Lee B

For a fairly extensive list of what sites were or weren't affected by "Heartbleed" click on this link http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartbleed-bug-websites-affected/

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft says a security gap in Internet Explorer could allow an attacker to take complete control of a computer if the user clicks on a link to a malicious website. The vulnerability affects versions 6 through 11 of the Web browser. Microsoft Corp. said Saturday that it was aware of "limited, targeted attacks" that tried to exploit the security gap. The company is working on a safety fix which it will provide in an upcoming software update. In the meantime, Microsoft encourages customers to enable a firewall, apply all software updates and install anti-malware software. I prefer Firefox with Google Chrome as a backup.

I will wait until the last minute before I renew. Their discount isn't enough to renew early.

I haven't received anything

I think we should start a top ten list of ways to avoid an IRS Audit. I will submit mine later after thinking about it some more.

According to the latest numbers 30 % of all business and governmental computers are still running on XP.

I just received a call from ATX support. While the she did not know whether or not ATX used OPEN SSL, she said that the ATX tech staff have been testing all of their sites and so far they had found any risks to be concerned about and everything was OK.

I have asked ATX for an official response to whether our and our clients information is exposed to Heartbleed and whether or not ATX uses OPEN SSL. I encourage all of you to ask your tax software provider that question. (Hundreds of thousands of websites are currently using OPEN SSL)

This is old news. The new today says that the SSA has pulled back from doing most of this stuff.

There have been conflicting Circuit Court decisons on the legal fees, so it's going to depend on which Circuit your taxpayer lives in.

All Congress has to do is change the law to allow the IRS to crossmatch the tax return info with the bank account info and a big chunk of the fraud would go away. We have a bunch of leglislators who like to tell the voters about how they're protecting them from the BAD IRS !

Since the last update fixed the sever retry issue for me, I don't have any real issues. Can't open multiple returns, not a big deal for me. A bit of hesitation on worksheet data entry, but way better than last year. The Print Manager is so much better than last year. The Education Credit is annoying but workable once you get used to it. I agree, the Home Office Worksheet is a design failure. Last year, other than dealing with the slowness of opening the program, opening returns and loading forms to print, ATX 2012 worked OK for me.

Actually a number of large corporations, including I believe Walmart have arranged for complicated expensive surgeries to be done overseas i.e. India & Thailand and if the employee agrees then they pick up100 % of the cost

My system has been fairly quick and hasn't slowed down yet. Win7 Pro standalone with 8 Gig of Ram and nothing else on the system except what is absolutely necessary to run ATX. I have noticed a slight hesitation between fields on rental entry worksheets.

Good Ideas Thanks,

ATX has announced a 13.5.1 update but no time scheduled for release If you click on "Blog", it's the first post.

Update from ATX from Stephanie B CCH SFS Customer Care we do not advise you to uninstall the update. We plan to have this resolved in 24 hours.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014 The ATX tax and FAM 13.5 updates have been removed We have removed the ATX tax and FAM 13.5 updates while we investigate an issue related to opening returns that were marked complete in 2012 and rolled over into 2013. Our Development Team is working diligently on a resolution, and we will release more information as soon as it is available. If you have returns that will not open after installing 13.5, please take no action on those returns until we post a resolution. Thank you for your patience. Posted by Stephanie Bradford at 2:46 PM

I have an elderly client who owns a Time Share in Palm Springs. She doesn't travel much any more so she doesn't use her week(s). Unfortunately, she is still paying annual fees of close to $ 1,000 per year. How to get out from under these fees? 1. Turn back the week(s) to the Time Share Company. Is this possible ? 2. Sell the Week(s) ? I know there are a number of shady operators asking for money up front. 3. Donate the week(s) to a charity. I heard this is possible, but I have also read that there are lots of scams out there, again asking for money up front? If anyone has successfully helped a client thru this, I would like some feedback. Thanks, Lee Barckert

Actually both of these issues were discussed during a tax update that I attended mid January. He is correct

Good question. I know I couldn't do it. For me it would be too easy to make a mistake.

Myself I would wait for a letter unless the client wants to amend after you have advised them that they should amend.

California FTB is probably the most agressive state revenue agency in the country. Be careful and make sure you have all your ducks lined up before you respond.

We have had tax preparer regulation in Oregon since 1973. Overall I think it's been good thing.

Strange, after I did the most recent program update on Friday, I did a forms update and 24 Forms updated on my system.