Leaderboard

So glad it’s over! This morning as every year I leave MA at midnight to spend a few days with Mom in NYC after being away for nearly 3 months. She’ll be 99 in a few weeks and all she wants to do is play dominoes, Bingo and drink my homemade wine with no sulfites. A tradition I hope goes on for as long as I am in this business. Photo is not long ago.

Haha, I'm sitting in a line right now at motor vehicle waiting to get a car inspected. Not much fun! I did something yesterday though that I'm very happy about. I made my final mortgage payment.

One of my chronic procrastinators called this afternoon 'to give me the good news' that I would not need to rush her daughter's return out this evening since she was still waiting on a W2 to replace the one they lost. This woman is a big time realtor who frequently complains about her clients dragging their feet on getting what is need to complete a house purchase. It is completely lost on her that every year she shows up at the last minute wanting me to pop everything out and every year we do an extension. She tells me the problem is she doesn't do forms very well--this from a realtor! I wrapped up a return earlier today and went to upload it to the portal only to discover the client had uploaded several additional W2S and other material late last night. That noise you heard mid-morning was me screaming! Once I got past that, I actually had a reasonably calm day. Still waiting on a couple 8879s and then I'm done.

Congratulations, friends and colleagues - we all lived to tell the tales and file another day. Take it easy today. I set up some payroll taxes and will dig out a couple of bills that probably need to be paid in the next week or so, and then I'm gonna play hookey for the rest of the day. Here's a congratulations gif that I couldn't figure out how to embed. Hooray!

I woke up with about 12 things on my to-do list. I just turned the page over and decided I'll 'find' it tomorrow.

That and the credit card payment 'expense' account. Every year I have at least one person who wants to deduct owner draws on their Sch C. A couple weeks ago I had a long time client (who should...and probably does...know better) tell me his cousin's neighbor's ex-boyfriend (or something like that) is an accountant and told him as long as he puts gas and fast food and a variety of other things on his business debit card, he can deduct them on his tax return.

On Monday I visited with a 100 year old client for about 30 minutes as I dropped off his taxes. What a joy that was. He has a lot of health issues but what a terrific outlook on life. He was telling me stories (with names) from his college fraternity years before WW2 and after his service years. That was a fun part of the day.

My welcome letter, sent in January, states that every return not ready to be filed (i.e., just waiting for signature pages) will be put on extension as of April (I forget; something early, like the 3rd or the 8th). I'm still getting people emailing and calling asking if they are on extension. Each of their bills just went up for being nincompoops. Oh, and an early-season inquiry who now wants me to look at her self-done return. They owe a bundle, so it can't be right. I won't even answer her for a week. If then. One of the reasons I put in extensions early is it means I don't get cranked up about all the ninnies calling and emailing with lame, stupid, and wrong-time questions in the last few days as they all start to panic. If I was desperate to finish returns and extensions they'd annoy me far more. I expect to get a lot of returns finalized in this next week, because the interruptions will slow way down and I can chase down final details and do final reviews without undergoing constant interruption.

On March 15, I sent out an email to everyone who had not been in contact, something to the effect of a two week notice unless due to circumstances beyond your control--and I wanted to hear what that was. Had a very good response actually. But like so many of us, I'm sunsetting my business. Probably the next big tax legislation convulsion will do it for me.

My all-time favorite--client gives me a self-created spreadsheet to do her (new) sole proprietorship--on one line near the bottom of every month was a decent sized amount entered as an expense. I asked her what were the entries on this particular line and she casually responded, "Oh, that's negative cash flow."

Reminds me of one who couldn't figure out why they had a profit: "We just make enough to pay our bills."

ATX's price is what attracts most people, but if you do multistate, you'll want to buy the Advantage version. ATX handles multistate corporations and partnerships very well. Like most here, I've used 7 different programs over the years (including Drake and Intuit), but I'm the fastest with ATX. I can really fly around a return. Until the only return is I need to do is my own, I'm sticking with ATX.

I did ATX/Saber for quite a few years. After the 2012 debacle I tested half a dozen options including ProSeries. Like Catherine, I found it a bit clunky. Ended up with something else for one year, then went to Drake. I found that I was doing returns in about 75% of the time. I had some big issues with Drake last year resulting from the change in ownership. I called support more in that one year than I had in the previous 8 or 9 combined. I switched to TaxWise this year. That lasted less than a week. Support was horrid. "We expect CPAs to know how to do that" I know how, I just can't find where to make the entry. They couldn't find it either! Another time they suggested I call the IRS to ask for guidance. It was not a tax question--it was another software use question! I bit the bullet and came back to Drake. All the issues I had last year were resolved over the off-season and I'm once again a happy camper. Given I can count on one hand the number of years I expect to continue doing this, I suspect I'll be with Drake from here on out. IF I'm forced to change, based on your experience I might give ProSeries another look.

