Lee B

"Users of tax preparation websites in seven states have filed a class action lawsuit against Google, claiming it engaged in wiretapping, following a similar complaint against Meta. The complaint alleges tax prep companies like H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer sent private tax return information to Google using Google Analytics technology, which may include email addresses, data on users' income, filing status, refund amounts, buttons clicked and year of return."

Earlier you implied that the owner has been funding losses for decades. If so how would they be able to repay the $25,000?

Whether or not they are lying, a total reconstruction is almost impossible. If you are going to take on a client like this, the best you can do is nail down all the balance sheet accounts and move forward.

If it was my client, first I would nail down all the balance sheet accounts as of last year end to the best of my ability. I would use a 3115 to correct the vehicle depreciation, then remove the vehicle from the balance sheet at the original cost. Then the remaining loan balance as of last year end should be reclassified to APIC. Good Luck, you have a lot of work ahead of you.

I have never been impressed with TripAdvisor since they got caught multiple times suppressing negative reviews. I do think it sends a message about the strategic thinking of Cinven since private equity investments firms usually expect their investment to be returned in 5 to 7 years.

Yes, there seems to be an ongoing stream of Audit Firms getting fined for substandard work.

Can the client provide any financial statements or a trial balance for any of the years? What information did the client provide every year to whomever prepared the tax returns? Can the client go back to the prior tax preparer and obtain complete tax returns?

"Unlike Form 8938, the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is not filed with the IRS. It must be filed directly with the office of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, separate from the IRS.Sep 28, 2022"

II clicked on the link. It says overtime pay exceeding 40 hours in a week for a full time employee will be exempt form withholding and from Alabama Income Tax. It doesn't say overtime premium? Very strange law.

I agree, the most enjoyable part of my work is the monthly small business accounting tasks, second is payroll. For me tax preparation is a necessary evil, which probably explains why I don't do any estate and trust related work.

"Drake Software ("Drake" or the "Company"), a provider of comprehensive professional tax preparation software, today announced that Dermot Halpin has joined as Executive Chair. The appointment follows the completion of the acquisition of TaxAct, a leading provider of digital, do-it-yourself ("DIY") tax filing assistance software and services, and the combination of TaxAct with Drake under a single holding company. Mr. Halpin brings significant leadership experience building and scaling high-growth consumer marketplace platforms. Throughout his career he has led businesses operating worldwide, and previously held senior leadership positions including President of Attractions and Vacation Rentals at TripAdvisor and President of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Expedia. He currently serves as a non-executive Director at Datalex. Datalex is a public software developer headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. It works mostly with airlines to develop travel software, such as booking websites." So the Executive Chair of Taxwell previously held executive leadership positions at Trip Advisor, Expedia and an airline travel software developer

"Headquartered in Franklin, North Carolina, Taxwell (formerly Drake Software) is a leading provider of tax preparation software to both professional tax preparers and individual Digital Do-It-Yourself (DIY) filers. The Company provides the tools and resources that users need to build their businesses and properly file federal, state and local taxes across the country. Taxwell employs c. 1,000 people across its Franklin, NC headquarters as well as in Dallas, TX, and Cedar Rapids, IA. More than 90,000 tax professionals and 3 million DIY tax filers throughout the US use Taxwell annually, and each year the company processes millions of federal and state-accepted returns." Taxwell is the parent holding company for Drake and TaxAct set up by the European private equity firm Cinven. Supposedly, Drake and TaxAct will operate as separate subsidiaries.

Oregon requires every one to licensed plus 30 hours of CPE every year. With the number of baby boomers retiring, we actually have a shortage of accountants and preparers. The national tax prep firms actually charge more than I do.

"The most common reason students didn't major in accounting is that they just didn't find it interesting — but very close to that is the ability to make more money faster in other fields, and the burden of the 150-credit-hour requirement." To be honest, when I was a staff auditor for Coopers & Lybrand, it was very boring!

Wow, my absolute lowest fee is $295.

I'm confused? Are these two different properties?

"The IRS is now providing this capability to an additional 51 notices and letters received from the IRS. These updated IRS notices and letters, which taxpayers will receive in the coming weeks, will include instructions that guide them to the appropriate upload tool."

In my experience, ending your payroll services at the end of the 3rd quarter would be easier. without the complications of year end reports. Margaret is right placing a higher priority on your own health allows you to deal with everything else.

You will have to check with ATX. The IRS and the SSA both have new higher level log in requirements. What I find very annoying is that your old user name/passwords (no matter how many years that you have been using them) have been discarded and no longer work. Do they really want more W 2s and 1099s paper filed?

"The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) is alerting more than four million individuals of a data breach that impacted their personal and health information. Colorado HCPF is a state government agency that manages the Health First Colorado (Medicaid) and Child Health Plan Plus programs, and provides support for low-income families, the elderly, and citizens with disabilities. The data breach was possible after Clop ransomware exploited the MOVEit Transfer zero-day (CVE-2023-34362) in a hacking campaign that impacted hundreds of organizations worldwide. HCPF clarifies that while their systems weren't directly compromised, the data exposure occurred through IBM, their contractor, which utilized the MOVEit software. The investigation revealed that the threat actors managed to access and likely exfiltrated files that contained certain Health First Colorado and CHP+ members' information, including: Full names Social Security Numbers (SSNs) Medicaid ID number Medicare ID number Date of Birth Home address Contact information Income information Demographic data Clinical data (diagnosis, lab results, treatment, medication) Health insurance information." Now it's 6 weeks later and they're just getting around to acknowledging the breach and notifying 4 million people.

"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like and do what you'd rather not."

It's the way the law was written, to avoid "Double Dipping"

"Effective January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) will require certain types of companies, both domestic and foreign, that do business in the United States to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). BOI reports will require reporting companies to identify the entity, company applicants, and its beneficial owners that control at least 25% of the ownership interest including name, birthdate, address, and an image of an acceptable identification document." An image of an acceptable identification document. I think I will inform my clients of the requirements and make my services available for an additional fee.

I would just adjust the basis worksheet. In Drake there lines for other increase and other decreases.

What is your point? That's not available with the IRS except via snail mail!