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Catherine, tell your hygienist to go to the Compliance Dept where the rep works (if a financial firm). If that doesn't work, go to the state insurance commissioner. Just the threat of either will make the rep or firm more willing to work out a deal. If not, the state will start a file on the rep. Client can't undo what already happened but hopefully can be made whole for the taxes paid and just maybe get out of the annuity without any early cancellation penalties.

So, it was the podiatrist for me. He had two stories. Last year, someone filed with his SSN. Did the whole routine and e-filed this year with his PIN and all was well. Secondly, daughter began work for a consultancy that sent her all over the country, so dad sent her and all her W-2s to his CPA. CPA called all upset that the NY W-2 had her full income on the NY line. I chimed in that NY requires that. He said that that's what his daughter and CPA learned from calling NY. And, he was pretty impressed that I knew that. Go EAs! But, it's really because I have a lot of commuters and get a lot of my education from the NY/CT-ATP.

From the Tax Pro Today series:

This may be germane to some of our clients. I know I get these questions (lease or buy) and my response will be substantially different with this new knowledge; will have my clients ask MANY more questions. http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/04/17/if-you-install-solar-panels-you-may-have-a-lien-on-your-home/

A UCC1 is a lien on a specific item. I deal with them all the time. The bank usually takes out a UCC1 on their customer's property (like backhoes, trucks, tools,etc). They are normally not used on buildings. At my day job, our bank has a UCC1 filing on our equipment. I think a bank knows what a UCC1 is. And I don't have a PhD. Tom Newark, CA

Unfortunately, stock brokers and the like do not have fiduciary responsibility under the law. They are not required to do what is best for the client. They are the used car salesmen of the financial world. They can lie and cheat the client with impunity. I tell all my clients to hire a fee only financial planner and do the purchasing themselves. This eliminates the possibility of situations like this.

Surely the NJ tax dept has satellite offices around the state. Tell the client to bring the documents to an office. That way they know they are giving up their information to the real thing.

Hey Rita, we chatted about this in another thread a week or two ago. In my case, the problem is not that they expect a break. It is that I give it to them. In all the years (28 or 29) I've done taxes I've had only one pastor ask for a break solely because of his clergy status. Of course, most of them came to me because of word of mouth and knew I already had ridiculously low rates. However, I think/hope most came not just to get a price break but because they were looking for someone who specialized in the unique nature of clergy tax prep. Like you, I've seen some misguided counsel given. I makes me as sick as it makes you. But frankly, those have been the exceptions rather than the rule. I can also tell you times that my colleagues (and I, on at least two occasions) have talked suicidal people into giving life a chance. Or the times they have put in ridiculous hours to try (often successfully) to salvage a marriage that the players seemed ready to throw away, or commiserated with parents over a wayward teen, or a spent hours at a hospital bedside or garsh, I could go on ad nauseum, but you get the picture. Sure there are charlatans out there; but aren't there just a few scurrilous tax preparers who give us all a bad name? No true professional wants to be judged on the sins of a disreputable few. I do respect your position and your frustration over a few bad actors. I just hope you'll give the honorable majority the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, that's my two cents worth.

KC-- we had an attorney a while back but the guy--a supposed specialist--gave up after the first rejection. We didn't press it because just about that time the docs finally found a med regimen that seemed to be working and we hoped she would be able to return to work. Turned out to be just a temporary lull. She started to pursue the claim again but was told by SS that she had missed the filing deadline. About a month ago she started working with a new attorney who does nothing but SS claims. He is virtually certain he can get her approved ... eventually. He says it will likely take 1-2 years and that if/when approved she would get benefits backdated to two years prior to her application. So, we're hoping for a 'someday' mini-windfall. Till then ...

The speed issue is a factor if you have a high volume practice and/or prepare returns in front of the client. I don't have either of these, so I've found things to do, like review the client documents, prior year file while waiting to get the return or program or whatever to open. Now 2012 was another story altogether!

My husband is a contractor and no one has ever offered to pay him more, and the 1099MISC's I see re not making much

I did not like the implication that "only" a PhD holder can be smart (and that if you can put one over on them you're extremely clever in your disguise). However, it is also VERY clear from the article that the leasing company is telling people "this is NOT a lien" when, in fact, it IS considered a lien by banks etc. THAT is deception if not fraud. I don't care *what* people do in terms of getting solar panels: buy, lease, take up a collection, refrain, whatever. As long as they have all the pertinent information to make that decision. Being told "not a lien" when all outside agencies with whom one must deal say "yes, a lien" is deception.

From the article - I would love to tell them how they bamboozled me, a Ph.D.,” Leeds said. “Imagine what they can do with the average schmuck out there.” Just goes to show that Ph.D. are not so smart if they can't read the contract and ask the questions about something they don't know or understand. Yes, the company's practice is nefarious, but in CA there is a 3 day right of cancellation, plenty of time to read the contract. In fact, by cancelling the contract, the company will most likely come back and offer an additional discount. UCC filings are common in business and they are definitely liens, albeit specialized liens only against a specific debt and not on the entire property.

