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Before I put my foot down about "no jpegs allowed" I had one client fuss at me about how it was too much trouble to scan - just blow up the picture sent. So I blew up the picture, took a screenshot of the pixelated nonsense, and sent it to the client asking them to tell me what the numbers were. I got scans later that day.

What I love about phone camera pics is that on about half of them the right quarter of the page (the side with all the numbers) is cut off. And then, the icing on the cake: "I sent you a picture. Can't you just enlarge it?" Somehow, they just don't get that enlarging the pic doesn't magically add the stuff off to the side. Eye roll.

Some IP PIN tips: 1) someone applying now (or this summer) will receive a number-- but it's only good for returns filed in 2023. They need to be aware that they need the new PIN issued in January to file each year. 2) Clients need to be looking for the CP01A notice in January and take measures to obtain it if they don't receive the letter (and not wait for you to tell them about the reject notice). If they can't retrieve it online (we all know the joy of passing the photograph requirement at id.me), they will have to wait for the IRS to mail it to them, which is estimated at 3 weeks. 3) PIN's don't appear on transcript records that we can get, so it has to be the taxpayer. They need an online account but retrieve a lost IP PIN through a specific channel at irs.gov (just enter "Retrieve Your Identity Protection PIN" in the search box).

One other suggestion is to remind clients with IP PINs that if they move during the year they must file the address change form 8822 or the IP PIN the next January will be sent to the former address.

The stock market has been pretty volatile, there is an equal chance of significant price changes.

I have a client with an IP PIN also. Once someone requests a PIN, they will need it for every year going forward thereafter.There is no way to cancel it or tell IRS they no longer want or need it. My particular client lost hers this year too, and she was able to log in to her IRS account and retrieve it that same day.

Tell them to get an app like CamScanner (there are several out there) that use a phone to scan into pdf. I refuse to accept jpeg except for driver's licenses. No documents. At all. Ever.

won't it allow it if he says he is real estate? Marked wrong? d

You can count them on the fingers of one thumb!

You have to use Form 8949 to report the DOD cost basis to be able to show her actual gain/loss for her month of ownership. Plus, the IRS has the Form 1099-B so its computers will try to match to her return. Get the DOD values for each of the sales from her ML stock broker. In fact, have him print her gain/loss statement using the DOD cost basis for each transaction. He should upload it to a ML portal and give you access. Download it to your computer. Then you have the documentation you need to prepare her return and to include in her tax folder for her to keep. Also, save a copy of her ML gain/loss statement in your electronic file for your client, just in case she gets any IRS correspondence that you will respond to for her.

https://www.irs.gov/faqs/irs-procedures/address-changes/address-changes

I'm just as leery of the known companies.

Fortunately, you can get you IP PIN online. https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/retrieve-your-ip-pin Also, would the post office forward it if you did a change of address with them? And I think the post office sends change of address info to the IRS.

Hello Teresa, you would report it as like any other stock sale but you need to go back to date of death and look up the value of the stocks. That would be your cost basis, there is a chance the stock didn’t appreciate in value between DOD and when your client sold them.

One app I like (that is for the Iphone and Android phones) is Microsoft Lens. I lets you take pictures, but you get to pick the type of the subject. Document, Whiteboard, Business Card or just a plane photo. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-lens-pdf-scanner/id975925059 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.officelens&hl=en_US&gl=US&pli=1 The Document option, will try and OCR the picture and you can take multiple pictures at once and then save them all in one PDF, Onenote, Onedrive, WORD or powerpoint on the phone. Or you can Email them straight to someone. You can even edit the picture a little, by adding highlights, extra text and some other things (which I have never used)

What was real estate asset life in the 70s? 15 years? Maybe it was fully depreciated by the late 80s and now 45 years later, not only is he not able to remember what he did about depreciating his rental, he most likely can't remember anything from the 70s.

When all else fails, reboot.

I've never signed one in 25 years. I just have ATX 'electronically sign' it for me. I've also never had the IRS ask for my 8879s.

How many clients will remember to do that?

I just tell them that I have to have it as an attached PDF file. They will usually comply. I refuse to accept screen shots. It is on them to furnish me with the correct paperwork.

I just had one as well. He swore he didn't have an ID Pin. He told us to refile with last years pin, which, of course, also got rejected. These pins are issued because clients are or were at some point subject to possible identity theft. We ended up paper filing the return. Client was not happy with US and I doubt that we will ever see him again. We know he got the pin and just discarded or can't find it. He was not willing to ask the IRS for a copy of the Pin for 2022.

I had a client who swore he did not get an IP PIN for 2023. Sure 'nuff his return was rejected. And surprisingly (not) when he went digging he found the letter the next day.

Technically, they were not eligible for a subsidy because they were below 100% of the poverty level. When they applied, they must have entered an estimated income number greater than that or the program would have told them they weren't eligible and to sign up for Medicaid. To check the worksheet box for the 8962 that allows an exception, the taxpayer must state they expected to make more than 100% of the poverty level when they signed up. Just a question of if you are comfortable with that answer.

