GeneInAlabama

OldJack, as least you gave me a source for the rule. I learned something today. I have a lot more things to learn. Gene

Jainen, I highly respect your knowledge of tax law, but I don't understand deducting this on schedule A. This was reported as INCOME in 2005, why would it not be a deduction to income when paid back? Do you have a cite for this? You don't list one. You were quite harsh with this post. I believe many of us would have considered this a reduction to income and do not believe this to be "obviously improper work". Maybe I am wrong, and maybe almost everyone sees this as you do, but count me as one of those who would have done it "improperly". This is a great board. I hope that none of us get to where we are afraid of showing our ignorance and not ask questions. This is the way we learn. Gene

I don't believe anyone on this board would have that information. ATX cancelled their board last April before tax season was over and left us hanging. erc started this board as the "Unoffical ATX Board". We are all grateful for what erc is doing and are free to discuss all tax preparation programs. Gene

Does anyone know if Jerry Mealer is on another board somewhere or what has happened to him? I miss the rascal. I wonder if he has seen the back of his neck yet? Gene

Pacun, I believe you are exactly right. Gene

Yes, you just check Practitioner Pin and only use A. Be sure to check the ERO entered box. If you don't enter a date, the program won't accept it, but like you say, it doesn't flow to the 8879. I always write in the date when I sign it. Maybe the date signed transmits with the return even though you have to write it in on the 8879. The rest of the form fills in by itself. When I first started using the form, I felt like there HAD to be more to it than that. Gene

The 8879 is VERY easy. All you do is list a 5 digit number on the worksheet for both the husband and wife which flows to the 8879. On the 8879 a box is checked for each signature that says "I authorize __(you)____ to enter or generate my PIN. The taxpayer can see the number when he signs the form and if he doesn't want to use that number, he can let you know. I always use the last 5 digits of their SSN. I think some have said they use the same number for everyone. I always just hand or mail the form to the taxpayer and don't even mention the PIN number to avoid having to explain it to them. When I get it back, I then transmit it. It almost seems too simple to be true, but it is. If you have other questions, just private mail me. Gene

It appears that this applies only to those who have web sites. I hope this doesn't apply to e-mail. I don't have a web site, so I believe I don't have to do anything on this, but I'm not sure. Also, I'm wondering if the WINZIP 9 software is something that is available free or if it has to be purchased. Gene

I have my main computer on a UPS and it has been a life saver for me. Lightning ran in on my office about 4 weeks ago and damaged several pieces of equipment but my main computer was on a UPS and it is OK. The other equipment were on surge protectors, but it didn't help. My network is still not operating. A technician was out yesterday, and it was operating when he left, but is out again. I'm going to have to get him back out here. With a UPS, you don't have to worry about losing what you are working on when the power blinks. If I am away from my desk when the power goes off, after a short time, it will automatically save what is open and then shut down before the battery goes down. I couldn't get along without it. Gene

I might also add that I think they have a LOT to add to our community.

I'm glad to see that some want to participate and I see no reason whatever why they should be identified. Anyone that has anything at all to contribute is welcome. Gene

Eric, I use DirecWay which changed its name to Hughes.net. I'm not familiar with other satelite providers. Everything seems to be OK except when I have to call tech service, I usually get someone with an accent which seems to be typical everywhere now. It sure does make it difficult when you are hard of hearing. I can't tell that the surfing speed on satelite is much better than on a phone line, but it sure does make a difference when you are downloading or uploading a large file. I ASSUME that the surfing speed is normal, but it sure would be nice to know that something could be done about that. The only requirement with the satelite is that you have to have a clear view of the sky in the direction of the satelite. I had to place my dish about 40 feet from the office on a pole because of trees. To sum it up, if you can't get anything better, it's great (when the weather isn't bad). Gene

