Gail in Virginia

I don't think that you are ever required to use Section 179 depreciation. You are required to use bonus depreciation if the equipment qualifies unless you make an election to not take bonus depreciation for all equipment in the same class (in other words, you can't pick and choose - if you don't want to take it on one piece of 5 year property, you can't take it on any 5 year property.) Basically I am not aware of any difference in treating farm property and property used in other businesses as far as section 179 and bonus depreciation.

I think that is an interesting question, but since it is not a number I have been tracking, it is not something I have the time to work up in January. Others may have it readily available. If you ask again, or bump this thread, after April 15, I would try to answer.

The mountains just west of me in Virginia have some temperatures in the - range. My son was home for winter break but sent him back last night to check the house and make sure the plumbing did not freeze. We are still on the + side here in Southwest Virginia where I live. It was 3 this morning.

" The real reason for this thread got lost in the mud pages ago. An ATX client was having the same problem with rollovers on a NEW computer that I had. Since Jack fixed my problem, I referred that post to Jack. I believe Jack contacted the poster directly and helped him. From then on bedlam ensued. I thought this was supposed to be a tax board wherein we could help each other with program and tax issues. In addition, there are friendly and conversational threads clearly marked; between some of us who have "known" each other for a long time. I don't care how you resolve these jump-in posts that clearly lead the thread astray. But, please do try to put an end to them. I am getting a headache." I thought before I commented on this thread, that maybe it would be better to start a new, more clearly labeled thread. Quite often, as this board is conversational in tone, the subject of the thread winds up far astray from the original posting. I expected that to lessen once we had a separate forum for political posts, but since the tone is conversational I don't think it will ever completely go away. Most of the time I don't have a problem with that, and I think that friendly tone is what makes it hard for newcomers and the moderators to judge what and when to shut down these random offshoots from the original thread. Many times, all that is necessary is to ignore the off-topic posts and make a post that gets the thread back on topic. I really don't want this board to lose the informality we have had in the past, but I also don't want to see it degenerate into just a few posters arguing back and forth over everything that is said. Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.

Same article I posted, but apparently Jack doesn't consider that to be "intercepted" because it is not intercepted at a server other than the first or last.

http://serverfault.com/questions/201479/does-anyone-have-real-life-examples-of-e-mail-being-intercepted This is an example, but not likely to be a problem in the settings we normally use since it is an “end point” hack using an unsecured wireless transmission, such as to or from a coffee shop or hotel wireless internet location. If you use a laptop for taxes and send emails regarding taxes from your hotel room or other such internet settings, this might be a problem. The only other example I am aware of is that of the NSA capturing emails both at home and abroad. I doubt a commercially available encryption program will stop the NSA if they really want to read your email.

Most likely I will go to the one near DC. Crowded, but usually a lot of good information for the money - if you can just remember anything after three days of sitting in lectures!

IMO, this would be investment interest to the shareholder since he/she borrowed money to invest buy stock. Therefore, I would put it on schedule A via form 4952.

I meant to go get some, but I forgot.

But that first post could be edited to be something totally innocuous. I have to admit though, that did not even occur to me until I read Pacun's post.

I am in business with my mother, who is now 80 years old and wants to slow down (go figure!) So I am going to be looking to hire someone at least part time to take over her workload. And while I may wind up going back to ATX, we are going to try ProSeries. I felt like I needed to decide before we heard anything from the Beta testers, so we could get ahead (HA!) of the learning curve. And I am finally planning to leave the country on vacation! If nothing happens to change my plans, I am going to Jamaica in May with a friend who is from there. For me, taking a vacation out of the country without my husband is pretty daring!

But this is not anything new - at least not in my town. Six or seven years ago, when my son was graduating from seeing a pediatrician to a regular GP, the first thing my doctors receptionist asked my when I asked if they were taking new patients was if he was on Medicare.

I might as well put in a plug for Virginia Tech (VPI). They also have an excellent engineering program, and play in the ACC conference - not great for football but a fantastic conference for basketball. Unfortunately, their mascot is the Hokie bird - basically a turkey.

Okay, I changed my display name to show my state and took if off the signature line. But KC, I am curious -my name is grayed. How did you get yours so dark?

But that sounds like they only place it on inactive status. If someone starts using it, whether or not authorized, they simply re-activiate it. I don't see how that would prevent the fraudulent use of your former EIN.

Even a link to where we could find details would be much appreciated. I don't need it today but I know in the course of events I will need this information.

I have Virginia as part of my signature to posts for that very reason

Marilyn, are you considering a side business selling e-file stickers? I used them as well until the IRS quit providing them. I liked reminding our clients that their return either was e-filed or could have been. I use the 2 pocket folders - one side for stuff to keep and one side for stuff to mail (if anything,) If nothing to mail, I put the privacy policy in that side. No one reads it, but I make sure they get it at least once, and usually two or three times!

Personally, I think that most of the time you can only get as much out of any type of training as you are willing to put in to it. No matter how engaging the speaker is, or how comprehensive and clearly presented the webinar is, if you don't make the effort to learn it is just a matter of "buying" CPE. We have a duty to our profession to be more involved in our own learning than that, regardless of the venue we choose to obtain our required credits.

I just logged onto the ATX board. I have not renewed for 2013, in fact we decided early on to try ProSeries this year. So far, though, I am not blocked from the board. Maybe we have just been overlooked for blocking. Jack's comments about ATX being designed to be a truly server based program have me questioning if we should have stuck it out another year, but we have already loaded the new soft ware, converted the returns and started working with the new program. So we will see what this season is like. But when you tried to log onto the ATX sponsored board, were you logging in as adminstrator? How long has it been since you changed your password - they have that 90 day rule, you know. Good luck.

I have 41 hours so far this year, up a bit from last year's 33 but down from the previous year's 63. So far, I take classes that I feel will benefit my practice and at least one update class, and always wind up having enough credits. Some years have better offerings close by than others.

That is why I buy every year of QuickBooks now. We did not used to, and I still recommend the three-year plan Jack describes for all if my clients.

We don't normally send organizers until January. That way people have started getting their informational statements from their employers and investments to use in completing the organizer. I usually try to send out a newsletter in December, with a pocket calendar enclosed. I have been waiting for the mileage rate to complete that.

I am glad that some people have experienced a rebate of the $9.95 fee, but although I called several times and was told that the fee would stop and would be reversed, it never was and they continued to charge it. So I put a stop to it by cancelling the agreement to take credit cards through them. Apparently, your mileage may vary.