Gail in Virginia

That was easy enough. Nice when someone says the survey only takes a few minutes, and it really does!

My son used to reverse his phone to white letters on black screen when he was at the movies so that he could text without the light from the phone disturbing other people. I don't think he did it to save battery life, but maybe.

If anyone ever caught my grandmother talking to her self, and said something to her about it, she just smiled and said "I love to hear a wise woman speak."

This year we won't be dancing until after April 18. Tax season just gets longer and longer.

I am a big believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it. All of our work computers are on Win 7 and it works. I ain't messing with it. Especially right before tax season!

I work in Rocky Mount, VA and live in Wirtz. Both are in Franklin County - formerly known as the Moonshine Capital of the World and setting for the movie Lawless. And i would not count on the government putting us out of business. There are too many special interests involved. Even if someone manages to pass a tax program that is simple, straightforward and comprehensible, after a short vacation enough exceptions and loopholes will be passed to complicate it again and we will be back in business. At least that is my cynical expectation.

As long as I have the wisdom and grace to retire before I lose my ability to concentrate and retain new information, I will be happy. I think that point comes at different times for everyone, and if you are still enjoying what you do, and still able to do it well, why retire? Unless, of course, you have other responsibilities that are requiring your time or other adventures that you want to pursue!

Gee Thanks!

I may be wrong, but I thought to take the late election you had to have ACTED as though you were an S-corp for the entire year and just failed to make the election. If he did not pay himself a salary, he was not acting like he was incorporated.

Virginia started last year as an optional double check for identity theft. They are even worse to deal with than the IRS if a fraudulent return is filed and you are trying to get a refund for a legitimate return.

I'm "only" 56. Does that qualify as younger folks? I started doing this at 14. Took sometime off for college and a short career in banking/trust. Left banking when my job was consolidated to another city I did not want to live in. Stayed home with my son for a few years. Now I've been back since about 1997.

I was working for H&R Block in 1972 but only checking returns and making copies. Of course, my mother owned the business and I was in Junior High School (we still had a junior high then instead of a middle school.) But i have not worked continuously in the business. The first returns that I did were pencil and paper. Very thin paper with a special pencil because the copier was ammonia based and used special paper.

Marry Christmas, and may God bless us, every one!

I watch it on the radio every chance I get.

WOW! I miss those big dance numbers in movies today.

Thanks, Elrod!

First item: yes, the final 1040 is due 4/15/16. The Fiduciary Return, Form 1041, the return is due 3 and 1/2 months after the end of the year for the taxpayer. The year end is established the first time a return is filed. So regardless of what was done when the EIN was applied for, if you want the year end to be 11/30, you can file the first 1041 by March 15, 2017 showing a fiscal year of 12/1/15 through 11/30/16, and you should be fine. As far as the estate return goes, you are correct that a return is not required on an estate that small but there might be reasons to file one anyway to make certain elections about the estate. I am not an estate expert, so if someone else wants to chime in with additional information, please do.

It is my understanding that they are charging per company for e-filing. yes.

I switched to ProSeries after ATX had a major program change that gave network users fits. My understanding is that those particular problems have been fixed, but ProSeries is a superior program when it comes to handling multiple state returns. I also find their e-filing to work better for me - I am able to e-file amended returns using ProSeries which I never could do with ATX. The cost is quite a bit more than ATX unless you get a really good deal from them for switching like some of us did after the 2012 tax season. If you have any friends in the business, they will get a discount if you cite them as a referral. It doesn't help you, so if you don't know anyone that uses it, don't worry about having a referral.

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I cannot imagine the pain you are in, and certainly understand why you have lost heart for business. I will pray for you and your family.

Most of us have not had to worry about 179 limits for the past several years, but if the limit reverts back to $25,000 I will have to start with at least some of my clients who buy large equipment.

I wasn't on very long yesterday, but I did not get a notification once I moved away from ATX even though I okay-ed notifications. Maybe there is a delay, and the fact that I wasn't on very long had a bearing.

I use FireFox and I got the notification when I signed on to the site today. I accepted it for this site. If I get notifications when I am not on this site, I will let you know.

According to a paper published by M. J. Kotchen at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the most likely effect of DST is to cost us energy. Using data from Indiana when they changed over to DST statewide, residential energy use actually increased overall. From the paper published: We find that DST results in a 1% increase in residentialelectricity demand, and the effect is highly statistically significant. We also find that the effect is not constant through-out the DST period. In particular, DST causes the greatest increase in consumption later in the year, with October estimates ranging from an increase of 2% to nearly 4%. Consistent with Benjamin Franklin’s original conjecture, our simulation results show that DST saves on electricity used for illumination but increases electricity used for heating and cooling. Both the empirical and simulation results suggest that the latter effect is larger than the former. Moreover, we find that DST costs Indiana households an average of $3.29 per year in increased electricity bills, which aggregates to approximately $9 million for the entire state. Finally, the social costs in terms of increased pollution emissions range between $1.7 and $5.5 million per year. The entire text can be found at http://environment.yale.edu/kotchen/pubs/revDSTpaper.pdf Really makes it seem worthwhile to screw up our sleeping habits twice a year, doesn't it?