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Here's a new on me. Lady in the office yesterday said someone from Publishers' Clearing House called a few days ago and told her she'd won a million bucks. It was the same pitch the Nigerian guys used (I'm kinda missing the familiar crooks - they were so easy to spot): "Send us $200 for processing fees and we'll mail you $1M." It's surprising they'd use PCH since it seems so obvious, but I guess that's why the con games never die - somebody occasionally falls for them. The lady was no dope though and actually had a little fun with them. She told the guy she was thrilled but unfortunately didn't have $200. She asked if he'd be good enough to "bring the check by the house with balloons like they do on TV" and promised, cross-her-heart, to go right to the bank with him, cash it, and pay his $200 on the spot. Click.

I know this was posted a few years ago but couldn't resist posting it again. Enjoy!! https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiHyZbOkKrSAhWIx4MKHYvTA04QyCkIHzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DFFVtkpsWCn4&usg=AFQjCNFoAQOi5hYclpyFTj8h_V9GuJkqHQ&sig2=EFhe2Wc8bmibgu0J43otQQ

This is the best site I've found for checking routing numbers: http://www.routingtransitnumbers.com/ I like to copy/paste the number entered in ATX to this website to verify it.

I will absolutely not file a return with direct withdrawal. I do not want to be responsible for some screwup, or clients changing their mind. When clients have a balance due, they are always informed of how to pay on line at irs.gov. It is fast, simple and they get written confirmation.

If the client is eligible for the AOC, the rules this year are that they HAVE to have the 1098T. It's a worthless form, except that it indicates s/he was perhaps at least a half-time student. The numbers on it don't count. If your student can't get one, perhaps it is like Jack said and the kid dropped out. (If they drop a class and can't get a refund, that amount can be used toward the AOC, but they do have to be at least half-time.) Maybe the school isn't eligible to participate in the federal student loan program and therefore can't issue the T. Note that many schools nowadays send the form by email to the student, not the parent. Maybe the kid didn't pay attention. (Kind of scary when you think that this generation is our future.)

Earlier this year ATX rolled out "Support Cases" with lots of fanfare. So last Thursday, when I was having repeat Oregon Business efiling rejections, I entered all the information requested. ATX touted this as a better way to go, said they would assign each request to a support employee with the knowledge needed to resolve each request. So 8 days later the status of my request is "Pending Assignment". So now alternative support is Fake Support !

LOL

Impressive, but I prefer Idi Amin's: "His excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular." P.S. Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

Thanks, Grace.

One solution is to have the client open a US bank account at a bank that has branches in Spain, to deposit the funds. Bank of America is one. There are also Spanish banks here - Santander, Bilbao. Then have a corresponding account in the same bank in Spain. There would probably be some fee charged to transfer the money, but it should be less than the fee for interbank transfer.

I have been using the same approach as Max W. The ONE time I did electronic withdrawal, the IRS withdrew the money twice (no mistake on the return; just an IRS debit error). I called (hold, hold, hold) and although they acknowledged the error, it took 8 weeks for the money to be returned. It was a substantial sum of money, and having it withdrawn twice and then being without the additional funds for 2 months was a hardship for the client. I will not do that again.

If you make the switch you won't be sorry. I left ATX back when CCH consumed them and have messed around with what I will call "Mickey Mouse3" programs trying to save money. What a mistake and a lesson well learned. You will some learning curve with Drake but it will not be bad. Also there are a lot of folks here that will help and the folks on the Drake discussion board are very helpful as well.

Probably my all-time favorite. Just wish it was still available with the images.

I could listen to this everyday, reinforces my billing policy for me.

I can understand the clients concern as mail goes missing a lot there. I found that out when I lived in Spain for a number of years, Direct deposit has a lot of problems too, as you can see in the link. Frankly, I would not want o get involved with any foreign direct deposit. https://tipalti.com/global-ach-international-ach/

Cathy, I truly feel your pain! You have to be so carefull now days and suspect everything. I had a client send me an invitation to share her Quick book file, and before I clicked the link I emailed her to confirm. I am email gun shy especially from clients. I've been had one too many times!

