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This was the biggest year in terms of W2 volume that I have ever had at any of my day jobs. I just printed and uploaded 436 W2 forms and it took me less than one hour (most of that was printing time). The BSO process took me about 5 minutes to create the file in my payroll software and upload to the BSO website. I am going to get to see the Raiders play the Texans today. Too bad my Fresno State boy Derek Carr will not be playing. It was looking promising for the Raiders until he went down with that broken leg. Have a great weekend. Tom Newark, CA

Well, some won't be missed, but many are just ordinary blue collar people in low-paying jobs who legitimately qualify for EIC and are not a problem. In the last several years I've lost a bunch of those "short forms" (it was quick, easy money) to TurboTax and the other tax-in-a-box outfits. It's not hard to see why: a 2/3 lower price and no "third-degree" 8867 grilling - just enter what you want, audit odds are low, but if overpaid (whether intentional or accidental) and checked, simply say "I did it the best I could - I don't know anything about taxes." And, as we know, IRS doesn't pick on "poor people" -- they prefer to gouge we unscrupulous tax preparers. Oh well, enough crying - I got to see a little payback recently. At the bank I ran into a lady who knows I'm in the business. Said she always files online through TurboTax, but (of course) asked me some questions anyway. "Using them again," I asked? "No," she said. "They're too high now; they still want $30 to $60. I'm switching to Credit Karma - theirs is free!" (So -- TT experiences "karma" through Credit Karma.)

Absolutely correct. We get hired to solve a problem. If it doesn't matter if the return is accurate, people who don't care about accuracy don't need us. We get back the ones who get audited. That's it.

We do efile W2s right from QuickBooks, but apparently a lot of people use XPS format to export from QB and into ATX Payroll and other programs. We use Enhanced Payroll. Google QuickBooks W2 Printer Setup grayed out You can't select your printer in QuickBooks. You have to print to their PDF printer, and QuickBooks uses a weird PDF printer that doesn't allow exporting to XPS from their PDF. It's all a sham on Intuit's part to get everyone to buy enhanced payroll.

I remember Woolworth's, and many other things my kids scoff at... Cash payroll has a fixed cost you can easily estimate. X hours to prepare, no unexpected later costs likely. Non-cash payroll can always have a "later" unexpected expense, impossible to control. Just replacing genuine lost checks costs money, let alone HDC issues, issues with a second party getting the funds, and so on. DD is probably the cleanest as you primarily have to worry about a disgruntled co account owner. There can be other issues you pay to "defend", but probably rare enough to not worry about. Enough with non-positive for me today, on to good things! My h e double hockey sticks week is 2.5 hours from being over. Monday won't be fun, but it will be easier. I may sit in the RV and work from there, just to pretend I am on the road somewhere! Business remains good, and most customers are friendly, Happy and healthy wishes to all...

Yesterday I called both vendors what is said above is true, ATX is blaming QB, but as Jack said, you cannot import XPS files from prior working years, the good news ATX will have it fixed by January 31, 207.

Lion, I'm no fan of EITC, but I've always disagreed with the argument that people know how much to make and then quit so they can maximize the credit. Most recipients aren't qualified for big-bucks jobs. Take someone who makes $10 hr X 40 hr work week X 50 weeks = $20k income. If they have a child they are eligible for a big credit. Someone who makes $20k isn't likely to stop working mid-year because they really need the money. Someone who makes $30 an hour isn't likely to quit after four months just to maximize EITC. EITC was expanded to replace welfare during the Clinton years. It was pretty successful in getting people to work because there were lifetime limits on welfare benefits. Now to get the money you had to have EARNED income. The biggest problem with the system is that it's so easy to cheat. The IRS should never have been given responsibility for administering the program. Welfare used to handled by social service agencies, but Congress wanted to make it look like EITC was not welfare so handed it to IRS. It wasn't welfare--people had to work to receive it--but they were ending "welfare as we know it." I think it should be administered by social services, real people who look at actual documents to determine eligibility. Instead of being IRS police, we tax pros will just prepare a normal return, hand it to the client, and let them take it to social services for their EITC. End of fraud (and much refund ID theft).

These days, most fit this profile.

My first job for a "big" company (Woolworth, as many here will remember it) we got our pay weekly in a pay envelope, hand-stamped with sections for gross and deductions, all filled in by hand. We had to sign for our envelope. $71.01/week, and I lived on that by myself and saved for college. Yikes.

And for those employees who know exactly how much to make, when to quit, to make the highest EIC while sometimes supplementing with unreported cash jobs.