Leaderboard

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all! We just bought our Christmas Tree from the market. One of our better clients She deals with good people and even said if we gave it plenty of light and water she would even and come and take it away for us come February! So nicely shaped and just the right amount of fill, etc. Kind of strange quills - I did not get the type. What a great deal and nice young lady she is!! First year in this endeavor, hope she does well. /s

Keep it through 18 April. It'll help you through tax season!

You won't have any trouble eating all your Christmas cookies with that kind of tree around giving you the munchies.

I've heard you shouldn't hang mistletoe near that kind of tree. It's a dangerous combination.

Just don't use the leaves until after New Year's Day, as the new law doesn't go into effect until then! lol.

Gives new meaning to a very Happy and Merry Christmas.

Easytax, you forgot the ornament. Here's one for your new tree:

Mine stays up year around! Not a live one, of course. And Lion is correct. It does help keep things in perspective. In fact, the one I mentioned is in my office, I also have a lighted ceramic one in the conference room that stays there and lit 24/7/365 and at home, we have a pink one in the sitting room (where my piano resides) that also stays lit 24/7/365. Mr. Scrooge said it best "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year".

NECPA: I Would keep it simple. Thanks, but no thanks, and refer the taxpayer to someone who can handle that work. Rich

I ordered two sets; one each for me and my assistant. Thanks, Lion!

Naveen: When I bought a practice a few years back, I had to teach the new employee how to use the new tax software. I had her reinput the returns into the new software. During this process, a couple of errors were found. In one case, about a $12k refund to one client. (PAL Issue and incorrect prior year coding...) When you find an issue with one of your new clients, you just let them know what you found and how you found it. We would have never found the above listed error except by redoing the return completely. Offer to amend for free, welcome to the NEW firm for example. Try not to smear the former preparer to bad. I was pretty explicit with any clients I spoke about with issues that I found. "I do not think I would like someone to go thru *each* of my returns from scratch like I just did to former preparers returns, which I used as a training exercise, and then find various issues." I believe I have fairly good protocols to make sure that the right numbers get into the right places. But we ain't perfect. Rich

Have you tried webinars? I don't know about your state but they are counted as live courses by the Oregon Board of Accountancy. I currently subscribe to CPE Solutions and have subscribed to Checkpoint Learning in the past.

Form 8809 extension request works for both 1099M NEC and W2 forms. The process is more involved for W2 but an extension is available. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8809.pdf

If those Australians can be considered 'tax residents' of the US due to the "substantial presence" test of IRC Sec. 7701(b)(3), they indeed are the "U.S. residents" who would be required to file FinCEN Form 114. FBAR encompasses even certain non-resident aliens who are not required income-tax returns; so please scrutinize those clients' situation as thoroughly as your doubt is telling you to, Possi. A pertinent section of BNA puts it this way: "The instructions to the form [FinCEN Form 114] say that an alien is a "resident" for FBAR purposes if classified as a resident alien under §7701(b).10 The Preamble to the 2011 FBAR regulations does provide that "a legal permanent resident who elects under a tax treaty to be treated as a non-resident for tax purposes must still file the FBAR,"11 10 See http://sdtmut.fincen.treas.gov/news/FinCENFBARElectronicFilingRequirements.pdf, at page 49. It should be noted that the definition of the term "resident" in the statute requiring Form 114 to be filed by a resident appears to be much broader than the definition in §7701(b). See the discussion of this issue - which has been rendered moot by the current FBAR regulations - in Bissell, "The 2004 Act: Impact on Foreign Private Clients," 34 Tax Mgmt. Int'l J. 177 (3/11/05), at 185-187. http://bna-stage.bna.com/#_ftnref1111 See http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-02-24/pdf/2011-4048.pdf at pages 10238 and 10245 (31 CFR §1010.350(b)(2), which defines "resident of the United States" as "an individual who is a resident alien under 26 U.S.C. §7701(b) and the regulations thereunder …." (Emphasis added.)" Good hunting!

That's what I was thinking, but then I saw that our information is still all available through the FOIA. I'm still considering it.

In my experience, only the final series of notices (the serious ones) are mailed to both spouses, usually certified. These are the Statutory Notice of Deficiency, Intent to Levy, etc. By the time taxpayers get these, they have usually successfully ignored the previous 10 notices.

Looks good, and the price is too.

Thanks Lion. I'll be getting a few. A nice gift just in time to spread some holiday cheer to those accountants who are tough to buy for. I guess I'll keep the argyle socks for myself.

Two kinds of people, I guess. I pick that thing apart. No just glancing for me. That's no fun. CSI over here.

Thanks for telling us about this. I just ordered two sets - one for my desk and one to carry in the car.

Thanks for the tip on this. Just ordered! Anything that speeds up my day is always appreciated. Preparers supporting each other is a good thing too!

Yes, dear! As for Naveen - I agree with Abby and RitaB. Be respectful, make it sound like this is not usual but you've seen one or two, not surprising at his age, good for him for recognizing and stopping, but you're one of the "lucky" few and (for those who owe) we should fix this else you may well get a letter. Of course those owed refunds will be eager to amend. They will all think you walk on water, the refund people will be pleased as punch, the tax-owed folks will be glad to avoid the nasty-gram from Uncle Sam's tax boys, and no one will disparage the old preparer.

Totally agree with Abby. I normally do. (See what I did there?) For sure, you want to be respectful of previous preparer; nobody wins trying to outshine somebody else. This will be a great opportunity for you, and I'll betcha many of the clients won't be surprised at the errors. Be gracious, and yes, it will seem you are spending twice as much time as you should. Just part of it; they're gonna love you, Naveen.

Sometimes the servers just don't start automatically. I bring up Windows Task Manager every morning to see if all three (2013-2015) servers are running. Sometimes, one or two have not started. I just use ATX Admin Console to start them using Windows Services is equally valid. It is also true that, even if the service is running, if any part of your system is bogged down with other things, ATX will give up trying to reach the server service.