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After the last tax season wrapped up, I received calls from 3 local preparers asking if I was interested in purchasing their book of business. Others have raised their minimum fee to over $500 for a personal return. I have been getting many people in panic mode looking for a new preparer. It looks like it's time to raise my minimum fees too!

I know what you mean but they take more time and I want easy these days. So I'm not taking new business clients and have thinned them out the past few years. Only taking new personal returns if they are very basic.

Had a few call to see when we could start filing. But when covid hit we stopped sit down appointments. Never looked back. Only lost 2 clients due to no sit down appointment. So much more efficient. Sit down appointment time with clients was probably 20% working on their taxes and 80% listening to how their year was. Calling them with questions is 100% more effective. Not to mention that since 2020 I have not been sick once during tax season !!! So many would come in sick that it seemed I was always snotting around and feeling puny. Actually would love to lose about 20% more. Been seriously thinking about posting a sign to that effect and attaching letters to finished returns. First will be getting rid of partnership and trusts. Just stick to personal. And get rid of the "file an extension" every years clients and the PITA ones. Then raise prices 20% !!!!

I've had several calls asking if my welcome letters have gone out yet. Told them all "this week, I hope." We'll see. Yeah, sheesh, people. Lighten up - you won't get any official docs for some weeks yet.

I am sure the DOGE will get this resolved.

I just got out of an NAEA Update webinar with A.J. Reynolds where he touched on RMD for IRA Beneficiaries. Long answer is... https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/required-minimum-distributions-for-ira-beneficiaries Notice 2024-35 extends the temporary relief from RMDs for certain inherited account holders. Short answer: ROTH owners always deemed to die before the RBD, so no RMDs required in year 1-9 for beneficiary; drain account by end of year 10 (planning might suggest a lump sum is not the most tax advantaged way to distribute). Responsibility of beneficiary to take year of death RMD if not yet taken by decedent. [Note: this paragraph based upon beneficiary being a non-spouse person, and not an estate.]

I just bump up my tax prep fee when I have clients that do that. If their questions would require a tax projection for the coming year , I give them a quote for in advance.

I only charge extra when the client's question requires research and a written response.

I do the opposite. I keep the business clients and try to rid of the personal tax returns. Business clients are way more profitable.

I was understanding that a second login and authenticator thingy was possible and probably advisable. I was doing to set up my husband's phone as a back up in case that Mack truck gets me. Does your secretary have a smart phone to do this or can you set her/him up with the online version?

Marilyn, I think it's the former (practices not taking new clients). When I went out on my own, there were four of us (enrolled agents) on the same floor of an office building. I'm the last one standing (and not for long). I'm afraid the personal service we offer is disappearing.

I'm sleep-deprived this week (medical appointments) so bow to Danrvan's clearer thinking that the client has one principal business. Is more time spent on her TN biz? Or, does the in-person OH biz have higher revenue? I don't think Margaret specified whether her client's travel to OH was primarily for business when she talked about the friends and socializing she does in OH, so I still think Margaret should ask more questions before she concludes how much of her travel/lodging to/in OH is biz related.

Lots of groups issue letters annually, if they have people who donate multiple times during the year. So the organization's end of year donation statement works. Several million "children" disappeared the year they started requiring SSNs for kids as dependents.

One question I would ask is if she had no clients in Ohio, would she still travel there twice a month for church and social reasons? Also, how many days does she spend each trip?

I have had 4 phone calls wanting appointments and 6 people emailing me this morning about appointments. It's Jan 6. Lay off people. I haven't even figured out what day we're doing appointments yet. Good grief.

Say you lose your phone, or it dies... Although usually I'm with it, until now I was not forced to be tethered to a cellphone. I have a tablet on my desk and an installed an authenticator on it, which is asking for the QR code. Will re-entering the installation code and existing password (twice) on the ATX splash screen work? and will it cause issues with the primary authenticator? Boy, how I long for the SaberTax years, Orest

Snow storm?

to BrewOne's comments: When starting over was it re-entering the installation code and password under "Manage Admin authentication"? Oops here as well. This time I'll pay attention to the 'Second Factor Backup Code'. Thank you, Orest

I agree, I just cant justify a charge for a 5 minute call. If its related to their current tax return, I wouldn't charge. But 90% of those few calls I get during off season are related to financial decisions that would effect the following year. Maybe I should just make a client file notation and add it to the following years total. But there are those who call many times before they bring stuff in and those can be time consuming. Guess I need to do a hybrid billing. Bill for questions before they drop off (ones that consume a lot of time).

I charge an hourly rate but include that time, more or less, when questions are during the season as they normally relate to the returns. During the year, it depends. For short calls or rather simple things, no charge. I would rather folks keep in touch and ask 'permission' rather than beg 'forgiveness' which can be costly.

