michaelmars

what is it, like $300 for the year? If disallowed, probably wouldn't even change the tax.

MINE WAS UP $1.50!!!!!!!

In my office, we generally prepare everything but hold onto them till right before the deadline just for this reason. When possible, we even hold returns that the client signs. It even saves money since all clients can go into one big envelope and sent return receipt.

How about an "unlike" button and maybe after the post gets 10 unlikes it gets removed? that way the moderators are out of it. I get real tired of the in-fighting but especially in general chat, political chat lends itself to fighting and as long as its more than ad-homonym attacks, it can be interesting. A technical post that requires specific answers should never get hijacked or personal. For those that don't recognize the difference; if I say I hate ATX then I expect someone to blast me but if I say proseries loads in half the time for me then that is a statement that shouldn't get blasted. the proper answer would be, what is your hardware, configuration etc. [btw those are just examples, I am not endorsing ps over atx]

my website has one you can use mordfin.com go to resources, then financial calc for simple loans, We use "Tvalue" mostly.

Taxed, on 03 Jan 2014 - 12:21 PM, said: I would not have expected anything else from you. You bought into the paranoid baseless irrational fear. Still waiting for the example of an e-mail being "intercepted." I agree with the above procedure, Even if it is useless and irrational, if something leaks out I would rather show that I took recommended steps to control the data than didn't. Sort of like a doctor that runs extra tests "just in case" It plays better with the attorneys and satisfies the insurance company. We do a lot of things that don't make sense "just because". We aren't allowed to send out an email with SS#'s unless encrypted in NY and would you rather spend 30 seconds encrypting an email or fighting with banks, the state etc.

2 days ago it was 10 degrees, this morning 58 and going back to 8 on tues or wed. I think its a conspiracy but can't figure out whether to blame Obama or Bush for it?

my whole staff only has laptops with docking stations so we don't have the issue of transferring files that we wish to work on, this works great.

I have a doctor with a W-2 for about $3,000,000 and that's it. Sch A for his co-op and mtge and charity. His fee is the same as for a student that has just a W-2 and maybe itemizes. I don't charge more just for high income but on the other side of this, a low income business or one that shows a lose is going to pay the same as a profitable one since the forms and schedules are the same; just with smaller numbers.

for me, the type of client that is only filing for obamacare is not the sort of returns I want to do. If these people weren't filing before or did them themselves then they just won't be economically beneficial for my practice. This year I am setting my minimum fees at $350 for an individual and I may increase that once I get into tax season and see what is involved with this years changes. My engagement letter is going from 3 to 4 pages with added disclosures for obamacare and credit card vs. other income deposits for my business returns. I am also going to state that all returns and statements going to banks, etc will have to go through the client unless they comply with the written authorization rules. This is an area where I think we all get lax.

i played that just yesterday for the youngen's of my staff that never say Johnny. Manny of his stuff is on youtube

No where near me, Long Island is spared from this. Thanks for the concern

how about a state of confusion?

didn;t know N or T, thanks for the tip. All the others are actually labeled on most keyboards lately.

many states tax the transfer of the assets as an event subject to sales tax so keep that in mind.

an S corp it can be a distribution. Since we don't usually get the corp info or write ups in time for the 1099 div, we commonly post them as due from shareholder and then pick them up as payroll the next year. although not correct we never had an issue explaining it to an auditor and getting it ok's. If they make a stink then we amend it to dividend, client gets a refund of the fica and gets lower tax bracket too. The problem of declaring a dividend is if there is a loss or retained earnings is negative.

you will need something to show its a pension and not some other sort of income. Is there a treaty where this isn't even taxable in the US? You will have to look. Many countries have different treaties that include/exclude income

