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I have two in college, and it's rough, BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL AID. When money is being handed out left and right, tuition increases. What do we get for our increased tuition? ADMINISTRATORS. Oh, and my health insurance - the premiums are always paid, my medical bills are always paid. It's not good enough now, and I had to get a better policy yesterday, with a HIGHER deductible for $161 MORE a month. There's two examples of what happens when the government helps.

Sure did; I agreed with Senator Bernie Sanders (VT; Socialist party) on something today, too.

Blah, blah, blah. My assistant brought me Michael Reschutti chocolate today. Y'all keep up your pugilistic behavior. I'll sit back & have another piece.

so here are some oldies but goodies. http://www.hrtwarming.com/these-are-actual-exchanges-that-took-place-in-courts-6-is-priceless/

I have sent clients those e-file ack's for extensions and had banks REJECT them -- but they'll take the 4868 with NO proof of filing. They are drones looking to check a box; do NOT ask them to think because for the most part they don't know how.

I have a couple of clients who filed and were accepted in February and still have not received their returns. The IRS site says that they are still being processed. I called the Practitioners line this AM and after much hemming and hawing and sitting on hold, I got the exact same message from them. "The returns are still being processed!" No rhyme! No reason! Take it or leave it. How do I explain that to clients who are checking "Where's my refund?" daily. I understand that they have to learn to wait, BUT, for two and one half months; and no answers. I fear the IRS system is badly broken. One of these is a lady who will turn 94 in May and has been filing virtually the same return with a few ups and downs, for many years. Don't they get that someone who is 94 might still have to file a tax return and get a refund? I am thoroughly disillusioned today!

Speaking of how bureaucracies work, here is a prime example. It's the old "Sell the Fire Engine" ploy. When townspeople revolt against property taxes, the local politicians start crying that fire or police services will have to be cut. They insist there's absolutely no savings to be found in the bloated budgets for city hall, even though the mayor and half the city council have multiple family members on the payroll. Gotta make it painful for the public in order to get revenge and wear the taxpayers down until they extract more taxes. Same issue here with the IRS. Congress cuts their funding, so there's nothing to do but inconvenience the taxpayers so they will in turn complain to their Senators and Congresspersons. I'm sure there is absolutely nowhere else the IRS could save any money other than their front-facing segment. Put 'em on hold and make them wait, or just don't answer the phone at all. But it's full steam ahead on bonuses, union activities, and other "essential" expenditures. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of the hearings, although I'm sure that game is rigged as well. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-irs-deliberately-cut-its-own-customer-service-budget_927141.html

I usually just use a write-up program to post checks if a client is manual or transfer their QB info into to generate a T/B. I don't use a clients QB for a final product if I am doing a compilation or something, plus ATX write up can produce a pretty good Financial Statement. I would also not want to use QB if a client is manual, that would be too time consuming to enter detail that is not needed for my records. i don't need vendor or client info that is what they have the checks for. Does Drake write-up have the ability to produce Financial Statements? On another note I loaded the Drake 2014 software today. The server and workstation seem to work pretty good, basically all you want is to have all the files in one place, and this seems to do it. The tax entry and views seem kind of strange but it is quick. So the steps to view the return don't really matter. It will just take some time to get used to, but hey its half the price right. Drake is $1,095 for everything, Tax, Write-up, depreciation and payroll. ATX cost me around 2K for the same stuff. I think this is a no brainer.Just waiting for the rep to call me.

There is a difference between being able to *navigate* and being able to *tolerate* institutionalized idiocy mixed with incompetence. I have NO patience for that kind of crap; there are far too many important things I should spend my time on.

YEP, how do you miss something that simple, epically with software that generates a due diligence 8867. I think the preparer overrode the program. My thinking is, if she screwed up such a simple return, what did she do with more complex ones.

Eric is right. Fresh out of high school, I first learned to navigate bureaucracy during 4 years in the U.S. Air Force. Then came college. The bureaucratic challenges were different with college, but the basic territory was very familiar.

  Learning to navigate a bureaucracy is one of the most important things you'll do in college.  You'll use that skill for the rest of your life.   I mean, you're tax prepares, it pretty much defines your profession!

