Christian

I renew by credit card each year. I've never known them not to take the full amount in the month I renew which has always has been May for as long as I can recall.

My Lord ! Well I finally received my quote and have decided to renew with ATX. When I said form entry I meant entry on the W-2 ,1099-Int or whatever. I review the 1040 line by line as I progress. I may opt to change vendors down the road I simply was not familiar with their system and will need time to make myself comfortable with it . Like many of you I started in the pen and ink era with the tax computed manually or from the IRS tables.

I guess some of us are low on the totem pole. Usually you get a renewal offer from ATX by now but I have seen no mailing or email. How about y'all ? I checked out a competing software but they do not allow direct form entry which I much prefer.

I have been with ATX before there was an ATX since about 1990. I am going to check out OLTPRO just to see what they have. I had planned to renew but looking at an alternative can't hurt. I downloaded the 2013 program from the ATX website. Even though this is an option they still hit you with the delivery fee for a cd.

Good grief. We are not expected to fill in two additional federal forms for EACH client Jack ? Somehow I feel faint.

Jack an old duffer like myself can always depend on you for correct and detailed info. That answers my question and like you I see fee increases coming. I'm sure the big chains are licking their chops over what's coming.

I note that also Gail. I suppose they will need to indicate if dependents are covered under the employees coverage as we have no way of knowing. Judging by the amounts being paid for coverage you would certainly think the kids are covered.

Like most of us I have begun acquainting myself with the requirements of the ACA with regard to how it will affect us as practitioners. Most of the folks I work for are covered by Medicare or through their employer. As I understand it an individual purchasing coverage through an exchange will receive a form from the insurer much as they now get a W-2 or other federal form. I would assume they would have to bring this along with their other info in order for the preparer to indicate certification of insurance on their tax return. For individuals covered by the employer, would they also receive a form certifying coverage? Any input on this subject would be appreciated.

Recently I find a number of completed returns which have been saved to a thumb drive will not open. I have to import the offsite saved copy to open the saved file. Anyone else having this problem ? Of course the original return is on my C drive but that's the one that will not open.

Your point is well made John. My question involved whether it was mandatory for him to report these individuals and I can find nothing in the Scehdule E instructions which specifically requires it. As a precaution I'll require him to furnish me a list of these folks with names and socials just in case the Service comes calling. I'll need to prepare him three 1040-INT forms as well . That way I am in the clear.

My feeling about this is that it will pass muster without the seller info. I am sure the client will not want to obtain it and equally sure the sellers would prefer not having to list it on their Schedule B's. None of these properties are going to show any rental income for this past year. It just occurred to me that it might be MANDATORY since there will be no 1098 forms from any financial institution.

A client has come in with three properties he is buying directly from the owner. He plans setting them up as rentals and ,of course, wants to deduct his expenses even though he has not received any rental income as yet. As these payments are made to private individuals do we as practitioners have to attach a statement listing the individuals name and social security number with the amount of interest paid to each ? Is this required for him to claim the interest payments on his Schedule E forms and if not included will the Service simply disallow the amounts claimed as interest ?

That is what I too suggested. Take a loan and repay it.

A client may have to withdraw money from his account to pay some medical expenses.The expenses will likely exceed ten percent of his AGI. Does the medical exception then allow all the money withdrawn to pay medical expenses avoid the ten percent penalty or only the amount above the ten percent threshold?

I once had a client who farmed on the side. He kept excellent records. After fifteen years or so of losses he got audited. He never even called me coming in the following year to say he had been audited. In astonishment I asked him how it went. He advised a nice young lady had come down from Richmond staying a couple of hours and left and sent him a REFUND check for $54.00 dollars for gasoline used on the farm. He had an onsite tank which he never told me about and that was that.

One of my least favored tax forms is the 1041 which I rarely have to deal with. A client's father died last year. One of the items falling into his estate is an annuity payment of some $180,000 or so. Of this amount about $30,000 is indicated as taxable. in reviewing the instructions for the 1041 I note this should be reported on the other income line of the return. My reading is I need report ONLY the taxable amount on this line since when passed to the sole heir he will be responsible for paying the tax on this income. Or should the entire amount be reported showing the taxable amount in brackets ? Either way the amount shown on the heir's Schedule E from his K-1 should be only the taxable amount of the annuity. Any comments will be appreciated.

This is pretty much what I had in mind. It seems to me you could enter the brokerage summary in each box which would carry to Schedule D while attaching photocopies of the brokerage statement. Should a Service employee have any questions they will have the relevant data in front of them.

Thanks for replying but 2nd row from the top 6th item to the right on what form ?

Well another successful season. Thankfully ATX resolved most of their issues. A client of mine had some sixty plus stock trades which took forever to enter. I am wondering if we could not simply photocopy the brokerage statement which provides all the relevant information entering only the totals on Form 8949 for the respective boxes and attach same to the return. I also assume you would need to do do the same on Schedule D but it might transfer automatically. This would surely save a huge amount of time to say the least. Your thoughts ?

A long time client passed on last year leaving an IRA account with a sizable balance. instead of leaving it to her progeny she made it payable into her estate with the balance after payment of all bills divided equally among her three children. Somewhere in the dim past I recall reading or was told that an IRA left in this manner was treated as totally distributed into her estate by the Service and subject to tax on the fiduciary return at estate rates. Is this the case or is the balance left distributed to the heirs with tax paid by them?

A client now in a nursing home has been placed on Medicaid this year. On preparing her 2013 return I was informed by her individual with power of attorney that since she was placed on Medicaid she was informed she no longer was required to file a return. After reviewing her sources of income for the current year I can see she will exceed the amount required to file a return. All of this income will go to the home but it would appear she will still meet the requirements of having to file. Does anyone know of any exemption from filing based on receiving Medicaid benefits ?

I rather suspect the mother will get a CP-2000 notice which I told her daughter may occur. If so, sometime next year I will receive a summer call telling me "Mama got a notice from the IRS ! " and will need to file a return for her after all.

Due to a change in the law awhile back a few of my older clients no longer owe any tax on their returns because it is dividend and or capital gain income. A daughter of one client decided not to file a return for her mother pointing out she had owed no tax in two prior years and her situation had not changed materially. I am sure she would have owed no tax but question (to myself) if she might not receive a CP-2000 down the road. What do y'all think ?

My mistake. I was deleting the rejected efile and then creating a new one. You leave it in place and the new efile will delete the rejected one.

After recreating an efile in order to generate a new SID I find ATX reissuing the same number which generates the same reject code namely duplicate SID number. Anyone else having this problem?