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Finally DONE!!! Filed the last extension and transmitted the last return. It has been a grueling season and I hope everyone here has had a good one. Time for some much needed rest for all.

I was woken up this morning by a client at the door who is really good at just showing up. My roommate answered and I overheard him saying "she's not awake yet". I yelled out something like -I still need the big charitable receipt! But couldn't get back to sleep. Got coffee and my assistant had put a bag of Godiva truffles on my desk. She was also wearing a t-shirt that said "ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT- ONLY BECAUSE FREAKING MIRACLE WORKER IS NOT AN OFFICIAL JOB TITLE" I had someone uploading their P&L at almost 7pm. I emailed back (after sending instructions for Direct Pay and CA's WebPay). Just send them some money, I don't care how much, you owe about 7k to the Feds and 5k to CA just on your IRA withdrawal. Not doing anything else. I'm done. And I am. I'll check for ACKs in another hour or two. That's it.

I am still laughing at the "actively participates" part of Pacun's post.

I honestly think that is seldom the true reason. The real reason, in my experience, is that many will prefer to pay a 'contractor' more just to avoid all the hassle of employment tax REPORTING. Which is also why many workers will prefer that, because they see it as making more and the paperwork on their end is just the quarterly estimates and a slightly more expensive 1040. The small business owner with just one or two workers often finds payroll their most stressful part of their business. The federal and the state paperwork is worst, to them, than just the amount of their share of the taxes.

I just went scrolling thru the returns in Return Manager, and I had failed to create three e-files. No, I don't know why, but you all know how it gets, you get interrupted and stuff. I'm really glad ATX added that info down at the bottom; it has made my life easier.

Yes, it did take forever, and you're welcome. I was hoping to be helpful as well as self-deprecating. It makes me feel better about the whole boot incident.

I'm finally finished! 102 extensions. I can't believe how many people showed up today. I even got a 2013 in that I thought I had lost. Tomorrow my first excursion away from the house since Easter is to take my son to have his wisdom teeth taken out since he ended up in the ER last week in KS with severe pain and a very bad infection. I don't know why these things can't happen when he's in town. Fortunately, he didn't fly down there or we would have had to drive a pilot down there to fly the plane back that lets him borrow it. Then I can finally get my haircut after I get him home so my husband can watch him. We were going to a movie, but that's out for now. Thanks to everyone on this board. Now I have to get back to quarterlies, sales tax and property tax returns.

I remember last year (I think November) while we were enjoying our wine or soft drinks, this site was down for a short period of time and Eric was working hard to bring it up. I said to myself, if anyone deserves a token of appreciation is Eric. Of course November and December are semi dead for us (income wise) so I said to myself that I was going to donate something during tax session and I did. I hope everybody donates even if only a couple of thousands each. I am just kidding. Every penny counts.

Yes, and for the next month, every time you meet a client anywhere, grocery, bank, drug store, etc, you will hear "Guess you are enjoying not having any work to do now that the 15th is behind you." LOL

Yup...I just sent my small token to Eric and I appreciate all that he does and his ability to keep this forum running smoothly, efficiently and with a very "current" feel!

Thanks for the tip Rita. We used to toggle from the Return Manager tab to the e-file tab checking to make sure everyone was filed. Took for ever. Last night was a breeze. Tom Newark, CA

Thanks to everyone!! This board is a wonderful resource because of the wonderful people. Take some time to relax, hang with family, and thank them for putting up with us during this time. Off to pour a drink and not worry about tomorrow.

Me too. The last thing I did was go through all of the clients that were still incomplete. Two sent in Paper extensions and I had missed a couple others. Found a few I hadn't marked complete that should have been. Love that screen at the bottom!

My husband took me out to dinner (nothing fancy; just yummy and low-key - JUST what I needed). Got home and called one elderly client who was worried about an extension - filed weeks ago, but they're so old-fashioned they don't even have an answering machine. Had a delightful chat with him. Am going to prep the request for our vacation week and send that out tomorrow. Phew! *WHAT* a season this year was! Won't even look at the extensions 'til Monday.

Another Tax Day has come and I am finished with what needed to be done for today. Extensions await me but that can be handled over the next month or two. Thanks to everyone on this forum for their support and sage advice. It's very much appreciated! My best to each of you for an "off season" filled with nothing but good health and good cheer!

I had a great season, finished the returns a little early, have already completely several clients' 1st quarter work and payroll returns, and today I'm taking it easy. I was able to add to the client base, grew the practice some, and made more money! Yay! Thanks to all who participate here to make this a great place to visit. I hope it will continue to grow and thrive, and maybe we'll will entice some that left to call this forum home once more. Finally, I want to say THANK YOU, ERIC, for providing this site and taking good care of us.

