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And the support techs will like it too, because we can both cuss and fume out loud at the other without hearing each other, then type something more polite and calm. It will be cathartic. https://support.atxinc.com/myatx/ChatWithOrientationTeam.aspx

The great thing about cell phones is Do Not Disturb mode that will only ring/beep when your favorites call or text. I don't have a landline phone in my bedroom and and can't hear it ring.

That's when you turn the ringer off at night and set the message machine to scold fiercely.

Here is the URL for the article: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/irs-eases-a-costly-tax-pitfall-for-retirement-savers/ar-BBw19wz?li=BBnbfcN Here is the gist (paraphrased): Savers moving money from a 401(k)to an IRA, or from one IRA to another, were allowed only 60 days to have those funds in their possession before depositing them into the next retirement account. Those who missed that window generally owed taxes on the full amount and, if they were under age 59½, an additional penalty on top of that. To avoid that huge risk, many financial advisers suggested doing a direct transfer instead of taking the money yourself. New guidance from the IRS (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-16-47.pdf) says taxpayers can avoid the dire tax treatment in certain circumstances, including if they lost the distribution check or deposited it into an account they mistakenly thought was a qualified retirement account. This caused not only taxes and penalties but saw the affected sums lose their tax-advantaged status. There is/was a costly appeals process that few offenders followed up on. The new guidance goes into effect immediately. It allows savers to make a written self-certification on why they missed the window. Among other acceptable circumstances listed: The taxpayer’s principal residence was severely damaged. A member of the taxpayer’s family died. The taxpayer or a family member was seriously ill. A postal error occurred. This relief doesn’t change the best practice when it comes to rolling over 401(k) and IRA funds. It’s still best to do the transfer directly, from financial institution to financial institution, without taking possession of the money.

So far I have received about 5 of these calls and for 3 of them I had some time so I played with them. On the most recent one, two weeks ago, I was very helpful! When he identified himself as from the "IRS" I faked a panic attack and asked him if his call was about "the letter I received three weeks ago about owing $4231.25 on my 2012 taxes." (totally fabricated) His response was "yes, that is exactly what I am calling about." I could almost see him smiling and drooling. I told him that there was no way I could come up with that kind of cash right now, and that I was going to try to get a payment plan. He said he couldn't give me a payment plan, but if I could come up with just $3500 on a credit card right then, the whole thing would get cleaned up. I told him times were very tough and all my credit cards were maxxed out. We went back and forth for about 10 minutes with his offers getting lower and lower. He kept putting me on hold to "talk to his supervisor" but I think it was just to get high fives from the others in the call center. Finally I told him that the only credit card I have left had only $750 left on it, and that was why I wanted a payment plan. He said if I authorize the $750 right then, he would "close the file." I asked him if the entire $4231.25 would be marked paid and he assurred me it would. With a sigh of relief, I began to give him my credit card number. "46 (silence) 8 (silence) 2403 ex(silence) ation 3(silence) teen Cs (silence) 5. Bat (silence) going bad (silence) ca (silence) back! He tried to call me back 6 times and each time I would answer and then hang up. On his 7th try I answered and said "Now don't you wish you had gotten an honest job? I never heard an "IRS" agent use such foul language!!! Enjoyed myself immensely!!! On a similar note, I also have been getting calls about my computer and viruses. I play along with these also, when I get a chance. The last one assurred me that my computer could transmit a virus to my neighbors computer even if both of our computers were turned off! I pretended to be horrified and asked what I could possible do to stop the virus from spreading (much like the flu or Zika). He told me he could help me out right away--what a guy!!!! I kept him going for about 10 minutes playing absolutely dumb about computers, operating systems, and keys on the keyboard. I could almost see his frustration as I said "I have two keys that have "ctrl" on them, which one should I press?" Finally, just before I told him i was going to accept his invite to take control of my computer, I asked if he was Microsoft certified. I could tell he was not expecting the question and he answered "No, but I I'm CISCO certified." I told him that I was PANCHO certified and that if did not laugh hysterically at that he should google Cisco and Pancho. Then I said that I enjoyed wasting his time and building up his hopes of infecting another computer and then "fixing" it. Believe me CISCO never used language like that on TV when I watched.

Congress won't block robo calls because they use them for campaign messages. Congress looks out for Congressmen before they look out for us. I bet if we set up a robot to call every Congressman's office every single day 200 times, they would pass a law, but it would only apply to government numbers. Tom Newark, CA

Call came to our home from a # we didn't recognize, so let it go to voicemail. When hubby checked, it was the IRS telling us they are filing a lawsuit. Retired hubby decided to call them and play. They wanted him to tell his name, though, so he hung up.

