Crank

Client received a 1098-T for his daughter's second year of college. The "Billed Tution" Box 2 is 41,100. The "Scholarships" Box 5 is 41,400. The problem is Box 2 contains tuition billed (2 semesters) in 2016 while Box 5 contains scholarships received for 3 semesters in 2016. Spring 2017 scholarships were counted in late 2016. So this looks like the student not only got a full ride for 2016 but actually had taxable income of $300 (41,400 - 41,100). This also excludes the TP from taking the American Opportunity Tax Credit for 2016. The school says there is nothing they can do and "That is just how they posted". Has anyone every run into this before. Is there anyway to adjust the the 1098-T without triggering an issue since it wont match what the school submitted. Im thinking that this issue will resolve it self in the fifth calendar year of school thus allowing the family to receive the 4 years of the AOC to which they are entitled. However the additional taxable income this year bothers me too.

Im leaning towards not doing EITC returns. I dont believe I had any last year. The client in question was primarily w-2, single, 2 dependents and a small sch C for that one year, trying to sell electricity on commission in his spare time.

Great suggestions. Im looking at the following: 1. NitroCloud for Esign - free works well. 2. Google Wallet- for payments to an email address - looks promising but haven't tried it yet. Free I believe. I have Square for credit cards but nobody wants to use it. I build the ~3% fee into the price maybe thats why. LOL 3. Crypttext - Chrome extension for encrypted emails - Seems to work well. Also, provides a "read receipt". Trying out the Chrome extension "Rmail for Gmail". Suppose to give read receipts, encrypt and esign. Cant get to work properly despite the glowing reviews.

I provide a nice labeled three-prong, two-pocket folder. Client copy three hole punched and bound. supporting documents in back pocket. Mailing items (local returns 1040-V type items) in the front pocket. Dont have many requests for an additional paper copy, although I had two for prior years just in the past month. Nice guy so no charge. He left a $10 tip. Usually the first one is free. Again my wife thinks Im too cheap in this area. LOL Also unless they are specific I just give a copy of the 1040 and a Sch C if applicable not the whole return. Usually its for a bank loan and they dont ask for more.

1 & 3 sound expensive. Checked the CCH website but no prices listed. As for #2, I already deposit paper check via a mobile app but id like to not have to handle the paper at all. Paypal takes a cut so Id like to avoid that. There must be other was to send money without the fee. Ill have to do some research.

I love this!

Im looking for suggestions on these issues. 1.) Electronic document signing, especially for efile authorizations. 2.) Electronic payment systems. Most pay by check and Id like to avoid that hassle with a non credit card based e-payment type system. 3). Encryption solutions for emailing sensitive documents. Of course free or low cost solutions are preferred.

Thanks for the suggestions! Ill look in to it.

I believe that nothing will ever be done to put tax preparers out of business or significantly reduce our work load or fees. Too many businesses/people make a living out of it (i.e. big CPA firms, big tax prep cos. individual practitioners and software developers. They may reduce the tax brackets/rates but I think thats about it.

Sounds like a plan to me. Thanks for your input!

They were very nice in the returned voice mail and thanked me. They were never a problem to work with except they took a long while to return calls and usually finished it up just before the filing deadline even if they dropped off in Feb. Yes I do know my prices are too low and have been raising them slowly each year. Thats all I hear from my wife is that my pricing is to low for a CPA. Im betting if I take them back that upon reviewing the self filed returns for 2015 there will be amendments needed too.

I have always hated the 1120S, 1065 etc returns. Now due to health issues the past three years I am considering dropping all but 1040s, mostly. I do an 1120S for a neighbor who owns a franchise and he is a breeze to work with. Last year I got a recommendation for a 1065 (rental real estate) and said I would beat H&R blocks price from the previous year. Turns out H&R charged them $1 (yes one dollar for the return). Or else I got played but the H&R docs said $1. I had to purchase the 1065 forms from ATX for ~$55 so I charged $100 for it and a reasonable rate for their 1040. I told them that I didnt make anything on the return and would have to charge about $400 for the 1065 next year and they were receptive but said H&R was cheaper. I should charge about $800 for a 1065 according to other CPA's in my area. Im at the point where I dont want to deal with it for probably less than $600 not including the 1040 which would be about an additional $300. Should I drop them and avoid the stress or just tell them my new higher price and let them leave? I could accept the stress for $800 (1065) & $350 (1040). That includes a State and Local return.

