Crank

Thanks George. I believe you are correct as I did some research and it points toward this. Wondering how to allocated other items such as interest, dividends & capital transactions. Leaning toward capital trasactions allocated based on the date of sale, interet based on location of institution (one is in PA and another in MD), and prorating the dividends based on dates of residence.

Have a client that lived and worked in PA for the 1st half of 2010 then took a job in MD in the second half of 2010. Still owns the home in PA, not on the market yet, has an apartment in MD. One w-2 lists PA address and the other lists the MD address. Client acquired a MD Drivers license and plates (I believe). He plans on listing the house and purchasing another in MD possibly this year (2011) How do I determine which locations are the Resident and Non-Resident State or do I have 2 Resident states each for 1/2 of the year?

Thanks Ryan, No the forms are not in form filler, that I can see. I am on version 2010.9.9. Almost every PA form listed in form filler says that the form is not available yet, Try upgrading from the internet. Is there a different method of upgrading these forms other than the normal version upgrades? These two forms will be a big help for next year. This year is a bit of a pain to have to edit every return but I'll deal with it. Pa is in the process of switching from 100's of individual local income taxing authorities to just a few aggregators like Keystone & Berkheimer that you have addressed for next year. There will possibly be a few more for next year and it would be great if they too were included in the 2011 TY product. If and when I find out what they are I will notify you so maybe they too can make it into the 2011 TY program. Also, I have another issue with these "local forms" that would be great to have implemented in next years program. Local income taxes are based on the amount of time the client has resided in the local taxing district during the year and each municipality can have a different flat tax rate (usually between 1% - 2%). So if I have a client that lived 2 months in municipality A, 7 months in municipality B and 3 months in municipality C then I need to prepare 3 Local earned income tax returns and pro-rate the income, deductions and witholdings accordingly. Right now I just do this on a manual spreadsheet and overide the appropriate line items with the correct amnounts. It would be great to have an input form or worksheet to input the various municipalities and dates of residence and have the program calculate and slot the pro rated amounts. Do you think something like this would be doable for next year? Thanks John

This isnt a big issue but it has been bugging me for a while so I thought I would post this and see how others are dealing with it. I converted 2009 ATX returns and then imported them into the 2010 TRX program. Most numbers come across and slot correctly. Some dont. And I am ok with correcting them but has anyone noticed that some of the explanations of where to find the appropriate items on last years return (2009 1040) are not correct? For example the program says to find "Total Taxes" on line 63 of the 2009 form 1040. It is actually found on line 60. There are a few similar instances like this. Also the form does not have line items for all 2009 form 1040 lines Some items must be combined and the result is a confusing 2-year comparison on a line-by-line analysis. Because of this I dont give it to most clients. This is something that I did for all clients in past years as its a great tool for understanding why the refund or amount owed has changed from the previous year. Thanks John

Same here. I have been using ATX a long time also, even before it was purchased by CCH and called Saber. But after about 40 or so returns I feel like I am now quite comfortable with the program. I really like the way it handles some items (vs ATX) and not pleased with others (again vs ATX). So its a trade off. It does the job, and for a much lower price than ATX. As of this point I believe I made the correct choice to go with TRX this year, regardless of the obvious cost savings. And the users here, as well as, the personal hand holding by Ryan @ TaxWorks have made the transition easier. I will be renewing it.

:) You're Welcome. Glad it work out for you.

Try checking the box "Force new DCN" on the EF tab, then try to recreate the efile.

I never noticed that. Thank you Ryan!

I use the note feature "Ctrl-N" on every return, mostly as a To-Do list or to keep track of questions I need answered or researched. I noticed that on the Header section of the note input screen as well as on the "Note" page displayed when you do a review it says "Note #1". This seems to indicate that the program can have multiple notes. This would be a great feature to have to organize different notes but I havent found a way of adding any other notes (i.e. #2, #3, etc) Has anyone found if this can be done? Thanks John

Yes, keeping the file with my client files, rather than within the file, is what I am doing. Its just so much nicer to have it contained within, but its not possible. Thanks for the replies

