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Cordelia Rose arrived on the 19th. 7 lbs 10 oz, 19" They asked us to stay quiet until they got home and settled, so I've had both hands over my mouth at all times for four days now! And I just had to share with all my dear friends here.

Congratulations

I got to meet her today and she's even MORE beautiful in person!

Congratulations Grandma!

Congratulations!

She's precious, Catherine. Congratulations!

Once the work goes back to a lighter load, each year I go through an adjustment to my new schedule. I don't have any current personal works in progress, so I'll have to get something going soon so that I don't end up wandering aimlessly around the house or yard. My husband just watches and smiles knowing it's going to happen.

Congratulations to the whole family! She is a beauty and smart too! We know because both run in the family. Enjoy this precious love.

Congratulations! And welcome to the club!

Congratulations Catherine...... Granny Shows her excitement when she hears the news...

I used Gleim to study back in the early 2000's for the EA exam (back then, four parts, in two days, given only once a year and you waited three months for results). Passed all four sections first try, thanks to Gleim. I recommend them highly. I recommended them to a young man looking to become an EA and he is very impressed and learning a lot both about the tax code but also about how to approach the testing. That was also my experience; learning to recognize the no-right-answer questions, and learning to trust my FIRST response, were I think key to passing. From Gleim I learned that every time I re-thought something, went back, and changed my answer, that 3/4 of the time the original was right and the change was wrong. Far fewer overall wrong answers by not going back. Phew! Learning to trust that was a hurdle - that probably led to my passing all sections at once.

I used Gleim back in 1977 , helped me pass the final 2 parts of the CPA Exam

I worked in very small firms for 13+ years before going solo starting in 1996. It's hard at times, but this group keeps me fresh with the current discussions and questions. I feel fortunate to have had some great experience and then had to be confident enough to make my own decisions and research. If I make mistakes, I own them. I haven't seen any of my peers in person more than 10 years, ever since my local CPA breakfast club disbanded and around the same time that webinars came about and were accepted as group CPE. Do you have anything like a small practitioners group in your area? We have that as a subgroup of my state's CPA society, but I've never attended. Maybe I should because I know that many of the breakfast club are a part of that.

I would decline to prepare if the client is unwilling to cooperate by providing the information needed for a complete and accurate return.

$95 processing fee for a download always ruffles my feathers.

Bingo! This will be the issue. How many people are just going to treat this like the "free" money they got last year? Assume a client gets enhanced UI for 6 months, advanced CTC and works for 6 months. What are they going to say when you tell them they have no refund coming cause they got it during the year? This is going to be a bloody year for the chains (Block, Liberty, JH). They live off the quick turnaround, big refund checks and advancing loans off of the refunds. But then again, the President and Congress could decide that this is still unprecedented times and forgive the payback on the tax credits and allow UI to go untaxed for another year. We saw it before and we may see it again. Tom Modesto, CA

The view of the Sierra from Verdi is what made me want to move! Having fast internet was my only restriction on where I could live. I ended up losing about half my clients & picked up a few more, but since I no longer have a mortgage it doesn't matter. I'm a desert rat so the wide open, bleak landscapes just make my heart sing. A pox on all you that prefer green humidity to the desert!!

Actually several years ago I declined to take on young lady, a daughter of some long time clients, who was sharing custody with her ex spouse. I just don't have the necessary experience and expertise to deal with these issues. It's consumes way more time than I can bill. In recent years as a one person office, I have decided to stay within my limitations. In addition I don't do Estate and Trust Returns or any nonprofit work.

True, but just like with the recovery rebates, the IRS will straighten it out, just like they do with estimated payments, that clients sometimes give us wrong amounts for.

I really see this being a nightmare for divorced parents who take turns claiming the dependent. And for the tax preparers who need to know how much they got during the year.

General Announcement: If you have kids, I ain't doing your return anymore. It's bad enough to have to do the 8867 for every return with a kid and a child tax credit or a education credit. A bigger pain when EIC triggers. But this is really going to be a nightmare!

Hopefully, they'll be sending 1099-Gs at the end of the year. Clients aren't going to remember any of this at the end of they year.

The IRS deserves some kind of award for what they've done this past year and what they're still doing.

Get ready for the phone calls!

We have been in VA about a year a half and love it. The people are genuinely kind, real southern hospitality, and it is beautiful here in the Shenandoah Valley. Real estate taxes are less than a quarter of what we paid in CT, gas is cheaper, utilities and insurance are less, roads are in great condition, state budget is healthy. Housing is expensive though, and we aren't in the beltway. Our son lives 40 miles away in WV. It too is a beautiful state with low housing and property tax costs. You can get any environment you want there--mountains, plains, rivers and lakes. I don't know why it hasn't been discovered by the masses yet. What is neat about both states is they have history everywhere--castles, plantations, revolutionary and civil war battlefields, underground railroad sites, canals that existed before the rails dominated. Take some vacations this year to explore potential new home sites. Looking at the zillions of returns we have on extension, and all those state returns that will have to be amended after the late federal changes, it looks to me like another tax season that will never end. This one will hurt more because last year we couldn't go anywhere even if we had time; this year we sort of can....

My vote would be for Virginia. Tom, you and wife should tour the state. It is beautiful and has something for everyone with its diverse georgraphy, climate, low cost of living in some of the areas, and very friendly people once away from the I-95 corridor. It is more blue-leaning than most of the others you've listed, but again, that is mostly in the metro area, and I don't think you'd be unhappy a little further west of that.

If you like TN, you might like the area of Virginia I live in. This is a beautiful state to live in, and I especially like the views of the mountains that we have, plus I am close to Smith Mountain Lake. And after this past tax season, I will make you a good deal on my tax business.

Catherine, When I used to visit my family in Stoughton, the Dunkin Doughnut ruled. They are better than Krispy Kreme. Now, here in the South, Krispy Kreme is king. But like you, I'll pass as well and they are less than 30 minutes away from me. Artery plugging death wad.

I came here to post a "WE MADE IT - THANK YOU ALL" note and there's nothing more to add. You may not post often, @Patti in Upstate NY, but when you do, it's spectacular. Thanks for being a lurker/rare-poster here. As for the rest of you - I cannot begin to say how grateful I am for each and every one of you. And - WE MADE IT!!! By the skin of our teeth, but we made it. Praise God. By this time next year, there will be a little more room - from settling, of course - in RitaB's back 40, too, so we can do it all again. Taking a few days to recover and we will y'all here for extension season. And, of course, to report on the new grandbaby once s/he deigns to appear. My poor daughter is SO ready.

Yep, $150,000 cliff for every return. So, if one or both spouses can get below $150,000 by filing MFS, then one or both spouses can exclude up to $10,200. Of course, then they pay you for two sets of returns and pay the higher MFS tax rates and could lose a tax credit or two, so you have to run the numbers (and charge them for your research!) to see what gives them the best overall family outcome. This is one of the many reasons that it's taking me more time to prepare EVERY return this year!

New grandbaby, due ANY DAY NOW!!!!! should keep me busy. I avae never had so many PITA clients as this year. Even generally good clients turned into client-zillas on occasion, and every referral client from existing good clients was someone - well, let's just say it's a good thing I live so far from RitaB, or her daisies would be super-fertilized this year!

Yes it is possible. They can be used to make a "back door" Roth contribution when income is a limiting Roth factor.

I don't think you can choose to not deduct a traditional IRA, nor do I think that would ever make any sense. Just do a Roth if you don't want a deduction.

Last year, this year, and probably next year as well, this is very, very good general advice.

You should google "next winning lottery numbers" with the luck you have. It amazes me every time how good you are. Tom Modesto, CA