All right, I cuss a little, but I love Jesus. And here is part of your problem - clergy (at least here in my little town) sometimes come across as feeling entitled to more for less. My mother used to practically give away her work to clergy. I undercharge everybody, but I don't undercharge clergy more. I have no problem telling them I have a ministry, too. My ministry is feeding my kids. And my kids are leaders in church and everybody has a ministry, not just pastors. I was furious that my pastor talked a kid out of playing professional baseball because he was needed on the church staff. What???? You can't witness on the baseball field???? OK, sorry I got off on a rabbit trail there. And, yes, my pastor makes more than me. He can pay for tax prep - they gotta get over thinking we owe them something. Nobody owes anybody anything, and yes, a workman is worthy of his wages.

My fee starts at $85 for a 1040/540 e-filed. Every form I add increases the price. That includes every W2, Every 1099, every Schedule, every stock trade, and Every K-1. I show my clients my price list with all the forms entered. My average fee is about $142. We did about 150 returns last year. That is down from about 200 before we had to move from Lodi. I feel like each client should be treated the same. So if they have a rental, then there is a charge for that form. How efficient I am that day with my entry should not matter. You pay the same for your rental as the next guy. Then only place I screw around with that charge is a Schedule C. If I have to basically do the books for them before I can prepare the form, I will add some more to my fee. If it is a very simple business and the books are in order and I have a few line items to put in, I will discount it. I price my services as a value preparer, because I have a day job that pays the bills and I am looking for this business to be my retirement occupation in 10 years more or less. I would like to get to 300 clients by that time and then I will start moving my price structure up quite a bit. I will not be positioning my practice in the "value" category at that time, but positioning it as a full service, year round preparation and representation firm and I will price accordingly. I will also be positioning it for a sale when I move to full retirement. But that is a long way off. Tom Newark, CA

I have several hairdressers, and it really is mysterious to them not being able to write off the FMV of do-overs. Also, face value of gift certificates. Sigh. So, I quit telling them, and they think they're deducting them. Everybody is happy that way.

And how many preparers? And is this a year round accounting practice? I need to compare myself to everybody so my self worth can be accurate. Got my hair done this morning. Hairdresser, non-client, talked the whole time about her business tax return she botched. Yeah, I'm gonna do it for her since she is afraid of her accountant but can't leave him because he knows the ins and outs of her very advanced and mysterious income tax return. Man, the last thing I wanted was to listen to a hairdresser talk about taxes.

Here are a few suggestions. Pay attention to the speed. Notice such things as load speed, how quickly you can navigate within the program, how fast you can change from one client to the other through the client manager, and how easily you can swtich between the input mode and forms display. Approach it from the standpoint that "fast and nimble" is normal & expected. Don't try to make it act like ATX (in exactly the same way that you wouldn''t expect ATX to act like Drake). It is a totally different environment, which I think is a huge plus. Run backups a few times and notice how they''re done before you can blink. It will perform in exactly the same way when you begin to load the program with client data. You'll probably notice that you don't need a NASA-quality computer to run Drake; it's very resource-efficient. There are some macros embedded in the program - you should run one or two of the simple ones just to see how they work. These are a valuable feature in the program once you learn how to use them. You can automate many tasks affter spending the time to learn how macros work in Drake - they are a valuable feature. Finally, and most importantly, I'd suggest envisioning yourself with 15-25% more free time, which you can use to take on additional work (or take the time off if you wish). I've heard skeptical questions about this assertion on several occasions and other forums, but I stand by it. The only people who make this discovery are those who are willing to invest the time, change their thinking, and apply thier reasoning skills in making the best business decision.

I completely agree with the fee issue. Most preparers I know tend to undercharge, so there is lots of room for them to increase fees. But as much as I agree with the fee increase approach, i disagree to the same exten with respect to Drake software. Given the quantum leaps in speed and efficiency Drake clealry provides, I'd have to say that anyone who ends up hating Drake also hates earning more money. It really is just that simple. I have found Drake to be very intuitive once a person devotes the time to reach a reasonable level of software transparency. But the learning curve can be steep if one approaches Drake with a closed mind. A bias toward the crutch of forms-based data entry is also a barrier which some people just can't overcome. But once the user opens their mind and begins to evaluate the entire user experience, it is impossible to ignore the efficiency aspect. So the decision is less about bells and whistles and more about answering the business question of "What makes me the most money?". In my case, that's a major issue since my reason for being in business is to mximize profits, and is the reason I'm convinced that Drake is the answer in this price range. SO it offfers anyone increasing their fees to also increase their profitablity exponentially, if they have the courage and business acumen to do so.

Sounds Great. Don't you just love it. Us "cowboy tax professionals" need to be hog-tied. No doubt about it.