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I started my own part time practice in 1997 using Intuit Pro Series; I hated it. Then out of the blue in fall of 2000 an ATX demo show up in the mail! I have been using it ever since. I can't remember the last time I had to call support.

Why not go through the fixed assets and have it all just flow?

Not if you also show as a disposition in the same year.

It may be because a scammer attempted to use the taxpayer's SSN to file a fraudulent return to claim a refund.

Copied from Accounting Today: "The U.S. Treasury Department still has yet to tell companies how to handle President Donald Trump’s order delaying the due date for employee payroll taxes, leaving major employers like Walmart Inc. in the lurch. It’s been two weeks since Trump issued his directive deferring the deadline to pay worker’s portions of Social Security taxes from Sept. 1 through the end of the year. But employers, who are responsible for submitting those payments to the Internal Revenue Service, are waiting to hear from the agency on how any tax bill would be handled when it comes due later. “I don’t think there is a bloody chance that, at this point, anybody is implementing anything before Labor Day,” said Adam Markowitz, an enrolled agent and vice president at Howard L Markowitz PA CPA. The Treasury and IRS didn’t respond to requests for comment on when the guidance would be published. Some companies have already shied away from the payroll tax deferral, which Trump touted as a boost for workers as the economy reels from the coronavirus pandemic, because the taxes would ultimately have to be paid unless Congress acts to forgive the liability. Large employers including Walmart, Macy’s Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. have said they need more details from the IRS. They didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment on whether they would implement the deferral if the IRS didn’t issue any rules by the Sept. 1 start date. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management didn’t respond to a question about whether it plans to defer taxes for federal employees. “Companies cannot do anything until there is guidance,” Veena Murthy, a principal at accounting firm Crowe LLP, said. The order “requires Treasury and IRS to provide some way it can be done. In this case particularly, there really are no answers.” Payroll software providers need time to update their systems, and they can’t do that without guidance from the IRS and Treasury, Markowitz said. And companies have learned the hard way about claiming benefits before having sufficient guidance, he said. Following enactment of the last coronavirus stimulus legislation in March, some businesses quickly took advantage of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program but later found, after guidance was issued, that it might have been in their best interest to ditch the loans in favor of other tax credits or grants, he said. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has said that many companies are unlikely to implement the deferral, even with the IRS guidance, because it forces a large tax bill on employees in the future and would be very difficult for employers to administer. “Further, the lack of concrete guidance on the most basic of implementation issues presents an untenable situation, making it basically impossible for employers to implement this EO and leaving little choice but for those employers to continue remitting payroll taxes to the Treasury,” Caroline Harris, the Chamber’s chief tax policy counsel, said in a statement. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said he can’t force companies to implement the deferral, but said he hopes many companies will participate. Trump has said he would forgive the tax bills if he’s elected to a second term, but that would require participation from a Congress that has been hesitant to cut the funding source for Social Security. The onus is now on employers to provide explanations to their workers about why the company isn’t implementing the deferral and they should prepare to face a potential backlash from employees, Markowitz said. The average employee isn’t going to understand, nor care, that there isn’t any IRS or Treasury guidance, he said. “They’re just going to say, ‘Hey, Trump said I should have 6.2 percent more in my paycheck every week and I don’t." I haven't had any payroll clients ask about this yet

As cbslee stated, the assumption of the loan should be treated as a sale of the business. What type of business assets were taken over by daughter and who is responsible for the loan if daughter also bails out?

I have a ScanSnap that is very quick and scans both sides for documents client provide, and my fax machine is actually another computer on a separate line that receives faxes which I save to the appropriate client file on the main computer. And any documents now received in my Verifyle portal go to the client file as appropriate. I can actually find just about anything pretty quickly.

Likewise. I've looked at document management software for decades and could never see how it was better than self management.

Just in this past IRS nationwide tax forum, a tax preparer shared her experience on the attack her business went through, scary thats all i can say.

My E&O policy is part of a group policy via NAEA. The underwriters vary by state, but it's all via NAEA. I added the Cyber rider a few years ago. It does add a couple hundred dollars to my premium, but I sleep better at night.

I guess my young client is one of the beneficiaries of that generous donor to the Yale School of Music. By the way, the Dartmouth/Tuck Business School program was an intensive program in business for music majors to prepare them for the business of music performance. So, I would've argued, if my client had wanted to take the LLC, that it was to acquire job skills. But, I laid out all the issues for her, and she decided against it. The knowledge on this site is amazing.