Ok, did hell freeze over? Cause the New York Times just agreed with me about something. What????

Anyone interested will find all *kinds* of worthwhile reading on the subject of college costs at market-ticker.org. Just put "college" in the search box on the right, sit back and read the fireworks.

I used an older version of Peachtree (Sage software) and used Drake's Client Write-up for Payroll (941s, W-2s,1099-MISC).

Here's that article Gail mentioned that was in the NY Times several weeks ago if anyone would like to read it. I remembered it also and asked one of my college professor friends to help me find it again.

Whenever government intervention in the marketplace is contemplated, we should always remember that the most efficient government entity is the military. Relatively speaking, it produces more tangible results per dollar spent than any other bureaucracy. That should tell us all we need to know.

If the initial contact was by phone, it was definitely a scam. In the past month, I've been contacted by two scammers by phone. I also learned that three of my clients had received calls which they did not return, and one elderly couple this week had visited their bank after receiving a call. Luckily, the banker told them to speak with me before taking any action.

According to the instructions, it appears that they can. there's no harm in trying, and if it fails they can call IRS and try to set it up by phone. Sometimes the person on the phone can override if there is a minor issue preventing the online setup. I've found most of those people to be very helpful and courteous when a taxpayer had a problem of this type. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Payment-Plans-Installment-Agreements

My son would be graduating next month as well if not for the incompetence of the "entrenched bureaucratic incompetence" at San Jose State. He has to return for 2 classes, NINE UNITS, that he could have completed if those idiots would have just read his transcript correctly. It is costing him a year of his career. I hate San Jose State administration. They think the university was created for them instead of the students. Tom Newark, CA

Hahaha, I'm sitting here thinking what a silly, impossible request they are making. Maybe we can all write letters saying we didn't pay the kid to do anything at our offices.

But if the charge is based not on the amount of refund, but the amount of EIC claimed regardless of whether that results in a refund, could that not be a fee based on risk assumed? After all, with the due diligence requirements it seems to me that EITC is one of the riskier areas of tax practice and the more EITC claimed, the larger the risk of sizable penalties. This is not my pricing model, but it makes sense to me in a way.

If you switch to Drake, start planning what you're going to do with all your free time and excess computing power. It's fast as lightning and you don't need a computer capable of launching the space shuttle. Actually, you could plan on taking on more business and therefore making more money with the time you free up, but only if that seems like a desirable business plan for you.

lol, I need to start proofreading my post.

I use QuickBooks. I use Drake's CWU only for the payroll filings and 1099s, and then only as "on the fly", meaning that I enter amounts directly on the forms.

Yep. drones. Please "Check the Box" Rich

Interesting article excerpted from The New York Times in The Week about where college tuition money is going and why colleges need to raise tuition so much points to the increase in the number of administrators. From 1993 to 2009, the number of administrators at colleges increased by 60 per cent. At California Polytechnic University, the total number of administrators grew from 3,800 to 12,183 over three decades - a 221 per cent increase. The article does not mention how much other areas grew - student body, number of professors, etc. The article also points out that some administrators are making six- and even seven- figure salaries now. From the attitude expressed towards those administrators in your posts, you are not getting your money's worth.

Sorry been off for a few days. Jack trust me there are no virus or mailware on my machines. I have been running and administrating networks for 20. Years. Plus during the 10 hours over three days they also checked. The problem is real simple when you have multiple people logging into your system and making changes there can't help but be problems and I am done with the idiots at this company. I will be calling Drake this week to load their 14 software to check it out. For those that use Drake, what do you use for your writup clients? I really don't mind ATX Writeup. Thanks

Thanks Judy. We all understand you are both tired and stressed.

I think you did a great job, too. And thank you for not suggesting to him that she made a few thousand dollars so she could receive EIC. That happens, and it gets old and tired when you pay taxes.

