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Well, I'm feeling fine, really. I'm coming up on 65 this year and honestly, my temper is shorter and shorter with everything surrounding me. The IRS and tax law changes tick me off. Late changes, more responsibilities put upon us with zero benefit to us. No extra pay for us, no tax benefits. These are signs that a change is in the air. When my bright, bubbly, happy spirit is feeling wounded and tired, it's time. I'm going to talk to HRB about buying my business after this tax season. I would like to work for someone else and be done with running the show.

Since I am 74 now with several health issues I deal with every day, I find all the whining and complaining from all of you 60 year old youngsters highly amusing

I turn 74 this year, so I'm going to continue whining! But I agree that those youngsters don't know how good they have it. After I had my hip replaced, it struck me that ALL my joints are the same age as I am and must be as tired as I am! My stepdaughter used to say that I was the only one of her four parents that had all my original parts. That's no longer true, but I'm the oldest of the four so went the longest with only original parts and still have only one replacement (her mom had two new breasts, mom's boyfriend had a new knee and new hip, and her dad/my hubby had two new shoulders before I got a new hip). This getting older stuff is not for wimps!

You struck a chord in me Crank. A common refrain, when is enough enough. I've seen most of my 68th year and like you have led a healthy lifestyle my whole life. But some mornings upon awakening I feel something off and say, oh great, now what is this? I have a feeling for us it's mostly wearing out parts maybe due to a healthy active lifestyle. At least the tax work does exercise the grey matter so that doesn't wear out, something that is keeping me in the game. On an Everybody Loves Raymond episode when Ray was in the sauna at his father's club with a group of older guys, in an attempt to be relative he said "I got up to pee last night" and one of the older guys said, "at least you got up." I guess it can always be worse. Be well my friend, Bill

Well, I decided to come out of retirement and will be doing some contract work for another firm on a very part-time basis. Retirement is great. You can pick and choose what you want to do. Anyway, I look forward to interacting with you all again.

Same here at 74.

I completely understand everyone's frustration and I'm with you. I started doing this as a side business over 25 years ago when I began getting referrals from family and friends. Over the past few years I've gotten rid of all non1040 clients. Sixty is right around the corner and I keep debating will each year be my last. My worsening health since 2014 has only exacerbated the frustration. As someone who has been health conscious my entire life it amazes me how many people lead unhealthy life styles without significant complications.

Thanks, Max, for the reference. Curious that it isn't on the forms and has to date not been required. Guess we needed more work to do

For anyone that wants to confirm the number I provided, it is under paragraph 3, just after the SSA address. https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/hallex/I-01/I-1-4-2.html

I've done it, too, skimmed above too quickly and typed the wrong name!

As noted elsewhere, some of us of a certain age at times make errors in attributions and more. My apologies to Gail and thanks to Lion for the correction (see red cheeks).

I'm not going to send before the 12th. I can't count on no more new clarifications of laws, reprogramming, etc. In fact, the 12th will probably crash the IRS computers! I might e-file on the 13th. But, yes, you can send to your software company when they're ready for holding until the 12th. I will probably have two different partnerships shortly and two different S-corporations to keep me busy after I finish payroll taxes/W-2s/1099s.

Gail provided the RRB EIN.

You make some good points, Sara, and I am sure that is part of it. But I agree with Possi that the attitude of the IRS towards preparers, and the difficulty of getting information or resolving issues in a timely fashion contributes to the retirement fever I have been suffering from the last couple of years. My husband is a bit older than I am, and has been retired for a while now. I have hobbies that I have not participated in for a couple of years, books I want to read and new hobbies I would like to take up. I want to travel while I still can (although that isn't looking so hot for the next year either.) But mostly I am just tired of being expected to audit returns for the IRS because they don't have the time or the money or the staff to do it. That is not what I signed up for. If it weren't for the cost of health insurance, I probably would have retired a few years ago.

One reason that everyone is so down right now is that we just got through the tax season that never ended. We couldn't do much in April because we were too busy taking calls about the stimulus payment and business loans. July was just like the usual April. Immediately after it was time for extensions, and October was just like April. Then it was time for CE. In between there were many more calls from clients who needed help with loans, retirement distributions, new W4s that are incomprehensible, and on and on. We never got a break, and for those who took a few days off there was no travel so we never really got away from it all. Another reason is that there were so many changes to the tax code, and changes to the changes, that our brains are overloaded. We now have to take update courses to the updates we already took. One poster said that she just didn't feel competent going into the coming season, and I think that feeling haunts many of us. Hang in there. We've mastered huge changes before and will again. The new heads of the IRS and Office of Professional Responsibility seem to hear us and to be genuinely supportive (as opposed to treating us like enemies of the gov't and their personal hit men). As the virus winds down and the IRS and congress get their acts together, things have to get better.