I hate doing tax returns without reconciled bank statements and balanced books. There's close to zero chance that the return is correct.

I have two Sch C folks whose QB reports were worse to me than if they had brought a shoe box. I finally created a fill-in-the-blank organizer for them two years ago. They both act like I'm a rocket surgeon, and it's a pleasure (sort of) to prepare their returns now. Yep. I just entered the categories off Sch C, added a bunch of lines for assets purchased, date, cost. Assets sold, date, proceeds. And a separate page for vehicle information. People who don't understand accounting create trainwrecks with software. It's true. I give those organizers to virtually every business owner now; amazing that they think they're so helpful, and it's just putting the lines from the tax return on anything besides a tax return.

Have a wonderful, wonderful visit with her!

An extension can easily be structured as a de facto installment payment plan for 6 months with no setup fee. The simplest way I know to do this is to file an accurate extension (with or without payment-makes no difference), and then set up a personal EFTPS account and make payments through that account, applying them to the year under extension. You have a nice, neat, accessible record of your payments to date when you file the return. Of course, interest and FTP penalty on any unpaid balance will run during the extension period, but that would happen anyhow even if a formal installment agreement were possible

I've also scaled back and had pretty much a stress free season. Each year I go to Costco and get a bag of Lindt truffles and a big bottle of Bailey's. Still quite a bit left in each, so I know it's been stress free. I don't like extending, but this year I have four clients that haven't received K'1's yet, so I had no choice. On the final day I was actually out mowing the lawn!

I'm with Robbie about trying to finish by the April filing deadline. My workload has diminished with clients' business retirements and a few moving away, and because I'd hardly been able to take on new work with the increasing demands of mom's care over the last 5 years. I worked long and odd hours to complete all but one client. That one person is always late and involves a personal, 2 partnerships, and a fiscal year C corp that is now late beyond its expired extension. *sigh* some are never able to be trained or changed.

Last year, as I am approaching complete retirement, I "retired" my extension clients. Same story, they waited until October to get their papers to me despite me contacting them and advising them that I needed to be finished by Sept 20 as my daughter was visiting for the first time since Covid changed everybody's lives. My daughter arrived and I was still processing returns on the last filing date. This year I noticed some of my "timely" filers were much later than usual. There was illness to blame for some of that, but I do believe that the community is still suffering effects from the last three years of living with covid. They just seem to be functioning differently. That said, reducing my work load so that I am finished by April 18th is great. I have a couple of returns that need a K1, but no voluntary procrastinators.

Having been a Parsons Tax Edge user and losing them to Intuit is the reason that I will never use an Intuit product. They purchased and trashed a beautifully operating program and almost put a lot of us out of business. Fortunately, I found Saber and have been with them through their entire evolution to what ATX is today. I have never had a serious issue with either Saber or ATX and due to my age, will probably stay with them until the end. The assistant that I am training is learning and loves the program as well. I, personally, am too old to make a drastic change at this point.

You have a fine looking Mom, Bill. Bless your hearts.

You have a fine looking Mom, Bill. Bless your hearts.

What a wonderful feeling. Congrats.

The one account that always makes me facepalm is 'Reimbursements.' "We were just reimbursing our employees for things."

Yeah, I've seen some over the years. The ones I hate are the ones that keep adding new accounts. I had one that set up new accounts with the year in the name. Serioulsy? We already have dates in the general ledger.

Had a client years ago, business in operation for years. Had not reconciled (multiple) checking accounts in over four years. First thing I did was get those caught up. Another consulting client called me in to troubleshoot reports not giving good information. Two issues: COA had location coding but the codes were jumbled, and they had not closed monthly books in three years. That software only pulls report data from closed months.... You gotta wonder sometimes. First company I almost understand; they downloaded all bank info directly to QB, thinking that meant they had it all (nope!). But with the other the guy who called me in was CFO with a Master's in Accounting. I've never taken an accounting course (taught it in a junior college for a couple of semesters, but never took a class myself), and I saw the key problems as soon as I saw the COA. He never thought to look at it. Never looked at the help files for the tres-fancy and tres-expensive accounting system. Huh?

