TaxCPANY

Hi, joanmcq, Give it up & prepare a hard-copy return (or a PDF for the client to print-out & collate), to be filed with the Austin, TX IRS office. I have been unable to efile my two, latest "expatriates" -- the Service's promises notwithstanding. It seems that something's awry with e-filing returns containing Form 2555; so you would allay your client's impatience & get the job done by reverting to 'old school.' Very truly yours, TaxCPANY

Now that paper checks have begun to go the way of landline phones, it's time to research the various offerors of electronic-payment schemes -- and some of my clients are keen for it. I received ATX/CCH's promo for "iTransact," two days ago, and will look into it -- but, of course, I greatly would appreciate hearing from anyone here of their experience, already. I have used JPMorganChase Bank's electronic payment system, that took more trouble to set up than I would prefer to foist upon clients. Also, I shall *not* enrol in PayPal, for several reasons -- not the least of which are the many problems I've dealt with on behalf of several clients who rely upon it for much of their revenue. Great thanks in advance, TaxCPANY

I also received the mailer, last week, and mean to check it out. I always liked Kleinrock (and, before that, Tax Analysts), and, while I got used to Intelliconnect, I do wish it had a 'friendlier' UI and, especially, commentary/editorial about state & local taxes. Thanks a lot for backgrounding Parker for me; I had no idea who its people were, before your post. VTY, TaxCPANY

MUCH obliged, kc! This is one paper return I'll be glad to prepare, now knowing how comfortable tomorrow's extension will be. Very truly yours, Kurt

Divorcee quit-claims former joint home, June, 2009, buys own home June 2010. Could she qualify for first-time home buyer credit as a "long-term resident" (as she was in the former home 5-out-of-8 years)? The charred meat my brain's become is sputtering over this. Anyone dealt with this, before, or still sharp? GREAT thanks in advance, TaxCPANY

Why stick with Dell (or any particular brand), Deb -- really? I faced the same question, last December, when my 'second major' desktop suddenly died. As I still had enough time to shop, thoroughly, I ended up with a *blazingly*-fast HP (Hewlett-Packard) that offered *much* more (including 3-year, on-site/same-day support) for much *less* cost than Dell would offer -- despite my being in Dell's "preferred customer" programme since 2005. I got a 'numbers-only,' dual-core desktop with max Ram and installed video capable of supporting dual-monitors, etc., for under a grand -- including that maintenance package AND Office 2007 AND Quickbooks 2011. Also, it's 64-bit; and it's *never* frozen or crashed, unlike my XP Pro SP3 'primary' desktop (a Dell 3000, by the way). Half a decade ago, I would've spit on HP; but, they've since reclaimed prowess & reliability -- also according to 'Consumer Reports.' VERY truly yours, TaxCPANY

Everything I've learned about online security AND best browsing compels me to use either FireFox or Chrome, the past year; but ATX's portal (to Intelliconnect, too, for instance) won't accept anything but Windows' Internet Explorer. I haven't even installed IE on the laptop I use, every night -- once I'm quit of crunching returns. Just a rant; but, technologically, ATX tasks me with its blindered reliance on only one kind of browswer. If it still weren't so cheap, I'd so be outta it. Would I really have to pay 3-8x more to have *comprehensive,* tax-preparation software that 'gets with the program?' Dreaming on, TaxCPANY

Despite the aggravation -- and, hey, aren't we all feeling pretty fried, now -- I *always* nice-it-up with: "Taxpayer incurred a net operating loss in XXXX, that was not exhausted in carrying back to prior years [cite specific year(s)] (or did not elect to carryback, and, then, "persuant to IRC (& now I tank the cite)"), resulting in the current, carryforward amount of $ x." *ALWAYS* has worked for me, without inciting subsequent notice/audit. My best mentors taught me to always supply 'more' than enough data for any examiner to fill the folder he/she would have to show his/her superior, should he/she get grief for not collecting what 'the computer' wanted. I.e., examiners have to 'answer' for the outs we practitioners want for our clients; fill their folios with enough to swamp their bosses. VTY, TaxCPANY

