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I just stopped using W7, in preparation for end of W7 life. I have plenty of backups and options, so a failure caused by any reason, even an OS update, is only a minor interruption. My W7 setup sits dutifully waiting to be plugged and and used in case of disaster. My older XP box is now retiring to storage, which can be accessed in a few minutes. I rely on these for fastest recovery, as they are already setup to restore from my online backups. To be perfectly candid, I switched to a new box at the most inopportune time, as usual, as I wanted to expense it for 2018, and could not deal with looking at the new box without "using" it. It took me probably 30 minutes to load what I needed immediately, and a couple of hours (overnight) to load the rest of my usual items and data. It will take me small amounts of time, over the course of a month, to make it "mine", but no rush. All the issues with any sort of corruption, update fail, computer damage or computer grows feet, can be minimized by proper backup and recovery processes... I'd rather spend my time building and maintaining a recovery process than worrying or complaining about what "could" happen. Stuff can and will happen, I cannot change that. What I am saying in lengthy form is for me, no outside force will ever be able to interrupt me for more than a few hours. With that said, worrying about the inevitable glitches is a waste of my time, and is better spent on preparation and testing my recovery process. I used to "hate" moving computers, now it is no big deal at all - tested recently by evacuation for fire/smoke (twice) and changing to a new computer.

The bank is likely getting some monetary return, since they do nothing for free... Being in the payroll business, where anyone "can" prepare their own, and for which there are 800lb gorilla's (although we have been around longer), there is no end to the need for small providers, which is probably true for tax prep too. The skill is finding the proper niche and staying in it, no matter what forces suggest you widen or change.

I am going to say that it depends. If it is straight forward, absolutely a business, no phase-out or W-2 or un-adjusted basis calculation, then probably somewhere around $25 to $50. If I am trying to help them determine if their rental is a business, or playing with a lot of calculations, or REITS, it is going to be a lot more than that.

Haven't really thought about it, but has to be well in excess of $ 100. I really wonder how many Turbo Tax returns will be filed with off the wall QBI deductions.

That's why I don't sell tax returns... I sell ME!

This post should be pinned.

Still on office 2010 here. No need to spend more money, until absolutely forced to. We don't do fancy things with office, just letters and simple spreadsheets.

Thought I would put together a little poem to help me remember basics when speaking with clients: Can I take QBI Deduction Let's see your personal situation You're an employee, not an owner Not for you, you're a loner You have a business First step in this messiness Not for C corps, just a big blankness QBI, SSB, W2s, Qualifying Property, there's an exception under threshold amount 315K and 157.5K is the count I think I'm good to go for now.

Go right down the dependency test. I think you will find that they are not related to him and did not live the entire year with him. Game over.

well I was going to say b and c - depends on time and $$ I did one and it was not that bad but I only have 2 clients above the $315,000

I think it is still a problem even if the employer isn't deducting it on the corp return. A SEP is an employer-sponsored defined contribution plan, and as such, even if the owners are putting in the flat dollar amount limit, the original post said this business does have other employees, so the business should be calculating the % of owner's compensation that the contribution represents and is required to contribute that same amount to each eligible employee's account.

I have no idea. Im still trying to understand the rules.

Turbo tax will never go away. If you can provide value to your clients, you will never go away in their eyes.

It is my understanding they are not required to until the amount reaches $10, but many of them find it easier to issue them to every one with interest instead of sorting to only send those that are necessary.

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one.

mircpa, The specified trades or businesses are outlined in the regs. Law, accounting financial services, etc. Everyone else who operates from a passthrough entity is qualified, unless you are a business that makes their income from the reputation of the owner (think sole proprietor hair dresser), then you get lumped in with the SSTB crowd. Example - I operate a house painting business as a S corp. No one knows I am the owner, I send crews out to do the work & I have a team of sales staff to recruit business. I am a qualified business. Example 2 - I operate "Tom's Best in Modesto House Painting". Everyone knows me because I do everything from the estimate to the painting to the invoicing to the back office work. I get almost all my work from referrals. I don't have employees. I live off my reputation. I get lumped in with the SSTB rules. The kicker is, under the thresholds, none of this matters. Everyone in a passthrough (leaving out rentals) gets the deduction if their income is under the thresholds. SSBTs get treated exactly like every other business until the threshold limits kick in. I think that is the point Terry was trying to make. Tom Modesto, CA

Hi folks, Just a reminder for those who may have recently transitioned to a new tax software provider from ATX--we have vendor-specific forums for questions related to non-ATX software. If you use some software not covered by these forums, please let me know and I'll consider adding them! Thanks!

I changed the title of the pinned post for QBI and I'm putting a link to this topic for future ease of finding. Hope this works for everyone, or if not, let me know.

