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I started out in tax, but was able to be part of a few audits. Overall it is all boring to me. The clients make it interesting. I'm not smart enough to find something else and have done this for so long I don't think I could quit. Clients are like gum stuck to your shoe.

This is not "one little mistake." A heck of a lot of people had their personal contact and tax return data given to parties that have no business accessing it. How would YOU feel if your (and your family's) name, address, email, Soc Sec # , and income amounts and sources were shared with some anonymous others?

Don't know how to keep formatting. If you want the original color flyer, including a picture of Catherine, send me your email so I can forward the Constant Contact announcement. September Super Session - 4 CEs Tax Topics that Everyone Should Hear about! Date: September 20, 2023 @ 3:30 pm - 8:30 pm Topics: · Entity Selection and Tax Consequences · Schedule C Refresher & Overview · Minefields & Disasters – How to Navigate & Mitigate · A Case Study Speaker: Catherine White, EA Education Committee Contact/Point Person: Bo Demczar - [email protected] Meeting Schedule: 2:45 – 3:45 Board Meeting & Committee Meetings & Committee Meetings 3:30 – Registration 4:00 – First Session 5:40 – Business Meeting 6:00 – Buffet Dinner 6:50 – Second Session 8:30 – Close Members (Timely): $95.00 Non-Members & Late Members: $125.00 Timely is by midnight the Friday before the meeting! All payments are cleared through PayPal but you do not have to have a PayPal account, just a credit card. Tickets on sale NOW Timely Deadline: 09/15/2023 REGISTER HERE: https://www.nyctatp.org/event/september-super-session/ SAVE THE DATES! Friday 20 October – October Seminar Kathy Morgan Residential Rental Real Estate - Basis Issues - Depreciation - Recapture - From Purchase through Sale Ethics - Due Diligence: It’s not just for EITC anymore __________________________________________________ Thursday 30 November & Friday 1 December – Annual Tax Update Seminar Ryan Reichert? Brass Tax Presentations Federal Tax Update Additional Federal Tax Topics - Crypto Currency & Advanced Brokerage Statements - Energy Credits - Packing a Powerful Punch - Tax Implication of Family Drama - Tax Stuff You Thought You Knew NY Tax Update CT Tax Update __________________________________________________ Wednesday 10 January 2024 Last Chance Tax Update Kathryn Keane

My father-in-law always said the only thing he’d like to know is where he’s going to die. Then he would just be sure to never visit there.

I've used Track1099 and now tell any clients who need 1099's to use it. Good to have an email address on file for recipients and Track 1099 will take care of everything.

Can you send them back to the person that recommend QBO?

Thank you everyone for creating this conversation. I was unaware of the new reporting. I was chastised by a local attorney for helping a client create a Corp a long time ago. So I leave that alone. But I did do the paperwork to create my husband's corporation several years ago. So I will have to keep up with this reporting requirement.

With the IRS you can make Estimated Payments via an online account, IRS Direct Pay or EFTPS or the state equivalent, which I find to be more flexible than using direct debit in the tax return.

I’ve used 1099Express for several years, filing 250-300 1099s annually Excellent product, simple Interface, great support, and reasonable pricing. Well worth checking them out. https://1099express.com

I raised prices last year and will raise again this year. None of my software or paper product suppliers have left their fees low. And min wage is a killer. Last year I cut hours, but that doesn't help me much. I end up working more myself and I can't do that either. I live in a small low-income town in western NY and I will lose some clients. But the population here seems to have the money to buy alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.

For those who have a desire to help, one place which usually does not bite politically is foster care / CASA. The bite is you do have to become a little more self aware about town as you may run into a "parent" who believes you helped take their child from them, but in most cases, those folks don't bother seeking revenge. I just became a CASA last fall and finished my first case 3 weeks ago. I get my second child/family this evening. Definitely no politics. For those unfamiliar, CASA is Court Appointed Special Advocate and the advocate is a trained volunteer for the child/children. So many children need an advocate, someone just on their side only.