if you really have to justify an increase or your fee itself then you have a problem. My fee is my fee and you can go elsewhere. I try to be fair and conservative but really, I can charge what I want and either you see my value or you don't. I'd rather do one $600 return than 3 $200 returns, less time with clients and everything else associated with doing a return. They aren't paying me for filling in input screens on a computer program; they are paying be for my review of their financial activity, availability for consults and personal service, etc. A few times a client asked why my fee went up since everything was the same as last year and my response was; "did your grocery and electric bills go up? Well so did mine! Sometimes things change that causes increased like mandatory efiling - my fees went up with a $100 charge, until NY in order to get taxpayers behind efiling, made that separate charge illegal, now I have to include it in my fee. I also charge a postage fee on every return. Once a client that didn't pay it in the prior year, called about his return and I told him it was done. A week later he called saying he hadn't received it and I politely told him that its been on my secretary's desk all week for him to pick up. He got the hint. Do quality work, respect yourself and your profession and never apologize for a fee. Doctors don't and Attorneys don't. Of course audits etc take some explaining like, the auditor came 3 times not the 2 planned etc. Recently I had an audit and the client was assessed about $10,000. I said we could appeal but my fee will be $3-5,000 depending if I can resolve it with a supervisor or have to do a formal appeal. In the long run the client decided to pay the tax. That is time and cost that you do need to justify to a client.

how about being honest "my fees will be based on however high I think I can charge you before you revolt, minor protesting Is expected and will be considered banter and not taken as a serious revolt"

can you fix obamacare website that fast? I vote Eric gets the next multimillion contract from them

ssssh, another hijacked thread, the poster is asking about atx to pro or taxwise and everyone got off tangent. I converted to pro last year and posted my comments here a few times.. Basically it was ok but they don't transfer trust so that was a big issue. Depreciated assets had to be recoded for depr type and term and alt min. but the assets were there and linked to the correct property or business. NOL's had to be reentered but took only a minute if you have the atx NOL schedule printed out in front of you. One pain is that pro picked up schedule B payers and W-2 payers that you didn't delete from atx even if the client didn't have them for years. It did cause me to think I was missing bank accts etc in my current info until I compared to prior years. If you do the conversion do it with them on the phone with you since I few steps are left out of their instructions, biggest one is that each file you send them should only have about 50 returns in it but the instructions said to put all your data files into one file for conversion.

don't like that you are only referencing "data input" since that's what turbo does, you should be referencing mostly "your review of all the relevant data, your experience and your extra time needed due to complex changes this year." on a minor note you can say "the volume of transactions also has an effect on time spent on your return." I find I can input a return in less than 15 minutes but its the thinking about it and the possible money saving idea's that create my fees.

good idea

Tax Prep Fees on the Rise Print Email Reprints inShare20 By Daniel hood Tax practitioners will be charging more this year for tax preparation, according to an annual survey by the National Society of Accountants. Taxpayers can expect to pay an average of $261 for an itemized Form 1040 with Schedule A and a state tax return, the survey found, compared to the $246 reported in last year’s survey. The fee for non-itemized return will also rise, to $152 for a Form 1040 and state return, against $143 last year. “The IRS says it takes an average of four hours just to complete and submit a Form 1040,” says NSA executive vice president John Ams. “Add at least another hour if you also have to complete a state return. You have to ask, ‘How much is your time worth?’” Fee information was collected in a survey of tax preparers conducted by NSA. The tax and accounting firms surveyed are largely owners, principals and partners of local “Main Street” companies who have an average of more than 26 years of experience. The survey also reported the average fees for preparing other Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms, including: $218 for a Form 1040 Schedule C (business); $590 for a Form 1065 (partnership); $806 for a Form 1120 (corporation); $761 for a Form 1120S (S corporation); $497 for a Form 1041 (fiduciary); $667 for a Form 990 (tax exempt); $63 for a Form 940 (Federal unemployment); $142 for Schedule D (gains and losses); $165 for Schedule E (rental); and, $196 for Schedule F (farm). Naturally, fees vary by region, firm size, population, and economic strength of an area. According to the NSA, the average tax preparation fees for an itemized Form 1040 with Schedule A and a state tax return in each U.S. census district are: New England (Ct., Maine, Mass., N.H., R.I., Vt.) – $251; Middle Atlantic (N.J., N.Y., Pa.) – $274; South Atlantic (Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Md., N.C., S.C., Va,, W.Va.) – $270; East South Central (Ala., Ky., Miss., Tenn.) – $294; West South Central (Ark., La., Okla., Texas) – $242; East North Central (Ill. Ind., Mich., Ohio, Wis.) – $238; West North Central (Iowa, Kan., Minn., Mo., Neb., N.D., S.D.) – $208; Mountain (Ariz., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.M., Utah, Wyo.) – $245; and, Pacific (Alaska, Calif., Hawaii, Ore., Wash.) – $303.

I don't give envelopes any more but do give a self addressed stamped one back to me, really cut payment time since all they had to do is write the check.