jklcpa

He probably need to stick to the low end K-Mart bikes. He doesn't have a place to put a bike inside at home, he has to ride the bike in all weather as it is his sole transportation other than walking, and it sits out in all weather while at work. Any bike he has rusts pretty quickly even though we lube and grease them well each time he is here. We've given him 2 nicer used bikes, one was stolen, then we gave him a lock. The second one he continued riding as it rusted up until the chain broke and was wedged inbetween the crank and frame. We have a nice older used mountain bike, completely overhauled and that is pro shop quality that we could sell him for just a little more than a cheapo dept store bike, but it would soon be like the others. Or it would be stolen too.

Thanks TaxMan, I did click on the 1040 Central and saw the Online Tools link that was in the text. I also saw that this service is in a planned outage through 5/28. That page describes the info needed in the 3-step process, but there is currently no link anywhere on the page, and that's why I thought it must be somewhere else. I'm assuming that there is normally a link to continue on through the process and that the icon for the link will be restored when the outage ends. The link on the similar page for "Where's My Refund" still appears but it is nonfunctional at the moment.

Well to update, I ran into a neighbor at the grocery store that happened to know the grandfather's phone number where this young man lives. I had a nice chat with granddad and left a message for my newest client to call me. He never called but sure enough, I found his bike in my driveway yesterday morning with a flat rear tire. When he came by this evening about the bike, I asked him the couple of questions I had, got the efile signature forms signed, and he left with a smile about those refunds that will be coming his way. After a lousy start to the weekend, this made my evening.

I tried to look at the pictures, but it looked like I had to download a file of them to view. Did I do something wrong? I'm with Tom, how about posting one of the better ones here for us to see.

Jack, one thing the rep at the presentation I attended said that even during their busiest time, that the calls are answered pronto, and it's not because they hire additional people for the season. It is because everyone that works for the company is trained in how to use the program. She said that even Phil Drake himself answers the phone if it is *that* busy, but it is NOT a good day if he has to do that...because it means that everyone is busy answering tech or help-type calls. I know you'll be testing this summer, so be sure to give the program a good sampling of your OH and local returns too.

For the first time in about 15 years I thought about not taking advantage any company's early renewal, but after using Drake for the last few months, I decided that I'd be using Drake for the next season. On Thursday I placed my order for the unlimited use package and I feel good about my decision.

I don't think the standard deduction has a phase out, only the itemized and exemptions. You are correct that the AMT exemption is $80800, but it is completely phased out in the OPs scenario. Earlier today I posted over on the Drake forum to see if I could get an answer about whether or not all of the 2013 tax law changes had been incorporated into the planner. In any case, I think that with 2 of us getting a substantially lower number than the OP would warrant his/her rechecking of those calculations, specifically the cap gain tax since that item is the largest part of the taxable income.

I also got down to the same taxable income, but Drake isn't limiting the std deduction and shows $12,200 there. I get these numbers: Reg tax - $74,864 AMT- $10,409 MC tax - $ 9,394 Total - $94,667 You'd think we should all be getting the same number. There's a question out on the Drake forum to make sure all of the 2013 law changes have now been incorporated into the planner. Is your program using the cap gain worksheet to calc the tax?

In others' posts you should see quote and multi quote. In your own posts that have been already posted, you should see these choices: report, edit, delete, multiquote, and quote. No?

Better save that link so you can send it to the clients. The only way I found it was to search the IRS site for "amended". From the address bar, it appears to be somewhere within the "Filing" tab at left and then buried within "Individual" somewhere, but I couldn't find it from there. If I've missed where the client would easily find the clickable link, please direct me. Thanks.