Alabama's mandatory cutoff for 2006 was 50. If I made a difference in pricing between paper and electronic, I would charge more for the paper returns. Electronic is quicker and easier and cheaper. Alabama sales tax reports is a little different story. When I could do it on paper, I had an excel spread sheet set up so that I could just enter the sales figures, and then run the form through the printer. It took a while to set up the spread sheet so that it would print in exactly the right place, but once I did that, it was very quick. Now, to file electonic, I have to do it on the internet, and go through several steps and wait for each screen to come up. Gene

I couldn't believe it. I was having trouble transmitting an efile and went to the support menu to send an email and they are still showing a link to go the the ATX community. It says "Participate in ATXers.com, home to the liveliest tax forum on the internet. This free, multi-topic community is a vital part of the ATX difference". When I clicked on it, I received a message from Internet Explorer that the web page was not availabe. You would think they would have removed that link. Gene

More than two weeks ago, lightening struck a hugh tree behind my office and damaged some of my equipment. It knocked out my internet satelite and modem (I live in an area where DSL and cable are not available). I just now have gotten back on line and have come to realize just how dependent I am on the internet. In Alabama, sales tax reports are REQUIRED to be done electronically now with no exceptions allowed. They say that if you don't have access to a computer, you can come to one of their offices and use theirs or you can go to the library and use theirs. They also say you can do it over the telephone, but that would be a LAST option for me because I am a little hard of hearing and I absolutely hate making phone calls where you have to go through a long string of menues. Now, I have to get my network working so that I can have service in my house (my office is next to my house). It looks like I may have trouble with the insurance company (State Farm). They say that if lightening ran in, they will pay, but if the equipment was damaged by an electrical surge, they won't. Anyway, it sure is good to be back on line again. Gene

I have been through a few Dept of Industrial Relations audits, and as gailtaxed stated, they are looking for employees being treated as contract labor. They are usually more strict about that than the IRS. Gene

John, I'm not an expert in Excel, but I took a similar spreadsheet that I had and collapsed it to the subtotal amounts and then I just simply clicked on the cell in the 1st row of the column under amount and then clicked on the sort down button (the button with the arrow pointing down), and it sorted the rows by amount in descending order. My spreadsheet only had about a hundred entries instead of 4,000, but it should work just the same. If my description is not clear, let me know and I'll try again. I did learn something from your post. I didn't know that I could collapse the spread sheet down to just the subtotals. Gene

It sounds like Pacun is getting special treatment because he usually waits until later in the year to renew. My understanding is that, at least in the large drawings and contests, special rules have to be followed and specific rules have to be listed. I wonder if this applies to smaller drawings such as this one. I like ATX software, but I find myself liking the company less each day. Gene

Just wad up all your receipts and throw them in a garbage bag. Be sure to spill some coffee on some of them. Don't include anything that shows income because that is only incidental, but we do want to be sure to get all the deductions. I used to try to actually tackle some of those, but that was in my earlier days. Add me to the list that would be glad to help, but it would be nice if you would group all your receipts together and put an adding machine tape on them. Gene

It looks like there are indeed two contests, but I bet it wasn't planned that way from the beginning. They may have read some of the comments that have been made on this board concerning that and decided that maybe they had better make it another contest. Just my thought. Gene

Thanks John. I do have two plugs on the same slot, but they are not exactly alike, but very similar. I assume the other one is for another monitor. Gene

John, I do have XP. How do I check to see if I have a video card installed that will handle two monitors? I'm not very computer smart even though I have been using one since about 1983. Seems like I know less now than I did back then.

Pacun, how about one for the current year, one for last year, one for the client to watch what we are doing, and one for reference material. I have only one monitor, but would like to have more. Everytime I start to change anything on my system, I wind up spending a lot more time getting it working right than I had imagined. I have gotten where I am afraid to change anything as long as everything is working. Also, I don't know where I could put another monitor. My desk is already cluttered. Gene

If I were using a dozen monitors, I would depreciate them as long as I was using them for a business purpose. I think that "ordinary and necessary" would include just about anything that is ACTUALLY used in a business. An item can be useful and worthwhile even though it is not actually necessary or ordinary. Gene