I'm reviving this to say that I'm relieved not to have this responsibility or risk except for my own corporation. I'll still have to deal with the government portal, but only for myself and that's it. I spoke with an attorney from the firm that handles my remaining corps and LLCs that will be handling this reporting. He said it's all up in the air and sure to be a nightmare when people question the need, fail to respond, or notify them with changes. They're not sure what the charge will be but sure it will not be inexpensive.

"To take one difficult area of tax law and apply that to the whole agency is an exaggeration" To me, this has nothing to do with the IRS or any other agency. It is another sign of the moral decay of our society - period. "Do the right thing" used to not be noticeable, because it was a matter of constant action, the expected action if you will. Now when someone "does the right thing" it is unique enough it becomes the closing bit on the evening news. Worse yet, the "right thing" often gets you chastised privately and publicly, so less and less will do the right thing when it can be seen, such as some/many? in politics, or even being a volunteer in a local service group (what, you are a member of X? So is a real red/blue person, so you musty be red/blue too). For those who have a desire to help, one place which usually does not bite politically is foster care / CASA. The bite is you do have to become a little more self aware about town as you may run into a "parent" who believes you helped take their child from them, but in most cases, those folks don't bother seeking revenge.

"The most common reason students didn't major in accounting is that they just didn't find it interesting — but very close to that is the ability to make more money faster in other fields, and the burden of the 150-credit-hour requirement." To be honest, when I was a staff auditor for Coopers & Lybrand, it was very boring!

If they used classes in QB, then they could generate one report for things like subcontractors but still have run separate P&Ls for decision-making issues or whatever their need is.

After very small increases for many years, this year I raised my fees 10%. I'm going to do that again for next tax season. Only a couple of arguments. I'm trying to lose clients, but didn't lose any over my fees. Maybe I need to increase 15%!!! 10% over prior year for SAME return; new forms or issues receive new prices.

The KEY for CASA is the person is on the infant/child/teenager's side, and only on their side. They have a "cleaner" influence than the social worker, "parent(s)", and even cleaner than any foster parent. There is no "book" for getting the best result for the child, so their CASA worker is the one to speak for them and make sure they get all their needs met using whatever resources are available. Interestingly, none of our fosters had a CASA worker that I can recall. Lack of volunteers was the issue. In the case of our first adopted, we petitioned the court to be declared de-facto parents, and became precedent setting our naive selves. Somehow, the universe paired us up with an attorney who was looking for such a case! One minute in the foster system can (state dependent) open up a lifetime of access to benefits for the child. The child needs to learn these things too, as it may be up to only them some day. While we are no longer active foster parents (we do emergency respite only), we do participate by helping foster families, adoptive families, and families with special needs children/adult children navigate the "system".

even before the decline of the USPS, I'd get 30 day letters from the IRS that were dated 3 weeks prior to receiving them, leaving little time to respond. The postmark on our correspondence is the official record of the date received--maybe their correspondence should have a postmark as well?

It's not that the IRS is having trouble understanding and applying this particular area of tax law that is troubling and evidence of cultural rot. It's that the IRS attorney's find it OK to back date court documents. If this was an isolated incident, you might conclude that this is a rouge employee stepping outside the rules. "But there are other watchdog claims made by three other partnerships—Arden Row Assets LLC, Basswood Aggregates LLC, and Delwood Resources LLC—who are asking the IRS to admit its staff backdated penalty approval forms in their cases as well" (https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/irs-backdating-court-order-spotlights-culture-attorneys-say). If a DA filed a criminal indictment, and back dated the indictment to get around a statute of limitations problem, would that not destroy the public's confidence in the system? As I learned in auditing class, the fish usually starts rotting at the head. The fact that these IRS employees felt it was OK to back date court documents should raise questions as to the integrity at the top. If there was a culture in the organization that condoned and penalized this type of behavior it most likely wouldn't happen. And it does impact our clients and society at large. Maybe not directly, but it does erode any confidence that tax payers have that they would be treated fairly if they ever had an issue with IRS. And it makes it easier for them to justify padding a deduction or not reporting the income from that side job if they feel, "if the IRS isn't playing by the rules, so why should I."

I currently use Medlin for my smaller clients 10 or less employees. I did an extensive search for payroll software back in late 2021. At that time Patriot was struggling with handling Oregon payroll taxes according to according to one of their Tax Departemt employees that I talked to.