Is anyone else seeing these duplicated DCN being generated? I keep getting them and have been corresponding with some people at TaxWorks. So far out of 24 efiles generated, some filed & some waiting to be filed, I have confirmed 5 that generated a DCN which was previously assigned to another return. There possibly 1-2 more that it happened to but I wasnt keeping track at that time and cant identify which they were. This is beginning to get frustrating and causing concern but the issue is easily rectified by forcing a new DCN so it really hasnt had any negative consequences. John Toone (Ryan's brother) at TaxWorks has been very nice and helpfull and trying to determine the cause, whether its something I am doing or some sort of glitch. TRX told me that they have had this issue with other returns but did not specify an amount. If this is happening to others please post in this thread so we will be aware if it is affecting others as well. Thanks

I had to prepare a balance sheet for a client using an Excel compatible spreadsheet and I would like to keep this information with the return for next year. Is there a way to import a spreasdsheet into the return like ATX allowed? If there is a way I havent been able to find it. Thanks

Im interested in this too. I have never explored it. Do I need to signup with a bank first?

You could always put a comment in the comment section of the return or create a note to remind you next year.

Thanks for the replies. Well, unchecked self prepared in the EF tab to get rid of the PTIN warning, which doesnt make sense to me. Its probably not a big deal.

How is everyone generating their personal return: PO Tab I select "Non-Paid Preparer" EF Tab - I select "Self Prepared" - However when I select this the program generated the following green audit: FYI - US PREPARER TAX IDENTIFICATION NUMBER A Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) is mandatory on all returns prepared by a paid preparer beginning Jan. 1, 2011. A social security number is no longer allowable as the preparer identifying number. SUGGEST - You will likely be contacted by the IRS if you choose to file without a PTIN or with a PTIN that was issued prior to Sept. 28, 2010. More information is available at www.irs.gov/ptin. However page 2 of the 1040 still shows all the relevent Firm & Preparer info, with "Non-Paid Preparer" in the signature box. Am I doing this correctly? If its self prepared & non paid I wouldnt think the PTIN would be an issue. Since its a green audit it wont prevent efiling but it still seems like the audit is not correct and it bothers me. Input is greatly appreciated!

All of my held returns were filed on monday 2/14 with no problems.

Thanks for the replies. Still waiting on the client to get back to me. I filed the return and will wait to see how the situation unfolds. I have never been stiffed on a return and I dont think I will be on this one, but it may take a while to reslove.

OK, Thanks for the reply.

I have a client that worked a few months in another state so we need to file two states. I will efile the main state (Pennsylvania) as "piggyback" to the federal and the Non-Resident state (California) as "direct". The main state offers a credit for taxes paid to the Non-Resident state. So, my question is if I efile the federal and both of these states what do I do about: 1.) The "direct" non-resident state (CA) which uses Federal numbers in its calcualtions and 2.) The main state (PA) which allows the credit for taxes paid to the non-resident state (CA) as far as providing Federal documents to Non-Resident (CA) in #1 and non-resident state (CA) info to the main state (PA) in #2? Does this information have to be manually mailed or will the information somehow be passed on through the efiles? Thanks John

In the Client Slection Screen under the File menu there is an option to Export (Alt-X) a client to an Excel .XLS file. However, if you dont have Excel installed it gives you an error message and the file is not exported. I am currently using OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) an open source, free alternative to Microsoft Office, which is compatiable with microsoft office formats. It can read/write and convert to/from Microsoft office and other Open Document formats. Is there a way to allow the program to generate the .XLS file without having Microsoft Excel installed?

George, If you use notes (Ctrl-N) when you do a review there will be a form called notes in the forms list. Or you can just keep going back to Ctrl-N when in input mode. Not the easiest way to do this. I agree a form or forms like ATX had would be easier

Ryan, Is there anything that can be done about this issue of reserving a DCN when an 8879 is printed, but if the return isnt efiled then the next return efiled will use this same DCN that is now on printed 8879s of the first return?. It would make sence that if the program assigned a DCN to a return by printing 8879s then no matter what, that DCN should not be still available for other returns.

That did the trick. Thank you!

Yes, thanks very much!!! The only problem is they all have a status of "Send Clients" not "Accepted" or anything else ...oh well.