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Funny, my client finally went up in their attic and found the W 2 they needed

Not much you can do I think and they'll probably leave eventually. They like you for your past good, solid work when they were "just folks". Your CPA title helps, but they want to believe their buddies who say go with the big firms. It's a pattern; not confined to realtors/landlords. Once many SE types hit six-digits they develop (as John said) a "sense of entitlement"- a sort of "look at me" smugness; i.e. "My house and cars are paid off, I own rental property, have stocks, money in the bank, plus a fantastic job and all benefits." Or, as one once told me: "I've pretty much got everything else nailed down and I just don't see why we can't crack this nut." Oddly, he seemed to believe that his success could kill off taxes (the nut).

Good morning, BB...tips are included in income. Client expected that and has no issue at all with it saying..."I just want to make sure everything is correct." Refreshing.

I am not aware of any tax advantage of holding the investments an S-Corp., but there is extra accounting cost as you know. Now they are stuck with it, unless they wish to deal with gain from distribution under section 311(b); or nondeductible losses if basis of investments are greater than fmv.

Did you complete Schedule AI of the 2210? It is not enough to "explain" that your income varies by quarter, you have to do the math on this schedule. I've done it for clients multiple times. It's a pain to fill out and very time-consuming. Even when huge increases in income occur in the last quarter, I have never seen the result amount to more than a minimal reduction in tax. I've stopped doing them because it was ridiculous to charge the client $150 for my time to save them $20 in tax.

Those that properly reported all earnings were better off getting Covid relief, compared to those who are/were skimming. Same for those who want to show full income for things such as a home loan. Also, I usually mention things like not having artificially low earning years with SSA in case they or theirs need disability, survivors, or retirement payments. Written as I get ready to take our DD to her hair person this afternoon.

Many years ago I had a few clients who owned multiple rental properties. Most were constantly complaining they weren't getting enough tax deductions and at the same time complaining they had to pay too much for the services they obtained from their vendors. Eventually the conversation came around to the fact that I was one of their vendors and maybe I could help out by reducing my fees. Their sense of entitlement was boring and took up a lot of my time in unproductive conversation about tax-avoidance schemes. Eventually I got rid of most of them and stopped taking landlords as clients. I found most of them too cheap to keep.

I agree, rather than taking the time to develop an approach that effectively addresses the problem. the IRS is moving ahead with ID.me to be able to say, "Look we are doing doing something."

Customer asked us to print the full SSN on a pay stub for use with ID.ME. We mask the SSN on the stub, per CA regulations, per common sense, and since no state (which is where the stub regulations come from) requires the full SSN. It is normal, but still shocking, a stub, which anyone can "create" on their own, or via app, can be any sort of identification for any purpose. The one exception I could even envision is TX, where the stubs are supposed to be signed by the employer. ID is more subjected than some realize. Example, for my software downloads, we obtain and use a "code signing" certificate, to avoid the "unknown/possible dangerous" app warnings. There is a simple (cheaper) option where it is likely only automated identity verification is performed, such as looking at a business name in the DUN database, and access to the designated email. There is an "extended" verification which is supposed to be more thorough. I suspect it is still automated, as it did not require anything further from me than the regular method. The difference is for the signing process, I now have to use a secure USB stick, which contains my "key". The theory is I have to know who I am, the password, AND have the secure stick, to be able to sign my file. Granted, the stick means no one can copy my signing certificate, but it can still be lost or stolen. The whole identity "thing" is interesting to play with. When I have to give ID, sometimes I use my BIA ID or my passport card, just to see what the person looking at my ID says. Until my next BD, my state DL is still the "old" style, not a real ID, nor does it say not federally accepted. This puzzles some as they expect one or the other to be noted in the upper right. IN any case, the ID.ME process is another case proving privacy is a fallacy.

Yes, there are taxpayers out there trying to game the system. Years ago I fired a Hairdresser filing HOH, once I realized that the income she was reporting every year hit the exact sweet spot to maximize her EITC. Personally I am far more irritated by the large international tech companies that report billions of profits and pay very little tax. For example, for years Apple's effective tax rate runs about 8%.

Two of my better business clients have rentals that generate profits, however their primary source of Income are operating businesses.

Simplified to a "post card", resulted in a 2 page 1040 now being about 5 pages on average. Gotta agree with @Lion EA

Senator Warren should try doing her own tax returns this way and see what results she gets. She wants the IRS to provide a government version of Turbotax without considering all the problems people have had with TT. It is so bad that that TT has had to hire EA's and CPA's to help taxpayers prepare their returns. Will the IRS be providig help as well with IRS employees that have had only a rudimentary course in taxes?

A realtor who exaggerates, what a surprise! /s/s/s

I switched in the middle of the 2012 filing season debacle - Feb 2013. Baptism by fire! That said, once you set aside (and it's a decision to make) reliance on forms-based entry, it's remarkably quick. Yes, sometimes a checkbox will trip you up. At that point, the top-notch support steps in.

I wouldn't have left ATX except for ongoing problems with my state Business Entity Returns. I find Drake more reliable, with much better support. There is definitely is a learning curve because Drake is not Form based. Drake's efiling process is much quicker and more reliable. Drake does small frequent program updates which only take 1 or 2 minutes. Drake definitely releases forms and state returns much sooner than ATX. The hardest thing for me to get used to was Drake has very busy input sheets, which can result in overlooking a check box etc. Even now after 3 years, it takes me a bit longer to do a return in Drake. However that's offset by fewer problems and better support.