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I've not had that but it stinks that we need to act as social workers to prepare a tax return. Is the spouse that is claiming abuse the only one that had ACA? Had you prepared prior returns for them?

Are you using the living apart and qualifying as HOH exception? Or, the domestic abuse exception?

I don't believe for a minute that they don't care. Of course, some of them don't; but the majority do and show it. During the course of the season, we get candy, flowers and everything from pizza to maple syrup and an occasional hot lunch. I don't expect them to come to my funeral, which is going to be private anyway. I can't begin to list the things that they bring, but the best are the hugs (sans Covid), the smiles and the "I"m so glad to see you" when they come through the door. They love that I am training a girl who wants to run a business just like mine and will someday. I've been around too long not to be able to spot the ones who don't care in a personal way and they don't get treated any differently than the rest. Many of my clients are my age (or almost) so along come their children and now their grandchildren. I tell each and every client that he or she is the most important person in this room at the moment and they are free to tell or ask me anything. When they get fired, it is because they deserve it and they can go and be the most unimportant person to someone else. Happy Thanksgiving All!!!

When the owner of our CPA firm died, many clients went into mourning with us. Some sent US flowers or goodies. No, they didn't show up for the memorial service (usually attended by family and close friends), but that didn't mean they didn't care. As for firing clients, raising fees rarely does it. I had one client who was such a PIA that I kept raising his fee a couple of hundred a year, but he kept coming back. (I stopped at $1500, for maybe a $600-$700 return) because at that fee I figured I was getting compensated for the aggravation. Best to just fire them. Every year we send a letter to some clients stating that our business direction is changing and their particular needs will be met better elsewhere. Every year a few of the recipients beg to stay. Sometimes we agree but not always. We also have too many clients and really need to cull the list.

While one may feel bad for cutting clients. I guarantee these clients would not blink an eye if you quit due to health issues or death. Not trying to sound morbid. But case in point, my father spent 60+ years doing income taxes. And he always went out of his way to help others, even with non tax issues. Upon his death only a handful of his clients came to either the viewing or funeral. And he did well over 1,000 returns a year. So dont feel bad when trimming the fat, they could care less for you. Your just the tax guy or tax lady

If one of the spouses qualifies as HOH you don't need to worry about the domestic abuse exception. I would just use the normal due diligence for HOH.

Premium Tax Credit? Exception to not claim it?

I had to wait for the second MFA code for about 5 minutes, otherwise it went very smoothly, about 15 minutes in total.

I did get one last month while I was logging in from Kauai on a two week vacation.

Well, I'd already found the 3 online services that Catherine suggested and set up an account with the first one, Tax2Efile. I tried to fill in the company's data with the first one, and it appears that these providers may have the same limitation as our software, that a tax year filing with a start date in 2022 is not possible yet. I'm not going to waste any more time on this and will paper-file an extension and copy DE on it also.

Absolutely!! Once I got the nerve to do that the first time, it got easier. The relief is immeasurable and the time that is freed up can double or triple the income from that one problem client. Being polite and professional is a must, but there is no excuse for rudeness, excessive demands and complaints on their parts. I even had to cry one time; but handed them their final return with depreciation schedules and said Goodbye. Guess what, some of their relatives are still good clients.