Jack from Ohio

The development team guy that connected to my system was certain it was due to file locations being changed, or other items in the folder with the system files. I told him before he looked, he was chasing a dream. He installed a diag tool and ran it. Results: System is 100% correctly configured and no files are out of place. He was silent when that popped up. Therefore, I have a system with a pristine from the beginning configuration that is still experiencing the problems. Hence, I have thrown a big monkey wrench in their idea that ALL the server retry problems are related to files locations being changed. That being said, 80% of the systems they look at, the same way they checked mine, have file locations that have been altered and other "stuff" in the folders. So when I sent the e-mail today telling how 13.4 increased the server retry problem, the same development team guy called me directly. I am hoping he sends me the information he promised. Film at 11...

Client received a payment from the lender that foreclosed on his home in 2011 and was one of the lenders required to refund fees. He received $1,300 dollars as his settlement. The lender sent him a 1099MISC with $1,300 in box 3. As I understand, this should not be taxable as it is a refund of improper fees or is punitive on the lender. What is the best way to offset this amount, as the IRS will certainly be looking for the amount on the return. Schedule C and offset with an explanation?? Ideas are welcome....

Sounds like a minefield type operation to me. I would not go there. There may be other payroll software that is written for MAC that will do the job. You should give up making anything QB from her MAC working on your PC version.

Have you talked to tech support and had them connect to your system and reconfigure the file system?

Sorry to hear of all your losses. My deepest condolences. Simple answer to your question: Commuting.

No replies yet. I was supposed to get an e-mail, but alas, nothing. I will hit them with more e-mails that should stir something up tomorrow. Came home from the firm and completed 6 returns, ate supper, took a 30 minute break, and now ready to finish #7 & #8 today.

I will not offer help to those that have ignored the recommendation to upgrade hardware for 3 tax seasons now. It was well published that XP is not supported, and for tax year 2014, tech support will not spend time troubleshooting problems on XP machines. It is 2014, not 1997 any more.

MACs are NOT the choice for a business productivity machine. This has been well documented for 20 years. I will not have client information stored offsite at any hosting server for any company for any reason. Can you say Target?? My system is very thoroughly protected and if my information gets breached it will be my responsibility. On the other hand, if my backups or other information is "in the cloud" with hundreds of thousands of others, that pool becomes a target for hackers. The same amount of work hacking a big online source would net tens of thousands of persons information compared to hacking my systems, they only get a few hundred people..

If it is not included on the return, there is a good chance they will get a CP2000. Had one for tax year 2012. The notice clearly showed the 1099R that was not reported, with code "G" in box 7. Not sure if everyone or all computer systems at the IRS know what the code "G" means. Therefore, it is best to wait.

QuickBooks only makes a very weak and partially functional version for MAC. The prefer to support 85% of the marketplace with PC software. If your client is serious about using QuickBooks, have them get a separate PC (at 1/3 the cost, by the way) to run QuickBooks on. MAS is correct. Conversions NEVER work.

Have your boss come over and work out the problem each time you have one. It worked for me 5 years ago.... Now he doesn't question me.

OVERTHINKING THIS ONE!!! Dad gets HOH. Dad or mom can claim dependency. No more complex than that, since both will agree.

I disagree. See my example.

The second year I had two kids in college, I filed there FAFSA in June. Made ZERO difference. Colleges push students (because the financial aid people are generally 90% clueless about the real world) to get FAFSA done early using the term "Aid directly from the college that is based on FAFSA information." This is generally nonsense. Estimates work to get the "frantic" people in Financial Aid off the student's back, and has absolutely NO effect on the Federal aid the student is entitled to. Final numbers determine the aid. I get so frustrated with Financial Aid department workers telling clients that it MUST be completed with this year's tax information by mid February.

No. HOH is not based on the ability to claim the child as a dependent. Two separate situations. Think of the single custodial parent that allows the other parent to claim the child as deduction. The custodial parent can still claim HOH. Your situation is the same, except both live under the same roof.

Scrap the XP machine and start over. This is not sarcasm, but totally sound advice. Otherwise, you will be plagued with problems the entire season.

All tech support people are not informed or skilled equally.

ATX development head guy just called me. He will be sending me more information this afternoon. I must really have someone's ear up there!!! I will post whatever I discover.

As long as the amounts deposited in your accounts are less than or equal to the income stated on the returns under audit, you will be ok. The very first check an auditor makes is to check those numbers from bank account deposits and the tax returns.

I have sent a fervent e-mail to my connections at ATX asking WTF? Here is what I know about updating to 13.4: If you are using on ONE computer, just do the update. If you are using more than one computer in a network: Update the computer designated as the "server" for ATX. If you have a dedicated server do the update there first. Update each of the other computers ONE AT A TIME!!! We lost an hour when I had 4 different systems doing program updates at the same time. When All systems were updated, I had to shut down all computers, reboot the server and restart the workstations one at a time. At this point, all seems to be working except the "server retry" problem is happening more often. If you are having major issues after updating, follow the procedure I stated in #2 above and do NOT miss any steps or instructions. More info if I get it from ATX.

It is negotiated between buyer and seller and is whatever it is.

EIC can only be claimed by the parent with the greatest AGI as well.

HOH is for the person that provides the household for a dependent child. The child can be claimed by the other parent, but HOH goes to the one with the highest AGI.

Extend and tell him he should have planned better. Put it on the back of you list.

HOH goes to the parent with the largest AGI.