Here's a summary page from IRS site that you could print out and give to her. It explains the limits and what happens with that excess, depending on the date it is withdrawn. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-401k-and-profit-sharing-plan-contribution-limits

If the max deferral over 50 is 24,000 and hers is 26,000 then there does seem to be a problem.

I received an email from Capital One two days after I logged in to my account to pay a couple of notes I have with them. The email stated that I must update my account with them and provided a link, of course, that I didn't touch. The sender was [email protected] letter wasn't very nice as it said if I didn't update my info, it was going to do something with both of my balances and make reference to the way my account is paid each month. I said no, it can't be from Capital One, then the rest of me said, that sounds about right for Capital One....had horrible experience with them while refinancing....nobody wanted to do their job....anyway, I decided to call and let them have it if it was in fact, Capital One.....NOT! Immediately the person told me that their address always has capitalone in it rather than just capital. He asked me if I clicked on the link and was very happy I had not. The email looked EXACTLY like their other emails look, so be careful out there. Funny part about this is that the guy at Capital One told me I needed to run my virus scan, etc....and I told him the letter could very well have come from someone hacking Capital One. And, I really feel that's what happened! ANOTHER CAUTION: I brought up the link to log in to my AOL email account and received an error that my password was incorrect. As it's a long password, I figured I had entered it wrong, although I was extremely careful when I entered it as I just wanted to enter it once. So, I did it again...this time error message again, with a note on top of where I enter my username that went something like this: AOL HAS DETERMINED THAT YOUR COMPUTER HAS A SECURITY ISSUE. PLEASE CALL US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AT 1-800............ Sure nuf, the AOL sign in screen was identical to the one I have seen over the years and I've been with AOL for at least 30 years without any problems. And, yes, I called the number. And, hell no, I'm not going to tell you the rest of the story, just going to say if you use AOL, DON'T CALL THE NUMBER IF YOU GET THE SAME KIND OF MESSAGE I GOT. I LIVED A NIGHTMARE FOR 2 DAYS UNTIL I WAS SURE MY COMPUTER WAS CLEAN. The sophistication of these hackers increases as time goes on.

Talked to a CPA/Partner at a relatively large firm the other day. She received an email with the subject line being the return of an e-file authorization form. Suspicious. CPA did not recognize the name/sender and also the e-file authorizations are not returned to any of the CPAs/Partners. They go to the dedicated e-file support staff. She checked with the e-file support staff and sure enough not on their client list. IT department got involved and determined it was a malicious email. Also, this same email was sent to all 9 of the other partners. Scammer probably got their email addresses from the firm's website. Grace

Run run run, I had a similar email and it was sent from my client but it was from his hacked email account, turned out to be a nasty virus and it will steal your email contacts and continue to spread. Actually several of my clients do use drop box that's why they didn't suspect it and openew it and it in turn sent it to me.

Repayment of ACA subsidies for SEHI is included in the SEHI deduction in the same year. Client SEHI total before subsidy is $10,000. The subsidy he received in 2016 was $3,000. His 2016 tax return shows he has to repay $2,000. His 2016 SEHI deduction is: 10,000 total - 7,000 subsidy + $2,000 repayment = $5,000 The reason is that the insurance cost $10,000 and he starts out with that amount. The subsidy and repayment are the means of payment.

Ok. The SEHI deduction starts out with the total premiums paid (column A), minus the subsidy paid by the government (column C) plus any required repayment or minus any additional subsidy (form 8962). All in the same year.

Just received this email earlier today. As far as I know, none of my clients use "Dropbox." I wonder what percent of recipients will click on this link, especially if they have clients who do use Dropbox ? You've received a document from your address book contact. Sender's comment: "Please review" View Protected Document (Valid Credentials Required) Thank you! The 'Dropbox" Team

I think that it should be reported on Line 21. The IRS might challenge it on the grounds that congress intended it to apply it to be used as a dwelling unit and did not intend it to apply to a commercial rental.

It's an excellent source. The only drawback is that many banks have multiple routing numbers.

Client came in to drop off tax information last week. We're sitting together in the conference room going over information. I pull of the 3rd nasty paper clip in a row, and I look her in the eye and say 'Client, these paper clips are older than I am, and I'm going to throw them away now'. Client says 'That's probably a good idea. I got them out of my husband's desk (deceased for some time). He never threw anything away.' What are those things even made of? They feel so awful to the touch!

