem with the oversight on me via circular 230 related to my EA license. But when regulation over me becomes a revenue raiser item in the federal budget, it has gone too far. Tom Modesto, CA

The problem isn't the regulation, it's the interpretation of it by the regulator in your office and mission creep. Look at how much documentation goes into the EIC and apply that to pretty much every form (consider a Schedule C or 1120S for a minute). When I started in the securities industry a new account form was a single page. 27 years later it is an 18 page document with 13 pages of legal wording and we are required to update it every 3 years with new signatures. If I sell a client an individual muni bond the regulatory and documentation burden on that is 5x that if I sold them a mutual fund that invested in the same thing.

How about a more generic star with "Tax Warrior" for everyone, or just go with the blank star and a following tag line of "weekly winner of ?" ... what were we calling this again?

Tell your client to clean up his act! That will eventually stop the audits. Be sure to increase your fees for representing him SUBSTANTIALLY this time, and again the next time.

That's a good looking award Abby earned. Total Stud.

As long as they're going after these 'Taxes 'R Us' places first, I'm all for it. But we all know a few CPAs or EAs who prepare shit returns. One went to jail near me awhile ago. I learned of him when one of his clients was being audited and came to me for assistance. I passed their story on to the IRS agent handling the audit. Plot twist: his daughter was married to my cousin (did not know this at the time). My aunt was defending this preparer one day at a family gathering, and I gently explained how what he was doing was fraud and he deserved some jail time.

Any audit that reveals more than $10k unreported income will automatically open up succeeding years. The taxpayer probably kept reporting morning trips to the coffee place as "meals and entertainment," family vacations as "travel," had no logs to substantiate mileage, put the whole family's cell phone bill on the business, made $4k in noncash contributions every year, you get the picture. Reason why he kept doing it is he wasn't caught yet. Once IRS went back and discovered the crap, they had reason to just keep on auditing.

I have access to edit profiles where I could add something like one of these to the signature area as they are earned. See any of Abby Normal's posts above to see how this would appear. Thoughts? or this one

Rita: We are all planners here.... LOL. If we do not get this on the schedule, we will never go. Pick a weekend that works for you, and then we will see who can make it. Rich

Not trying to be combative, but who do you think is asking congress for those additional documentation requirements to be added? It surely is not the AICPA or the National EA group. Tom Modesto, CA

Or "Tax Hero" but either way I like a non-gender specific term.

I do my best to provide my clients with top rate service. As a CPA (similar to other licenses, such as EA's), I follow a set of rules, obligations, and ethical standards. I'm comfortable knowing that I do my best to prepare client returns with the utmost integrity. I'm not suggesting I always get it right, but the client knows I'm not going to break any rules/laws. With that said, enforcement does not concern me because I have nothing to hide. Let's hope if they do implement new oversight, that's its reasonable. Time will tell.

Ditto!! There is not a PERFECT weekend, so follow Richcpman's advice so we can plan!!

Years ago, I had the "pleasure" of being audited. Because I took bad advice from three (3) separate CPA's from across the country, I had to pay and received my letter for the next year shortly after. After seeing exactly how the audits were performed my first trip, the second trip I went in and had a 1040 with Schedule C, etc. audit with almost every line scrutinized thoroughly. I was in and out in fifteen minutes with orders to go back home and tell my husband (it was his business) that if he didn't take me out to eat that she....well, let's just say, IRS employees are humans too....she was going to come kick his a** back to Baton Rouge. She told me I probably wouldn't get another letter as I got back a refund ($7.32......she kept begging me to think of anything I forgot to put on the second return when I initially filed it). So maybe getting a small refund on the next audit will help do the trick. Someone really needs his a## kicked for having to go back 5 more times after the first audit! If I had a client who was audited 6 times, I think that client would be looking for someone else to prepare his return! (You're either a kind soul or your "client" looks back at you in the mirror every time you look.) Take care, Cathy

Client chose NOT to get health insurance. Client had income of $24,300. Was offered $496/mo subsidy on Silver plan with a cost of $631/mo...leaving her contribution at $135/mo...less than the required contribution calculated by 8965. I inform client that she does NOT qualify for the affordability exemption and will be assessed the $695 penalty. She thinks I am wrong because: 1) She could not "afford" to pay $135/mo with all of her other bills 2) Her sister makes $27,000 and did her own taxes and qualified for the exemption. Client requests I file her return claiming affordability exemption anyway. I told her I would NOT do that because the 8965 calculations do not support it. Since the return is complete and I'm charging her regardless, she told me to file "as-is" with the penalty and then she'll take it to her sister to amend (claiming the exemption). In the end, her sister (who she now views as a tax genius) will amend her return...and IRS will probably not question it...and client will get her $695 refunded. I know her amendment will be wrong (and potentially fraudulent), but client (former) will assume I was wrong and spread that story via word-of-mouth. sometimes I hate people

Yep, I took the generic star, picked a font, and scaled the text down to fit. I like Tax Hero too, whatever makes this fun for you all. I'll make a final star to use once we all agree.

http://news.cchgroup.com/category/news/federal-tax-headlines/ http://news.cchgroup.com/category/news/state-tax-headlines/ Or combined: http://news.cchgroup.com/category/news/

How about Tax Goddess? Kind of hard to fit on that star. Maybe Tax Queen?

Either of them works - but what about "Tax Babe?"

They say they are still waiting on the IRS.

Uh oh. Tom called the women 'babes'.

New tax client this year and I'm looking at last years return: she owns a house in New York State but doesn't live there visits for vacation. She works 7 months of the year and rents an apartment in Missouri. She works 5 months of the year in New Jersey. Here's the problem, they filed 3 state tax returns all as non-residents. The W2s show her having income in the state of New York. One W2 says she made $60k total and attributes it $60k in Missouri and $60k in New York. She has another W2 from her time in New Jersey that does the same thing but the preparer did a manual override of THAT New York attribution of income. The software prints off a W2 so I know they entered it into the software. Very weird.

Every year, I have one customer who calls to complain, loudly, that it is my fault they have to install updates several times a year. This person pays someone to come in and install for them. Like I have any control over when the IRS and states publish withholding changes, when the IRS publishes the new 941, 940, and W2 forms... I learned a long time ago, not to try to explain, as it wastes my time and annoys the other party, so I wait until they are done, hang up, and still collect their fee.

My kook of the day doesn't believe in health insurance or the flu or paying the penalty, so I can calculate it but she's not paying it because she read that the IRS has no authority to collect it! She also called me from the parking lot because she couldn't find my office.

yesterday already, I decided taxes were fine - government nasty and I do not like people anymore - too demanding!

If the sister amends, (not likely she knows the proper procedure) then the client gets that letter from the IRS, it will be the problem of the sister and the client. Not likely the sister will sign the return, so again, the fraudulent people have no worries about being caught, and us honest people have to jump through the hoops like we are the criminals.

Exactly...my client has no kids... client's sister does not want to share...wonder why

I think I've spent more time typing my user ID and password into the 2016 and 2017 program than I have actually doing taxes. OK..not really, but it sure feels like...I truly hate the password requirement. It is just me...working out of my home office...no clients in my office...no friends or family in my office.