Crank

Mike, Do you have a link so I can see if there are any in Pennsylvania. Thanks John

The only comment that I would like to add is that, for me, forms based wasn't as big of issue that I had thought or made it out to be. Although I only handle about 100+ returns with a handfull of multi-state's. TRX worked-out fine but I did have some issues, although minor, as I did with ATX. Everyone's situation is different and the user has to be comfortable with what they deem to be important. But, its always nice to have options and the input of other users. Oh and Mike, I too dealt with the Y2K "non-event" as a controller of a mid-sized financial company. While we were adequately prepared for what could have happened, in my opinion, is was over-blown and over-meeting to death because of the hysteria/hype.

Received an email from ATX offering up to $30% off of all packages. The 1040 Office package for $639 (20% of of the reg price of $799). The funny part is that I offered to stay with ATX last year if they gave me this same 30% off offer that they gave to other defectors but they refused and would only give me 10% off for early renewal. Very happy that I made the switch to TRX. A bigger tax package at a much lower price.

I went with TRX (TaxWorks) for the 2010 filing season after using ATX/Saber since the mid 90's. ATX just sent me a renewal offer for up to 30% off of all packages. The 1040 Office is $639 ($799 regularly) but I already renewed with TRX for $299 for a package similar to the "ATX Total Tax & Accounting Office" ($2,599). The conversion to TRX was much easier than I had anticipated and learning the program was fairly easy but its not forms based. I got tired of ATX raising the prices every year while offering less. TRX also locks the price at $299 every year if you order by May 1st. Just my 2 cents.

They called me a few weeks ago and I told them I was too busy and to call back after 4/18. They called right on schedule this morning and renewed the same package at the same price as last year. Premium package (orginally $699) for $299 & $39.95 S&H. They confirmed that it is the same TaxWorks software as the 2010 package. I wonder what the ATX price is going to be this year. I was hesitant to make the switch from ATX to TRX(TaxWorks) last year after about 15 years with ATX / Saber but I had very little problems with conversion of the ATX files or getting up to speed with the TRX input based software vs the ATX forms based (spreadsheet)input. So when it came time to renew I already knew what I was going to do since the cost savings was significant. Overall, I was very satisfied with TRX and the tech support that I also recieved from the TawWorks people Ryan & John Toone.

Yes that's a great feature in TRX/TaxWorks.

I didnt realize you could do this. I just did a return with over 50 sch D transactions. And they weren't completely broken down on the brokers statement either. Oh well, that's what additional hourly billing is for.

Kea, Hopefully this is what you are looking for. In my case, the resident state (Pa) form Sch RK-1 had a check box at the top of the input form to indicate the "corresponding number of the federal partnershp Schedule K-1". Upon entering the correct schedule number (1 if there is only a single K-1) the information flowed to the resident state form from the federal form. Now this relates to an individual 1040 return. Good Luck John :)

Once again this tax season I've fielded calls from prospective clients who are fee shopping. I dont spend a lot of time with them but I do explain that my fee's are significantly lower than the big tax prep firms (CPA's included) and they get a CPA with 30 year's of tax prep experience (since age 14 ... lol) and investment experience (NASD series 7 licensed stock broker). They get personalized service and Im available year round to answer any questions. I get a kick out of the ones that compare my prices to doing it themselves with software. In the above post I compared the price of the software but a better tool would be to read the user reviews posted on various retailer website's. I was browsing the Turbo Tax user reviews on Staple's website late last night ... PRICELESS. If you need some laugh's this late in the game take a peek. (EDIT: sorry but for some reason I cant get the entire link to work) http://www.staples.com/TurboTax-Deluxe-Fed-Efile-State-2010-for-Windows-Mac-[boxed-CD]/product_905985 :wall:

Kea, If there is a way for the K-1 information to flow to Non-Resident states I havent found it. I've had to manually input all K-1 NR State allocated data into the Non-Resident State's respective input forms. John

I realize that everyone is busy winding down to the 18th but I wanted to throw this out while there was still probably a high number of users visiting this forum. I am considering expanding my business offerings beyond just individual income tax preparation to includes any or all of the following: - Partnership Returns - Payroll Services - Accounting/Bookkeeping Services Now I have no experience with any of these services, or what would be required including software. I would like to hear from users here who are offering these services (or not) on what would be the best way to get up to speed and get these services off the ground and running. I would appreciate any and all comments, suggestions, etc. Of course I dont expect to discuss this now, but If anyone is willing to talk please private message me on this board and maybe we can talk further, after tax season, as time permits. Thanks in advance for your consideration. John :)

Interesting article on "The Progressive Accountant". Hmmm ... oxymoron?