And tax pros can expect millions of phone calls about this. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/13-point-9-million-americans-to-receive-irs-tax-refund-interest-taxable-payments-to-average-18-dollars

I always put myself on extension and try not to get refunds, but sometimes it happens. I usually file in August and have never gotten interest on an overpayment before. This year I filed in May, only because I moved to VA which had a nonextended June 1 due date and being a part-year resident, I couldn't even guess what my tax liability would be so had to prepare the return. I had an IRS overpayment (my bad), and just had interest deposited to my bank. What??? The regular due date was July 15, so they were not even late in paying me (I actually applied the funds to 2020 so didn't even request a refund). It's like the IRS has reversed course, anxious to give away money instead of collect it.

Good decision. Pub 970 does state, "However, you may claim the credit if the student doesn't receive a Form 1098-T because the student's ed-ucational institution isn't required to furnish a Form 1098-T to the student under existing rules (for example, if the stu-dent ... is enrolled in courses for which no aca-demic credit is awarded). If a student's educational institu-tion isn't required to provide a Form 1098-T to the student, you may claim the credit without a Form 1098-T if you oth-erwise qualify, can demonstrate that you (or a dependent) were enrolled at an eligible educational institution, and can substantiate the payment of qualified tuition and rela-ted expenses." However, the pub also states "The course must be either part of a post-secondary degree program or taken by the student to ac-quire or improve job skills." Since your student has no job, it looks like no LLC. A bit of trivia: A number of years ago an anonymous donor gave the Yale School of Music a huge endowment to assure that all future music students would pay no tuition. What a beautiful bequest! Musicians even with world-class training at places like Yale do not have much chance of making big bucks right out of school like graduates with, say, MBAs or STEM degrees. To relieve them of the burden of student loans is truly a lifetime gift. There has been much speculation over the donor's identity. I think s/he was a highly successful musician (Ringo Starr? Cher?) who knows what it was like.

I manage my own by folders: CPA/Individual Clients (or Business Clients or Former Clients or Everything Else)/Client Name/Tax Year and within the tax years Client NameTYXXDocs or Return or whatever else for that year. In the main Client Name folder is Drivers License, POA, whatever else would cover multiple years. ATX also has a folder within the program I think called Permanent File. My system didn't cost anything and has worked for me for about 20 years. I have a paper folder only to use during the season to hold any documents provided and to be returned and maybe the original signed 2848 or 8332. Maybe ask the new person for suggestions as to a good structure to make both your lives easier.

I have Aon Insurance through AICPA. It has an option which I chose called Netprotect which covers network damage and extortion as well as privacy breaches. Hoping I never have to file a claim but the peace of mind was/is worth the $190 it cost.

It seems a good percentage of people didn't watch the news or forgot when their preparer told them "your tax situation from 2017 to 2018 will be different and you are slowing getting your refund in your payroll etc...") Now as for technology, as we get older we will continue to keep the clients that are not computer savvy, but I can picture the young whipper snappers doing their own returns using their smartphones.

Heard back from my client with answers to my questions. Not surprised that she does NOT want to take any education credit for her son's summer program at Dartmouth. She IS going to use direct debit for the first time to pay her IRS balance due, because of the mail backlog. I give her payment vouchers and envelopes for her ES payments, but I'll also give her the IRS's DirectPay link and the CT link in case she wants to pay those online this year. Thank you all for discussing this with me. It helped me enormously to get it straight in my own head and then be able to lay out her options and what she could expect, explain it all to a very sweet violin teacher. Stay well.

Most clients do not want to get a letter from the IRS. It creates anxiety in them even before they open it. Even if you tell them ahead of time and that you will handle the matter if it arises, they will find a way to blame you as the return preparer. Also, knowing that they may not get a letter for more than a year could create long term anxiety to such a degree that the client will call you and ask if the return can be changed so as not to claim the credit.

