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. Pistols at dawn, gentlemen? John; since I've known you longer I herewith offer to be your second.

Do you have 5 minutes... your help is needed? Maybe I should say "Do you have 5 minutes, your appreciation is needed?" We might have different software and for moments we could argue which software package is better. We could also argue about who knows more about certain areas of tax preparation but there is one point that no one argues... THE VALUE OF THIS FORUM!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, please donate something today so that this site stays power up!!! Share with us if were able to donate or if you have technical difficulties. THANK YOU.

Great idea! Since I was challenged (I think), I choose squirt guns filled with Tequila. Someone bring limes, Triple Sec and ice!

I want RitaB on my side and she can give my worthy opponent a good luck hug before the duel.

Done! What a great resource this site is and I certainly appreciate everyones input and sage advice, along with all of Eric's support to keep it moving along!

Done, took less than 5 minutes with PayPal. Thanks for mentioning this. Because of Eric and everyone else here I have learned a lot and have saved my butt a few times.

Jack, sorry you had a bad experience with Drake. I would have probably felt the same way leaving ATX and jumping into an input driven program. I did issues with that with other programs which is why it was probably easier for me to make the switch. You can dig into the bowels of Drake and solve any issues you may have. As you said, it is important to learn the innermost workings of the program. Pacun, I am sorry but I don't need a long list of credentials to get support from Drake. Believe what Catherine has said. They do answer within three rings which is utterly amazing. Also, the program updates in 60 seconds. Sorry but ATX can't touch that.

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.

Wow! This is right up there with the Hamilton-Burr duel. But what I don't understand, is that duel was over defamation of character, but over tax software, you must be using water pistols or paintball guns. The loser buys at the bar, be sure to let us know what day at sunrise. Rita, check you schedule, you're needed to count the paces.

Dang! Abby Normal, you beat me to claiming Rita, and for the exact same reason. But, Bart I need to warn you about something. I suspect Abby Normal is a pretty good shot, and I'm not going to be able to resist the urge to duck. So under the rules, that means you're then obligated to shoot me.

OBVIOUSLY, and it was, that's why I am trying to stop the payment, we will be liable for the bounced penalties. this was a miscommunication between the preparer and the reviewer [me].

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.

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.

Now that sounds like fun! I'll be there shortly.

Done - thanks for the reminder - This site is invaluable!

Done

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.

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

file the amended return BEFORE April 18th and then no additional I & P if paid by April 18th.

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.

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!

Plus, if you need support they answer within THREE rings, and help you right then and there. I have, on rare occasion, had them need to bump things up a notch and get back to me. Longest it took was two days (after they had told me "about three") and they apologized profusely for the delay. In the meantime, I am still awaiting a promised 48-hour callback from ATX Tech Support, promised in February of 2013. But it's OK; I am not holding my breath. (But that was the return that sent me to Drake; I switched mid-season and have NEVER regretted it.)

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Yes I did at just over 3 and half hours. It was bitter sweet because the Rep I got was amazing. He was patient. He apologized twice for the other Rep disconnecting me. And best of all he was knowledgeable. He remoted in on my PC and was able to assist me. What happened was at the beginning of January ATX sent me a link to download the PaperlessPlus software but it still had the 2015 version. So that's why my activation code would not work. The two versions look almost identical. He was also able to clean up some networking issues and transfer my database over. I thanked him a million times. It was worth the wait. I am glad I didn't hang up.. I was tempted a few times.