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I've always liked, "Couldn't pour sand out of a boot with direction written on the heel."

I wish I had clients who cared about me as much as yours care about you.... Tom Longview, TX

Thanks for all the sympathy, empathy, and commiseration. My letter clearly states that if I don't have all materials in my hands by March 15th, all bets are off, *and* that every return not ready to file *will* (not may) be put on extension the first week of April. So it wasn't even deadline pressure that day. It was just all of a sudden the floodgates gave way and I was inundated with other people panicking, being stupid, or both, and I needed to rant. Thanks, friends, you're in the same boat so you get it.

I hate when a client sends me just page 1 of a 17 or 50 page brokerage 1099, because they think that's all I need. I tell them that their tax return is like a puzzle and if they don't give me all of the pieces I won't be able to complete the puzzle.

If we didn't know your statement was tongue-in-cheek, that would be dangerous. Asking for a bunch of ATXCommunity-ers to show up at your office with pitchforks and tar. Fortunately for you, we'd all have been too busy anyway!

I agree! Exhausted. I have never had so many new clients in one year. More tax preparers and CPA's are retiring in my area and no new people coming in and replacing them. New client brought me huge tax return with 27 K1s and 4 Charles Schwab statements totaling 264 pages, marketplace and the list goes on. I did do a little crying over that then called him and said EXTENSION!!! And I am so tired of every other TP telling me they didn't get any stimulus!!! It took ALL my will power to get out of bed this morning and come to my office. 10 more days, 10 more days, 10 more days!!! Thanks for the encouragement!

Actually, I would just show up with the tax returns I don't have the energy to finish. That would be worse than tar and pitchforks!

The IRS suggests this method. Read the sections on "Coordination." https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

I efile the extension,leaving the payment line blank, then send the payment voucher to the client. It's up to them whether or not they remit the balance due for the extension request. I explain that an extension is for filing the paperwork, but not for paying the taxes due.

What I would like to know is why the *&^*$ does the Treasury print the interest paid on 8 3/4" paper????? It makes everything all scrunchy when fed through the scanner feed.

Thanks mcbreck, I really needed a good belly laugh. Now I have a big smile on my face

I overslept this morning and consequently my son was late for a 7:00 am call for a school activity (albeit only 2 minutes late, but isn't everything magnified right now?); he's at the school with no breakfast and a pocketful of granola bars and a latte (mother of the year right here). I yelled at my husband this morning for making a coffee mess all over the counter and not cleaning it up or throwing away his trash. I used a few 4-letter words (which I truly NEVER do), so I think I scared him half to death. Then I came to the office and thought I was going to break down crying. This is ridiculous. I think we don't realize the depths/effects this pace/pressure have on us. One of my staff members gave me a pep talk which really helped. 'I've worked for you since 2008. You've never not made it to the finish line. You've got this.' I pass this pep talk on to all of you. We've got this. 10 more days. Palm Sunday and Easter. Renewal and rebirth and and incredible amount of Grace.

I emailed a client 10 days ago: "I don't have your blah blah blah brokerage statement". HIs response TODAY: "I know. I intentionally didn't send that to you because it is long". Woe is me. And tired is me. Woe and tired.

Ok, so I stand totally corrected and learned something. Thank you for straightening me out. The whole process just didn’t sound legit.

Last year, I had a client who moved sold their house and bought a new house. so everything was handled via email. So I asked them for copies of their closing statements. They couldn't figure out what to send me. Finally I went online and found three different samples of what closing statements looked like and emailed those copies to to them. One spouse has a PHD and the other spouse has a MS, both Degrees in Education. Finally I received copies of the closing statements

I swear, people are getting more stupid by the day, dumb as rocks, and wouldn't be able to find their way out of a paper bag! I've had to email a few long time clients re-instructing them again that I need the signature forms back before I can e-file. These are always on the outside of the folder, signature lines highlighted, and with a colored slip clipped to them on all of the ways the form(s) can be returned to me. One is a recent college grad and daughter of existing client is apparently just like her dad and only reads parts of the email. The part about signing the 8879 was in larger text and in bold. What did I get back? "Thank you for providing the document files." So I waited a couple of days before following up and the next response was "oh, I didn't know I had to sign anything."

Crazy thought. Had a lady bring me her information on Monday and on Wednesday I delivered to her a list of questions which she acknowledged. Today she's wondering what refund she'll get even though she didn't answer any of the questions. You took a $15k IRA distribution and withheld no tax and you think you are getting a refund? Daughter of a client asked for a copy her mother's 2020 tax return. I said I need proof of POA so she sends her brother a request to order me to provide a copy. Her brother emails the same request and puts POA after his name at the bottom of the email. These are highly educated people.

