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Maybe, but it is my practice and my rules and I don't get in the middle of a divorce. Tom Newark, CA

I would keep the one you like the most. I know from past experiences, 2 in particular come to mind that dealing with divorced people will eventually present problems. You have to be careful what you say to each of them as they will be telling you things about the other that you really don't want to hear as they try to make you take sides. It becomes time intensive and you never get compensated enough for the hassles and risks.

You do realize that dealing with divorced clients is one of the most common reasons that tax practitioners are sued ? Check with your Professional Liability Insurance Carrier.

I used to think that the proper course was to prepare the returns of divorcing couples so that the lowest tax was the result. (Why should the IRS benefit from your marital issues???) Then the spouse who didn't have any withholding took the refund that should have gone to the other spouse. Even after agreeing not too.... So now, Its one spouse or the other for me. Rich

I think this is reasonable enough. If two married people whose only filing options are MFJ or MFS both come to me for tax prep, I assume their goal is to achieve the best tax outcome for the family. If they are feuding and carrying on and looking out for Number 1 only, they are going to two different preparers anyway, just like they're going to two different attorneys. I will say that If they tell me they are splitting up, and want to know about their individual liability, I have no problem figuring that. I also don't mind directing refunds to two accounts. But I assume they wouldn't both be in my office if they weren't interested in working together.

Re: Importing W2 info from Quickbooks Reply Quote Favorites Hi All, I am providing an UNOFFICIAL workaround for this if you would like to try it at your discretion. I was able to use it successfully. 1) Install Foxit PDF viewer. 2) Open the PDF you generated in QuickBooks. 3) Print the PDF to .xps. 4) Import the .xps created into Payroll Copied from a post by ATX Kristin ( Note use Copy A )

That's harsh Tom. Often one spouse controls the accounts and the other will never see any of the refund. The bigger issue here is the conflict of interest--doing what's best for one may not be best for the other--a Circular 230 violation. In our office the policy is to split the spouses between two preparers so one of us never does both. Only exception is when the court has ordered that they file jointly (although I think that's an overstep of judicial authority). Many places have written agreements both spouses must sign that they are aware of the potential conflict and want to proceed with the same preparer anyway.

Choose one, or choose none. Those are the only safe methods of dealing with divorced couples.

NYS Now Requires TP Driver License info on NY Tax Returns To those of you who prepare NY tax returns - please be advised that there is a recently passed provision requiring taxpayer (and spouse) driver license ID information - which at present - is required for 2016 tax returns. While NYSSEA does not have anything specifically definitive in had to provide even its own members at present - we were advised by top NYS tax officials that it is law. Some software companies are aware of it - the major ones- some are not. I strongly advise you to consult your software vendor regarding this issue ASAP before you begin processing NYS returns. Since there's so much controversy over this issue on such short notice - a number of issues are unclear at this point. Should I get any further more concrete, definitive, better descriptive information - I'll write back here. NAEA is ALREADY aware of it and researching it.