In the 22 years I have been preparing taxes I have always had them drop off. I prepare it and then call them with questions to finalize the return. When we are both satisfied I print out the client copies and schedule a pick up. Any changes after this point come with an additional charge and I make it known. Not many problems doing it this way and I can prepare them at my leisure. I dont like the pressure of a face to face prepare plus I think it takes longer because they will keep asking questions, throwing off my train of thought and there is always additional info they need to provide so it would take me more time. In some cases I dont want them seeing how long it takes me to do a return. Now if I could only get them to take a .pdf copy of the return and avoid the printing. Return and scanned documents on one CD or emailed encrypted to them. I only have one client that uses the pdf. All want hard copies, even if I offered a discount for the .PDF.

A client of about 10 years decided to go it on their own using H&R Block online self filing for 2015. I didnt even know that existed. They called me yesterday about a letter they received from the State indicating they owed about $1100. At first they were irate thinking it was an error I made until I pointed out that I didnt do their taxes for 2015. They would have needed to use the premium product which is about $95 for a federal & state for Itemized deductions and a small business, including EITC. I charged them $180 the year before (2014) which I think is a VERY good price.. I told them I couldnt help them since I didnt prepare it and frankly I was annoyed at their tone when they thought I did it (or pretended that they thought it did it). They called me back, apparently after talking to the State tax dept. and thanked me and said they would be returning to me next year. Whats the opinion of the group. Would you have helped this person out like I did by telling them who to contact. Would you take them back as a client this year?

I had that happen once on my stand alone install. Tried again a minute later and it worked. Sorry I cant be of more assistance.

The lender will only issue the 1098E in the name of the son (primary borrower). So even if the father were to make payments directly he would not receive a 1098E. That settles it for me. Only the son will claim the deduction. Thank you all for the replies!

1098 is in the students name and SS. Im leaning toward both getting the deduction but still have time to research this. Its complicated. Of course the student qualifies for the deduction but Im not convinced that the father (co-signer) is unable to also take it.

Son was a dependent when the loans were taken out. Since the father is a co-signer he is legally obligated to repay the loans, along with the son. The father claims he has paid on the loans but not directly. He gave money to his son who has the payments taken out by direct debit to his checking account.

I have a client who cosigned for private student loans for his son. The total student loan interest paid for the year will be about $10,000. The son is not a dependent of the father. Since both names are on the loans and both are legally obligated to repay the loans can they both take the $2500 interest deduction. Cant find any appropriate guidance on this. Comments are appreciated.

This is very confusing. I have had my EFIN on file with CCH for I cant tell you how many years, Im guessing since its been required to efile. All with ATX but with Main ST for 2012. Its current in my account page. I received no notice from ATX that I need to resubmit a new "verified" EFIN.

Before shelling out for a new computer, I would try to do a clean install of the operating system (windows 7) first. Those specs seem fine to run ATX. There even may be a restore the OS option in the settings of control panel so you may not even need the install disc to do it. I do a clean install on all my machines about every 18-24 mos. They run like new again.

This is my 4th bad year in a row. Im almost ready to call it quits. 2013 I got caught up in the TRX debacle and had to convert to new software in early February. 2014 my new custom PC's mother board died on 12/31 and I had to send it back to California for repairs, got it back early February, 2015 & 2016 I have been battling sever health problems and the possibility that I could be hospitalized at any time. Spent 4/18/14 - 12/8/14 in the hospital. What a horrible year, but I got through tax season. Although for 2014-2016 ATX has performed well. At least thats a plus. I keep saying next year cant get any worse, but unfortunately each year has been as bad or worse than the last. Hopefully next year will finally be a good tax season. On the plus side I fired a bunch of PITA clients over the past 3 years which has helped with my sanity.

Ive been trying for years to get my clients to accept a .pdf of their return and scanned supporting docs. So far only one taker. I dont get why they want to have more clutter. I stopped printing my personal returns at least five years ago. I alos went back and scanned all of my prior years returns too and shredded everything. Best thing ever.

Thank you very much! That was my problem. After changing Q3 to Yes it allowed the penalty to be pro rated without the need to override the question I mentioned above. This whole ACA is quite complicated.

Thank you for the link! I could not find anything from the IRS that stated this until you provided it. Now the question is why ATX needs a question on the SRP to be over ridden to get the amount to pro rate. I,m surprised no one has raised this question about ATX at this point in the tax season