Crackerjack

I let my clients choose whether they want to drop off, e-mail, or make an appointment. Except for new clients. I insist new clients come in for an appointment so I can establish a relationship with them. Then, the following year, they can drop off or e-mail as they prefer. I prepare returns during appointments if the return is simple enough. That way I can get the 8879 signed and my fee collected all in one sitting. If the return is more complex, I go over the information with them, ask my questions, and answer their questions. Some clients like to sit and talk. I charge them for all my time. They don't mind because they value my time and attention. Some people just need someone to listen to them. I do not mind because I charge by the hour. I sit with my old-fashioned clients by day and e-mail with the young sophisticated ones by night. It works great. Over the years, I have built wonderful relationships with my clients. Lots of them want to hug me when they come and when they go. I have a yellow page listing but I don't otherwise advertise because I am too busy serving the new clients brought in by word of mouth. Before I finalize a return, I always give the client a call to discuss the results and any ideas I have for additional deductions. At that time I finalize any details such as where they want their refunds deposited or where to set their quarterly payments for next year. Then I print the return, bill it, and give it to my clerical staff for processing. The client gets a call from my staff when the return is ready to sign and pick up, unless they beat us to the punch. Most clients love getting that second phone call from my staff. I do not hand out returns. I stay back in my office when the client comes in to pick up the return. I have found that handing out returns is a big time waster, because some clients think that after their return is signed and the bill paid, is a perfect time to engage me in a half-hour-long conversation. The clients don't need me when they pick up because they already talked to me about the results of their tax return. There are no surprises. They are just as happy to chat with my staff about whose uncle is related to whose sister, etc, at that point. We also give them candy. I keep the candy bowl on the reception counter filled at all times.

I told them they could get a second opinion if they want. They are going to talk it over.

Maybe you need to add form 8582?

That sounds like one unethical realtor. On my list is the lawyer who told the personal rep (my client) that the decedent's house was worth at least $90,000, but valued it on the Estate Inventory at $30,000, presumably to save probate filing fees. The estate sold the house for $90,000. Fortunately the $60,000 "gain" was excludible on the 1041 under code sec 121. This lawyer, by the way, never got an EIN for the estate and had the 1099-s issued to the personal rep's SSN. Client came to me to fix the lawyer's mess.

There is a check box for spouse somewhere on 8889, I think on one of the input sheets. (Don't have it in front of me at the moment.) You can actually have 2 8889's in a return, if each spouse has their own HSA.

A new client went to North Dakota and earned $93K working in the oil fields. He pays $800/month to park his travel trailer in a "man camp" out there. The job is a permanent job and he plans to stay there 3 years. He's already been there 13 months. Wife and kids stayed back here in Wisconsin. I had to tell him he could not deduct his mileage and housing in ND because of the one-year rule. Then to top it off, I had to tell him that he owed $4,000 to Wisconsin ($4,800 Wisconsin tax minus $800 credit for tax paid to North Dakota) because he hadn't taken sufficient steps to abandon his Wisconsin domicile and establish a new domicile in North Dakota. Plus, he really intends to return to Wisconsin. He had a little trouble understanding how his "tax home" could be different than his state of legal residence, especially since both rules are working against him. It's hard to deliver bad news. But I did the right thing, didn't I?

I hate brokers who convince my clients to do Roth conversions because "it will be good for your taxes." "Did the broker look at your tax return?" I ask. The answer is invariably "no." What I hate even more is my innocent client's banker, who walked her down the hall and threw her to these wolves.

My comment for improvement has to do with agency instructions. Pre-2012, you could right click on any line for any form and select instructions. Then a pdf of the IRS instructions would pop up and take you directly to the instruction for the line you clicked on. In 2012, you have to press F3 to get agency instructions. It takes you to the top of the instructions, then you have hunt through the whole instructions to find the line instruction you were looking for. This was a giant step backward. Thank you for listening to our suggestions.

I have a similar situation. The Dad deeded his farm to his daughter, reserving a life estate. Then he failed to file tax returns for at least 10 years. Then he died in a plane wreck. The probate attorney prepared 10 years of tax returns using 3rd party reporting (the only information available). Daughter received $50K in life insurance and his $40K 401(k). The only assets in the probate estate were personal property, which the daughter purchased from the estate. This enabled the estate to pay attorney fees, with $1800 left over to pay the IRS. The state of Wisconsin issued a closing certificate and did not take any collection action against the estate. The IRS issued a letter allowing the attorney to close the estate since funds were exhausted, but hinted that they may pursue transferee liability against the daughter. Several weeks later, an IRS agent showed up at the daughter's door. The daughter asked how much tax was due, and the agent said, "I'm not supposed to tell you that, but I can't help it if a piece of paper happens to fall on the ground." When daughter picked up the paper, it turned out to be a computer printout. Total tax due about $70K. Daughter came to me. We executed a POA and I wrote to the agent (who had given her business card to Daughter) asking the agent to include me on any correspondence. It's been over a month and we haven't heard anything. Do you think we will?