HRB, of all entities, had to know this was against the rules. When I worked there way back when, it was drilled into our heads. When the company started offering bank loans, mortgages, financial services, etc., each client had to sign a waiver to share their tax return info with the relevant subsidiary. I did read somewhere that some tic in the software allowed this info to be shared without the companies having full knowledge. Lawsuits are going to fly in all directions, and the offending companies may be fined out of existence.

The heirs of the other two partners should have gotten a step up at the date of death of the partner from whom they inherited

I had a class mate who ended up working for Grant Thornton. She was assigned to the team auditing the Social Security Administration and she told me the materiality threshold was in the ten's of millions (can't remember the exact amount). Leaves a lot of room for errors and fraud.

Maybe it's an attempt to encourage employees to pay workers on an hourly basis, rather than call practically everyone "managers" with a paltry salary (and no OT)? There was an attempt at legislation a few years back to end Walmart et al from paying someone a salary circa $20-25k a year and working them 60 hours a week.

Huntsville AL has a substantial number of NASA employees. During space missions, most of these employees work horrific overtime hours. Even salaried employees who are "exempt" for USDept of Labor purposes are paid, or else they will quit. I would estimate that a majority of these people work overtime at straight time pay (1X) but possible some of them are getting overtime premium (1.5X). If I understand this correctly, any overtime pay of any sort over 40 hours will be tax exempt. This reeks of lobbying somewhere in the state capitol.

I read the original post as the home that taxpayer owned and later rented was owned solely by the taxpayer. She has children and may or may not have had a step-up in the past from a deceased spouse, or she could never have married, or married and divorced. I think that is the property now being sold that the kids were living in until 2020 that was then turned into the rental. The original post makes no mention of that or a previous spouse related to the home/rental being sold. Taxpayer moved out of property being sold in 2014 and then married the now-deceased husband and moved into his home. To me, it sounds like she may still be living in the home of the now-deceased husband.

I had a client sell a rental home this past year. Normally not a problem. He was a year from going on Medicare and was getting a big advance credit on the health insurance exchange. With the gain, his income went way up and he had to pay back the credit. Ouch.

No Section 121 exclusion because she doesn't meet the 2 out of 5 year rule. Her basis is what she paid for the home plus major improvements minus depreciation. Yes, it goes on the 4797. I don't understand the desire to lower her gain. She made money from the investment and has to pay a fraction of it in taxes. That still leaves her with plenty left. When any of my clients tell me they are going to sell a rental property, I ask them to give me the sales paperwork when they do so I can tell them how much to put aside for taxes. That way there are no surprises and they expect the tax bill.

Yes, there seems to be an ongoing stream of Audit Firms getting fined for substandard work.

When I was young (way back), I thought auditing was THE thing. As I got older and jaded and what took place out there in the world, I began to think of auditing as more meaningless, just glossing over things. Not that it should have been but what it had become. Maybe that's just me. Maybe there is still something to it. But I wonder how can you really audit these big organizations?

She did not live in the home two of the past five years. It is reported on 4797, correct.

If I could wave a wand and go back 40 years, I would be charging a flat rate for my payroll software, and a separate fee by state, for the states with WH. (See the thread on the upcoming AL change. I will likely be spending many hours on a small percentage of customers this fall.) I may actually implement something along this in a few years, keeping the fee the same for the no hassle (no state WH states) and only the next increase for the rest of the states. Have to balance it though, as more prices means more complication, and zero chance of automated orders, so never mind .

I found auditing very boring too so opted out from going the CPA route. After a couple of staff accounting jobs at private business's I landed a position as an accounting manager with the 3rd largest vegetation management company in the country. They also owned a Canadian company and I found the international component and consolidation work very interesting. They even paid for me to get my CMA with a nice raise when I passed.