I reached Jack's point after reading a lot of posts in the TaxTalk group (Yahoo Groups) about Circular 230's revisions, a few years ago; and I agree with michaelmars that ATX's standard engagement letter needs only some tweaking. Good templates are widely available online, from insurers such as Camico and that accountants' insurer formerly a cooperative whose name I can't recall, tonight. TaxTalk's participants also provided valuable advice regarding the Service's recent FBAR initiative -- condensed into just a paragraph or two worth incorporating into engagement letters. VTY, TaxCPANY

The closest one to us 'up here' in the Northeast is Washington, DC -- and fuhggedabouda Midwesterners (as I once was). WTF? Every NYC & Chicago forum I've attended has been *fully* booked; so I can't believe this has anything to do with 'serving "stakeholders."' As soon as I re-learn which of my Senators and Representative is on a tax-centric committee, I'll be calling him and/or her. I hope I'm not the only one incensed by this . . . . (Oh, and, while emblazoning the TF homepage with a "Going Green" tag -- i.e., no more printed seminar handbooks provided, but BYO pdf's (the site literally says "bring lots of paper") -- let's all task the air-conditioning in Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, San Jose & Las Vegas in *Summer!*) VTY, TaxCPANY, Huntington, NY

1040 Planner un-updated since November; NYC-3L AND CT-400 AND 1041 e-filing still missing; and 1040-ES provided (but WITHOUT a non-draft 1040 Planner as an alternative) only this week, finally. *Plus, the AR clergy bug KC reported, today.* How can I tell my clients I'm holding their returns or, at best, delivering only the 2010 part, without sounding like a cheapskate idiot for having relied on CCH/ATX to update their forms, TWO months after Congress' historically-late (12/17/10), last tinkering with the IRC?! Maybe I didn't take the pre-emptive elimination of Asset History to heart, back when. Now, I'm readier than ever to leave ATX and to flame them in every forum I can reach. WTF?! TaxCPANY

Thanks MUCH, KC! I've got a cantor who reports to AR -- and, as he's peripatetic, there's always so much going on that this might've caught me at the 11th hour. VTY, TaxCPANY

ATX's 1040 Planner has not been updated since *November*! This aggrieves me, because I typically include it with the returns I send to my clients -- i.e., I think it's almost as important to forewarn clients as it is to report their pasts. (And, yes; I jettisoned BNA Tax Planner once its price was trebled . . . . It always was a hassle to perfect, and an ugly thing to show to a paying client.) It's bad enough that we still don't have Form 1040-ES approved -- and had to wait til 'today' to get 8879 workable. If my complaint resonates with you, please get on the horn to ATX. VTY, TaxCPANY

On the 2009 Form 1120S you can check box G that you're also applying for S corp status, attach Form 2553 "if not already filed," and, in the section of the 2553 below the officer's signature, describe a "reasonable cause" for the omission. In the case of one of my clients, I wrote: "Taxpayer's sole shareholder incorporated the entity with full intention to operate as an S coporation from date of inception, but only the state incorporation papers and federal Form SS-4 were filed at that date. Taxpayer moreover incurred no expense nor income during the year of incorporation, but only during the calendar year 2009, for which it is filing Form 1120S. The taxpayer's sole shareholder is reporting on his personal tax return all reportable items of the S corporation." Also, the entry in Box B matches that in Box E -- i.e., the election was requested to take effect upon date of incorporation. So far, no notices have been received from either the feds or the state. IMHO, the Service has been extremely lenient for about three years in allowing late elections of S corporation status without penalty, AS LONG AS some 'apology' is filed along with the late application. VTY, TaxCPANY

One-fourth of the time, guys stoop less (and drip less) when toilet paper's over the top (as all my "hospitality" clients know). Three-fourths of the time it doesn't matter, BUT, there're no spills then, anyway. As for dislodging a paper-towel roll, it can happen in either case, if you yank a sheet downward. Yanking it directly toward you is better, as all the pop-in dispensers I've seen are oriented vertically. Accounting for it all . . . TaxCPANY

I'm still living in the good ol' days, John, when, if the remittance were accurate within a few dollars, there wouldn't be a followup from the feds (albeit NYS & NYC always nickel & dime). Most of my late- and previously-non-filers are rather phobic about notices, too. Kurt

Following is one of the explanations on the Line 21 (1040) Other Income statement, which can be printed to accompany a return: "Income from the rental of personal property but were not in the business of renting such property". On the other hand, I report rentals of my video-business clients' equipment on Schedule E, as I learnt to do from more-experience hands; but I can't quickly offer a cite therefor. VTY, TaxCPANY