No matter which way you go, your client is going to receive a AUR letter when there is no 1098-T to match the claimed credit. The LLC should be relatively easy to defend with only proof of payment. So, you should be advising your client of the options and, if the claim is rejected, it will result in penalties and interest. However, the AOC will be more difficult. You would have to get a letter from the dean's office at Yale that the Dartmouth courses were accepted as part of the Yale program leading to a degree. The IRS could also argue that the summer course was not a full time course. Dartmouth Summer offer three hours and it looks like the son, from what was paid, took 2 hours (the Dartmouth website provides the tuition by hours). Without a 1098-T from Dartmouth, the return will have to be paper filed where it is more likely to be flagged for audit.

I can NEVER understand why they don't just pay a lower interest rate and call it tax-exempt interest. It would save everyone involved (IRS, taxpayers, and us poor overwhelmed preparers) SO much grief! And I answered my own query here: it would make SENSE, so they CAN'T do it that way! lol.

If Yale gives (even partial) credit for the Dartmouth course, wouldn't it still be part of a degree program?

The instructions to form 8863 cover certain circumstances when the college or university doesn't have to issue a 1098-T and says that it is possible to use those expenses for the education credits, and it lists what other documentation would be required. Expect the IRS to question the credit without a 1098-T from the second school. cbslee is correct - no AOC for non-degree programs As for your questions - #1 - yes, sometimes it works like this. If the 529 is in the son's name, he reports the distribution on his return, and whoever claims the dependent with the education expenses claims the credit. In this case, it would be the lifetime learning credit. No double dip on this - the same qualified education expenses can't be used for the credit and to offset the 529 distribution. The education credit on mom's return probably gives a bigger tax benefit that the offset to the 529, so apply the expenses toward the credit on mom's return first before using any against the 529 on the son's return. The last one I had like this, the parents income was so high that all education credit would have phased out so all of it went toward reducing the 529 on the child's return. #2 - see my answer at the start of this post.

You know sometimes these colleges get on my last nerve. The 1098-T is an important form. While I always recommend seeing receipts and statements from the bursar's office the 1098-T is important. If the son has not claimed himself and has no education credits on his return, mom should be able to claim the AOC because the son has not completed the first four years of school according to your post. If the son is over 24 and mom and he still qualifies as a dependent on mom's return then you should be able to claim the LLC. I am saying this without knowing all of the detail so I could be incorrect based on the circumstances.

Yeah, now that it's become known that this wasn't even an Executive Order, it was an Executive Memorandum which has the force of a f**t in the wind.

You need at least some basic paperwork. Have A sell the business to B for $ 1 plus the assumption of the loan, otherwise the interest expense is still deductible on A's Schedule C.

I am glad this turned out as well as it did. I have always had my share of mistakes, but it seems like it is getting harder for me to accept that. And I don't want to stay in this business past the time that I can keep up with the changes. As fast as they are coming these days, I don't know how much longer that will be.

These are the penalties that can be abated- Penalties eligible for penalty relief include: Failing to file a tax return (this is the late filing penalty) Failing to pay on time Failing to deposit certain taxes as required Other penalties as applicable. I've had to do this 3 times and the best and fastest way is to call PPL and they will check the taxpayers record looking back 3 years. If there are no penalties from those years, it will normally be granted, but even a small late payment penalty could sink it. If it is denied, it can be appealed. You will get a letter of denial and where to send the appeal. The reasonable clause standard is pretty hard to meet. Unless, one of the spouses died or became incapacitated, their house burned down, or the records got swept away in tornado, there is little chance. There is a fourth standard, but it only applies to businesses and it is one of those nebulous things that could be hard to prove. BTW, you don't need to file form 4868 to get an extension - IF the client makes an Electronic estimated tax payment in time for the extension. It's right in the instructions in the 1st paragraph on the upper right. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4868.pdf

Wow. This is awesome! FWIW, ATX is my favorite tax software out of the half a dozen or so I've used, mainly because I can fly around tax returns so quickly, so I can charge a higher hourly rate.

My brother and I founded ATX and when we were searching for a name, there were over 200 professional tax companies at that time. Since we wanted to be the first company in a magazine review, our first requirement was that the name started with an "A". Also back in the day, "X" was a hot new way to name a company. And last but not least, all the the big companies were three initials--CCH, RIA, BNA, etc. And from here, ATX was born. Later, it was pointed out that ATX was an anagram of TAX so this became our official explanation as the first took too long to explain the real reason. Anyway, it's great to see the community again! Skol! Glynn Willett P.S. The rest of the story is that we began www.mobymax.com after ATX, and we are hot on the pursuit of taking over the education market :-)