Christian

It looks as if your point ATX Anonymous may be spot on. I noticed this morning that the speed of opening returns is improving after the 12.15 upgrade. For those of us having smaller client bases the program will likely be adequate for 2014. I priced Pro Series this am and their price is almost double what ATX is quoting.

I use ATX in a stand alone situation that is to say on a single computer. Client returns open very slowly but most of their other issues have been resolved although the depreciation module is sorta difficult to use.

I talked with their sales rep today and was given the usual 10% early discount offer. My software using the 64 bit Windows 7 program is slow but serviceable. I am unable to find a competing software vendor who comes close to matching the ATX price for my 1040 program. I considered Intuits Pro Series only to find they have raised their price some $200 on the package I was considering. Drake's prices have always been much higher so I rarely check anymore. I note some of you got a deal from Pro Series but I have no way of looking into that so I will likely stay put.

Thanks. I use the Practitioner Priority Service. I'll give them a ring.

Thanks KC. I noted I could find no Where's My Refund for 1041s. What number should I call in regards to this. I rarely do 1041s and cannot recall getting a refund back from any filed as the account balances were fully distributed to heirs with this exception.

A client's son died last year. He left a 401-k account with his mother as beneficiary. She died two years before him leaving his dad as sole heir. The father created an estate account into which the 401-k fiduciary deposited the funds minus tax withheld. I prepared a Form 1041 for the father requesting refund of the tax withheld and added the total 401-k account to the father's personal return which meant he paid the tax required. The 1041 was filed in February but no refund has been received from the IRS although the state has refunded their tax withheld. Is this a usual amount of time to pass before the Service refunds this money?

Well my brethren 2014 will be an interesting tax season !

It's my understanding that self insured folks will receive a 1099 of some sort from their carrier which will certify their coverage. Individuals covered by their employer would be exempt from any penalties as well as medicare covered individuals. I see no problem unless the person can evidence no coverage. I rather suspect the feds will want to tax all those huge employer covered benefits but that's a fight for another day.

Under the ACA taxes are imposed for failure to comply. Does anyone know in which year we will begin adding these on our tax forms?

Backup to cds was working until the 12.12 update. This works great if I can keep track of this tiny drive. It apparently has enough storage for several years of my files and can be erased as well. I am an old dog but I can learn new tricks. Now if I can just remember where I put the darn thing.

ATX tech support advised that the program no longer supports exporting files to cds. Would have been helpful if they had put this out somewhere. So I whipped out my trusty flash drive and zip off they went. The tech support person sounded kind of droopy. I cannot imagine why.

I have pretty much decided to remain with ATX for 2014. Admittedly this has been a terrible year. As they are committed to remaining in the professional software business they will have to bring this product up to snuff or get out of this business. My program is still slower than it needs to be but having a small practice it is not a determining factor and it is improving as time goes on. They have until December to debug their product and judging by more recent developments they are getting there albeit slowly. Having fired a number of their top brass it is likely they will bring in a new team to clean up this mess. Assuming they don't attempt to pass the costs of this year's debacle on to us I will likely go with them for 2014. On the other hand if they jack up the price I have attractive pricing alternatives.

I'll give it a try. I assume it will export marked files to the desktop file. It was working great until 12.12.

And i too am glad Virginia deadline is May 1st. They'll get mine on that date.

It is heart wrenching to consider that avalanche (mine is one) descending on the IRS at this time.

In a normal year ATX sends out a preseason special on their software. I note that some of you have gotten phone calls from your salesperson at ATX. I have not seen or heard a peep and am wondering what they will be doing. My program never got back to the performance of the earlier versions. Even now i cannot export my files to a cd for offsite storage. As soon as I can reach tech support in under thirty minutes I'll attempt to get that resolved. Would appreciate any input.

Well , the cherry tree at my kitchen window is in full gorgeous bloom. A pair of bluebirds have taken over the box under the tree and the wrens have taken over their's on the front porch. Yes, spring has arrived and with it April 15th ! And those few very late comers are just gonna have to wait !

ATX assigns efile forms on rollover from the previous year automatically to clients who file by mail. Does anyone know of a preference setting to eliminate this ?

I had a widow come in whose husband had handled all their finance matters. When she came in I noted she was carrying a small SUITCASE. As she set down I inquired what was in it and in attempting to open it all the contents utility bills, phone bills , bank statements , and whatever spilled out all over my office floor. I spent more time picking these up than in preparing her return ! Another elderly widow spent six months arguing with the Department of Taxation over a penalty assessment of $8.00 for underpayment of state income tax !

I am good at anytime.

Gee now I am reluctant to post it.

How do y'all get your pic on your profile?

Thanks for responding Joan. I have pulled this stunt before and tech had to come to my rescue. I locked myself out of my program but the panic attack is over. I forgot the login is case sensitive and omitted a capital letter. It's been a l - o - n - g day working on a difficult return. I will be glad to see April 15th.

I have done it again. In changing the password on the login screen I have locked myself out. Tech support has walked me through unblocking the login but of course they are gone till Monday. If anyone knows how to do this I will gladly provide my phone number and pay for the call.

A client received a Form 1098-T for a class he signed up for in 2012. Although he registered for the class he later dropped it in the required time and received a full refund of his tuition fee. On the form his tuition fee is reported in box 2. His refund is reported in box 4 as an adjustment for a PRIOR year instead of being reported as a refund of a fee paid in 2012. Basically it's a wash and I will not deduct the tuition expense. What concerns me is their reporting it as an adjustment made for a prior year which may cause problems down the line. Any comments would be appreciated.