I too have many long time clients, many retired, that I charge according to their income, with a $125 minimum . Several of the smaller preparers in my area retired last year and two of the larger firms raised their minimum to $600. I was getting many calls from prospective new clients and decided that the minimum for any new clients was going to be $195. Many balked at the fee at first, but then called back when they discovered they couldn't find anyone to do them for less. I don't really need new clients so I'm raising the minimum to $225 this year to make the extra work worth it

I have the same question. Wording proves written by someone who never handled a payroll. I suspect on all wages after 40 hours. Even with that, the “benefit” to the employee still maxes as 5% of the exempted amount. If one believes rules come from someone willing to pay for the change, it is likely from employers claiming this will help them keep employees. The pre report for 2023 seems to be data collecting to see if ot is more or less in 2024. The sunset half way through 2025 smells extra fishy. Payroll folks who make money on complication win. Employers lose (explaining this one to employees). Tax preparers neutral, maybe revenue increase, maybe lost clients. Me? Probably lose. Cannot charge more for this. Likely lose some clients to payroll processors. Certainly a fair chunk of hours programming and later on, answering questions.

I consider myself a Management Accountant. I love putting processes and procedures into place so the owners and management get their KPIs reported timely and accurately so they can be acted upon before there no chance to change the operational outcome. The GAAP and Tax Reporting are important, but profits and cash flow rule the business world. Tom Longview, TX

I agree, the most enjoyable part of my work is the monthly small business accounting tasks, second is payroll. For me tax preparation is a necessary evil, which probably explains why I don't do any estate and trust related work.

Accounting is my first love. I think I'm an accountant by education, profession and nature. I think I was born an accountant. But I don't do much accounting anymore. Tax prep seems little to do with accounting. Some maybe for business clients. I once heard it said that any endeavor needs four things: vision, planning, engineering and accounting. I think that's true. Accounting gets short shrift. I tell people I'm an old school accountant stuck in fourth grade arithmetic.

Selfishness and perceived job protection is a factor. Commonality would reduce budget and staff. States sort of agreed to a common format for certain payroll data, but over time they all added tweaks, in some case, for no apparent reason. Some state programmers are better than others, or they think they are sneaky enough to make more work. What I mean is some cannot seem to trap carriage return characters at the end of a line (yet proclaim their format IS the same as SSA). This is just one of many sad examples. Frustrating at times, but awkwardly, also ensures life long work for those here.

My average is half the national average discussed, might be why I have repeat customers. I also live in a low-cost small town, and have little overhead. My wife's daughter helps me with the paperwork, and that is the extent of my massive staff. I also have write-up work for CPAs steady work in the off-season. Also Tennessee has no State income tax to prepare. However, being long and narrow, we are never far from another of our eight contiguous states, all of which have a state income tax. For me, if I have to prepare a state return, it takes me quite awhile, except for Alabama, where I have several customers. The format of the various states is fascinating - they're all different.

I began in a 4 person firm and found auditing incredibly boring. I thought I had made a serious career mistake. Then tax season rolled around... Made my days! Master's in Tax and never looked back.

Probably very boring in the "large" firms where you are "pigeonholed" when you first come out of school vs. the variety of working for a smaller firm. At least that's my experience.

Not boring at all! The deadlines are what drive me crazy.

Wow, my absolute lowest fee is $295.

I draw the line at anything outside the tax return that has large preparer penalties attached (even when filing is done correctly based on information given by client that turns out to be incorrect). So, no FinCen 114 (FBAR) forms - just the link to the online forms, and a suggestion to print the pdf first and fill it out where one can double-check all the info before submitting. I will include 8938s in a return. I would touch exactly none of these corporate filings.

Thanks @Lion EA. I can now see why this is being put into effect and that this may be put on tax preparers to file these reports. Not to derail this topic, but I will say though that as tax preparers, we should not be "forming companies with the Sec of State for [your] clients" as you said. At least in my state, that would be considered practicing law and also most likely would not be covered under tax preparers' typical malpractice policies. If anyone here is doing this, you may want to check with your insurance carrier about your current risk exposure.

"Users of tax preparation websites in seven states have filed a class action lawsuit against Google, claiming it engaged in wiretapping, following a similar complaint against Meta. The complaint alleges tax prep companies like H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer sent private tax return information to Google using Google Analytics technology, which may include email addresses, data on users' income, filing status, refund amounts, buttons clicked and year of return."

All of their money, lobbying influence and political contributions will protect them. There will be a negotiated settlement and the class action attorneys will get a very big payday.