No I havent received anything from TRX about this product. But I did look it up. I assume this is what you are refering to. www.taxexactpro.com

I didnt have any with Gross receipts but I think it would not be based on this. I assume that is just gross revenue before expenses so I would use the ord income plus gains or losses. Just my opinion and I could be wrong. As I said before. I REALLY hate K-1s. Hope that helped.

I looked at the requirements of each state's Non-Resident returns. They are all different in what is taxable. Most say gross income from all sources which I interpreted to be net of gains / losses. I havent done them all as this will be an extension to give me time to look at 18 states. Hope this helps!

Thank you Kea! :)

Kea, Im trying to find the sectio you referenced in this part of your post: "One thing I did find helpful from a post on the "main" part of this board was the link to the Tax Packages website. All 3 of the ones I am working on are on that site. Just needed the client to grant me access to their accounts. There is a link on the left ("Transfer Federal K1 amounts to Tax Forms") that shows you how all the appropriate forms get filled out on the Federal schedule - specifically for YOUR CLIENT!! (No help for the states!)" I assume you mean in the ATX Forum - The second topic from the top (pinned) titled "Tax Software Vendor List" - The second link in the post titled "Taxsites.com" / Link To Vendor Websites" After I go to the site here: http://www.taxsites.com/Income-Tax-Preparation.html I cant find the link on the left ("Transfer Federal K1 amounts to Tax Forms") that shows you how all the appropriate forms get filled out on the Federal schedule - specifically for YOUR CLIENT! Is this the correct place that you were referencing? Could you please provide a link to it. Thanks

Well, they claim that when the employee started they assume that they will work the required number of hour to qualify for the plan. Then at the end of the year they find out the employee didnt qualify. I agree, this doesnt seem correct to do this to an individual. However, I believe it is an early withdrwal from a qualified plan. But if they didnt qualify for the plan, how can they make qualifying contributions? That is why Im wrestling with this. Thanks for the comments Terry.

Yes, Thank you Mike

Have a 23 y.o. new client who received a 1099R with a distrbution code of 7 (normal distribution) and I'm debating the 10% penalty. She was a substitute teacher who had mandatory retirement deducted from her paycheck but because she didnt work the required number of hours last year they refunded the contributions (via the 1099R) claiming she wasnt eligible to be in the plan. The issuer claims they have discussed this at length and concluded that the code 7 is the correct code for all 1099Rs. Im inclined to force the 5329 and take the 10% penalty. Am I correct in doing this? Comments are appreciated. Thanks John

An Intel Dual Core should be fine.

My 2 cents. I havent tried it on Win 7 but I am using a 64 bit version of Win Vista and havent had any system related issues. 4GB of RAM will be just fine. The 350G hard drive should be OK to load 3 or 4 years worth of tax progams (Currrent year plus amendeds) and still have about 1/2 of the drive space available for other items. You might want to clean offf some of the crapware that most manufacturers install on new PCs such as trial software and other usless junk that just takes up space. You didnt say what type of processor the machine has but hopefully it will be sufficient to handle the number crunching without bogging down. Good Luck with your new toy. :)

<sigh> Kea, Thank you very much! I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. The extension idea sounds good at this point, but Ill have to do a bit more research. Again THANKS!

Wow. I really HATE K-1s Thank you Kea! Here are the 17 non-resident states and the related income (net of G/l's). CA - 62 CT - 3 FL - 1 IL - 10 IN - 15 MI - 8 MO - 2 NJ - 13 NY - 56 OH - 10 TN - 2 TX - 1

Yonderworks is interesting. They have been busy.