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It's even worse that the 15th falls on a Saturday. I have people telling me they are going to drop off their 'crap' tomorrow. Why do they think I want to give up a beautiful fall weekend to go through their pile of poo just so they can melt down on Monday and tell me they cannot possibly owe money. This is always followed by 'are you sure you haven't made a mistake'? I am not amused. I actually think I prefer 15 April to 15 October. Especially when it's 17 October. How do these people make it through their daily lives? I think I'll pat them on the shoulder and tell them I know someone who can give them a 'hug' and a nice, small piece of real estate. Get ready, Rita.

I think it's worse than April 15, too. Oh, and about Saturday. I had a voice mail yesterday, from a client I really love who was sick all winter and got an extension: "Hey, Rita, I think the deadline is Saturday, so I better get you my stuff by Friday, right?" I really don't know WTH she's thinking. It takes me several days in March to get to her return, but I guess she thinks she is the only one who got an extension. And that I am working Saturday. She would be wrong. About everything. Let me count the ways. (((Hugs)))

Tomorrow night I'm going to S. Lake Tahoe to see Brian Wilson perform the entirety of the Pet Sounds album. And then drop off some stuff at the new house. I'm working all day today. There had better be a ton of requested docs in my inbox. I've already to.d my clients that if I don't get the crap by today their returns will get done after I move. AND get my new office set up. Which will be some weeks from now. Or months. Or maybe I'll just refer them to Rita.

Yes, I've got only one, same one every year, not a simple return, but like pulling teeth all year and now this late hour where I may miss some of the New England foliage.. We'll get it done but at a premium price. I will be including a brochure to visit the charming countryside of Tennessee, with an equally charming Taxpayer Cemetery caretaker to welcome her with a hug to be sure her space is not too tight. Thank you Rita, I owe you big time for this!

I am doing my best but my brain reset itself some time early this week and told me, "THEY haven't cared all year - why should YOU bust your butt to finish? They still won't get here to SIGN the 8879's on time; you KNOW that." So I am plugging away and not letting myself (a) stay too late, (b) stress out, or (c) worry about them. I'm actually not real sure how I feel about this new laissez-faire attitude; it's VERY strange and not my usual. Over time, I may get to like it.

It's definitely October. Business client finally brought in his six months of missing bank statements, except only four months were in there. Someday I hope to find out if he had health insurance. Another will bring her father's docs in on Friday, and by the way "he sold a lot of old stocks this year." I'm sure every single one will have basis clearly stated. A Sch C client who manages to have an entry on every single line just brought in his stack of folders, the contents of which are so random I don't understand the need for folders. Oh yea, this one has several foreign income sources that have to be converted to US dollars. And the folks with the three years of returns and over $20k in refunds.....still waiting.

I wish telling someone they owe taxes was just as exciting when a doctor says "it's a boy" or "it's a girl"

I am so glad that I do not do extensions. I could not stand theses clients. After tax season I work two days a week mostly doing representation. I do not understand why these people can not have their stuff ready on time. I understand that people with a lot of K1 s may need extra time I have a few we file on time then amend usually in December or January when they have them all.

I like the meme except he has a paddle. Most of the time I don't feel like I do.

Oh my, prayers for your sister and for you, too. Take care of your return, the clients have had 6 months. And without your license, you couldn't help them.

I just want to thank everyone who contributed to this "OH SHIT" thread. Helped me a lot yesterday.

Oh, Rita -- prayers for a full and speedy recovery for your sister! IGNORE the clients; they'll still be there next week. If you do any return, finish up your own. Heck, send it as complete as it currently is and amend later if you need to.

I don't try and explain to people wanting old returns prepared and throwing money at me that IRS is not going to issue the refund for this or that year. I'm preparing returns, not cutting the checks. They probably won't even notice when they don't get it. /s Ok, not really.

Thank you. It all helps her, helps me. Thank you, all.

I am so sorry. Sending prayers to you and your family.

Wishing your sister a speedy recovery.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and Jan, hope she will be OK. Stay positive. Off the top of my head since your taxpayer probably doesn't have a refund and no form 1310 with 8453 and death certificate is required.

Congrats, Joan!

Congratulations. I wish the best for you and glad to hear about your good fortune. Tom Newark, CA

If he files the 2011 return today, the SOL will start the day it is filed, not in October 2012. If he doesn't file the return, they could come back on him 50 years from now (not likely, but possible). Why not start the SOL and get it over with? Who knows what the IRS might do a few years from now?