ATX confirmed that in BOTH its 2008 and 2009 Form 1040 software (including the Archive Disk, that I got, today), returns filed over 60 days late still default to the pre-12/31/2008 $100 minimum, not the $135 minimum since in effect. Please check any returns you know will be that late; I've embarrassed myself, twice, now. VTY, TaxCPANY

Thanks, Carolyn, I too had had acks languishing, and had forgotten completely about the synch function. TaxCPANY

What [new] fee, Margaret? My initial readings were that we CPAs who also already have PTINs won't have that to pay. I've done no in-depth homework -- and am waiting til I attend the Chicago IRS Forum in July to learn it all -- but, if I'd got it wrong, I'd like to bring that up, come July (to both the IRS and my state Society). VTY, TaxCPANY

Hi, Montana, The "Tax Warehouse" provides my 'version' of your #4 request, automatically for forms, or, with its 10 customizable fields, for worksheets. And a big thanks to kcjenkins for pointing that out, sometime ago! VTY, TaxCPANY P.S. I'm right there with ya about the hybrid Organizer and retaining print preferences.

Hi, Taxizen, I strongly recommend Billing Tracker Pro, which I've been using for over five years - have renewed/upgraded it twice. Check it out -- 30-day free trial -- at www.billingtracker.com A single screen shows you *all* clients with outstanding balances, columned into "current," over 30 days, over 60 days, etc. Another single screen lets you re-issue invoices, automatically updated to show how many days past-due -- and every other variation I've wanted to re-issue. Overall, Billng Tracker is enormously flexible, in terms of *unlimited* number of clients AND projects AND billing-rates, logging retainers and partial payments and billing by time or project -- or other modes I have not needed, myself. It would let me customize my invoices totally, but its six default templates have been variety enough. It also lets you time two jobs at once -- e.g., when a client calls while you're working on something else, you simply can open a new 'clock' for that call. The first is paused while you log the second. Technically, it's lean - e.g., after all this time, its data file is only slightly over 1MB. It's also portable - i.e., I swap its datafile between a desktop and a laptop, every day. The problem with QuickBooks Timer is that you need to be using QB for your practice -- as would be overkill for my sole proprietorship. The problem with Time & Chaos is that, when I checked it out, it cost more -- and, now, Maribeth still doesn't use its billing module. Every other billing software I looked at, a couple of years ago, did not offer the full resources of Billing Tracker at anywhere near a comparable price -- but I only can doubt that that's still the case, because I've had *no* reason look beyond BT all this time. VTY, TaxCPANY

1) Restoring "Asset History" to the Asset Entry worksheet would redress CCH/ATX's biggest gaffe, this past Tax Season -- you must have seen the chorus of complaints posted here and in many forums, once that news broke. Almost none of us "small practitioners" need a full-blown "fixed asset manager," but almost all of us have clients buying, selling, abandoning fixed assets, each year -- and requiring us to weigh whether bonus depreciation, Sec. 179, etc. is best -- that we're still sore that CCH pulled the plug, especially with no prior warning. 2) As a fellow New Yorker, I hope you would noodge CCH to get ATX -- not just ProSystems fx -- listed as an "approved provider" of entity e-files to New York City. CCH already has had its foot in NYC's door for two years, so adding ATX to the mix shouldn't be a big deal -- and I know a fair number of other NY-based practitioners who'd be keen to consider ATX if that enhancement were available. Thanks much for stepping-up, Ken. I will try to offer more than wish-list items, in future. VTY, TaxCPANY

THANK you, SF Bob. I confess that I needed this reminder; it's been two whole years since I last paid proper homage to Eric's invaluable endeavor. Contritely, TaxCPANY

Once Pdf Factory had become one of Windows XP's suite of printers, I've upgraded it only once -- some year or so ago? -- and, then, for free -- and not since have needed to tweak it, in order to print good-quality PDFs for free. On my Windows7 laptop, however, I've had to opt for "BullZip PDF Printer," in order to retain the capability of printing PDF's without inveighing Adobe's bloatware. I also don't bother with encrypting PDF's because my clients & I exchange those *only* via YouSendIt.com -- never via email -- and that's another (incredibly) free resource (I mean, until one realizes how valuable it is and thus volunteers to pay for it, as, ethically, one ought to).