I can only hope that what should have been a simple poll is not going to be another thread that devolves into a political rants. There should have been no need for any commentary, and I thought I included enough choices to allow most of our forum's users to select appropriate answers. I do respect that each and every one of you has the right to express your views, whichever side of the aisle you agree with, but this shouldn't be happening across so many threads in the forums. Could we please try to stick to the topics of the original threads? Many of the threads are being derailed with this type of commentary or pointed questions that lead the conversations off topic or into debates on politics. The above 4 posts add nothing except to incite political banter, which all but a few are participating in, and it is really getting tiresome. That is the reason why we have "N/T" in the title of threads that aren't tax related, so that those of us who try to stay out of the political discussions can do so, but that is getting very difficult. Thanks, after the first thread that I chose to look at on here, now I'm in a really bad mood! /rant

You didn't give enough information to check this. What is the filing status, because it looks like HOH for someone over 65 based on that std deduction, and the amount you listed of $10150 would be the 2012 amount for HOH for a person over 65, yet the medicare surtax seems to indicate this might be a joint return. (497202-250000 = 247202 * .038 = 9394). Is the cap gain short or long? Also, if it's a joint return then the std deduction would be $12200.

If it had been accounted for properly in the corporation with the increase in CSV in excess of the premiums paid each year, at least there shouldn't have been a gain in the corporation from the distribution of the policy out of the corporation. That is, *if* it had ever been distributed in the first place!

The PS 58 cost is only for split dollar life insurance and doesn't seem to apply here. Because George said this policy has CSV, it is probably a whole life, or it could be universal life too. Many of those universal life policies ended up with no CSV because the earnings estimates that were used in the beginning were too high and they never met the earnings that were projected when the policies were purchased. George is correct that it should have been distributed out. I'm not sure where to report it either. That corporation is lucky that the insured didn't die while the corporation was listed as the beneficiary. While life insurance proceeds aren't usually taxable to a corporation for regular income tax, they have to potential to be taxable as part of the ACE adjustments for the corporate AMT. I have a corporate client that had substantial amounts of whole life coverage on the 3 owners that was to be used in the event of a shareholder's death as part of the buy-sell agreement of the corporation. That corporation would have paid a lot of tax on those proceeds. Those policies were transferred out of the corporation and into a partnership owned by the same individuals and in the same percentages as in the corporation, and that partnership's interaction was incorporated into the buy-sell agreement.

I did too even though I'd already used it this past season.

JohnH, I added "speed" as one of the choices. Maribeth, I realize it is very early in the game for this poll but someone asked for it, and it might be interesting to see which way people are leaning anyway. I also realize that many of our forum users are not active except during the busy season.

Made those changes.

Dan, anyone can set up a poll, does not need to be an admin or moderator. When starting a new thread, if you look over toward the right, you'll see "manage topic poll". I'll go ahead and set up a poll. It might be too early for this because many of the people that might consider switching will be demo-ing other software during the summer. Also, many of the members are only active on this forum during the busy season.

Ok, someone asked for this poll and it might be too early for this, but here it is anyway. I purposely didn't include "undecided" as a response to question #1, so simply choose the one you think you will most likely use or are most seriously considering at this point in time.

Tom, I'm curious to know how a state worker's comp audit differs from an insurance audit by an insurance company.

I agree with MsTabbyKats. All of the wage income is taxable in NY because that's where he worked the entire time. The credit is for the wages that are taxed in more than one state, and that state happens to be NJ for the period he was a resident of NJ and working in NY.

I wouldn't know if Drake accepts Paypal but I kind of doubt it. I hope my post didn't sound like I can't afford to pay the bill because I could pay it in full right now by check. I will put it on the business credit card simply because I like to get the best price, and I will gain an extra month to pay it by waiting a couple of more days for the billing cycle to end. I'll pay off the balance at that time and won't have any interest charged at all.

You are going to love that office and the separate entrance. It is similar to my house, which is a ranch with the office stuck on the front. The only difference is the door is on the opposite side. The side I pictured from the driveway makes it look a lot bigger than it is.

I am going to put in my order for Drake's unlimited version before the end of this month too. I'm waiting another few days until after my credit card's billing cycle cuts off so that I won't have to pay a penny toward this until mid-July.

In addition to all of the above and depending on the type of business, they may also ask to see the tax returns and general ledgers that the audit period covers. If there are any subcontractors, those independents' worker's comp insurance certificates will be requested. If an employee performs multiple functions that fall in more than one rate classification, the hours and earnings will need to be broken down into these categories. I have a landscaper where the grunts have a variety of functions. Obviously something like site cleanup or weeding/mulching flower beds is a lot less risky than trimming trees with chain saws and work that involves any use of power equipment.