I cannot imagine being fatigued at the end of tax season being myself full of energy and pep.

This time of year the thing that gets me is the "panic" freakout that you missed something. Was doing a return and freaked out that I'd forgotten to do a trust return for the deceased wife. Scrambled for 10 minutes and remembered they picked that up 2 months ago and the K-1 was on the return. Takes my heart 20 minutes to settle down. Or the person who just drops in, I see them and panic that I can't find their return. They were just dropping off brownies to thank me because I was so quick last month when they picked up.

"The incurred expenses are claimed on Schedule E when it’s deductible. If a partner was required to pay these expenses under the partnership agreement, unreimbursed ordinary and necessary partnership expenses paid on behalf of the partnership may be deducted on Schedule E as instructed on Form 1040." It's when the Partnership Agreement requires the Partners to pay to pay certain ordinary & necessary business expenses I am a kinda puzzled how this would apply to a limited partner and what direct expenses a limited partner would even have?

I haven't had one this year, but... I think the taxable part is $8,000 X the ratio of 15000/40000 with 10% penalty on that same amount. And, can you use Room & Board against his 529 Plan distributions? Books? Etc. TTB give Qualifying Expenses: Books, supplies, equipment, room & board if at least 1/2 time, computer equipment, software, internet access, related services. TTB says Tax-free earnings = Earnings X Adjusted qualified education expenses/Total distribution Taxable earnings = Earnings - Tax-free earnings So, what TTB says.

Most states accept the federal extension and I've yet to find a state with late FILING penalty. States seem to just have late PAYING penalties and interest. If you must file the state extension, just show no balance due.

You can't until you find out what he did with it.

You have to read the terms of each scholarship. Some are restricted to tuition only. Let's say your daughter has $10,000 in tuition and $10,000 in scholarships. That's not bad; a free education. But what if not all her scholarship(s) are restricted to only tuition; maybe $4,000 may be used for other expenses, such as room and board. Now she has $6,000 tax-free scholarships applied to tuition and $4,000 taxable scholarships at her tax rate of 0%-10% (does Kiddie Tax kick in over $2,200?). But you now have $4,000 paid toward her tuition for a full AOC of $2,500; a credit that's valuable at your typical marginal rate of 22% or 24%. You have to run the numbers to get the best outcome for the whole family, but there are possibilities to be a real hero to your clients.

I'd use Sche E when qualified to save SE tax. You can use any reasonable method to split the utilities, such as by square footage.

I agree with Lion EA. I have a clergy that I have done his taxes for several years. I did a lot of research on this to make sure I did it right. Read PUB 517 for clergy and here is some instructions as well. It is lengthy but has alot of good information. IRS Instructions for SE tax.pdf

I usually recommend filing with the "final" box checked, as I did have one trust years ago that had no requirement for its last year - and got a letter two years later wanting to know where the return was. For such returns I charge next to nothing because it's just name, address, EIN, and "final return" box checked.

Extension. Tell minister to ask for a corrected W-2.

I'm glad you found what you needed. I have had clients make a partial payment by debit with filed return, and included the IA request (for under $10K) with the return. Done that way, it can take several months before the IRS starts taking the monthly debits. But eventually they do.

And, make sure you check out the separate TaxWise forum , or Drake forum, or whatever software you use forum, also, within this website. I don't use any of those, but I love the main forum - ATX Community - for tax help, practice help, help help, and good cheer. As well as putting up with my rants. With some of the best colleagues to ever meet around this virtual water cooler.

Final Update: The second TIN belongs to UBS brokerage where account is held. Did conference call with client to his broker and talk to Manager. He was knowledgeable. He said that Client should not get K1 in first place. It is UBS who need to file 990 when K1 received. So client happy and me too. Thank you for all the input.

Thank you! Just what I needed and can send to my client.

Each taxpayer should call the department responsible for issuing unemployment benefits in the state sending him Form 1099-G if he did NOT apply for/receive unemployment benefits. The IRS has been issuing guidance on this since 2020. cbslee said the IRS recently released revised FAQs for UCE. Here's an older one: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-offers-guidance-to-taxpayers-on-identity-theft-involving-unemployment-benefits

Be prepared for the IRS to send letters to your clients who moved from or within DC and never got the 1099-G. Since they didn't collect unemployment, they didn't expect a 1099-G. So they never brought it to us and we filed their taxes and the IRS will match it later. As Judy said, this could be coming up in a couple of years.