All this griping reminds me of the guy who joined the monastery. He was told he had to remain silent for 7 years and then there would be an examination. So after 7 years had passed, the big day came. They brought him into the gathering hall. Everyone crowded around him and the leader and told him he could say two words. His two words were - "Food Bad." The leader then told him there would now be 7 more years of silence. After 7 more years of silence they brought him into the gathering hall. Again everyone gathered around and the leader told him he could say two more words. His next two words were - "Bed Hard" The leader then told him there would now be 7 more years of silence. After this 7 years of silence they brought him into the gathering hall. Everyone gathered around and the leader told him he could now say two more words. This time his two words were - "I Quit" To which the leader responded: "Well, you may as well quit. You've done nothing but bitch and complain the whole time you've been here !"

Not just California, trust me!!

Difficult to do sometimes. Don't get me started on the incompetence of administration workers at California Colleges. I have a real issue with them. Tom Newark, CA

Shut up, Ron, you don't know me, you don't know my life.

How about an IRS wage and income transcript for the kid for that year. Find a college with intelligent people in positions like financial aid.

I posted this on another list serv yesterday where there had been a hurtful exchange of words and both parties quickly realized they were equally over-reacting and publicly apologized to one another. It seems fitting to post it here as well. Absolutely nothing should be read into this than just what it says. You two reminded me of two of my dogs. They get into a brawl with each other for no apparent humanly observed reason and with no special warning. After they are done, they will stand there and lick each other's face. Not saying you should lick each other's face, but it was nice to see calmer minds prevail! This is a highly stressed business that causes us all to over-react from time to time. You all have a very blessed day!

Let's go back to being a happy family after tax season. I am taking my vacation next Friday. A whole week without Internet, TV and news will help me recover.

Had a client that argued herself with IRS and CT over a lot of back years and did get them to keep applying those very old refunds forward as she filed each year. It was something like 10+ years worth of returns. Really surprised me. But saw that only once. For other clients, it's that letter as mentioned above for failure to file within the three year deadline blah blah blah.

They didn't have enough withheld, did they? Well, that's the stupid employer's crystal ball's fault, not yours.

Glad they think your're a wizard. This year I had a couple of clients tell me they think I'm a tax gargoyle.

And the ADDED ADDED bonus is that the gross income is on a W-2. How many self-employed people report gross income? Just us. I'm telling you, they need to lighten up on employers, and they would ultimately collect a lot more revenue. Everybody would be happy, cause all my clients think withholding is a fringe benefit of the employer. They have no clue it's their money. I swear, when they ask how they can get a bigger refund, and I say "have more withheld," they think I'm a tax wizard.

I thought that it was a little nutty myself.

I think the tax return with zeros is perfect. It's all there - zeros and signature swearing that it's the truth. Maybe attach a statement saying consult the yellow pages if you want to follow up with the 3,400 banks.

Sweet humor.

I had a T/P that filed three weeks past the deadline for refund and the IRS refused sent a letter stating she failed to file in the three year deadline and would not be receiving her refund

Give the financial aid office a statement from 3,400 banks stating that he never deposited cash *here*. LOL

Jack, You need to see the settlement docs. My first blush is it is all taxable, but the costs of the litigation may be handled differently depending on what the settlement docs say. 1. Lost wages should be paid on a w2 to the recipient. These are fully taxable and subject to employment taxes. The defendant is also subject to their portion of the payroll taxes. 2. Punitive damages are fully taxable on line 21 unless they related to injury or illness. 3. If the award is for discrimination, the taxpayer can take the legal fees as an above the line deduction on line 34 of the 1040. You need to see the settlement docs. Did I say that already? Tom Newark, CA

Sure there's an extension of time time to pay. I didn't say it was without cost, but the cost is actually fairly modest, especially for a taxpayer who has to borrow the money. Anyhow, a taxpayer who files the return without full payment is in exactly the same situation as a taxpayer who applies for an extension and then files without fulll payment. The only difference is, the collections clock begins ticking six months sooner. Costs (penalties & interest) are basically the same. But IRS charges that FTP penalty, which when combined with the interest charge adds up to about 8-1/2 % effective APR. They bluff taxpayerrs and tax preparers with the dreaded "Penalty" word, and common sense goes out the window.

I've 'pinned' this because it may be useful to all