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Thanks, everyone. I was in the laundry room for a while. No damage that I know of... I'm sure some trees were probably uprooted in the fence row, but all is well!

I suppose they blow it off as immaterial when their balance sheet doesn't add up by $2045. But when I try to use it it kinda messes up my spreadsheet. Does my little heart good to show my client that they were way over-paying for inaccurate financials.

I, personally, chase interest on short period CDs. It is fun and adds spendable cash to our meager retirement income. My tax and accounting business pays for itself and purchases the CDs. Win, win!

I don't do 1099s but for tax returns, you open the return, click on the E-file menu and choose Display Acknowledgement History.

Every now and again I wonder if I should take the time to add some alphabet soup after my name. I have no work related need, it would just be personal. Time and time again, I get smacked in the face to remind me none of that matters (unless a professional or job requirement). I went down a rabbit hole "discussing" a payroll issue with someone with letters after their name (which is touted as having certain skills), and I realized I need to not waste my time. School of Life (or the infamous University of Mars for original Raider fans) is often better. For grins, the issue is a "payroll pro" thinking employees choose the state for withholding, that domicile matters, and that working at home does not mean the employer created nexus in that home (work location). Happens the at home worker is in a different state, and the pro is arguing the employer does not have nexus in the work at home state. It very much equates to an earlier topic where Tom (IIRC), not in TX, still has Bulldog area clients, and has to report income and pay tax to CA.

I had an elderly client, gone these many years now. He had interest from a dozen or more different banks every year, chasing interest on 1-year CDs. His great joy and glee in life was calculating (by hand on paper!), and paying, his estimated taxes such that he owed less than $25 in April, each to the state and the IRS. But always he wanted to owe and never overpay into refund. I got a real kick out of him and he (and his wife) were lovely to work with.

yesterday Catherine White EA was the presenter for Tax Practice Pro, a c.e. provider. Her presentation was a case study of what happens when a client changes tax professional, and issues with prior years are discovered by the new tax pro. Kudos to Catherine on a well developed and perfectly presented class.

Just saw the Weather Channel and there is a big storm just north of Rita. Too close for comfort. Stay safe out there. Tom Longview, TX

Praise God!

I'm sure many of you have heard the same story. Some clients ALWAYS have to pay...never get a refund. Client speaks up with an air of genius: "I don't want to let the gubbermint use my money interest free for a whole year, so I keep the money for myself." As if we should admire him for his financial prowess. Funny, I've never had a single one of these "genius" clients have any interest income to report. I believe the threshold for a bank to issue a 1099-INT is only $10. Go figure...

I have been having the same issues with a non-profit. Someone dropped the ball in 2022 and I am not qualified to fix it. I filed it in 23, but they came back with "that was the wrong form". This was just a small Horseshoe club. I sent them on their way. I don't have the time or the desire to figure this out.

don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I had a number of clients in the past two years whose wage withholding dropped and they told me they didn't change anything at work. Not knowing what their payroll department is up to, I usually advise an additional $ amount based on how often they are paid, rather than try to rework a W-4. for retirees who owe, I usually print out a W-4V for them to file with Social Security. Although not ideal (often 12% is too little and 22% is overkill), it is an easy method of getting more withheld. The State of Florida used to have a surprisingly simple W-4P form but that went by the wayside. But sometimes all we can do is point out how much they are paying in interest and that it is currently at 8%. You can lead a horse to water...

I had a self-employed client who owed in the five digits every year. The first time I prepared his return I dreaded telling him he owed something like $20k. He didn't even flinch. He said he makes better use of that money in his business during the year and the profits more than make up for the interest and penalty. He had figured out what was best for him. I like Dennis's idea of having all the withholding in December. For clients who take their IRA distributions in December, they could have their year's taxes withheld and not bother with estimates. Now that banks actually pay decent interest, putting the estimate money into a savings account could yield some profit. I usually pay all of my estimates at once in April since I make most of my income in the first quarter and have the cash. I might rethink that strategy.

I make all my tax payments/withholding in Dec. I am within 500 either way. I have interest income. But, a significant % of my income is on Dec. AND I understand the rules, such as withheld on or before Dec. counts for the entire year. Just part of the game we all make money playing. Use/cost of the money has a value even if there is no interest collected as described in the OP. Many fail to account for that.

It's more of a lifestyle than any financial logic. They're just being contrary and childish, and they're willing to pay the price.

I have a client who purposely has no Federal taxes withheld so that he can use the money all year. What part of "penalty" don't these people understand?

For the above post my bill was about $900. My job was to trace out the fences on a map and determine the length on a spreadsheet. Then input the estimated cost per foot. The client then rated the various sections of the fences on a scale of 1 to 10, where "10" would be in new condition and "1" would be in total disrepair. The overall rating gave an estimated value of about 50% the cost of a brand new fence which was $93,000.

Farm and ranch fences are specifically listed under asset class 01.1 and are 7 year GDS. Keep in mind these are pasture or range type fences, not corrals which are 15 year property. New ones are made out of steel post and wire, and that is not cheap. Neither is labor cost which varies with the terrain. Fences are often overlooked and I have used 3115 several times for that purpose. You need to reduce that basis of the land for the amount allocated to the fencing. The client needs to make an estimate of the value at time the property was acquired considering: the condition, age of the fence, and replacement cost at the time. You also have to consider partial ownership of boundary fences in some cases. The last one I did came out to $93,000 which was about 1/2 the replacement value of about 10 miles of fence. That was for a relatively small parcel of property. This is right up my alley because I also do fencing as part of my other work. I am starting on a couple mile project next week!

You would have to do interest tracing.