Gotta get some more extensions, don't know how many, I hope a lot. My door is open. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses. And your slackers. I'm here for you. Just want to confirm that the ACA did not improve my health, but it didn't do me in, either. And my motto today is: "April 15 doesn't tell us, we tell IT."

Y'all know I'm not as mean to my clients as I let on, right? Well, except that one guy, he had it coming, and the boot extraction device is a write-off, and I'd be a better people person if I knew better people...

Yeah, and after THIS season that comment is looking for Rita's boot in response. Rita - do you outsource?

My 1040 & Sch. A fees each go up by $5 every year, as does my per hour fee. I'm working to get the base Sch. C up to $100. That covers the cost of the software. I also started billing at full price to anyone I discount and then showing the discount in stead of just discounting off the top.

He actually earns the same as w-2 to employee who is paid about $35k with no benefits and no unemployment compensation coverage. Everything else is just a matter of making the proper estimated tax payments in the absence of withholding.

And that is his decision, IMHO.

yes

AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, PLEASE URGE THE CLIENTS TO FOLLOW UP ON THIS FRAUD, THAT WOMAN NEEDS TO SEE THE INSIDE OF A JAIL FOR THIS REPEATED CRIME.

This is an unsolicited post. Think about all the hard work that Eric does in our behalf by maintaining this fourm.He does not have the CCH bank roll behind him.I am sure tossing a bone his way would be appreciated. I just mailed my bone, why not join me. Click on donations on the upper task bar on the home page.ERIC PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THIS MESSAGE FOR A FEW DAYS.Have a great day everyone. Regards SF BOB

Tell the parents to apply for a new SS# for the adopted child. I was of the mind that the adoption agency involved would have told them this. Problem solved.

It normally applies in situations where Highly Compensated Employees (HCE's) make deferrals based on an estimate of what the allowed amount will be after the discrimination testing is done for the year and they have deferred more than allowed. This used to be a common occurrence at the company I work for. There are so many low wage workers who will not contribute to the 401K plan that the HCE's got to defer almost nothing based on the testing. We put in a Safe Harbor plan and the owners are very happy about it. Tom Newark, CA

That was the problem!!! I guess I will just mail the brokerage statement with the 8453. Stick a fork in me. I am DONE!! Thanks to everyone for all your help and input this year!

Lion, I will not be anywhere near the office or a client for four days. Frankly, I would be fearful of what I might say, even if only in body language. Good luck tomorrow.

We closed the office at 10:30 (instead of 10 only because we had to wait for the Schwan man.) Then went to lunch, shopped for some pond supplies and I just got up from the first of what should be several naps over the next several days. Catherine, I am all about that!

One would hope, but it doesn't, quite. There is always the last-minute crunch of folks who suddenly decide they want to make a payment, or call with their grown child's info so you can put in extensions for them, or who contacted you two months ago and never since until *today* when they want to know if it's too late to file an extension with you... Blech. I will be GLAD when today is over. Will take it easy the rest of this week (5-6 hour days, not 10-12) and start hitting the extended clients next week. Note for Rita: that is, hitting their *tax returns* by working on them, not dope-slapping the clients. Not even the ones who really NEED dope-slapping. Although those I will *think* about hitting. 90% of the fun, 0% of the repercussions. Except for the queries, when speaking with them, about why the sudden big grin ("Oh, nothing, just a random funny thought crossed my mind").

Thanks, Judy. That has been my feeling about it all along and I told them I thought that was the way it had to be done. They probably won't like it but at this point I don't much care.

Just because a client wants to do something doesn't make it correct. Unless the partnership had a change in ownership of more than 50% and therefore had a technical termination, then you and your client would be in error by filing 2 tax returns years, and even if they could or did this, the one for the period ending in Oct would already be late, so an extension is totally inappropriate for that situation. You need to file one extension for the entire year using the EIN and the new name. When the return is filed, you will check the box for name change on page 1 of the form 1065. The partnership can make its allocations to all of the partners for that short period based on the actual results of operations through the date in October and give only those details of that income/expense split to the partner that left. The remaining partners will also get a portion of that plus a split of the activity for the remainder of the year.

Eric, do please let us know if there are sufficient funds to continue without dipping into your own pocket. We know you are shy about requesting money but we are nerds, generally, and don't often think about the support and maintenance of the important tools we use. By the way, how was dinner? Which restaurant did you and Brandy patronize? We do hope you enjoyed it!

