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JB: If he didn't skip out of your office... $5,400 in tax instead of $54,000 in debt at $400/month for 20 years.... Yes. He should be skipping. That is a definite WIN on his part. Who cares about $1,000 of those HRB *billions*... That is a windfall of about 75k! Rich

Now that was just not nice! I just checked the temp here - minus 4. Anyway - I am glad we are all different. I would never survive in California. I love the four seasons. And I love things like this: at church yesterday, I was talking to an older gentleman. And he says "we live about three miles apart. We are like next door neighbors." I would not trade that for ALL of California - but I am glad you like it there. That said, I do know about mowing grass in February - I did live in Texas for 11 years.

After all the years of Joking about Chaz and Crazy Mary............ Someone tell JB that Chaz has officially caught me! BUD ------------ WEI-------------- SER

It's supposed to get to -10F here tonight - it's +6F now. Like a mild spring evening in Nunavut.... http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/zmw:00000.1.71925

Frazzled, hugs to you. I really feel for you. Please take some time to relax and do anything that might help you to feel better. It is so good that we have this board to come and talk to our friends. I know that there are days that I would just go nuts if I couldn't come here and read about people's lives and how they are dealing with tax season and the changes. This is a bad season and I don't know if it will ever get better. I try and think about what else I could do, but who the heck is going to hire me? I've been on my own for over 20 years and around here, employers don't especially look kindly on self-employed people. I need the flexibility of this job because of having to take care of so many family members, so I am thankful for that. Take care and make sure to come here and vent.

Every year I see this & every year it puzzles me. A client comes in with a fancy W-2, computer generated in one of those fancy & expensive sealed sets that open sort of like the SSA-1099 form. When you open it up, one part of the page is a discount coupon for a national tax preparation chain. I assume they either pay for the advertising or maybe the pay for preparing the W-2 forms. Anyhow, I've always thought this was against the rules. Yet, this is a very large grocery chain with enough lawyers on staff and retainer to prevent them from breaking the law or doing anything to get on the wrong side of IRS. As I'm shredding the coupon, it always puzzles me how they are getting away with this.

How are others here handling the scrubbing of the fixed asset schedule? Are you simply deleting the assets? I did that on one corporation and it was a company that was required to fill in the Sch L balance sheet, so the program reduced the fixed assets and accumulated depreciation by the amount of the deletions. If you intend to use the EOY figures from last year's return as the BOY this year, you'd need to reduce the retained earnings for the amount of the 481(a) adjustment to keep in balance. If you are going to pretend the assets were never capitalized or depreciated, you'll have to change your beginning retained earnings amount by the amount of the adjustment. The first corp I filed had a beginning balance sheet that did not balance because I deleted the assets from the fixed asset schedule and didn't notice that it was out of balance. I had all the documentation attached, so it will be easy to explain if the client gets a notice.

I export each client to a jump drive as I work on it and when it is finished. I can access each and any return from that export. They are all on there by the name I saved them to.

Oh, gosh, I let one slip past me. RSUs she exercised and held. Now that you post about it, I realize she had no 1099-B but sure enough, enough shares were sold to cover her w/h taxes. Well, I'll tell her to contact me as soon as she gets her refund AND her 1099-B (I think it might be Merrill Lynch) and I'll amend for free. How did I let that slip past? I know the 1099-Bs straggle in later and later each year. She filed later last year. And, she had a lot of paper re all the dividends she received. I was rushing, or tired, or both, and thought I had paper on everything, investments, HSA, highly compensated changes in her 401(k) limits, etc.. I goofed on her return once years ago, different issue, so hope she's forgotten that. She brought me lunch the last couple of years, so I want to take good care of her!

I love you. If you want to work at my spare desk, we have a generator. You can even bring your calf; two acres, large garage. Up to 16 degrees now with snow and lots of ice from Sunday warming up to the 30s; but I keep it in the 60s in the house. I love you.

Your chances of facing an IRS audit fell to the lowest level in at least a decade in 2014 and are expected to drop further this year, according to updated data from the nation's tax-collection agency. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/02/24/irs-audit-rate-drops/23876109/

I got a new client yesterday...J-1 from Brazil. She arrived here in April 2013....so I asked to see her W-2 etc...and last year's return. She sent me a W-2...that is obviously correct for a non-resident alien, a 1099-Int from the IRS and a 2013 1040-A. Well...I told her that 2013 was done incorrectly and I had "to think" (Meaning that if I did a 2014 NR she could have a problem with 2013...and/or that if I submitted it "like last year"...and she applied for a Green Card...she could have a problem...and/or if I submitted like last year I could have a problem for being stupid). So...I then said to her..."I see you got a 1099-INT from IRS. That indicates to me that they were late in paying your refund". She said...yes...there was a problem...and then when she called IRS to ask about her refund they made her send the W-2 to Austin (the land of the non-resident returns) and that they said being here the first year, she wasn't allowed to e-file (another non-resident thing). To the point...for those of you who don't get involved in 1040-NRs.... The tax preparer submitted, by e-file a 1040-A for a return that had one W-2. I would assume...it would sail through without any issues. But, the IRS did pick up (I guess by her W-2...because FICA is not taken out) that she was a non-resident alien...and the return wasn't done correctly. I was shocked...and feel more justified in my "warnings" to people about possible issues with IRS.

