Janitor Bob

When I updated, my door bell rang.....opened the door and there stood none other than the Gorton's Fisherman. He handed me a box of frozen fish sticks and said. "Here ...these are for you because I like the way you smell". Then he hopped on one of those bicycles built for two (but he was the only one on it) and rode away. Oh well...I know what's for dinner.....Thanks ATX...nice update...confusing...but nice

I see your point. You MUST hold the state and not release/transmit until after the Fed is accepted. If you do send both at the same time, you may have the problems you suggest. I was happy that, upon receiving Federal Accptance, I was prompted by ATX to release the State

I talked her down this semester. She had originally received special permission for and scheduled 22 hours....in addition to doing youth mentoring at a local elementary school once a week and childcare 4 hours each week at a local church. I warned her about the burn-out factor, and she dropped one big class to go down to 18 hours. Now she has an interview monday for a part-time job on campus (15 hours/week)

I am so proud I had to share (since this time of year, this board is basically a second family). My daughter who is atending Kent State University (and is in the honors college) made the Dean's list with a 3.72 gpa (5 A's and 1 ....she was taking 20 credit hours (12 is full-time)....It makes the stress and tight budget worth it

You are correct all states now go seperately. Hold the state. When the federal is accepted you will be asked if you want to release the state. You can either say yes to this prompt or just release it manually. Then you can transmit the state return. It is one more step...but on the other hand, if the Federal is rejected, you will not automatically have a rejected state as in the past (as long as you wait until fed is accepted to transmit the state). I also was surprised at this change and do not recall reading about it anywhere

Many years ago another ATXer sent me a .gif file of a janitor pushing a broom with the heading "ATX Janitor Bob Edition". Tech support helped me use that picture instead of the ATX one....So whn I started the program, The splash screen was the Janitor Bob Edition. I loved it, but could never remember how to do it again and I do not remember the name of the ATXer who sent it to me. But that was back in the days when we had a thank-you barbecue for the ATX folks after the season was over.

Thanks for the memories! I also remember the tiger's roar, the parrot...and don't forget Ozar the wizard....I just opened up the old program for kicks....It was so simplistic compared to today!

Did I read somewhere that in order to claim business use of home expenses, daycare providers must be licensed?

I get this every year....and some don't believe me when I explain why, with $38,000 income and no kids, they do not get the EITC. I've tried charging these clients high fees to encourage them to go elsewhere..but they always seem to show up at my door. They usually already know how much their refund will be and expect me to hit their target.

As a preparer, how long should I keep copies of client's tax returns? I just realized I now have 13 years of records

OK....that was funny right there

Thanks! I e-mailed client a list of questions addressing my suspicions on household members and total income. He replied stating that nobody else lived with them and the $10,500 was indeed the family's only source of income and only other support was food stamps I have printed the e-mail response for my records to comply with due diligence requirements.

I am actually suspicious that maybe somebody (client's parents) are living with them and paying rent, utilities, food, etc. If so, then the assistance would be considered support and,depending on their income, maybe taxpayer and children would be qualifying children of the client's parent. This would not only change EITC, but change client's entire return if he is (or could be) a dependent on his parent's return. I hope I am wrong, and client has given me no reason to suspect this....I am just suspicious of the entire situation.

Thanks...I actually kept the e-mail from IRS regarding this webinar....I think I will watch it this evening

I would delete the 1040 EF-INFO form then close the return.....make sure your program and forms are updated...then re-open the return and add the 1040 EF-INFO form again.

I am wondering the same thing about Ohio E-files.....In previous years they went piggy-backed with Federal, so there was only one DCN....I assume now there will be two...one for Federal and one for State?

My first client of the year ia an EIC client. Here is what I have from the paperwork he gave me: 1 live-in girlfriend, age 21, with zero income....She is his dependent 2 children, ages 4 and 1...dependents that qualify him for head of household and EIC, CTC, etc 2 W-2's.....total income $10,465 I cannot see hou someone could support a family of 4 on $10,465, so I have client confirm by e-mail that this is the extent of the family income. Client confirmed that this was indeed their only income. I am not sure I believe the client. I suppose this is possible (with help from various govenment programs)....but what should I do to cover myself and make sure I have satisfied all Due Diligence requirements?

When I look at the client's return rolled over that includes EIC, it appears to be ready to E-file. Maybe EIC was updated today?

When he signs the return, he is signing under the statement for his personal return. He is not stating anything about what he does or does not know about the corp. It sounds like it is correct...taxes withheld....The fact that the payroll taxes were not paid to the appropriate agency is a matter un-related to his personal return. In the end, he may be getting into trouble in relation to the corporation and false payroll tax returns...I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds bad...but I would think his personal return would be OK. However, this is not my area of expertise and I look forward to others educating both of us on this

First client of the season called to get appointment for tomorrow. He was a past client that went elsewhere last season because I did not get him a large enough refund the year before. He told me today that where he went last year....I think he said H & R Scmuck...they charged him three times as much and did no better and could not increase his refund that I got him the prior year....So he came back. So how much should I increase his fee this year? He is single with one child and one job (EIC)

When I updated, a small black bird flew out of my CD drive and pooped on my shoe.....Not a good update, ATX!

That's how I like them...but chaz is a few bricks short of a load. Not the sharpest tool in the shed. I do not believe his elevator goes all the way to the top.

So I am driving to lunch with Lenny the Pirate and Chaz (the guy who stands on the corner by Woody's Market and drinks warm Corona) and we drive by the local Liberty Tax office. Much to Lenny's delight, the statue of liberty is out on the sidewalk waiving his torch. Chaz yells out the window at the guy "you'll never make biscuits like mom does!" I have no idea what that means, but it distracted the statue of liberty guy so much that he walk into a waist-high snow drift and fell and dropped his torch. that was probably not funny...but I have to admit...I did laugh

I'm not really doing anything "new" this season. Tax prep for individuals is only a part-time seasonal job for me. Since my full-time job is with a machine manufacturer, my time and number of clients I can serve is limited. New computer was last year. I am making an effot this year to collect client e-mails to improve communications and hopefully send out letters and things by e-mail instead of expensive and relatively slow postal mail. I also did purchase a new snow blower to aid me in keeping my walk and driveway clear for clients. Other major improvements such as office improvement and furniture will need to wait until my daughter gets out of college in a few years and I am not so poor!

I have not heard or seen anything from Jerome and Betty Sue(?) in a long time....Hopefully they will be with us soon.