I hate it when they sit on the other side of the desk clutching all their 1099s and talking so you can't do anything but sit there. I clocked one client this year: 30 minutes before they would let me look at the first 1099. I could have had their tax return done by then.

I had some new clients about a month ago. I completed the return, quoted my bill, and sent them home with three things to do: find their new baby's social security number, have their landlord sign the rent certificate I filled out, and pay my bill. They've been in 3 times since then bothering my staff with a song and dance about the difficulty of finding the baby's social security number. The clients altered the rent certificate which says right on the top of the form that alterations void the certificate. It took 3 attempts to get a proper rent certificate out of these people. They changed the numbers so I had to change and reprint the tax return. At the interview, I explained their options for paying my fee. Every time they came in, my staff explained their options for paying their bill. Each time, they balked at Fee Collect because they didn't want to pay the $15 charge (which I pass on to my clients). Today they came in to pick up their tax return. They announced they had no money and wanted me to take my bill out of their refund. I had to change the tax return again to input the Fee Collect information and print out the form for them to sign, copy their drivers licenses, la la la. Of course, this was while I was working on someone else's return 3 days before the deadline, and my staff was busy as all get out, phone ringing constantly, etc. As the guy left, he said, "Boy you guys are busy. I hope someone gives you a break this weekend." My office manager said, "I wonder why he thinks it's someone else's job to give us a break?"

Thanks, I will check them out. I never thought I would have to switch from ATX....

I just had a former employee call me and tell me she had started her own practice. She wanted to know, if her client's income was not reported on Form 1099, was it taxable? This person worked as a clerical assistant for me for 1 tax season and wasn't hired back because she did a lousy job. Lord help the people who go to incompetent preparers. I am all in favor of the RTRP, if only to protect the innocent consumer.

I keep getting solicitations from CrossLink Professional Tax Software. Somehow, they seem to know that I need reliability, 24/7 U.S. based tech support, and easy conversion. Does anyone have any experience with this software? I haven't seen it discussed on the boards.

So do tell. Is he good looking?

I'm glad to live in Wisconsin, where we all wear cheese on our heads. But sometimes, when no one is looking, I buy Vermont white cheddar. Because it is so good. Maybe I should move to Vermont?

I am so glad I don't use the client letter, after hearing complaints about it all tax season. I have custom sticky notes printed with my business name and number. I hire staff to write refund amounts, filing instructions, etc, on the sticky notes and affix them to the client copies. My clients rave about it. It's that extra personal touch that sets me apart from the other preparers in town who spit out the letters.

On April 16 I will go for a nice long walk in the woods to decompress.

I am going to be filing more extensions this year then ever before. All the clients who dropped off after March 20 were told they might have to go on extension, but they don't believe it because we tell them that every year and usually I am able to get them done. But this year I am serious! With the backlog from form delays and ATX issues, I am still working on returns dropped off prior to March 20. And it is April 5.

Aha! I hope you guy's love of cheese is not so great as to cast suspicion on you for the great Wisconsin cheese heist which I read about in my local paper this morning. A trucker presented a false bill of lading to a local cheese factory and made off with 21 tons of Muenster cheese! He was caught in New Jersey red-handed with the cheese. http://lacrossetribune.com/vernonbroadcaster/news/local/the-great-cheese-scam-multi-state-effort-finds-tons-of/article_024a0960-9c79-11e2-a261-001a4bcf887a.html I wonder where he was headed with all that cheese?

Did a lot of people get laid off when CCH moved ATX to Georgia? Was it a blow to Caribou?

If my clients have not removed the glueballs from their 1099-SSA before presenting it to me, I peel them off while I am talking to them. If they talk back, I remove the perforated edges while listening to them. This is a detail-oriented business, LOL.

I have run into this before. If the decedent had a business activity (including rentals) which sustained losses during the administration of the estate, the estate has an NOL. You would calculate the NOL pretty much the same as you would on a personal return. If the duration of the estate is more than one year, you would carry the NOL forward from year to year. In the final year of the estate you would pass the NOL through to the beneficiaries on K-1. If the house is a personal residence, the loss on its sale is nondeductible. If, in the final year of the estate, nonbusiness deductions (such as the administrative fees I love so much) exceed income, you have Excess Deductions on Termination. You can pass this through to the beneficiaries on their final K-1, but it is only a miscellaneous itemized deduction for them.