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Partners receive Form K-1, not Form 1099-NEC. This one might go on your to-fire list.

Now that the risk of winning the "Audit Lottery" is so low, both taxpayers and professionals are being seduced with the lure of "Easy Money" which in their minds justifies all sorts of creative schemes and alternate realities. Every day in the media, we see hucksters being glorified and getting rich. It certainly makes the explanation of "how to comply with rules and regulations" seem dull and unimaginative. It's hard for the satisfaction of being competent and doing a "good job" to compete against the thrill of saving thousands of dollars.

I try hard to look for ethics classes that aren't some iteration of Circular 230 over and over and over ad nauseam. Best one ever was an interactive class of "gray areas" where a situation was given, what would you do? What if this detail changed? What if instead of stating case this way, it was stated that way? What if as time went on and you had an investment (time, effort, sympathy) in the client's case, it edged in this direction? Where is the line that crosses from advocating for the client to colluding with the client, and how can you anticipate where it might be so as to watch for it? It was excellent. Most of them are boring as spit, and not nearly as useful. I truly detest the classes (and especially the presenters) that assume we are adversaries and threaten with the horrible penalties that await. Have sometimes felt those people should be publicly flogged.

schirallicpa, EAs have to take two hours of ethics annually because THE IRS SAYS SO. Best ethics course I ever had was run by an IRS agent who began by saying she knew she was preaching to the choir. The worst I ever had was run by Karen Hawkins, then head of the Office of Professional Responsibility, who hated tax preparers. She spent the entire two hours reading Circular 230 to us, especially the juicy parts about monetary fines and sanctions. Interestingly, the ethics courses for CPAs are not eligible for CPEs for EAs, and vice versa. What do they teach you CPAs that they don't want EAs to know, and vice versa?

Plus, with the perception that everyone else is doing such schemes and getting away with it, most taxpayers feel like they are just leveling the playing field and that it is only fair.

I must be special. I just renewed.

So there we go. "Wanted: Receptionist. If you are good, you will do anything and everything."

Receptionist: I held that position part-time for over 20 years at a Dental Office. If you are good, you do anything and everything.

If anyone wants to know, the PTIN renewal system is now up and running. I just renewed mine. Beware, the site is horrible slow.

It would almost be worth sitting through the "other" kind, just to see!

Maybe you're just not that special any more, Tom. Or, maybe you are, but they're not ready for you yet!

Well, in my experience, way more CP2000s are wrong than right.

Any way - I did the right thing and reported all three. And honestly - she should have just paid the CP2000 notice. It would have been cheaper.

Yeah, our software companies need to close early enough that we get back all the federal AND STATE acknowledgments before 1040 MEF closes. I still have returns to prepare and e-file, and don't want to get stuck paper filing or waiting until January.

I just took my annual ethics CPE today. I now know what the answer is! You do too, even if CPAs only have to take four hours of ethics every three years. We EAs, being the most ethical of the professions, have to take two hours every single year. (Or do we have to take more because we're the least ethical?) Gets old fast.

It's wonderful you can retire with this market. Know this couple who retired at 55 and moved to Europe. They flew over on Jan 2nd & the peak of the market was Jan 5th. Glad they aren't my clients anymore. They are high return seekers who were big into tech so I'm guessing they are down 35-40% at this point.

It's hard to describe everything this fool must do but when you find that person, you can't live without them. I don't know how to put together a description either. Every time I advertise for someone, the applicants either want to just answer the phone, or they are fresh out of college and want to do accounting work.

I didn't know that you had to take more than CPAs. Hmmmmm......I wonder why. I guess the extra licensing fee with the state lets the CPA off the hook.

They ususally send me an email telling me I am "one of the special few" who get to pay them early. I have not gotten that email yet. Tom Longview, TX

Don't know if this helps or not. I spoke with a long time support agent at Drake this morning. I had a brain fart moment with not getting the partner's information for their capital accounts to show on the K-1. Felt stupid when I was told what to do as I should have known that all along. Anyway, I asked about the changes, they are trying to make sure our support requests get to the right places for better assistance. Normal concerns, they are getting bigger and it is harder to find hep. The normal cry of any business. The support is now attempting to be placed in Tiers. They didn't see anything really happening with Drake heading down the same path as ATX did. We'll see if the price goes up again this year. I guess Mr. Drake still has a lot of input.

Thanks. They do reflect strongly my beliefs.

Margaret, Just so you know, your end of post quotes are well chosen. Thanks!

I am still using the UniForms from ATX.

Interesting to learn the differences among the states for ethics requirements. Are Ohioans more ethical, as in, we don't need no stinkin' ethics or at least not so often Given some of the challenges by some clients, it probably is not so bad to be reminded with some frequency. Not to say some clients are unethical... /s

That is the requirement here too, 4 hrs every 2 yrs.

"1040 MeF Production Shutdown Schedule Shutdown begins on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, to prepare the system for the upcoming Tax Year 2022 Filing Season."

I believe CPAs in Oregon are required to take 4 hours of Ethics every 2 years.

We only need 3 hours every 3 years, not 4. But those can be intense hours depending on the instructor. Well, when it is/was live instruction and the leader put you on the spot, made you think. The online course is less intimidating but the answers still point to being honest and, well ethical.

Tell him to look for a new preparer. He has to know that campaign expenses aren't business expenses. Telling instead of asking you what credits he's entitled to is another sign that this is not a desirable client.

Be honest. CP2000s often miss things, and I hate it because it makes responding more complicated.

One of the ethics courses that I see over and over again is about Adelphia. Adelphia was the cable company that went public and they got audited - of course - and they had a number of off-balance sheet holdings, and a number of transactions for personal purposes, and a number of fraudulent handlings of money. It happened around the same time as Enron. Anyway, Adelphia was located right over the hill from us, and the father that ultimately went to prison was absolutely loved by this community. His children had taken over the financial side of the business and ran it amuck. I know the side of the story as a local who knows the family but of course I see the unethical behavior from the SEC's and from a CPAs point of view. It was really a hard blow to this area that struggles economically. At one time I had worked for an accounting firm that audited the local school district that Adelphia was located in and the school was able to make so many improvements to their school and really relied on that tax money. And I had a lot of clients that owned Adelphia stock that became worthless. It was quite a tragedy.