I've been using TaxDome which is an entire online portal that offers e-signature with KBA ($1/signer), and so far it's been a breeze and my clients haven't had any real issues. It offers the audit trail download too. I haven't even begun to use the pipelines yet, but many have said they made a huge difference in the office workflow. Summer project for me is learning them. I use CamScanner. It takes the picture and converts it into a VERY CLEAR digital copy and offers PDF, JPEG, etc.

I have several writeup clients whose bank statements come on that size too. Actually, I think it's a metric size.

I've never noticed that here on the east coast. Must be a certain IRS location that does that.

It says "IRA" and it has the IRA's TIN. Do not include it on the return. If past years are substantial, inform client how much he'd save by amending.

If it's not his Social Security number then it's not his K1. It could however be in the name of a revocable trust and therefore would go on his 1040.

There will not be an IRS letter since 1041 (and 1065) do not have absolute filing requirements like 1120S or 1120 do, only conditional filing requirements.

Some people will take a mile if you give them an inch. This year seems worse for some reason. I've always charged on a per-form basis as I'm terrible about tracking my time. I've spent way to much time on what should be the simplest of returns simply because they can't or don't want to keep track of things like what they paid in child care. I've decided I'm going to raise fees around 30% next year and then give a substantial discount to those people who can follow simple instructions of what to bring.

Daily, I get a complaint that a new employee has no FWH. The employer usually even says they claim no allowances. I have to try to revisit the W4 change, there is no provision for allowances, and those who used to claim 0 or 1 allowance need to add additional withholding. Usually still my “fault” even when I go over Pub15T with them. Daily I am also getting complaints that my calculations are wrong because an employee is griping they had to pay for the first time ever. I too look forward to the filing deadline, and while bothersome for tax preparers, still firmly believe tax preparers should be charging for and helping with W4 forms rather that giving unusable advice such as withhold 10%, or no advice at all such as “submit a new W4”. Of course, clients don’t want to pay for services, so I get the push back, but having an amount withheld above the penalty level and right about the amount owed would benefit the client who is wise, versus clients who rate preparers on the size of their refund (tell them to use the higher withholding option and add several hundred additional <smile>). Grand toddler always puts things in perspective for me. Limiting all support to written form has changed my attitude the most. Prevents misunderstanding (or at least shows the proper information was given) and not as many go on written tirades.

This has also occurred to me. I'll have to call his wife as he has since died and try and determine what part of the loan was paid and what part dropped. As about half the credit is already used I may simply drop the portion allocable to this year. This is one of those "can of worms" I alluded to awhile back.

Don't cry Catherine...It be all better soon....

If there's an EIN, I recommend filing a final return just to close the EIN with IRS.

I know this might not be the case in your situation, but it is a good idea to keep it in mind. Let's say that her gain is $350K and his gain is only $100K. $100K is taxable.

You don't have to use the software's home sales input area if you have all the data and already know that the sale qualifies for the exclusion and the amount of the exclusion. If you know they received form 1099-S and need to report the transaction(s), you can report them directly on form 8949 by entering the proceeds, basis+closing costs, and in col F use code "H" and back off the nontaxable portion of the gain that should be shown in col G as a negative number. That should result in -0- taxable gain in the final column H. Do that for each sale.

The karma of my talk of 20/day has circled back to me. I just spent 3 hours trying to calculate an accurate basis for someone who sold 2 shares of stock he held in an S-corp for the last 17 years (I was not doing his returns for those 17 years). At least he could look up the original purchase price of the shares and had all of the k1s going back to the initial ownership. The Universe is speaking to me.

Others procrastination does not equal emergency on my part. A few years ago I decided that clients that wanted to drop off/place docs into portal after a certain date (this year it was March 31st), I inform them that I do not have the time to complete their return by the due date. I am willing to file an extension for them and I can start on those returns after May 1st. Decision is up to them what to do. Most agree. The others can run to other offices and cause them problems. My health, life, sanity is not worth the stress. Not to mention, in order to provide a correct return, I need time and sleep.

I'm so sorry. I feel you. It's pretty bad. I find that I'm not holding my tongue very well. A client called me out of my office (staff came in and said 'client x says her return isn't accurate') to tell me something preposterous about why her refund should be larger (some 'folklore' tax rule). I looked her straight in the eye and said, 'who told you that, your hairdresser'? After a moment of stunned silence (from both her and me) where I thought she might take her things and leave for ever, she burst out laughing and apologized. Another client emailed me 3 times this past Sunday morning and texted me twice (call me crazy, but I do not respond to email from the sanctuary). After the service, I finally responded to him with 'why aren't you in Church'. No response, but he did send additional emails later in the day, so I assume he's still okay. I might not get so lucky next time. I need some 'be nice' pills.