Abby Normal

Those aren't garbage cans. They're file storage!

Whoa! When did they add that?! Does it ever work?

You mean the NOL form or the NOL election? And are we talking 1040, 1120S,...?

I'm definitely setting a record for number of returns done by 4/17 this year! I'm close to the record now. All have been entered by my staff but some are missing documents and no way we're bugging them. Ball's in their court.

My Tax Season Written by Willie Maykitt Illustrations by Betty Doant

If they don't do the math, we usually skip those, under the premise that our fees would exceed any tax benefit. Exception is when the dividends are 10,000 or more, or the % are high. Then I tell them to complain to their broker or find one who does do the math, like Edward Jones or Baird. I have business at hand for both.

I'll save you the journey. I've worked with people like this!

Firefox has a setting to clear the cache when you close it. Chrome buries it in advanced settings an you have to manually clear browsing data. I run CCleaner to clear all system temp and cache files, and unwanted cookies. You do want to keep a lot of cookies for sites you frequent. If you install CCleaner go to Options, Advanced and uncheck 'Only delete file in Windows Temp folder older than 24 hours'. Then set it run when you start your computer.

Yeah, I did one this morning where the fed tax was 350 less but the state tax was 650 more. This mostly happens when they switch from itemizing to standard, because the state standard deduction is low. MD raised it a little bit, but decided to keep about 2/3 of the windfall the new tax law was creating.

The fun corner of my desk.

"passed away". Good one! I'm gonna use that. I have a jar on my desk labeled "Ashes of Problem Clients".

We should have a swearing forum where we can just cut loose, with a warning before you answer.... or just do what Rita and I do and swear in private messages.

Awhile ago I made a rule in my office that no one could ask me a question about any matter that was less than $100... because NOBODY GIVES A A FLYING.... UM..... TRUCK! YEAH, THAT'S IT, TRUCK.

True. We all have those self-destructive clients.

You need to emphasize your value and explain that this is why they should always call you when doing anything financial that involves more the $1,000. Some would argue that this is loan basis because the shareholder is personally liable, but I agree with you that it is not.

I bet all these payments went to the taxpayer and were deposited into her new LLC bank account. If the name of the LLC is close to the old S corp name, the banks would have no problem depositing them.

Oh, so if she didn't get the money, it's possible it's lost in space somewhere. Either that or she got all the money.

I'd say only half or so of my clients are doing significantly better with the new law. 25% are about the same and 25% are paying more. The ones with large 2% deductions and high SALT deductions with no kids are getting hurt the worst. I've also been adjusting the withholdings down substantially because we know that will happen with the new tables.

How do you talk to an S corp? You talk to the shareholder or an officer of the corporation.

Contact the issuer of the 1099s and ask for copies of the cancelled checks or other proof of where the money went.

I only break a K1 into two or three when they have amounts in more than one of boxes 1, 2 and 3. And this is because ATX warns me those different types of income have to be calculated separately. The amounts on other lines are always too small to make a difference. As for box 20, the only ones that matter are A and B. Code V is only important when the K1 is owned in an IRA. If it's over a certain amount, it can cause tax or penalty or something.

I keep task manager open and occasionally check how much ATX is consuming. Yesterday it was up to 1,850 MB (1.8 GB) of RAM and was still running fine. Looks like that large address aware utility is working.

Whenever these things happen, the first questions I ask are: who got the checks? Where and when did they deposit them? And how in the world did they negotiate a check made out to a corporation? Did your shareholder client receive any cash from this late windfall? If not, she should be making inquiries or filing complaints.

I was going to change my voicemail message to say, "We are working as hard as we can to finish as many returns as we can by the deadline, and we will call you when your return is ready. If you leave a message asking how your return is coming, we will do your return last and you will definitely be on extension."

Nah. I like the bad boy that Rita's mama warned her about.