Reporting the scammers is a waste of our professional time. There is no method to track them as they use internet phones that spoof IP addresses and phone numbers. Save your time and energy for something useful. Reporting the scammers is like killing flies outside. It may make you feel good, but will not have any effect on the amount of flies you will have to encounter. Simply hang up, curse at them or whatever.

Hubby has played with both the "IRS" and "MS" before today's call, and been cussed out by the callers. We had a friend at church who played with the caller, and then he received 3:00 a.m. calls for several nights running.

What Yardley Said. But only 19 years. Tom Newark, CA

And I thought I really was winning a free cruise each evening :). Joking aside, several years ago I setup several google voice numbers so I can limit my cell number to family and friends. Also works great for working from out of the office. The other benefit is gv filters calls, and can route known spam numbers to a spam folder. Can also receive texts as emails, and the missed or ignored call transcription is good enough to get by (comcast is a little better at transcribing). Still get random direct to cell spam calls, but unless from family or friends, or is a forward from a GV number within the time frame I setup in GV (business days and hours), they go to voicemail without ringing. Also use one gv number strictly to give out as a business text message number. I get the message via email, and reply via email as well. Easily limits the hours I get "beeped".

I'm a one person shop who prepares returns after my day job and on weekends. I've been doing that for 24 years and believe I've gained a good amount of experience during that time. This board is invaluable though; a great, reassuring resource and I truly appreciate and respect everyone who contributes. As has been stated above, being a one man shop does not allow me to ask my partner or associate their opinion. This forum has become my office. I normally prepare personal income tax returns, federal and state. All schedules within those returns are fair game for me. Some I do repeatedly, others not so much. But I will investigate what needs to be done and if I can tackle it, I will. If it's beyond me, I will discuss with the client. I'm not afraid to let them know I have little experience in certain areas. We then determine what is the best course of action...either I prepare the return or they seek help from someone with more experience in that area. I tend to shy away from corporate, partnership and estate returns. I do have one or two corps and partnerships but I absolutely do not prepare estate returns. Not sure why I have an aversion toward those. In any event, hope everyone enjoys what remains of summer. Before you know it, clients will start dropping off their information!

It's more fun to give a brilliant answer than to ask a dumb question. Hope nobody's keeping score Out of all the responses, Catherine's was the one I most identify with. The forum is my last resort. It isn't the garden variety stuff that trips me up, it's the weird or unfamiliar situations. Posting in the forum forces me to make sure the question is clear and easy for others to understand. Once in a while just getting that clarity with the question leads me to the answer.

If someone has already invented a robocall blocker, why don't our phone companies use one???? I blame AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, all of them for allowing this to happen. I can only believe they must collect tons of revenue from these creeps who dial thousands of numbers a day using their infrastructure. Passing laws against robocalls (which congress tries to do from time to time) won't work because these callers are not law-abiding folk. It is possible to deny robocallers access to our phones, but the phone companies won't do it. (Note I didn't say "can't" do it.) What we need is a law to make them do it.

Thanks Tom. I made a post on facebook about a call today and it turns out that 2 friends are already using the service through nomorobo.com and are very pleased! I have to do some investigating so that I don't inadvertantly block calls from mom's medical alarm company. I have to be absolutely sure that this service will allow those to come through.

Actually it's Gear Up. https://checkpointlearning.thomsonreuters.com/GearUp AES is here: https://www.aestax.com/

Thanks All and I know I do not owe any taxes at all. Jack you made me laugh but a very good point.

Absolutely, at every opportunity!

It is the newest scam targeted at gullible seniors. Everyone with aged parents should be making them aware and telling them not to talk to a caller asking for personal information. These scam call work at the rate of about 1 out of 7. Everyone should help all the seniors you know to be part of the 6 that are not taken advantage of.

I meant to post here on the forum about another scam too. About 10 days ago, I received a call on my office line from someone claiming to be from Medicare and needing to update my husband's personal information in the Medicare database. Yeah, right! The caller had a foreign accent and with lots of background noise, and is obviously a similar scam to others that try to fool the recipient into sharing personal data. I did a quick google search and found that this is targeting those on Medicare, Social Security, and that might have supplemental insurance, and it may be phrased as needing to update the information presented on any one of those cards.

I agree that it's a waste of time reporting it. I save myself a lot time and aggravation over this by not answering the call if I don't recognize the caller id. I let it go to my answering machine and then call the person back. The amount of incoming calls from other than clients is crazy with the calls from scammers, charities, political polls, card processors, office suppliers, CPE and software providers, just to name a few. I was up and in my office working on a large project a few nights ago when, at 2:30 a.m., I received a call from a "private caller" with a foreign accent.