Record number (40) for the fourth year in a row. And that despite the fact I'm about 10 ahead of where I was on deadline eve last year. I'll probably knock out a handful more before the clock tolls midnight tomorrow, but it'll still beat last year's record. Don't you just love those folks who email on the day before saying "I'll try to get my stuff to you later today. You might have to do an extension if you're not able to get to it." Ya THINK?!?!? I have about ten clients I file extensions the first time I open my software in January. One of them shocked me this year--got all his stuff in by early March. Most of them barely make the extended deadline despite my pleas all summer to get their materials to me. All summer, they promise they won't wait till the last minute. Then on October 13 I get an "Oops, I did it again" e-note. I'd fire them but a couple are among my closest friends and one is my daughter. Deep sigh.

The only accident I ever had was on the day after tax season ended, so I tried not to drive anywhere on that day.

Here is what I found in the 4163, for IRS it is 10 Calendar days for returns and 5 Calendar days for extensions. States will differ, like I remember NY is 7 days for all types. I found this on the CCH Knowledge base not sure how update it is https://support.cch.com/kb/solution/000204044/sw2662?IsNewArticle=True

I guess they must have because I am completing returns much more quickly than with ATX. Don't get me wrong, that's not bashing ATX in any way. I enjoyed my time with ATX but their price point made me look elsewhere. I've found the transition from ATX to ProSeries to be relatively smooth. The biggest advantage for me is the way it handle multistate returns compared to ATX.

In Drake, you put "INHERIT" in the acquired field and it forces long term treatment.

right - no foundation. Probably a slab with tin on stringers. - I will take 15 years on these. It's certainly not a commercial building.

I'm usually done with taxes except 2-3 pickups on the final day. I've got 18 people who are coming in tomorrow. I've had 5-6 in the past week who've had rejected efiles because of their exchange healthcare when they've never had it before (adds a twist). I'm also at significantly higher extensions. People just can't get their act together to get me basic information.

I have one like that, doesn't get me his stuff until April and it's always a Quickbooks mess that requires lots of back and forth with his bookkeepers. This year I'm trying to have all my extension done by 4/30, so when I saw the QB guy's mess, I told him that I'd put him on extension with a super rough estimate of what he should pay, but then he should find someone else to actually file for him, because I just know that would drag on into June. Too bad, he's a nice guy, but it's the same thing every damn year. Otherwise I have one person waiting on a trust K1 that will probably be in May, and that's it!! On to the 941s and 990s...

We have a similar list - we don't put them on extension until we submit all extensions the first week of April. But we know who they are and that they'll call or email in a panic late tomorrow afternoon apologizing for being late and asking us to put them on extension. Same folks every blessed year.

Parsons was my first tax software after years preparing by hand. Back in those days (early '90s), I often called Bob Parsons to talk about several of his software products (QuickVerse, MoneyCounts, Membership Plus). When Bob & Martha Parsons split up, they sold Parsons Technology to Intuit. Intuit killed off the tax software and sold the rest. Bob did okay. After a brief time off, he founded GoDaddy! You heard right. ATX was originally built on Excel sheets but they moved away from that long ago. Dang! These trips down memory lane always end the same way...me feeling really old!

I've only ever used Pro, starting in 1997. Because it's rather pricey I've downloaded various others over the years, but have always decided that for me the extra price is worth it over having to learn how to use other software. The older I get, the less I like dealing with change.

Annual inspection would clear parking on my street, if we had such a thing. Sometimes an HOA sounds better than worse.

