Leaderboard

Sometimes I use a Ouija Board.

Not me, but a preparer, a retired bank officer, who worked out of his house which is a couple doors down from my office passed away in January and some of his clients have been finding their way to my office, was still doing returns with a pencil. Not sure that was the kind of answer you are looking for. But it worked for him. And the couple of his returns I have done this year, I have not discovered any issues with the 2013 return. I actually do monthly and quarterly and annual work for this guy's grandson. The preparer referred the grandson to me several years ago when the grandson's return became more involved than the preparer was comfortable with.

I don't even have a file cabinet room, but I also meet myself coming and going!

>>When writing don't BS, lay out the problem, how it happened, and why they should consider penalty relief.<< Keep it extremely brief and clear enough for a 5th grader to understand when dealing with the IRS! That's about the limit of their intelligence and decision making.

Dear Client, Thank You for bringing by your bucket list purchase for me to inspect... Only the men will appreciate this... 622 Brake Horsepower.

Every now and then, I'll go to the Efile Manager, filter by those marked complete and review the status to make sure they're all accepted. I do that in case I've marked something complete by mistake. I also like to get extensions filed first week of March and first week of April even if I think I can complete by due date. Some things still might fall thru the cracks though.

I'd bet 99% of those people could survive two weeks without their refund.

"Hello, Rita, this is 85 year-old Taxpayer, I was wondering how much you charge for a simplified return?" (Discuss, discuss, blah, blah.) "Well, my return is very simplified, but let me tell you: I screwed it up royally for two years in a row, and my husband says you are doing it from now on or he's trading me in."

Personally, I love efiling for the instant receipt acknowledgement. I've also had cases where taxpayer was unavailable at the final deadline and I've had them email me authorization to transmit with a statement they will sign the efile forms when they return. I also like that I don't have to rely on an unskilled IRS temporary worker properly entering the return.

The First Time Abatement guidelines are clearly spelled out in the document linked below - scroll down a ways to get to this provision---.> 20.1.1.3.6.1 (08-05-2014) First Time Abate (FTA) http://www.irs.gov/irm/part20/irm_20-001-001r-cont01.html As Old Jack said, e-filing puts the tax preparer in the line of fire, whereas paper filing puts the responsibility on the taxpayer - where it properly belongs. This is why I continue to obtain waivers from the e-flinging requirements, and plan to do so until I retire. I'm a tax preparer, not a tax filer. I'll do my job by preparing your return - you do yours by satisfying your filing responsibilities. I'm not interested in becoming a data entry clerk for the IRS, not am I interested in assuming other people's responsibilities. As for the OP by Naveen, your client can probably obtain the first-time penalty relief by following the FTA procedures. I recently had one who never got around to filing his 1120S which had 3 shareholders. Glad he had to worry about the $7K penalty rather than me. It helped me sleep better at night and nap better by day. Affter a couple of letters which I wrote for him, and which IRS ignored, he finally called IRS and they took care of the abatement on the telephone.

Divorced client included letter from her attorney stating that a portion of her fees may be tax deductible. Here's what the letter states: " Please be advised that it is my opinion that a portion of your 2014 legal fees with regard to your matrimonial matter may be tax deductible in that they may relate to tax information, and preservation and conservation of income In 2014, you paid a toal of $X,XXX in legal fees for services rendered. It is my belief that some of these legal fees may be considered a miscellaneous itemized deduction; however, you must consult with an accountant or tax attorney to determine if you can claim any portion of the above as a deduction. I strongly recommend that you consult with your own tax advisor with regard to this deduction." While I understand that legal fees may be deductible, in this case its mentioned that "some" of the fees may be considered miscellaneous itemized deduction. The bill my client received from her attorney was not itemized in any way and as such, I am having trouble determining which portion may be deductible? I can ask for an itemized bill (if there is such a thing) but before doing so wanted to seek your opinion. Can anyone lend some guidance? Thank you!

When dad died, mom gets his half at FMV on DOD. Now she owns it all. She gifts half to son, and the gift basis depends upon whether he sells at a loss or gain. When mom died, son gets her half at FMV on DOD. http://www.irs.gov/publications/p551/ar02.html#en_US_201412_publink1000257012

Life is full of regrets. We can use one more.

We just check the efile screen in ATX and see what has not been sent, especially when it's the last few days.

Agree with keeping it brief and clear, as all business communications should be. But I've had plenty of intelligent and competent IRS employees help me over the years, and I am truly grateful for them. It can be a difficult job.

I also know a preparer who still does them with pencil and paper. She calls me at least once a year with a question on something or other. This year it was the ACA. She is quite elderly and is doing a fantastic job as far as I can tell. She wants to keep her foot in the door because she, herself, has some rental properties.

Rita, you have mentioned Cadbury mini eggs so many times lately that I finally broke down and bought a bag to try. Like I needed another addiction.

Is trading your wife in, a deductible event? Discuss it with the husband. {runs away}

Dear client - your sales tax reports and your income tax return should at least remotely reconcile. You cannot show NYS sales tax that you only had $100000 in sales when in fact your purchases exceed that 3x. What don't you get that? When you get audited, I will charge you more..........and that is my only hope...........In the meantime, you just keep on telling NYS sales tax whatever you want and do not bother to heed my advise. I will report to NYS income tax what your sales deposits were. And we'll just count the days.

You forget what business my men are in. We watch Wayne Carini chasing cars all the time.

Ssssswwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeett!

I agree with Lion (AND OldJack). However, I would not editorialize about it being your fault. I have used the RP 84-35 argument only to have the IRS respond that they are basically ignoring all that and abating the penalty under the first time offender principle.

Before e-file it was the taxpayer's responsibility to file their tax return. E-file helps only the government with processing and now has become a source of government revenue. How did we let that happen?

We are really cute. Most of my clients really like and comment on my presentation folders. Much nicer than a bunch of papers thrown together in a green and white envelope. I have a very few clients who want their copy of the return in a .pdf format. It doesn't cost that much for me to give them something in return for what they pay me.

You are right, The IRS almost acts like it's just a nuisance having to fool with sorting out who is the 'good guy' and who is the crook.

Here's a handy macro for Drake. For all clients who have no ACA issues, it marks the form appropriately. It launches from the main data entry screen and returns to the same place. HC>x>~ I used Alt-C because the keys are close together. (It meant overriding whatever Drake had pre-entered there - I don't remember what it was but I don't use theirs anyhow).