Isn't free college what the current administration is pushing for? (tic)

Was that his barber? Or his bartender?

The person may have exercised their options and paid for them. Therefore, if they didn't sell them there will be no 1099B. This W-2 should be kept with their option and purchase paperwork. It could be needed to establish basis if they sell them later. On the other hand, if it was a "cashless" exercise, then some shares were sold to cover the Fed, SS, Med., and if applicable, state taxes. It is likely they received a 1099B for this transaction. I have client give me "everything" they have with respect to the options in order to see what actually took place. Hope this helps. Grace

I just took a couple of hours off to mow my lawn, or what passes for a lawn. Feels good to have gone outdoors and done something. Now I probably have another month grace period before anyone will think of calling code enforcement. For all of you who still are in the deep freeze, there's a reason I live in California!

Yeah, he's gone now. A check didn't clear one time, so he was not accepted back! A client brought me lunch, her homemade curried pumpkin soup and fritatta and salad and biscotti. I didn't really have the time to visit with her, but it was a nice interlude, I didn't have to drive anyplace in the ice and snow, and I hope it's left me refreshed and ready to dive back in.

Hey, JB, tell him he got $54,000 in tuition and stuff that RitaB's kids did not get. Plus RitaB paid SE tax on her $54,000 that is gone. Maybe that will help. Here I am judging again. Sorry. Nah, not really. And how does that happen, that his student loan debt is cancelled two years out of school? Was I so mad about ObamaCare that I missed that one?

Long-time client arrived much earlier than usual this year...excited to get his part of the billions back. Graduated college 2-years ago. Pretty decent job right out of college...nice young kid with a smile on his face...just sure that he has a decent refund coming his way. Just from his W-2s, I would agree. claiming zero exemptions and having extra Fed tax withheld from each pay is a good start if you're wanting a refund.....but then I come across the 1099-C for cancelled student loan debt....$54,000. Ouch...goodbye refund, hello installment agreement.

thinking of you frozen friends

Rather than re-enter all the 45 - 50 assets, I'll just rollover from 2013 and re-enter 2014 transactions. That will be way quicker. I'm just afraid they will disappear again. So, I'm leaving that return over here in my floor filing system for a while. No, it's not good...

Actually, we all love you. So far I have not had the asset problem. The cold problem, yes; but we are used to and prepared for it. Pile on the blankies and stay warm. I really wanted to retire this morning and it isn't even March yet. At least, we can skip over the ACA returns for the time being and the clients can't blame us.

My bank includes a Turbo Tax coupon. I actually called a manager one year to vent.

We had one from TT with 106 pages. Actual forms, 6 pages. TT owns stock in the paper industry.

I YELLED at him, but I don't think he heard me......He's standing on the corner nursing a corona.

A win, except for the effect on his credit. Still, that will drop off after 7 years.

Snowing today in my old home place, but so far this year I have yet to even wear a coat. Did wear a sweater 2 nights. I'm sending warm thoughts your way!

Yes, there can be timing issues with some types of options that lead to "phantom income" on the 6251 with a corresponding offset another year.

Sometimes this animal will get to the 6251. Otherwise what Grace said is mostly what I see. One or the other. See if you have all the paperwork. I have sometimes found the info on a pay stub occurring about the same time the exercise took place.

Yes. Unless they didn't sell the stock, but I've only seen one time where the client bought & held.

I'm guessing that subsidized loans through the Federal government are probably never forgiven...but they also have much more flexible payment plans. I can only surmise that student loans through private banks (not subsidized by Feds) can be forgiven at the discretion of the bank...much like they would credit card debt. I imagine that Chase looked at this kids income and decided that is was financially more advantageous to write it off. I think they would have gotten much more out of him had they been willing to re-structure or negotiate a lower payment and extend the life of the loan. the kid was willing to pay...had a decent job...but with income of $28,000 annual, I can see why he could not afford their $400/month payment. He told me he offered to pay $200.00/month, but the bank said no...either you pay $400.00/month or you default.

If it was cancelled student loan debt, there is NO method available to exempt it from income. I have played that game with a client as well. Not even insolvency will work.

Dear Client, I sat with you last week and showed you where to sign federal and state e-file authorizations. Had you sign your section in both, and highlighted where your husband needs to sign. Today's mail brought me the state form only. Did you already forget? Did you think I didn't mean it, about needing the form? Do you not want that hefty refund you were so happy about? Do you think I need the aggravation of emailing you to remind you about the federal form? Can I dope-slap you now? I don't need this kind of foolish crap this of all years.

Thanks for you help, KC.

Yes, NC removed the routine $2,000 income exclusion for retirement income ($4,000 for Federal retirees) in 2014. The only retirees who now get to exclude income are those covered under the "Bailey" settlement, and of course taxable Social Security benefits are excludable. One does have to be careful about those covered under "Bailey". Qualified NC retirees have a notation on their 1099R - not so with qualified Federal retirees.