Bouncing an agreed payment will only trigger fees and interest. I would not recommend that course of action. This should have been thought out and discussed BEFORE filing the return.

Too bad you left. Ever since that time, ATX has been an excellent program. I never had issue but I guess having these certifications helps: A+ N+ MCP MCP + I MSCE and EA.

Your only hope is to call the IRS payments department... but I'd drain (or even close) the account just in case.

Yes, it is reported on pg 2 of 8853. If it isn't paid on a per diem or other periodic basis, I think it goes on line 24 instead, but check the instructions for this line. It depends on when the contract was written. Enter the actual expenses on line 22 which are probably more than the reimbursement. At least in the case of the last one of these I did, my client had expenses that exceeded the amount received, and unlike yours, my client's form had the per diem box checked.

So the message isn't because of being over $18K at all. As cbslee stated, the max including catch up is $24K and that is why you are receiving the error. HR dept is wrong and your client has an excess deferral of $2K for 2016 that needs to be dealt with. Edit to add - Deb & I were posting at the same time. I do get the error note when I input $26K

Just checked and the max is 18,000 under 50 and an addition 6,000 for over 50 so her HR Dept is wrong by 2,000 and that is what is triggering the error message and why it isn't with jklpc because 24,000 was used not the 26,000. Your client contributed 2000 to much.

I've tried both codes D and E with $24K and I'm not getting any red error message about it. The only message that is related to retirement at all is about amounts carried to the 8880, but nothing at all about exceeding the $18K limit. You know that Drake's message page appears on the screen in all red type, but as long as the "message" page title at left (listed in the print section) isn't highlighted in red then it's not a problem, only something that might or might not require attention and is more informational than anything.

Explain the meaning of Drake being "too mickey mouse" for your clients. I switched to Drake and am not a bit sorry. Minimal learning curve and as Mike D said, excellent quick support.

Do you have the taxpayer's age entered into the data for the return?

Yeah, I wonder if it isn't a lack of fraudulent returns with all the new security systems in place.

Reminds me of an experience I had when serving as an Electronics Technician in the US Air Force (1966-1970). A group of about 6 of us were nearing the end of our enlistment and we were scheduled for proficiency testing. It wouldn't make any difference, aside from possibly a promotion a month or two before discharge, along with more responsibilities just when our focus was on getting back to civilian life. We were sitting around a table discussing strategies to score as low as possible on the exam, just because we were bored and wanted to mess with their minds. Our group had a reputation for spending lots of off-duty time at the Airmen's club or partying in the barracks & off-base. Hey, don't judge - we were a bunch of single guys with an average age of 22. One career-type NCO was trying to persuade us not to do this on the exam. When everything else failed, he said "Hey, you guys like to party - if you score well you might get a promotion. That would mean you'd have another $100 a month to drink more beer!" The guy to my right looked him in the eye and replied in his most deadpan voice "Sarge, we couldn't possibly."

I'm behind in e filing because I'm waiting on clients to give me their driver's license info for NY returns. Especially the kids away at college partying while I'm working to get them more beer money. You think they would be right on this.

It is still in the tax code. Are you going to risk your license? To each their own, but until the Treasury writes new regulations, I will ask the appropriate questions and make relevant inquiries of my clients for the positions they take on the tax return. Including the penalty tax related to the ACA. I will not sign my name to a tax return that I know to include false information. Tom Newark, CA

I received quite a bit of information on this topic during the week including observations by CHECKPOINT. At this point, it sounds like IRS will accept and process refunds if box is left blank. However, taxpayer might later receive a letter inquiring whether they had HCC. At that point IRS might attempt collection. It was noted that IRS will have limited tools to collect other than offset of refunds. IRS has also stated no knew regs will be issued until the new Treas. Sec. takes over. My position is to keep the client informed and involved in the decision to check the box or not. Written communication will be kept on file. I need to cover my tail, but at the same time client has the right to be informed of the situation and possible outcomes. My advice will be to hold off on filing for another 30 days and see what happens.