Here's what CCH emailed me 12 April 2023: CCH Software News - Individual, Partnership, Corporation, S Corporation, Fiduciary, Exempt Organization (990-T) (1040/1065/1120/1120S/1041/990) Rejected Returns/Extensions If the IRS rejects any of your returns or extensions, you are given an additional amount of time to correct and resubmit as follows: Individual - A corrected return or extension must be resubmitted no later than midnight (CDT) on Sunday, April 23, 2023, to be considered timely filed. Fiduciary, Corporation, Exempt Organization 990-T (401(a) and Other Trust) - A corrected extension must be submitted no later than midnight (CDT), five calendar days from the date of the original rejection. A corrected return must be retransmitted no later than midnight (CDT), 10 calendar days from the date of the original rejection to be considered timely filed. For Partnership returns, the following states do not conform to the IRS 10-day perfection period based on information received: Connecticut rejected returns and extensions - Connecticut allows five business days to resubmit rejected returns and extensions and obtain approval. Maryland and North Carolina rejected returns - These states allow five calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. New York rejected returns and extensions - New York allows seven calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and extensions and obtain approval. Pennsylvania Form PA-20S/65 and Virginia rejected returns - These states have no defined perfection period. They must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. Tennessee rejected returns and extensions - Tennessee does not have a defined perfection period. They must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. For Corporation and S Corporation returns, the following states do not conform to the IRS 10-day perfection period based on information received: Alaska and Alaska Consolidated rejected returns - Alaska does not have a defined perfection period for rejected returns. They must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. Connecticut rejected returns and extensions - Connecticut allows five business days to resubmit rejected returns and extensions and obtain approval. Virginia and West Virginia rejected returns - These states do not have a defined perfection period for rejected returns. They must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. Maryland, North Carolina, and Vermont rejected returns - These states allow five calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and obtain approval. New York rejected returns and extensions - New York allows seven calendar days to resubmit rejected returns and extensions and obtain approval. Pennsylvania rejected returns - Pennsylvania Corporation Form RCT-101 and S Corporation Form PA-20S/65 have no perfection period for rejected returns. Returns must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely filed. Tennessee rejected returns and extensions - Tennessee does not have a defined perfection period. Returns must be filed and approved by the due date to be considered timely. Paper Returns If the IRS rejects any of your returns or extensions, the return does not fall into an e-file mandate, and you choose to file a paper return or extension, then the deadlines are as follows: Individual and Fiduciary - A paper return or extension must be filed by the latter of the following: the due date of the return or 10 calendar days after the date the electronic portion was rejected. For example, a return rejected on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, would be due Friday, April 28, 2023, if filing by paper. Corporation and Exempt Organization 990-T(401(a) and Other Trust) - The paper return must be postmarked by the latter of the following: the due date of the return (including extensions) or 10 calendar days after the date the IRS last gave notification that the return was rejected. Tools and Resources to Help You During Tax Season Review the My Account FAQs to learn how our self-service portal can handle your account support needs. Watch an on-demand Software Support Office Hours webinar and hear directly from subject matter experts. Check out our library of Tax Talks LIVE webinars, with more topics added throughout the year. Find answers in our Knowledge Base, or visit the Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Community forums to connect with peers. Contact Us online or chat with our virtual agent.

This whole topic from April 2022 has a discussion that may help you make sense of the 1250 gain and how to best explain it to your client. Edited - don't know why it started with my post from that earlier topic, maybe where I left my screen. Interestingly, this one was also started by Christian.

This is my second year using ProSeries after 25 years using ATX / Saber. I've found that ProSeries allows me to complete returns more quickly and offers a user-friendly interface. The other significant upgrade are the enhanced calculations that ProSeries offers. When dealing with multi-state returns, ProSeries handles the calculations without having to subscribe or pay for any additional "enhanced calculations" programs. In addition, the use of their portal is included in the program price. On ATX, I had to pay an additional fee for the portal.

If it's not on a permanent foundation then I would use a 7 year life. That is what I use for Concession Stands and Food Kiosks. and they cost way more than $10,000.

In ATX, it would actually be "Transaction Type" of "Inherited" that you select to get you the "Long Term" tax treatment. The date acquired and the date sold will be the actual date you inherited and the date sold. Transaction type overrides date input in ATX. It may be different in Drake or other software. Tom Longview, TX

Most of the ones that owe, I made go to DirectPay and myconneCT and other state websites to pay/file their own extensions. It's faster than collecting signed 8878s. Those that probably owe but refuse to pay now, I put the tax liability I project, any withholding, balance due, and $0 payment on the 4868. However, CT won't accept a balance due extension without a payment, so I zero it out if I can't convince the client to pay, because I also don't have time to get them the forms that they'll end up not filing anyway. I do have a few that I upload the forms, and they DO mail them with payments. Really wish for automatic extensions to file. Even with teaching our clients to pay in April, we'd still save a LOT of time not generating more paperwork and more e-files.

I am missing a few 1099s for the one I'm asking for, but if I used that method then and using the information I do have so far, the tax reported on 4868 would be substantially understated b/c the client took an additional ~ $133K out of his IRA in 2022 without notifying me and didn't pay any of the quarterly estimates I'd set up. He did withhold federal tax @ 20% but is in the highest bracket.

The tax is the only number that matters. What you've paid and what you owe are not a consideration.

What time do we get started?

I email the jpeg file to myself and open Kofax Standard PDF. You can just drag the jpeg file from the email to Kofax and it will automatically convert the image to a PDF. Usually works, just a few extra steps.