Depends on the bank. I've seen them for forty-eight cents (less than the cost of the stamp to mail the form). Most of them skip it until the $10 threshold kicks in - but not all of them!

I am also with Office 365 subscription.

Yes as long as your 1040 taxable income does not push you up into threshhold phase out range.

They final regs updated what they meant by "reputation of the owner" - it only applies to those who are using their name and likeness to earn income like endorsements and advertising. Everyone was worried with the vague proposed regs since reputation of the owner would have applied to most everyone. But the final regs cleared things up considerably

I went to 365 a year ago when I got a new computer so I should have the latest. It was only $99 a year.

I had someone tell me that he'd been told that as long as he left the money in his SMLLC and did not send himself a 1099, none of the money was taxable. He said a CPA had told him that! Either there was a HUGE misunderstanding somewhere (possible), or the guy giving info wasn't a CPA (possible), or he was selling/giving the kind of tax "advice" that lands the listeners into long-term opportunities to wear orange jumpsuits (also quite possible).

We can all relate to what they'll face come Monday: HUGE piles of unopened and time-sensitive correspondence. Past-due action items. More things that *must* be done today than could possibly be done in a week. And that's before the coffee machines are finished brewing or the fax machines are turned back on. You know, the kind of day most of us face EVERY Monday during the tax season! (Note to Judy: meant as humor, with a goodly dollop of true sympathy. And a suggestion for background music for them - The Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang." I do wish them the best plowing through it all.)

This convo has been on thin ice for a while.

One of my clients said her son formed an LLC for his painting business because it limited his liability for taxes. All he had to do was file a piece of paper with the Secretary of State. He told her once the LLC was formed, he didn't have to pay tax on any of his income. After an embarrassing period of silence accompanied by my "deer in the headlights" look, I changed the subject.

They certainly are. A few years ago the proprietor of Elmo's Alternators brought me his usual cardboard box full of gas tickets, bank statements, deposit slips, Burger King receipts, invoices, a half-eaten sandwich, and beaucoup wadded-up Walmart tickets (normal fee's $225, but $500 for him since I have to pay a girl to unroll and iron the Walmart tickets flat enough to add up). Noting the new name (Elmo's Alternators, LLC) on an invoice, I said "El; this might complicate things; did you take on a partner or do anything new?" "Not a thing," he replied, "but everybody's doin' it. It sounds better!"

Lemon squeezy!

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand Lord, don't they help themselves, oh But when the taxman comes to the door Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes John Fogerty & CCR

SEP participation rules : must be 21, must have worked for the employer 3 of the last 5 yrs, had at least $600 in compensation from that business during the year. The employer CAN make these rules less restrictive but not moreso, and employees can elect to not participate. The employer must use and contribute the same percentage for all eligible employees. Because the contribution is to an employee's IRA, it belongs to the employee and is 100% vested upon contribution. For these answers and more information, please see this IRS page and the linked pages it contains for rules of participation and for contributions.

Also, check to see if your internet provider or bookkeeping software or professional organization or website or ... offer a simple portal that fits your budget.

"This form transfers the burden of responsibility from the taxpayer to the paid preparer.'' That's the real problem. While the IRS should certainly go after those preparers who make a business out of preparing bogus returns, there have always been laws to do that. Shifting the responsibility, on every return, from the taxpayer to the preparer, is IMHO not only morally wrong but also totally counter-productive. Preparers are not and should not be unpaid IRS employees. Yes, you have to be alert to the occasional bogus TP, but this "solution" is just plain wrong.

I just set up the iFirm Portal from ATX, and this cleared things up....there are two 'sync' dialog boxes, on on the way into a return, and one on the way out. This should help: Q: When I rollover a client and then open the return, I am prompted by ifirm to sync client information to the information in the client portal. If I say yes to sync, it is DELETING the dob of the spouse as well as phone numbers and email. If I do not agree to the sync it opens fine. Then will sync correctly upon closing. This may be normal behavior as I am new to the portal, but doesn't seem like it should be deleting things from my return. A: I will try my best to explain what is happening when opening and closing returns in ATX that is linked to client information in iFirm. I hope I don't confuse you more. When opening a return in ATX, ATX checks to see if the client information already exists in iFirm and if it does is the client information is different. If the information is different, then ATX asks if you want to take the info from iFirm and update the tax return in ATX. That means if iFirm does not contain the DOB of the spouse, phone numbers or email then it will remove them from the return once you say sync. When closing a return in ATX, ATX checks to see if the client information in iFirm is different than what is in the tax return in ATX, if the information is different then ATX ask if you want to take the info from the tax return in ATX and update iFirm. If you say yes to sync, then the information in the tax return in ATX will be pushed into iFirm and now iFirm will contain the DOB of the spouse, phone numbers and emails will be added to iFirm. I really hope this helps.