ETax847

When deducting the home office for a W2 employee, are the expenses associated with setting up the office deductible as well? Ie, desk, chairs, supplies, printer, etc?

This water mark appears even though I have selected e-file. I don't paper file any returns anymore. Thanks for the tips!

Currently prints a watermark that says "Not approved for paper filing" Does anyone have any idea when this state will update their forms? This is not the case with other state returns.

That's the argument my client tried to present to me.

Deductible in the sense of a charity contribution

Is the cost of pet adoption tax deductible? Silly question, but I wanted to confirm

In years past the software had problems with the following 2 things:

1) MFJ vs MFS calculation, for some reason it was never calculated correctly, has this been fixed?

2) Do multistate returns now flow into one another or is it still a manual process?

I believe the amount needs to be reported on sch 8606 though, so it leads me to believe the deadline without having to amend the return is the earlier of either the filing date of the return or April 15?

Is the deadline to make a 2013 IRA contribution the EARLIER of when the 2013 tax return is file or April 15th, 2014?

Much appreciated. Thanks for the timely response.

A client of mine has moved overseas in 2013. For his 2013 return, he will have some foreign income. Is this additional element easy to pick up on or am I better off outsourcing this?

Thanks

Thanks guys! Your feedback provided a good place to start.

Is it too late for a client to fund a Roth IRA for 2013 via the backdoor conversion method?

I see the error in my ways. Sure glad you guys were able to answer my questions. That's why I love this forum. No one is quick to criticize and everyone is extremely helpful. Thanks to all who responded.

Just read this article and was completely blown away.

Being a CPA, in a big market city, I think I set my fees way to low based on the following.

http://taxes.about.com/od/findataxpreparer/a/prices.htm

Average Prices for Tax Preparation Fees

The National Society of Accountants in their 2013 fee study reports the following average prices charged by their members:

• Average for 1040 with Schedule A and state return: $261
• Average for 1040 with state return with no itemized deductions: $152

Average Prices at Franchised Tax Offices

• H&R Block: $198 per return (average, 2013 data)
• Liberty Tax Service: $180 per return (average, 2013 data)

I came across this (client is a real estate agent that is 1099'd from her employer and owns 2 rental properties) Based on the following, Im led to believe client would qualify

However, if you are in a real estate activity type profession, such as a real estate agent, then you will qualify as long as you own 5% or more of the business that is paying you. Don't let this confuse you if you are a real estate agent. You are most likely paid as an independent contractor. That independent contractor income IS your business.

However, if you are paid as an employee of a real estate agency and do not own a minimum of 5% of the company, then you will not qualify under this provision. First, you will need to understand what real estate activities actually are. A qualified real estate activity is any thing in which you "develop, redevelop, construct, reconstruct, acquire, convert, rent, operate, manage, lease, or sell" real estate.

Remember that the key is that you perform personal services in these activities, but you don't necessarily have to be the one performing the work. You can be supervising, meeting, planning--all of the activities that go into truly running a business.

Read more: http://www.creonline.com/irs-definitions-real-estate-investors-part-1.html#ixzz2oKbYVKzF

Does a real estate broker count as a real estate professional for deducting rental income losses?

Making the tax organizers was a very manual process. I found the customer support line to be of no help as well.

Wow, I always thought my fees were low and this confirms it. Thanks for sharing

Very skeptical myself as this should have been addressed prior to them working on the 2013 software. As noted in a different post, some people still use the tax organizers and to not have them ready this close to tax season is extremely disappointing to say the least.

3) Also, the appointment date and time does not roll into the letter

Extremely disappointed ATX didnt resolve these issues before moving on to the 2013 software. For current users this is a major inconvenience.

Do any ATX users have any fixes for the following:

1) Organizer Letter does not pull in the year, but instead shows the hyperlinks [Federal Next Year or Return)

2) Engagement Letter still reads 2012 NOT 2013, not sure what the fix is.

Thanks

Just curious as to whether fellow tax preparers send out their Tax Organizers to clients in December or January of next year?

Thanks Joel! That did the trick

Does anyone know how to import their 2012 billing rates in the 2013 software? I assumed they would have rolled over, but that does not seem to be the case.