She screwed up when she put her income into the marketplace calculator. 66k is nowhere near the poverty level for a single person. Don't feel bad. She should have called you before she took out that pension distribution! Oh, and yes, it's likely a high deductible plan. I'm only 54 and paying $598/mo. I'm on a silver plan.

Thanks for all the great ideas. It is so aggravating that we have to be about manipulation, even within regs and rules, to this extent to have a more favorable outcome for clients. Her distribution was in August so no 60 days. She wasn't covered in January as she says a computer glitch at the end of December or something made it effective in February. I see no way to get $20,000 reduction in income. Yes, she is single, 62 and her 1095-A shows her premium of $656/mo and second lowest plan cost of $534 with $475 premium credit each month. I'm thinking it isn't close to a high deductible plan at that rate but will ask. And with her now owing so much (more than $4000, no refund) there is little chance of a retirement contribution or HSA. And she will be unhappy about the time it is taking to do all this. I think she and I will just have to have a meeting and go over carefully the reasons why this is happening. I hope this is the only one of these things I see. It took me by surprise because I thought she had other insurance. My brain hurts.

I am glad this helped you. I know what it feels like to be ready to throw up all over your computer when it is just not making sense. Tom Newark, CA

Thanks Tom & Judy. This is the English I understand now. At one time I was planning to claim the whole premium paid minus credit and let the IRS bounce it back with CP notice and deal with it. The problem is from 60k SE income with MFJ & 1 dependent, 11K out of pocket premium and 3k Credit from market place in NY. So playing with the formula the REG 14-41 explains is from 6+K refund to -3K pay back is crazy. I am not even sure IRS computer has some kind of cross check for SEHI for now. But then it becomes issue with wrong filing and possible preparer penalty. I am sure that I am having fun this year. All other cases of Shared responsibility is easy to work with so far but this SEHI seems like a BIG ONE. Again Thanks for explaining in plain English. I appreciate it.

Drake has general worksheets for the health care input and basic worksheets for the 8962 and 8965, but nothing that comes close to the calculations for this situation, at least not that I've found. As I said, I did all those calcs by hand on paper, and did make an error in looking up the one limitation. I didn't have the benefit of inputting the numbers into a return to see how the figures would change, so I was working only in theory. Tom's client had the added complication of having a social security limitation in the mix as well. One thing that I spotted was that Tom's client had only exceed the 400% of FPL limitation by a small amount, relatively speaking. When that limit is exceeded, any chance of the subsidy is lost and would result in a repayment. That is when it can be extremely beneficial to consider the contribution to the retirement account or HSA that can be made up until April 15th that may remedy some of the situations where the client has the shared responsibility penalty. If you don't have it, here's a link to Rev Proc 2014-41 with the 2 methods. The method #2 (the alternative method) has some examples to try to clarify the calculations.

B. Jani, I will try to explain what I did, and try to interpret the rules as best I can, but as you can see from my expletive in the post name, I don't know it all. The difference between the two methods as I understand it is very minor. The alternative method is the same as the iterative method, but you just stop after the first calculation. In order to get the right answer, the entire front page of the return less the SE HI deduction and the 8962 must be complete. You can play with the schedule A after the fact, but nothing that affects AGI. Next, take the amount of out of pocket expense that the taxpayer paid out of pocket (Premium minus advanced credit from the 1095A), plus the amount of the max payback ($1250 or $2500 depending on filing status). Enter this on the front of the 1040 as the SE HI deduction. Then go to the 8962. The software will have the MAGI calculated for you unless there is a family member whose income you are adding to get to family AGI. In my case, this was a single TP, so it did not apply. Once you have MAGI calculated, enter the information from the 1095A into the 8962. At the bottom of the form, it will give you the amount the TP is required to repay. If the amount is $1250 or $2500, you are done. If the amount is less than those amounts, go back and add the out of pocket cost plus the amount just calculated on the 8962 to the SE HI Deduction on the front of the 1040. This will change your MAGI on the 8962 (it will make the repayment amount higher, because the SE HI is less, bringing down MAGI). ***STOP HERE if you are using the Alternative Calculation*** If you are using the iterative method, continue on. Go back and keep changing the SE HI deduction amount (which will be a little larger every time because of the increased repayment amount) until the amount of the repayment does not change more than $1 on the 8962. I hope this is helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions. Tom Newark, CA