Abby Normal

Be there for supper!

I'm from MD but I'm driving to TN today. I'm crazy like that.

The 'fair tax' is highly regressive, increasing the tax burden on the poor. Also, I'm sure a national sales tax would lead to a lot off-the-books cash deals, because it's such an easy way to avoid the tax. I much prefer the Robin Hood Tax.

I don't think that any states will allow the PTE deduction, because it's not a 1040 page 1 AGI adjustment and it's not an itemized deduction. It's probably going to be slipped in where personal exemptions used to be.

When I was encoding the screen capture videos into hi-def wmv files, my computer started overheating. I use SpeedFan to monitor my computer temps and alert me when it's too hot. My CPU normally runs about 45-55C, and the alarm sounds at 60C. The alarm sounded and the CPU temp climbed to 64C, so I turned my AC down to 68F and had to blow a fan on my computer to get the temp down to about 57C. Maybe I should have a bigger CPU cooler installed.

Here are a couple of my short and sweet letters, if you want to play around with them. I don't add the late payment penalties part of the letter until after 4/15. It's a little tricky getting the estimate portion arranged because each payment must be pasted into ATX separately, and you need to rearrange the 4 lines that are the default in ATX, into 2 lines. Federal Refund Direct Dep.rtf Federal Refund Direct Deposit Partially Applied.rtf Federal Bal Due-Penalties.rtf

I prefer the simplicity of a financial transactions tax that is a tiny percentage collected every time money changes hands. Not that it could totally replace an income tax or other taxes.

If you switch it to HD, it looks pretty good. Not sure why YouTube was playing it on 480p for me. I'll also need to research why I ended with with a black frame around the video. I learned a few things making this video. I used Microsoft Expression for the screen capture & audio, and Microsoft Movie Maker to edit out all of my tongue clicks and 'ums' and mistakes and long pauses. I was quite annoying the first time I watched the raw footage! If you're wondering why ATX seems to work so fast, it's because I cut out the delays when opening the return and when bringing up the print dialog. They don't seem that long until you're watching them in a video!

You're welcome! So glad you liked it! I'm going to do another on tips and tricks. Someday.

I'm not overly satisfied with this video, but I've spent around 10 hours to get this far, so, be gentle. The video looks much better before I upload it to youtube, and I'm not sure how to get around that. So with no further ado:

Good stuff!

She could have used direct pay with no fee.

They are also likely moving to a cellphone app for millennials (and others) to do their taxes the same way they do everything else.

More states either need to do this. I force a number of MD returns to itemize and pay more federal tax to save even more MD tax.

Head injuries always worry me though. And any injury that could result in a blood clot. Both of those can be life threatening. It's a shame we have to think about money and health at the same time. <backs slowly away from political edge>

$30. The bank charges us $15 but we have the hassle of letting the client know and processing a 2nd payment. It rarely happens though.

Oh, my. It's 'clothing optional'.

This is my favorite picture of Karin and I, so you know what we look like.

You know what's going to be weird? I (and I'm sure you) read everyone's posts in the voice I imagine you sound like. But your actual voices are going to sound NOTHING like I've imagined. I even have heights picked out for some of you (tall, average, short). Will be great to have actual voices from now on!

Android video calls are done on Allo, which can be installed on iPhones too, but Facebook live would work for those who have a facebook account.

I've decided to do a couple of YouTube videos, since people are just going to want to party and relax, plus half the attendees use Drake or other software. This way any one can view the videos at their leisure.

We're driving in Thursday evening (me & Karin) and we're headed to Asheville NC on Sunday. Any suggestions for things to do on Friday are welcomed, and we'll be able to lend a hand for anything last minute items on Saturday. Will the tea be unsweetened? We'll bring some water and beer and/or wine and/or hard seltzers. I see there's a Quaker Meeting! We might check that out on Friday or Saturday, since we're hitting the road early on Sunday. I'll DM you my email and cell in case we need to communicate.

This is not to prepare W2s in the payroll system, this is to input W2s into a 1040 tax return. I have no clue about ATX payroll because I've never used it. But others here have so hopefully they'll chime in.

So easy! (Fun note: allowances are still part of the calculation.) Figure the income tax withholding using the result from step 3 as wages, with 2 (single or married filing separately) or 3 (married filing jointly or head of household) allowances for the filing status on line 3 of Form W-4. Step 5. Reduce the income tax withholding result from step 4 by the income tax credits per pay period figured in step 1 for line 7 of Form W-4. Do not reduce withholding below zero. Step 6. Separately figure the income tax withholding on the amount, if any, from step 1 for line 8 of Form W-4. (As in step 4, depending upon the withholding method, the employer may need to adjust this amount by the value of the withholding allowances as described in Pub. 15 or Pub. 15-A.) (Line 8 is your other job. So employer has to assume you're having proper taxes withheld.) Step 7. Subtract the income tax withholding result from step 6 from the result in step 5, to figure the amount of income tax withholding per pay period. (Then reduce your withholdings by the assumed amount withheld from other job.) Step 8. Add the amount, if any, from Form W-4, line 9, to the income tax withholding per pay period figured in step 7. This is the amount of income tax to withhold per pay period for the employee.

Printers are very inexpensive now. I bought a nice Brother color laser HL3140CW for 169.99 on Amazon. I used it mostly for printing the planner after I made yellow highlights and typed notes in red on the PDF of the tax return. It's also nice to have a color printer around on occasion.