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I cannot believe the number of places that require the taxpayers to print off their own 1099s. I have several that are already filed and then come in and say that they just got another letter and/or need to print something off and then they expect ME to drop everything and print it off for them because they conduct all of their business on their phones. I actually cried real tears this morning and now my rant is over. Besides that, MY phone crashed on the latest update and all I can use it for is a phone. (Well, I guess that makes sense) but many of my clients make appointments on the phone on my business page.

Hey, we've got 3 extra days this year , April 18th

I've not heard, but I am hoping for another month. Cuts down on the first timers "you're getting an extension, I get one for myself, here is a paper sack to breathe into..." talk. Which takes time. Bags are cost of business. But time is gold. I have a stack waiting on either 8606 or 8915-F. Two partnerships that probably don't need K-2 or K-3 (and I know there's some relief or other coming so I'm probably good). I know some hate for the season to be extended, and if I felt that way, I'd just carry on as usual like the due date is April 15. It would still be a PITA because nobody has time to notify dozens of stragglers, so I understand both views here. My view is more important to me because, you know, me.

Wait, that's my job!

Yeah I have a client that every year receives an email telling him that his 1099 is available. Does he download and forward it to me? No!

I have a client that has not had a filing requirement for years. He wants their joint tax return filed so that if something happens to him, his wife has a record of the returns that were filed and doesn't have to worry about something coming up after he is gone. Like Joan, I charge a minimal fee and do what he wants.

Thanks for that info Chris. Saved me a call to support. Tom Longview, TX

Some people suck at "computer things." I have clients that just give me their login info so I can download it for them. And I don't mind that one bit, because I have clients who print their 1099s in portrait mode when they should be in landscape, making them hard to work with. Why they just can't save the download is beyond me.

Exactly. Everything I think of will not be able to be matched by the IRS and will look like EITC fraud to the IRS (properly so - in my opinion). If anyone could just put an amount in for income with nothing for the IRS to match to from a third party payer, there would be fraud like the IRS has never seen before. I can't find a good way to do this that will not involve IRS rejection and appeals. Without the W2, I see no other course of action that the IRS could take (again - justifiably so). However, my client is entitled to this tax credit (both Federal and CA). I need to advocate for them. Tom Longview, TX

The IRS has already made it clear the amount can be included for income based items, such as EIC and ACTC, yet excluded from taxable income. Tom was, to me, asking how to make it happen in ATX. There are many search results showing how it is handled in other software, and many IRS references showing it is allowable (the TP can elect to show any amount from zero to full amount received, IIRC).

Don't be embarrassed Terry. Uber forms are new to most of us, and we've all learned something from this thread so we'll be better prepared. And you of course are well-prepared for the next one. You should only be embarrassed when you believe a client who says "my return is really simple, or "I'm head of household" (single, no dependents), or "they already took the tax out" (just the 10% early distrib, not the income tax). Or the latest: "I didn't get any stimulus payment."

I know some states have extended their due date for filing returns. Has anyone read/heard of any potential federal extension? I'm hoping if that is the decision the government is moving toward, they make the announcement sooner versus later so we can plan accordingly. It's only mid-February and this tax season already feels way too long.

I’m currently filing a return that I’ve informed the client that he no longer has a filing requirement, but he wants to continue due to ID theft. I only charge a minimal amount.

I just spoke to support on this very issue and they said I will just have to override the 3514 and the Schedule EIC to make this work for my IHSS clients. Dumb but that is what it is according to ATX support. Maybe add an 8275 with explanation of where the income came from?

I apologize for being annoying and difficult!

I think that's only in New England

This year it's also Autism Awareness Day, Easter Monday, National Animal Crackers Day, National Linemen Appreciation Day (wires, not sports), and National Velociraptor Awareness Day. The way things are going, I'll be Animal Crackers cuckoo for Cocopuffs after this season is over.

I looked at the calendar once and I think it only ends on the 15th 3 out of 7 years, typically. And doesn't the April 18th Patriots' Day holiday usually extend tax season to the 19th?

IRS Notice 2014-7, Q&A number 9 says this: (Question 10 from that notice deals with amended returns for this issue.)

The agency (usually county) should have allowed the provider to self certify the amount is not taxable. This allows the agency not to send an unneeded 1099 or W2. Receiving a 1099 or W2 - when it is to be ignored - can cause headaches. I cannot help with ATX, since I do not use it. The software I use for my personal return asked if we had any such amount we wanted to report, and if it would have benefited, would have handled it appropriately. This treatment is not just a single tax case ruling, it is policy (or whatever the proper term is) for all similar situations. IRS Notice 2014-7.

Had a grown child (parent had been my client, not grown child) call me frantic, because in her mother's (now deceased) retirement community apartment that "the kids" were cleaning out there were multiple IRS letters that said she hadn't reported her winnings from Mohegan Sun a few years before she died. But mother had stopped coming to me a couple years prior to her winnings, apologizing but saying she really didn't have to file any longer. "The kids" had already divvied up mom's bank accounts and things. How were they going to pay for that, the GC whined. I no longer knew mom's tax situation, but if she'd been filing returns it might've been past the SOL. No longer my problem. So, make sure your non-filer clients didn't take up gambling as a retirement hobby!

LOL! I don't think seniors that have Social Security and a couple hundred of interest income need to worry about SOL. No reason to pay me to prepare a return that is not required or offers them zero benefit.

Low income seniors might qualify for a little EIC now or the RRC3. Some of the towns around me offer a property tax discount or credit or rebate for seniors with low income; some need to take in tax returns every year or every other or every third year. Some of my clients need to show a couple low-income years after a high-income year (sold house, maybe) to get their Medicare cost back down. As you say, some state filing thresholds are lower than the federal. Start the SOL. So many reasons to file.

Ultratax, which costs our firm $16k a year, also does not have approval on our company's state and who knows how many others. We can do the calculations but can't efile. In the past our state has always been available almost immediately after the federal approval, so this has never happened before. It seems the states are causing the lag (but it's all our fault).

Damn, 1960 is the year I was born!!