Had one go to HRB last year, to a preparer I know is good, friendly, expert re rentals and multi-state. But, she called this year to come back. Recently. And, with that NY rental that began long before I was her preparer. So, I told her about the new repair regs and how it would take me extra time and questions to her to explore her depreciation and to re-input all in my system and that she was welcome but would be on extension. She mailed me her materials. I will probably increase her price and blame it on the repair regs, but I never really charged her enough for the rental, two states, etc.

This kind of reminds me of my 1st year with ATX. I posted to the forum that I was surprised the software didn't have a particular feature (forgot exactly what feature), and I might add, I remember it being a major feature that my DOS program (AMTAX) had. Anyway, from the responses to my post, one would have thought I was an idiot! The following year, ATX did have this particular feature and the welcoming comments about the "new feature" were abundant. The negative comments I got that year makes me hesitant to suggest that the figure we enter on the W-2 for FICA taxes (if necessary) would also populate to the Medicare taxes box. Listen....I can almost hear the comments. ;)

This topic wasn't about whether someone chooses to round, how to work around the issue by not entering decimal points, who has the ability to round or be a tax preparer, program stability, or whether it's a particular user's priority; it was a question about how ATX chose to program the form.

I still do student children of my clients at no charge....but they STILL go online and do it themselves and blow the exemption. I guess at 18, some of them are smarter than me.

I used to think that someday, I would like to have the problems that you all have with being backed up. Until this year, I never had returns laying on my desk that were not waiting for more information or just signature pages from the client. Everything that came in got started that day and was done within a day if the information was all there. This year is different. For a lot of personal reasons and a lot of client personal reasons, I have a stack of returns waiting for client information, and 3 returns that I have not even started on my desk. I was going to get 3 of them done last night, but only got 1 Scorp almost done when I ran into a little bug in the software. I usually can get caught up on the weekend, but last weekend and this weekend, I have family in town and I just feel like I am sinking. I need 2 quite days to get my returns caught up so I feel inferior in the size of my practice to all of you again. Tom Newark, CA

I have a couple of big S-corps that dropped off as well as three more individuals, so need to start on the S-corps now. Almost everything else is going to wait until after 15 March. I guess I'm now at least three weeks out. My "extension" date is moving closer to 1 March this year. I'm blaming it on ACA and the Repair Regs.

Take me out back and shoot me http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/02/20/govt-sent-800-000-healthcaregov-customers-wrong-tax-info

Your situation was the first thing - ok second thing after "WTF" - that I thought about after I read the post. Tom Newark, CA

This is exactly what I have been posting about. I have clients that I know should not be having to pay back subsidies, but the paperwork is showing they do. I had already found out that at least 100,000 from covered California were effected, some of my clients have been notified that corrected information is on the way. So at last I am getting confirmation that I suspected from the time I did my very first reconciliation.

I'm easy at a couple of weeks - and that does NOT include the returns with stuff missing. Post-it notes, yes --- but I am now also doing copious electronic notes in the file where all the clients' stuff is kept. Belt, suspenders, duct tape, and staples...

Maybe Obamacare will send out checks to the preparers who have to amend the tax returns. But then we would have to sign up on the website and wait 3 months for approval of our credentials, which would have to involve a new back end process for the programmers, at which point the IRS would issue new regulations saying that you don't have to amend until we can get the system up and running, and that regulation would come after 250K of the people who have already amended their returns, which would lead to a congressional hearing at which time the programmers will take the 5th to avoid the inquiry of congress, which will lead congress to further cut the IRS budget. Or something like that. Totally political disgust in this post, so Judy or KC can delete it if they think it is inappropriate for this forum. Tom Newark, CA

This should surprise none of us. This is the same thing that goes on with 1099s from the brokerage houses. January - here is your final 1099. February - here is your revision of your final 1099. March - here is your final revision of your final 1099. August - here is your amended final 1099. The same government that allows that nonsense is the same government that issued these 800,000 erroneous documents. The real news will be if they can get it right the second time. And, no, this is not a political comment pointing fingers at any party or party member. It is simply the culture in which we live.

Today must have been haunted. I had clients coming and going all day; with and without appointments. A Tues apt showed up today, a 3:30 appt showed up at 2:30; because she got out of work early. My 9:00 showed up at 11:00. In the meantime I had a client show up who never makes an appt and I have usually never let him past the front door. However, with the new office, he walked right in and interrupted my conversation with the client who did have an appt and was on time. When the walk-in left, I had to light candles to remove the aroma from the room. Dear Above: I am going to have a very quiet nervous breakdown tonight and you may or may not ever see me again. Thank you for your inattention.

Dear Not Even A Client, Thanks for stopping in at 3:59 and acknowledging that you read the sign on the door that said 8 - 4. Thanks for telling me your tax situation in five minutes, and your epic family history from hell in twenty minutes. No, really, it was fun for me. I will see you on Monday. Can't wait. 8 - 2. New hours for you.

Anything that starts with "Dear Client" from RitaB is going to be funny!