Put together your plan as if you're consulting for one of us. Probably $10/return increase, new clients at the full prices you're aiming for, freebies asked to pay $10 each toward (pick one) license fee or pay-per-return or e-file fee or overhead or..., always show full prices on your invoices with their true discount shown, charge for initial meeting/consult/questions for potential clients with fee applied toward their tax prep fee if they become customers, etc. If you end up with software where you buy the modules separately, you may need to drop your entities. Or, your only competition for entities, including 990s, is really CPAs, so you should increase their returns $25 or something more than $10.

Those were the words I used not to get stressed out this tax season, last year a couple of last minute TP twisted my arm to get their return done on time, not this year baby

Judy, you make some valid points. And I guess a $10 bump wouldn't be that bad. Sure wish I'd thought of that back in January! I bumped my base rate only $3 and left everything else the same as last year. What I probably need is not a new software package but someone with some business brains to come in and run my show for me--I'm too soft-hearted. I've used Max (or it's equivalent, pre-ATX) since back in the early 90s. I left for two years with TRX (they initially offered full-blown ATX for $299, then lost their license to offer it after one year). That was a disaster. A couple years ago ATX offered me $795/yr for three years to come back. That expired this year. With tax and shipping, my renewal will be over $1400. I hoped to find something reputable in the $800-$1000 range. Maybe it's not out there. I agree with you about one more thing: I am definitely not interested in the bargain basement software that seems to proliferate every couple years. I may end up having to bite the bullet. Frankly, I wouldn't be heart-broken if that happens. I'm pretty accustomed to ATX and outside of the 2012 debacle have had pretty good luck with them.

Yes, I do that too Catherine and got my couple of extensions finished up on the 11th. Do you recall my story about my client I called my boy-on-a-bike, the one that put his W-2 on my porch without telling me, that was out there much of the winter, and that I found after the season had ended? Well, I heard him putting his W-2 in my drop box late yesterday afternoon, and he rode off too quickly before I could call out to him. I had the return done about 2 minutes later, but had to get the extension.

I try to have the bulk of my extensions filed by 4/10 for that very reason. Any last-minute clients go past, of course. And there are always a couple who actually get the returns filed after the extension but before 4/15. So my busiest time ends a couple of days before 4/15, usually.

I hit the wall two weeks ago and have been going off of sheer orneriness ever since.

It's spooky quiet here today. We did all the extensions, and have had a couple people drop off info even though they are on ext. I'm just exhausted. you never realize how tired you are til you are done. Then you hit the wall.

Explanation for not filing electronically will not help if the return has been e-filed without the child. 1040X, put the explanation in the appropriate section, and yes absolutely enclose a copy of the adoption certificate. Here's hoping the IRS goes after the bio parent who is committing tax fraud by continuing to claim the child. Check these folks' withholdings, too -- they should not be having so much withheld that they are desperate for that refund. They can pretty much expect this to happen EVERY year until the bio parent is caught and stopped. Their choices are two: file VERY early (to be first, and likely not possible as fraudsters file super-early for that selfsame reason and don't care about waiting for official documents), or file next year while being ready to submit an original paper-filed return (with the EFO form and a copy of the federal rejection and a copy of the adoption certificate). That means fixing withholdings so they are not "desperate" for next year's refund.

I had an issue with ATX handling one with a code Q back in 2012, and it was my husband's distribution so I knew all of the facts. Program insisted it was taxable unless I entered info on the 8606, completely contrary to the forms instructions and that code "Q". I'm glad to hear they've corrected that, at least, because it was quite frustrating. I had a client with one with code "T" for the past 2 years, and it is interesting that Drake didn't require it and didn't even mention it in the notes and messages. I'm not pumping up Drake here because that could allow someone to file an incomplete return, but if the taxpayer meets all the requirements for not having to file 8606 with code T, then ATX should allow the practitioner the ability to get rid of the form 8606 or override the taxable portion on the return and still allow the e-file.

But not nearly as much fun! Or stress relieving!

Dang. That is probably easier than the rip it out of the wall feature. Crap...

New greeting: "Hi, this is Rita. Come get your shit."

I'm sorry, Pacun, but # 1 is not entirely true. Before ACA there were rich people that could not get insurance. If you had to get insurance on your own (retired, self employed, employer did not provide insurance, etc.) and had a "pre-existing" condition, you could not get insurance at any price. I'm sure the rules were different in different states. My "pre-existing" condition was a FALSE positive on a test.

When I posted this about supporting the forum;I had not read the dinner contribution post. Eric and the Mrs, I hope you had a great time out on the town.