Gail in Virginia

Considering that most taxing authorities, if not all, won't even accept credit cards unless you go through a service that allows them to have the fee taken from the payer rather than the payee, I don't understand why they are accepting the risk of the market fluctuation on virtual currency. 

Very interesting discussion.  Thanks!

Working on it but this is not my favorite client - poor organizational skills when it comes to their own company's records. 

I guess we use a combination of Lynn and Sara's methods.  We do have a sheet that we fill out for each client when they bring in their return.  Mostly this is a way to verify name, address, changes to dependents or filing status, and any other questions that I feel every client should be asked either every year or in relation to that particular year.  It also has a place to indicate the fee for the return, refund/balance due for the return, when the client was called to pick up the return, when they picked it up and when it was paid for among other internal information. Hopefully whoever takes the return in also has access to ProSeries and can roll the return over so that we have a record of when it came in; then the preparer can update the client status to in progress, need information, sent to review, done, ready to e-file and complete.  Mostly it works well, but occasionally when we are reviewing for extension someone gets missed.  Usually, it is someone who has not brought their information in at all but always gets an extension and expects me just to know that. 

I have a client that we first prepared a return for 2019.  The copy of the 2018 return was an 1120S, and showed a "date of incorporation" of 2017.  We filed 1120S for 2019 and 2020, and have an extension to do an 1120S for 2021.  Client got a letter for 2019 return, and for 2020  and 2021 form 7004 stating that as an LLC they should be filing a 1065 unless they make election to be taxed as S, and that they time for relief has passed unless they apply for a private letter ruling.  (i hope this is clear in spite of trying to shorten to provide just the gist.)

My question is to wonder why they would not have gotten a letter for the 2018 return.  I have not seen a copy of the 2017 return so I don't know what was done then, but I am wondering with the shape the IRS is in how likely it is that the 2018 return was correct and sometime between now and then the IRS "lost" the election that was accepted earlier.  I am not wanting to re-do the 2019 and 2020 returns, for the business and the owners.  But I may not have a choice unless we go the PLR route.  I have not looked at what that will cost yet. 

Of all the exams to cheat on....

I believe the requirement states Gross Income over $27,800 for them for a federal return.  I would consider that they are required to file.  However, if they did not, there would most likely be no consequences assuming basis was reported for all of the income from their stock sales. 

Is correcting the address one of the things they can do online if they set up a verified account with IRS?

3 hours ago, TAXMAN said:

Their in lies the problem. FMV cannot be determined (with reasonable accuracy) except for what local basket maker could only tell family what it would be take to make another one.(66 hrs @ $50.00)=3300.00.

I think the hours to make times some hourly wage factor would be replacement cost, not necessarily fair market value.  Is the museum that they will donate the item to going to insure it?  How will they determine the value for insurance purposes?  I know more standardized baskets made by a certain company now out of business are not worth as much they once were in my area, BUT this is a one of a kind item and I have no idea how to establish a value unless you can find an appraiser that specializes in unique items of this type, and for an extra couple of thousand dollars in deduction, would it be worth the cost of the appraisal? 

I thought maybe they were making butter, or ice cream, and the sheep was doing the churning for them. 

I think that unless the child was claimed as a dependent on the parents' return, you do have to enter the 1095A as received, and then indicate that the % allocated to this return is 0.  I think -- I have not had one of these that wasn't a dependent for several years now. 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=android+phone&_sacat=0&_sop=15

This is the page I was looking at - I don't know if you can get there through this link, and the first one listed doesn't seem like any kind of deal to me. 

Have you looked on eBay?  I put in android phone and sorted from lowest price, and got some that were a couple bucks for the phone and ten dollars for shipping.  You might find something that will work for you from there. 

I have never used a trakPhone, but I am wondering if some pay as you go phone like that will work over Wi-Fi so that you don't need a phone plan if you are only going to use the phone in the office? 

Around here I am not competing with TurboTax as much as other preparers who seem to do this as a hobby based on their prices.  One of the preparers in the area retired and I picked up some of her clients..  She did a farm return with about 20 items of depreciation, a W2, some bank interest and dividends, for $125.  I cannot, and will not price a return like that as cheap as that.  But that is the price that I am compared to. 

17 hours ago, Yardley CPA said:

I guess preparers are less inclined to share rates, and that's fine.  I have no problem declaring what my minimum is.

In my post I indicated that some firms charge a minimum of $350 in my area.  That's not coming from the internet, that's coming from colleagues who are also in practice and shared what their firms charge.  I completely understand that some preparers/firms have high overhead and that impacts their rates.  

In any event, thanks for those who chimed in but didn't share any pricing info.  

I did not share fees because I am inclined to think that what I charge in rural Virginia would be a far cry from what you charge in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  I price by the form, and a basic 1040 with a w2 and no itemized deductions or earned income credit would be $85.  Most returns are not basic any more, so prices typically start at $100 and go up from there.  A family with each spouse working, and two children (no EIC, but with CTC), and standard deduction, savings interest and no investments to report would probably run around $125.  I find it difficult to articulate the price of a tax return, but a $200 or $300 return is not uncommon.  Some of the returns that I see from other preparers make my prices look high for this area but I am okay with that.  I have been trying to inch my prices up, and did do a more major increase this year since Virginia has raised their minimum wage and my cost for someone to help with filing, copying and answering the phone went up accordingly. 

I do payroll for some small companies and have always given them paper 941's to file.  I have had several of them receive requests stating their form was received for third quarter but was not available to IRS, please resubmit.  So I am reasonably sure that 941's were among the forms destroyed. 

2 hours ago, cbslee said:

Judy,

Join the crowd, you are in extremely good company

Or at least a lot of it! 

I wonder if the full name on the caller ID would be State of Oregon Correctional System, or some such?

I don't think that you can.  But I cannot provide a site to back this up - I am just basing it on my (limited!) understanding of what an MEC is. 

Very scary!  I am glad your office was safe!

Wow! I am glad my imagination isn't good enough to truly picture what those agents saw and how it affected them.  They deserve a medal.  And out deepest thanks.

I have ProSeries networked, with three users, unlimited efile, unlimited states, 1040, 1120, 1120S, 1065, 706, 1041, and 990.  I don't remember the exact price but when I changed it was not a lot higher than ATX. 

I have been doing taxes off and on since 1972.  Stopped for college, and to work in banking for a while (ended up in employee benefit plan administration with a trust company, so still compliance with IRS!) before returning to tax work part time.  Never wanted to be a self employed tax professional but here I am.  the more due diligence requirements are place on preparers and the less responsibility on clients, the less I want to do this.  I wont take a client whose information is unreasonable on the face of it, but I don't want to face penalties because i did not give them the third degree about the information they gave me.  Retirement looks better all the time.  Or at least changing to only doing tax returns for people I like and taking the rest of the year off. 

If i am understanding it, the entire amount of gain on the installment sale will be recognized this year because the installment sale has been converted to a regular promissory note.  Principal and interest will continue to be paid, but only the interest will be recognized as taxable income going forward.  That way the heirs will not have an installment sale to deal with, just interest income on the note.