The client can also get one by setting up their own account. One of my clients has had one for years and tried to tell me it wasn't needed for 2022 return - until it was rejected because of missing IP PIN. Amazingly a week later, client got it from his online account.

We recommend Genius Scan (free) app. Only because that is the only app I know that is free that I have actually used. It is OK. Did I mention it is free? I still get jpeg files and it sucks. Tom Longview, TX

Re-installed the Anti-Virus and ATX is still working. Thanks again. You guys are the best! Tom Modesto, CA

Thanks guys. Un-installed my virus software, restarted the services on all ATX software and the problem went away. Going to see what happens when I re-install my antivirus software. Did not use Abby's repair batch files, but I will keep this in mind. Appreciate you all. Tom Modesto, CA

I have a couple clients who text me pics. Even if the pic is readable, I have to figure out how to save it, usually email it to myself and then save in the client's file on my computer. Time wasted on an extra step or two. Usually the pics are NOT readable. Even the email attachments, if not .pdfs, are odd, such as just one quarter of the page. "But I sent it to you." ScanStraight is a creation of Jason Staats who's a tax preparer. I haven't tried it out, but I did download it at his opening discount price. Jason's heavy into AI. I think ScanStraight's strength is that if you get a bunch of pics from a client, you can "fix" them all at once. I think you move them all into one folder in ScanStraight and then process the whole folder. Scannable is by Evernote so if you use Evernote (which I don't) it's there for you. Save to Evernote or camera roll. Send via email or Share by all the usuals: Message, Mail, Notes, Copy, HP ePrint, Files, Open in..., or your favorite printer app. It's great at cleaning up photos, turns those gray backgrounds white, smooths out folds and creases, makes "stretched" areas readable, finds the document when you're the photographer. I think I said I've used it to take a photo of the messy attachment on my monitor to get something readable and worth saving without having to print to paper. Scannable's a one-at-time thing, where ScanStraight will do one or batches at a time. Hubby teaches piano and has a lawyer student who travels a lot and uses Scannable to send and receive documents when on the road. Hubby downloaded it (it's FREE) and uses it to send music back and forth to his students. It was very handy while he taught remotely during the thick of Covid, but even now he has kids that forget their music or need something new right this minute. He told me about Scannable, so I use it and try to get my clients to use it. The newer iPhones (mine is an old iPhone 6+ or something) do a good job without an app.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions...much appreciated

It's the taxpayer's responsibility to keep documents. Perhaps the question should be, "What do we do when there are no documents?"

Gosh, I have always signed it when I prepared the return, am I in deep doo doo

Thank you! Do I include form 8949 or nothing at all since based on this, client does not pay capital gain taxes.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stepupinbasis.asp#:~:text=Step-up in basis%2C or,the asset is sold later.

I have some like that. I just tell them the document has to be lying flat, fill the frame, and to check that every bit of it is legible before uploading it. I'll suggest some of these apps next year!

Personally, I'd be leery of scanning software that's from an unknown company. Who's to say they aren't capturing the info on the forms they are scanning?

I just downloaded ScanStaight. Will give it a try. Thanks, Lion. It might save me more time and frustration than nagging clients to do it right the first time. Not that I would nag clients...

I just received one and all it had was the bank name. Nothing else. No document the client was trying to send.

Has he had the same insurance company the whole time? I had to look in the bound books at the town clerk's office for information about my house built in 1961, but amazing detail was there! There's the microfiche at the library for local newspaper reports of real estate transactions about his duplex or similar buildings at a similar time. He just needs to get close enough for government work with a $45,000 purchase price.

I was going to mention the land vs building value being higher for land here in the northeast. Does he have an insurance contract from his first full year of ownership, because only the building would burn and not the land. You might be able to infer the ratio from that plus his purchase price.

Anyone who has MA clients - there is now a required confirmation for taxpayer and spouse, as to whether or not they changed their names in 2022, and whether their DL & socsec card reflects the new name. Drove us nuts with the first couple, figuring why all of a sudden there were state errors preventing e-file. Just thought a heads-up here might be a good idea.

My wife and dad are in agreement - I need to move this summer. I didn't mention anything in the meeting but they noticed half my office is packed into boxes. Bookshelves are all empty and photos are off the wall.

OP here. I had one last month. IRS rep called me on Mar 2 and said I had been selected at random for a compliance audit. Said she'd be here on Mar 16. Great timing--right in the thick of tax season. She spent about half the time she was here checking 8879 signature dates vs e-filing dates. We passed with flying colors, but that's why I'm now a bit paranoid!

When I still used ATX, I always excluded the ATX Program and all related files from the scrutiny of my firewall and my antivirus program,

On the last two tax returns that I have efiled, the client letter changes the direct debit amounts for each of the quarterly payments to a wrong number after transmitting the efile to ATX. I just spoke with a representative at ATX who, after half an hour, told me that it is a problem with ATX and they are working on it. I was told the efile transmittal to the IRS used the correct numbers, not the incorrect numbers appearing in the client letter after I have filed.