Lee B

ATX posted on their Blog the following post: ATX Version 13.4.3 – Server Update Not Required A server update is not required for version 13.4.3. The update only affected the client (application) portion of ATX and not the server. If you receive the following message on a Server Only installation, please click OK and disregard the message. Posted by Stephanie Bradford at 2:25 PM Labels: ATX, Installation, Software Releases So, this error message that some users with server installations were getting was totally incorrect and not the fault of the users.

Four posters on the ATX Board who have server installations are reporting that they cannot install the update on their servers because of an error message that says that a later version of the program is already installed. Another poster updated and now he can't save or close the corporate return he is currently working on.

I've had 3 "randomly selected" UI compliance audits in the last two years. Almost every payroll processing and payroll recordkeeping client has a workers compensation audit every year.

It's hard to answer without knowing what kind of entity is involved. Plus it's supposed to be FMV ???

In my state it is not always a piece of cake. I always have the auditor come to my office since I prepare the financial statements and process the payroll or do the payroll recordkeeping for almost all of my clients. In Oregon the auditor will review the cash disbursements records looking for payments to individuals, asking for documentation to see if they should have been classified as an employee. They will also ask for documentation on all independent contractors reported on 1099s to see if they were really independent contractors. The last UI audit I had took almost 4 hours and the auditor proposed an adjustment for some payments to a independent contractor reported on a 1099 because my clients documentation was somewhat weak. The audit drug on for over 6 weeks as I emailed the auditor more information as my client passed it on to me. In my state if a tax return only client asked me to take care of a UI audit I would have to say NO !

Some practitioners in this situation, just plug in the net fundraising income and move on. Not saying it's the right thing to do, but it's seems to be done that way quite a bit.

I've done this in the past because of this exact same situation

I would suggest two possibilities: 1. Capitalize the 2012 interest and add it to the depreciable basis of the equipment or 2. Consider the interest to be a start up expense and deduct or amortize accordingly. It will be interesting to see what others think.

Yesterday I received an email from one of my clients, who owns a bar. One of his bartenders said she wanted to be paid back for all the excess SS withheld from all of her 2013 paychecks because Turbo Tax said her W -2 was incorrect. She hadn't input her Tip Income in Box 7. LOL

i agree, there seem to be quite a few new users on the ATX board who haven't read the directions. Almost all of the tech knowledgeable posters have changed software or they not posting on the board anymore . The longtime users who still post on the ATX Board seem to be split between tech challenged posters who are having lots of problems and users like me with very few problems who post once in awhile. The main reason I still go to the ATX Board is to try to keep up to speed with any new arising software problems, although I must admit I haven't had any of those problems last year or this year.

Household employee wages under $1,800 not required to be reported on a W -2 are reported there with a code "HSH".

Margaret, I wasn't trying to give you a step by step how to do it list. 1. Form 982 is used to reduce the original basis in the Condo, no effect on depreciation & accumulated depreciation. 2. The number on Line 2 & 4 are usually the same. 2. Once Form 982 is complete input the sale, including the 1245 assets thru Form 4797 that exact same way you would if the 1098 Cs didn't exist, except that the original basis of the condo has now been reduced by $87,881. I had to go back and look at a 2011 return to refresh my memory. I hope I've made it clear enough

File the 1099 - INT. There will a one month late filing penalty. But that will protect your client from a much larger penalty for not filing at all. From a small sample over the years, whatever computer matching the IRS may do seems to concentrated on the recipient not on the payor, but that's not much comfort if your client's the one that receives the penalty.

Actually I had fairly similar scenario several years ago. At the start I got distracted with form 982 and all that stuff. Really it will turn out quite nicely, since it's rental property, the 1099 C s reduce basis, in my case the taxpayer still ended up with a deductible capital loss. I didn't try to add up all your numbers and I didn't see any closing costs mentioned. Ballparking it, it looks like you are in the area ranging from a small capital gain to a small capital loss. An added clarification, you do end up using Form 982 to reduce the basis in the condo by the total amount of debt cancellation on line 4. Then you enter the relevant sale numbers using the reduced basis just like you would if the debt cancellation never happened.

Thanks Margaret, The second time it updated all the way. Note: The first time the Install Wizard never appeared.

I just ran the 13.4.2 update from within the program. As far as I could tell everything about the installation was fine and i followed the instructions and restarted the program. When I opened the program the update button turned "red". I checked the program version and it's still 13.3.0.2 Any input from someone who has run into this ? Win 7 Pro standalone with 8 Gig of RAM. Absolutely no problems with 13.3 up to now Thought about downloading and installing the update from outside the program but I think I will wait for some input. Thanks, Lee Barckert

In this situation, I just ask the client to obtain the necessary information. Never had a problem.

There's a thread about this on the ATX Board. A user was told by support that this was "Server Install " issue ?

It's another expansion of the Lawyer & Accountant's Retirement Act.

These setting are options at the bottom of the balance sheet page for each corporate return. The book/tax differences are a separate schedule which have always worked for me. Not aware of any program differences between PRS and MAX

In 20 years, I can honestly say that I have never had this specific issue happen. I have certainly had other strange issues pop up, but not this one.

I've been using ATX for about 15 years. I just finished a mid sized corporate return and everything went smoothly. The only minor issue that I've had is opening the program. Since I've been going to the Admin Consul to make sure that all the component parts of the program are loaded before I click on the ATX icon, even that is working fine. For me this year the program is working the best since 2010. I really didn't like the 2011 Print Manager. Standalone Win 7 Pro with 8 Gig of Ram and I am only using this computer for ATX, no other programs, nothing running in the background.

