Crank

TRX Gave me until Fri 6/18 to take the $299 package .... Im seriously considering it. ATX is just gotten too expensive. TRX has daily 1 hr. webinars at 11am & 3pm EST to review the product. It different than ATX fro sure but looks pretty good. I figure why not give it a try for a year .... saves me $600 the first year.

I got a call from ATX on 6/1 asking why I havent renewed yet. They noted I have been with ATX/Saber since the mid 90's and that I always renew early. They also told me that Troy is no longer with the company. I told them that they have become too expensive and Im looking at TRX or possibly going back to Proseries (I used them for a few years before ATX)and both are quite a bit less than ATX. They said they can only do the 10% off so I thanked them and hung up.

I just spoke to Troy who was mentioned in the previous posts and he wouldnt budge from the 10%. I use the 1040 package which would be $726. Still considering the TRX package @ $299 and the intuit proseries at about $425. Told Troy that the TRX software this year is TaxWorks and he said that he "wouldnt touch it since he knows all about it". I assume he was trying to say that in his opinion it sucks. So Im still on the fence and not going to jump on ATX by 5/31.

I paid full price for the ATX 1040 package (less 10% discount) for the 2009 software. Stupid me for not being more involved in this board last year and I would have seen the TRX savings. This year I called and mentioned the 40% savings some people here have mentioned and so far have gotten no results. They will get back to me after checking with their supervisor. Sheesh ... Ive been with ATX/Saber since the mid 1990's. Currently considering the TRX offer @ $299... but that looks like a steep learning curve and a Proseries offer @ $479. ATX is aware I am seriously considering these two companies and they havent budged from the 10% ... yet. Im very dissatisfied to say the least. :angry:

LMAO at the brick comments ... especially for the girlfriend. Wow. I wouldnt take this one on. Just to agree with what has already been said ... I dont think it worth the time or aggravation. Run, dont walk away, from this guy.

Im envious of you. Still getting new clients here at 200pm.

I just sent ant efile and it appeared to go fine. Just the acks are the problem ... I hope. Still have 5 or so more to efile by the end of the day. Amazes me how many people are last minute this year. And I dont have a big practice.

Same here. Cant receive ACKS, havent tried to efile. Amazing!

May God bless you and your family during this difficult time.

IRA distributions are not taxable in PA (Including the earnings if distributed after 59 1/2) since the contributions weren't deductible. Client had a 1099R with an amount in the State Distribution box which I excluded from income on the original return. Client got a notice from PA revising the return to include the amount in income. What the proper way to handle this? Should we start with the 1099R issuer to get it corrected or respond to the state first? Thanks

Client sold his home which included a home office (5%). Details related to the home office sale are: Gross Sales Price: $15,000. Basis & Selling Exps: $13,000. Gain on Sale of Home Office: $2,000 Prior Accum Depreciation: $3,000 Can somepne explain how I go about reporting this on 4797 and Sch D Thanks.

Terry; Thank you very much! I greatly appreciate your help on this matter! No they are filing seperate returns and I am not doing the spouses return. So do I give all of the recaptured home depr to my client who is the buisness owner? Or give him half and hope the wife picks up the other half?

Can someone please help me with this?

Hi All; I have some questions regarding depreciation of a vehicle and a home office. Classification of depreciable items is one area I find myself second guessing and I would really appreciate your comments. I have a new client who has a 2006 Van being depreciated and a small home office (2.5%). The client got divorced in 2009 and sold his home which was jointly owned with his spouse. I am waiting for the depreciation tables from his prior tax preparer. My concerns are: 1.) 2006 Van, in service 10/06, set up as 5 year 200DB/MQ. On the ATX "Asset Entry" form, Item 4 Asset Category I used "V - Vehicles" and I am unsure on what to put in for Item 5 - Asset Subcategory. Do I use "2" - 5 yr. Qual non personal use vehicle or "7" -Truck, Van on truck chassis or some other category? Also, Since the method is 200DB should this years depreciation be less than last years depreciation? Also, Since the van is being depreciated he cant deduct the loan payments, correct? Only the interest on the loan, correct? 2.) Form 8829 - Part III - Depr of Home. Since the home was sold on 6/29/09 whats the proper way of calcualting only the 1/2 years worth of Depr? Also, Since the home was jointly owned with his wife do I need to split the recaptured depreciation gain on the home sale 50/50 with his wife or can I give all of it to my client since it was his business? Thank you for your help on this!

This is the first time I have encountered this situation also. I was thinking along the same lines as kc. The child was in jail for the entire year so the parents did not provide >1/2 of their support.

I'm on the fence on this offer. ATX has gotten way too expensive for me .... considering I only do 50 - 75 returns, $700 is a big chunk of my revenue. I downloaded the demo and had some system issues which were only resolved by doing a system restore and roll back to a date prior to the install. So I really havent had a chance to evaluate the demo as I dont need system problems during filing season. Has anyone else had windows issues with the demo install?

OK, I appreciate the comments. Thank you. :)

I have a new client who is a Pastor. This is my first experience with clergy taxes. I read up and understand the federal income tax free parsonage allowance (he rents a house) and that it is taxable for social security purposes. The area I am confused with is how ATX is handling the Schedule C expenses. We are filing a Schedule C for cash income received from funerals. Its only $500 and the associated expenses are mileage. The part that I confused about is that ATX is only allowing 17% of the mileage expenses to flow to the Schedule C. I believe this is because only 17% of the Pastors income is taxable. He had church wages of $3,093 and a parsonage allowance of $15,100. So $3,093/($3,093+$15,100)=17% taxable federal income. So when I report a mileage expense of $192.50 for 350 miles (350 * $0.55 = $192.50) only $33 ($192.50 * 17% = $33) flows through to the Sch C expense section. Is this correct? Are clergy Sch C expenses limited to the taxable portion of the pastors income? Any help is appreciated. Thanks. Edit - It looks like this is the correct method of treating these expenses according to Pub 517, Thoughts and comments are still encouraged and appreciated. :)

Thanks for the replies! I guess Ill just efile the return and wait and see.

LOL That cracked me up! :)

I am filing form 982 "Discharge of Indebtedness" for a client who had cancelled credit card debt of $40+K. Since the client is/was insolvent ( -$121,000) at the time of the cancelled debt it is excluded from income. I havent found anything preventing efiling of this return but I was wondering if it would be better or worse to paper file and include the clients "Statement of Net Worth" detailing the insolvency? I havent found anything in the instructions requiring submission of proof of insolvency but Im sure they will ask for it at some time.

That did it. Thank you! :)

Im haveing a difficult time trying to figure this one out. Its probably simple and Im just missing it. I usually charge by the form but in rare cases that involve large amounts of research I like to add an hourly billing rate to the forms charge. Usually I just tack this on to the invoice but this time I decided to try to let the software calculate it. I checked the box "Hourly Rate Billing" on the Billing options page then I went into the drop down menu >Forms>BillingRates and selected the Hourly Billing tab and input the preparers name and an hourly rate. After this is where I am stuck. There must be a place to input the number of hours but I cant locate it. Any help is appreciate. Thanks

Can anyone tell me how to handle the loss on deposit at a financial insitiution (non FDIC insured) and interest on frozen deposits for Pennsylvania purposes? I cant report the intereset on frozen deposits as a negative Sch B item (as required for the federal 1040 sch A/B ) because ATX doesnt allow overides to PA SCH A/B. Im leaning to reporting the princial and interest as a PA Sch D item. Thanks

Thanks Linda