BINGO! Working in a one-person office (or with an assistant who is a wizard at collating returns but not so much what goes IN to those returns) there is no one to bounce those ideas off. I also sometimes ask for help for something when I have looked online and can't find what I need. There is something in my brain's make-up that seems unable to use the right search terms; I use what makes perfect sense to ME to fill the whole in my knowledge. It rarely gets me what I need. People online have more success in that regard than I do. I have also found that once I have searched long and hard for an answer - and then give up and post a question - the answer pops up from wherever it had been hiding about ten minutes later. Like it was just waiting for me to cry "uncle!" before deigning to allow itself to be seen.

Tax preparation is not what it used to be when you could use credit card interest as an itemized deduction. It is far more complex and if a person has been doing this for 10 years and cannot pass the EA exam, I want to give that person a hug. My best teacher used to tell us: "if you know, you remember... if you remember, you know." I understand that dome people get nervous when they are going to take an exam. My teacher used to say that we get nervous when we are not prepared and when we know we don't know. He used to ask us: "Do you get nervous when you brush your teeth? Do you get nervous when you wash your hands? Why don't you get nervous on those events, he would ask? The answer is simple, it is because you know how to brush your teeth and you know how to wash your hands.". As Sara said, when you take the EA exam, you go like "wow, I have been doing taxes without knowing a lot". The exam itself is easy but shows you how much you don't know. For the simple questions asked here, I like them. If we start embarrassing people when easy questions are asked, no one will ask questions and the forum will die. I have no issues answering simple questions when someone is new... I have more issues when a 10 years experienced tax preparer leave crucial information such as "how much money are we talking about". Yes, please ask questions no matter how simple they are... that's why we have this forum. During tax season, I take 10 minutes to see what's going on on this forum, If at that moment, I remember a simple question, I ask it instead of researching it.... I am here anyways. I am pretty sure some people know the answer because they researched it and they have and they are ready to share it.

Hey, keep asking the questions if it helps; we all have those brain freeze moments. I didn't mean to discourage anyone, and I almost never get to the point of wanting to Rita-hug anyone. We don't need everyone prefacing posts with "I did all this research and still can't find the answer" type of statements. Actually, I think we get some good thought provoking questions and darned good answers given on here considering we are a pretty small group compared to other forums. I'm as nervous as everyone else during the height of the season with those wondering thoughts of if I'm thinking through the tax issues properly. I don't know about the rest of you, but I get kind of nervous processing my own simple return. It's not the numbers because I know those are all correct, it's that moment when I send the e-file. Why? WHY?

My FB friend said it's a shame we can't make the path to citizenship easier for them. And, yes, I have been guilty of missing the obvious, too. Judy showed me the directions to a form one time. I had been everywhere except there.

You make a very good point.

This has been an interesting topic. I try to know my limitations, and not to ask questions that two minutes of research will answer, but sometimes in the heat of tax season, my brain gets a little fried and I can barely remember my name. I actually had another preparer in our small town refer a client to me on April 14 because the other preparer was not comfortable doing foreign returns. The return was a New Mexico return. And as far as Pacun's comment about people who have been preparing returns for years not being able to pass the EA exam, I can understand that. Some people just don't test well - they have the knowledge but in a testing situation they cannot communicate that knowledge. But thanks to everyone for being here and putting up with me when I lose my mind.

You report the scammers EVEN if you owe money to the IRS.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/scam-phone-calls-continue-irs-identifies-five-easy-ways-to-spot-suspicious-calls "If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov." https://www.irs.gov/uac/stay-vigilant-against-bogus-irs-phone-calls-and-emails "You should also report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your report."

Contacting the IRS might help, but I contacted my telephone company. When they call me, I answer the phone and scream a stream of expletives at them. It might not help, but it sure makes me feel better. I actually think it worked because I don't get calls anymore. Haven't had one in MONTHS, maybe a year. The telephone company might have something to do with it, but I would like to think it's my tactics! I tell my clients to get a loud whistle and blow it into the phone when they get a call.

Well, I think that's a really good question. I've been staring at my keyboard for quite a while and I can't find the "any" key. There isn't one on my iPad or Mac either.

I totally agree with everything that has been said here. There is nothing wrong with telling someone the return they want you to prepare is out of your league. Done it several times. I have had clients insist they want me to do it regardless of my limitations but I still refuse. Yes, I have taken on challenges but like Rita said, burn up google, the pubs and whatever other references I have available before proceeding. Just to add to Rita's % key, I had an ATX support rep tell me he thought he had heard it all until a lady who I am assuming was a tax preparer had asked where the "any" key was. Several years ago but still funny

I view Bob Jennings webinars at taxspeaker.com. There are live seminars offered. He's a pretty informative and even entertaining speaker. Some of the included PDF reference books are better than others. His seminars/webinars are geared to small tax practioners.

