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I don't think the first post that creates the topic can be deleted by other than Eric or a moderator, subsequent posts can be though.

jsh and Jack, enough already! jsh, I can see from Jack's quote of your post that you went back and edited it later. Publicly attacking another member won't be tolerated. Jack, maybe in future with these posts you deem to be sniping, you should ignore them by not answering those posters here that you feel don't deserve an answer or use the block function. Your postings of non-helpful comments that do not provide an answer merely to show that you won't answer a particular person only serves to add fuel to the fire.

Yes, I assumed you are aware, but I thought I'd put it out there for anyone else that might read this topic since Jack stated otherwise.

jshtax, obviously there's no issue with compatibility since both the ATX payroll compliance reporting and W-2/1099 programs operate as standalone programs, and anyone can purchase these separately without having to purchase the ATX tax preparation program. Each of these can be used for payroll and 1099 reporting even if you decide to prepare your clients' income tax returns using Drake software. You are correct that CCH didn't ruin the payroll programs by updating them to the Raven like it did with the ATX 2012 tax program.

No, not a Catholic thing at all, although Epiphany is a feast day for Catholics but not a day of holy obligation on the Church calendar. The eastern religions (Eastern Christian Church, the Egyptian Coptic Church, and others) also celebrate Epiphany and consider it a very important holiday, only behind Easter and Pentecost (I think). The Greeks celebrate on a different day in January because of a different calendar that was followed. If you google "Epiphany", Wikipedia has a good history and talks of the other religions that celebrate it, as do some other sites that will come up, if you are interested.

Three Kings Day is also called "Epiphany", "The Feast of the Magi", and "The Manifestation of God", and is the day that Jesus was revealed to the 3 kings (wisemen). The Eastern Christian Church celebrates the day of Christ's birth on Jan 6. And for many, the 12 days of Christmas are from Dec 25 to Jan 6 ending on Three Kings Day, and not from Dec 13 to Dec 25 as some celebrate it.

None of the choices exactly fit for me. I take the tree down sometime after New Year's when I am done enjoying its beauty, but not specifically on the 6th.

In answer to the bold above: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. No, the job of a preparer is more involved than that. That's not good enough. No, that's not true. Please review the EITC due diligence requirements, specifically the bullet points in the "Knowledge" section: http://www.eitc.irs.gov/Tax-Preparer-Toolkit/dd/lawandregs and Circ 230, and review the meaning of the jurat you sign on each Form 1040 that you prepare. Maybe you should lay off those chill pills for a while.

The more important consideration is that if a preparer is doing a large number if EIC returns, the IRS can come in and choose a sample of those returns to test. Let's say they start by choosing 25 returns and find that the preparer's procedures and documentation are substandard. That's $12,500 in penalties. Now that's cost effective!

I can't answer for John, but what I do is I review the actual return on the screen before printing it. When I am finished with my input, I click on "view" that calcs everything and brings up the forms to be printed in a list on the left side of the screen. It isn't all that different that what you see in ATX with the forms tabs over there. I can click on any of the forms, schedules, worksheets, and the letters that are listed to view exactly what the return includes.

Yes, the official date that the IRS will begin processing 1040s is 1/31. Even if your software vendor will allow earlier e-filing, they would be holding the efiles until 1/31, and paper returns won't be processed by the IRS until the start date. http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/News/20139306.htm

<<C-EZ shows up and I can't find out how to suppress it. Can it be done?>> Yes, on the "C" input screen in the top section and over toward the right, there is a box that says "suppress schedule C-EZ"

Yes, you would use backup and restore to move the files from one computer to another. Backup to a removable USB or other removable media, and then restore the file to the other computer's hard drive.

Taxed listed the default path for those using stand-alone installations last year. I'd call Drake; they know where the ATX files were stored if you were networked.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2014 to all!

If this is in one of my few bookkeeping clients and I catch it right away, I gross it up for the withholdings and bonus it out. For my larger clients that have their own bookkeepers, if the bkkpr calls me to ask, it is also usually pretty soon after the transaction occurs, I would suggest they do the same thing. The last one that I had that was significant dollars, I booked as a loan to shareholder, charged the interest, and had the client call his attorney to draw up a promissory note to document. It was also documented in the minutes of the annual meeting. This was in a closely held C corp with only one owner.

Another one that I use frequently is "Ctrl+F" that brings up a "find" box to allow a word search within the current page. Mine's a little box that appears at the toolbar area, either on the very left- or righthand side of the page.

I would disagree with that last statement. The CP2057 notice is generated by the AUR, IRS is getting the same result, and it probably costs them less, on an overall basis in this program, to process the 1040Xs received than the handling of the correspondence received back in from the CP2000s. I think if a person chooses to ignore the CP2057 and do nothing, eventually the IRS' system would spit out a CP2000.

The CP2057 was started as a pilot program to deal with the millions of cases each year that weren't pursued because their costs to follow up and collect outweighed the benefit to the agency. The program is supposed to use less staff and lower costs to bring the money into the Treasury, and cut down on the correspondence between the taxpayer and agency.

I've handled this issue many times over the years just as Michaelmars and verbanik have said.

I didn't see your post earlier and it's not in the deleted content. Maybe it got sucked into a black hole of cyberspace. It's a great series of pictures, btw.

I, too, find the comparison useful. If the refund or balance due is different than the prior year, the clients invariably ask why that is. Now I start with the comparison as a summary of the return and show where any differences are. Those clients that have a good handle on their finances usually don't want to go over the entire return page by page and want to stop after the comparison. I'll continue to the return and give the highlights or any areas that I feel need to be specifically addressed in more detail. Then I move on to the state. With many of my clients over 60 and 65, my state gives several additional tax deductions or exemptions that I like to point out.

Eric, that's great. Using the members section, I was able to apply only the state as a filter and it worked well. Thanks again.

Your kids aren't the only ones!

Thanks, Eric! Both the quote and paste functions are working for me again.