There has been a quite a few news stories the last several years about the shortage of accounting graduates etc. I know here in Oregon where all preparers are required to licensed that the number licensed preparers has dropped about 11 % in the last decade. It will get worse because baby boomers make up the largest generation of currently practicing CPAs, EAs and etc.

I'm getting the feeling that clients are afraid that we won't have room for them if they don't lock in their appointment early. Apparently the word is out that hardly anyone is taking new clients. BUT, these are mostly longtime clients who are calling. There must be some scare word going around or else they are just afraid that the laws will be totally different this year. Anybody have any ideas on this?

I had a client who, after being told they owed a significant amount, said he'd given $12,000 to his place of worship. I said I needed to see the receipts--he was half-right, he had $6,000 in monthly contributions and a year-end statement for $6,000.

Received an email this morning from the IRS that my IP PIN was available, retrieved it with my ID.me log-in.

Oooh; need to remind hubby to do that. Thanks!

This is a screenshot from the ATX Quck Startup Guide. Note the 2 bullet points under step #2 where it says that during the pairing of the device there is a backup code at the bottom of the ATX screen that must be copied and saved that would allows user recovery. The would be used in the event the MFA device is lost or no longer working.

Who knew this would generate such lively discussion? Obviously there is no (I think) clear easy answer. I will ask whether she will continue her in person consults in OH if deducting an allocable amount of rent for a place to sleep as she obviously cannot commute is disallowed (by me, not necessarily by IRS as they don't know and chances of audit are about 0). Her answer will matter. Then she can be upset that her previous free accommodations were removed by her friend's relocation. Have a good evening. I will enjoy another snow day tomorrow with the 8-10 inches we received today. Our cul-de-sac is not cleared yet.

But she does need to keep adequate records and documentation to show the business purpose of her travel and expenses.

You go I follow. We need you here. Tom Longview, TX

If she was traveling for business reasons only then your answer would be fairly easy, but your post makes it sound like she is mixing business and personal travel. In which case the best result would be an allocation of expenses.

Tom, thanks for clarifying. Maybe I should think about retiring.

Nothing has changed. If you are not a CA resident, you only pay tax on the wages you earn while working in the state. CA is a stickler on the proof that you are working outside the state. Example, my spouse is my employee. I do a lot of CA tax returns from TX. All my CA clients are CA sourced income to my business. I file a NR tax return an pay taxes on the profits from those clients. However, my spouse works exclusively out of my TX home office on CA client returns. None of her W2 income is taxed by CA. Tom Longview, TX

My response is then, "That makes your deduction $0." Except for 4. and 5., when I ask for their detailed P&L. I need clients less than they need me, so disengagement comes sooner the older I get.

I don't think this is government overreach, just one of many attempts to stem abuse of the charitable donation deduction. Remember before charities had to provide 1098C for car donations? People would take the blue book value for donating an old car that had been sitting rotting in a field for ten years. I recall that in the year the form was required deductions for cars dropped something like 80%. Conservation easements are another area of rampant abuse that is in focus. And we all have a lot of clients who say "same as last year" or pick a number off the ceiling when we ask about their donations. We don't get those answers so often now that we remind them they have to have receipts.

I am not clearly following your post Margaret. Is your client renting an apartment which is used 100% for business while away from her tax home; or also using it for personal purposes?

Talk about luck! I just had a client from 2019 come in with a CP11 asking for just short of 4K. They aren't disallowing the exemption for the daughter who was in college, but they are disallowing the LLC and Tuition Credits because they say that the 8863 was incomplete or not attached to the return. This client hasn't been back since that year but he wants me to fix it. I pulled up his return and printed the forms that the IRS said that they never received. That is all that I plan on doing. He can pick up the printed returne and contact the IRS himself. They wouldn't talk to me anyway. This is from 5 years ago. What are they doing in their spare time? I have clients who still have not received their 22 and 23 returns. I might jump ship with Margaret.

I should say also that if the corp is not registered to do business in any other state, all income is CA sourced. Tom Longview, TX

Some people have all the luck!

Not at the time of the gift, but by the time the return is filed. Thanks folks for the correction.

"Contemporaneous" was taught to me as meaning: by the time the taxpayer files their return. So you are supposed to have it in hand when you file.

This gives me a headache. I have 2 computers with ATX. The front computer my secretary uses and inputs the basic information and does a back up. I take that and finish it on my pc. I've been doing this forever since the networking didn't really work well for me. Anyway - now she needs my phone to log on. Nuts!

I don't have an answer to that but am in your corner yearning for the easier days! I had to get a new phone and am terrified to even begin the transfer. I have 4 authenticators and no clue as to whether they will work. I use the fingerprint method successfully now. I think I have to go to the phone store but we have 10-12 inches of snow now.