Thanks for the interesting topic, Sara. I agree with a lot of what's been said already. I don't think it's a bad thing to take on work that will be a stretch of our abilities as long as we are confident in the end of arriving at the correct result, but if in doing research and studying the topic, we find that the path is not 100% clear or over our heads, then we need to be honest with ourselves so that we don't do a disservice to our clients and leave ourselves open to claims and penalties in the end. In those cases, I agree that a better course would be to either turn that work over to someone more qualified or arrange a paid consult with an expert in that area. One thing that you mentioned in your original post that only RitaB addressed is the wide range and level of questions asked here and on other forums. I have mixed feelings at times on this topic of seeking help on online forums. As in life, there are those that will expend all effort to do things themselves, and then there are others that frequently look to others for help. I'll say that my first steps are always to research first through all my available means before posing a question, because I feel that is what I'm being paid for, not for someone else to do the work for me. With that being said, I think some people really know the answer and are only looking for reassurance since many of us are solo practitioners that don't have someone in the next office to bounce an idea off of or ask "am I on the right track?" As for the level of questions posed, I do scratch my head at times when the answers are easily found in a form's instructions, and my first reaction to that is to think that the person probably spent more time typing the question here, and possibly duplicating it on other forums, than if he or she took the time to open the instructions. From that end of the spectrum, we also see the other end of it with questions that are very complex in nature (like some on trusts and estates), or that the member is asking so many how-to questions (liquidating a partnership comes to mind), that they are almost beyond the scope of help that can be provided here or on any online forum. With both issues on the questions, those that don't do their homework before asking for help and those questions that are either overly simplistic or overly complex, that is the nature of on an online forum and it is what it is. It also stems somewhat from the diversity within our membership, with some fairly new to tax preparation and others whose careers are winding down. At least we are a forum that doesn't help the general public! One thing that really bugs me about the way some people use online forums is when the exact same question is posted within minutes across multiple forums. Those that are doing that should realize that many of us are on here and are also on those others forums too. It shouldn't come as a big surprise that this is the forum where I spend most of my time, and there have been multiple occasions where I and others have taken time out of our day to help someone only to visit another forum and find that the question has already been answered, or it has an ongoing discussion, and I don't think that is exactly fair to those that have taken the time to help. My last thought is that I want to express to you all that I think this is a really terrific group of people that are always willing to take the time to help a fellow member and share information freely. There aren't many days when I visit that I don't learn something new or realize there is more to an issue than I'd previously considered. /rambling, disjointed post

These opinions uncover the real reason most of us are still in the profession: The opportunity to learn something new everyday. It could be a basic Sch A that forces us to look into the rules on 50%/30% charitable contributions, or an odd household formation that makes us review the finest details of filing status or dependency exemptions. Like others, I love the research into pubs, rev rulings, court cases, and the code itself to assure that I'm doing whatever it is right. I love to take courses too. Way back when I was at Block, I'd sometimes take 100+ hours. Now that I have to pay for CEs, I could never afford that many. Even with an EA, though, there are just some things I am not comfortable doing. Sure I can memorize the instructions and read the rulings with their wonderful examples, but if I'm still dizzy it's better for the client if I just say No. Some things are best done under a mentor, or at least someone to look it over. If you don't have such a person available, maybe it's better if you don't learn by practicing on a real client. And some rules change so dramatically it might be best to step aside, e.g.,the ACA rules for employers. Even if you've attended a million seminars and read the ever-changing rules a million times, I for one am still confused. We are deferring to payroll companies more and more. Like I said, unless congress really simplifies the code, we will eventually be better off becoming specialists in this or that area of code, not unlike physicians who now specialize in various parts of the body. The tough part is when an established client presents us with something like a trust, estate, new partnership, whatever, that is not something we have done before. We don't want to turn them away because they've relied on us for everything tax. Some preparers can do it--I've had some clients come to me for entity returns because their regular preparer can't do them, and they take the K-1s I prepare back to him or her for their individual return. I also have a couple of clients whose accountant does their partnership returns but will not do individual returns, so I'm the one who gets their K-1s. I even have a client who has me prepare his Sch C every year--nothing else! He then takes it to his preparer. I give that preparer credit for knowing what he doesn't know.

What helps me sleep at night: nobody dies when I make a mistake.