I have been an accountant in Oregon since 1976. Oregon was the first state to require the licensing of all tax preparers in 1973. The only exceptions are for CPAs and Attorneys. Enrolled Agents are not exempt from the license requirements and the last several years the Oregon Tax Examiners Board and Oregon EA Society have been butting heads over similar issues. So far the Tax Examiners Board has prevailed.The IRS attempt to make the RTRP mandatory was the first time that the IRS stepped into this area. I haven't followed these issues closely, but I recall that the IRS did not try to override the state regulatory agencies which already existed. With a little research, I am sure I could come up with a long list of Oregon tax preparation rules that would upset a lot of preparers in other states. After 40 years, in Oregon it's just part of the process of preparing tax returns.

I had an adware infestation on my laptop (mostly personal use) about 6 months ago. It prevented me from downloading any program to remove it, including Malwarebytes. I had to take it to my tech to get it removed. I found out later that malwarebytes has a download special option available for just this situation.

by S. Miguel Reyna, CPA On Sept. 13, 2013, the IRS released final regulations providing guidance on the deduction and capitalization of expenditures in acquiring, producing, and maintaining or repairing tangible property (T.D. 9636). The new rules, commonly called the repair regulations, replace previously issued temporary regulations and attempt to clarify Sec. 263(a), which requires the capitalization of the amount paid to acquire, produce, or improve tangible property; and Sec. 162(a), which allows deduction of ordinary and business expenses. The final regulations are generally effective for tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2014. Taxpayers may generally apply the provisions to tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2012, although some of the provisions can only be applied to expenses paid or incurred in tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2014. Following are a few highlights of the repair regulations. General capitalization As a general rule, all costs that facilitate the acquisition or production of real or personal property must be capitalized except for employee compensation and overhead costs. Under final regulations, a taxpayer must capitalize amounts paid to acquire or produce a unit of property (UOP) unless the expense qualifies as a material or supply or the de minimis safe harbor election applies. This includes leasehold improvements, land and land improvements, buildings, machinery and equipment, and furniture and fixtures. The amounts paid to acquire or produce a unit of real or personal property include the invoice price and transaction costs. Repairs and maintenance In general, under the safe-harbor election for routine maintenance, a taxpayer may deduct amounts paid for repairs and maintenance to property other than a building or the structural components of a building if the activities occur more than once during the useful life of the unit of property and the amounts paid are not otherwise required to be capitalized, such as betterments, restorations, and adaptations to a new or different use. The final regulations extend the concept of the routine maintenance safe harbor introduced by the 2011 temporary regulations to buildings. This includes the recurring activities that a taxpayer expects to perform as a result of its use of the building to keep the building structure or system in its ordinarily efficient operating condition. The taxpayer must reasonably expect to perform the activities more than once during a 10-year period beginning at the time the building structure or building system is placed in service. Materials and supplies The final regulations expand the definition of materials and supplies to include property that has an acquisition or production cost of $200 or less, clarify application of the optional method of accounting for rotable and temporary spare parts, and simplify the application of the de minimis safe harbor of Regs. Sec. 1.263(a)-1(f) to include materials and supplies. De minimis safe harbor An alternative to the general capitalization rule is the de minimis safe-harbor election, which allows businesses to elect to expense qualifying expenses such as amounts paid to acquire or produce any eligible unit of property or any eligible materials and supplies. A taxpayer is eligible for the de minimis safe-harbor election if the taxpayer meets all three of the following: At the beginning of the year the taxpayer has written accounting procedures opting to expense for nontax purposes, such as book financials, amounts paid for property costing less than a specified dollar amount or acquisitions with an economic useful life of 12 months or less. The taxpayer treats the amount paid for the property as an expense on its applicable financial statements (AFSs) if it has AFSs or on its books and records if it does not. The taxpayer has an AFS and the amount paid for the property does not exceed $5,000 per invoice. If the taxpayer does not have an AFS, the amount cannot exceed $500. It should be noted that the $5,000/$500 limit is a safe harbor rather than an absolute limit. It is not intended that IRS examining agents must revise the taxpayers’ materiality thresholds in accordance with the de minimis safe-harbor limitations. Therefore, if examining agents and a taxpayer agree that certain amounts in excess of the de minimis safe-harbor limitations are not material or otherwise should not be subject to review, that agreement should be respected despite the requirements of the de minimis safe harbor. However, a taxpayer that tries to deduct amounts in excess of the amount allowed by the safe harbor has the burden of showing that such treatment clearly reflects income. Property ineligible for de minimis safe harbor election includes: Property that is or is intended to be included in inventory; Land; Rotable, temporary, and standby emergency spare parts that the taxpayer elects to capitalize and depreciate; and Rotable and temporary spare parts that the taxpayer accounts for under the optional method of accounting for rotable parts. The de minimis safe-harbor election is made by attaching a statement to the taxpayer’s timely filed federal tax return including extensions. The statement must be titled “Section 1.263(a)–1(f) de minimis safe harbor election” and include the taxpayer’s name, address, taxpayer identification number (TIN), and a statement that the taxpayer is making the de minimis safe-harbor election. Editor’s note: This column provides a snapshot look at some aspects of the repair regulations. Topics not covered include: Disposals of MACRS property; Costs to investigate and pursue the purchase of real property; Expenditures for property on which a casualty loss has been deducted; Costs subject to capitalization under Sec. 263A; Regulatory accounting methods; and Costs paid to facilitate the sale of property