Abby Normal

4 hours ago, Yardley CPA said:

I'm not overly familiar with writing scripts but anything to save time is well worth the learning curve.  

When I first started, I made attempts that weren't working, so I posted them on AutoHotkey forums and the related reddit, and strangers were more than willing to help me fix my code. Some of the code I copied from them, I still don't fully understand, but basic scripts like having je= type my (Joe's) email address, ad= typing my street address are so easy to write and great time savers and eliminate typos as well.

Last year I wrote one to type my ATX password. I don't even know what my password is anymore, but I can look it up in my script, or just run in it notepad.

One little old lady client sent me 25 huge jpegs of her documents, one document per scan of course. It was so big (30MB) she had to send in two separate emails. Fortunately, I have PDF software that quickly combined it all into one PDF, that I then optimized down to 2 MB.

YOU CAN CHANGE THE DEFAULT SETTINGS ON YOUR SCANNER!

But I guess I should be glad she knows how to scan at all!

I wrote a script after doing a couple manually.

Here's the AutoHotkey text in case you're interested:

:*:qbi=::
Send, ^i
sleep, 750
Send, QBI CALCULATION
Send, !a !a !a
Send, {TAB 7}
Send, SCH C INCOME{DOWN}LESS HALF SE TAX{DOWN}LESS SE HEALTH INSURANCE{DOWN}LESS RELATED RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTIONS
Send {TAB}{UP 3}
return

I didn't test if the sleep was necessary, but I thought it couldn't hurt to wait 3/4 of a second. ^ is Ctrl, ! is Alt and the rest is pretty straightforward. The first line is just AutoHotkey's syntax. I chose qbi plus an = sign as the trigger. I could've just used q= or something else.

The IRS is very good at catching missed estimated payments because those are already posted to your account. Withholding, however, has to wait for all of your records to be posted to your account, and if matching notices are any indication, the earliest they seem to get around to them is November every year and even as late as the following year.

Excess capital losses die with the decedent. I had one where over 320k was lost. You can claim the 3k against ordinary income.

1 hour ago, jasdlm said:

missed the fact that they did not give me his W2

This is why I like to always view the Detail tab for W2s and 1099Rs. It's easy to see if one was missed. For interest, dividends and capital gains, I only input on the Detail tab. It's like working in a spreadsheet. I'll sometimes enter W2s and 1099s in the Detail tab too. I find it easier to hit the right arrow than to click next. It's also easier to copy/paste names and EINs. It's also easier to check all the EINs if they have several from the same payer.

Tip: Turn off calculations in Detail tab. Setting is in Preferences.

This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night, and the reason I like to check and question every line on a return. Yet, I've still done the exact same thing and even had Sch C going to the wrong spouse.

Clients usually appreciate when we admit a mistake and take responsibility for it, and get it fixed for them.

22 hours ago, RitaB said:

When a dependentless couple comes in my office I want to throw a five minute party.  True story, although I made up a word there.

I love retired couples on Medicare with fat investment accounts! I wish them a long and healthy life.

Line 21 income with SE tax is a shortcut that I have used in distant past for ICs that have no expenses, to save from adding a Sch C, but I just add the Sch C now. If it's going to be ongoing, I will at least allocate some tax prep to Sch C the following year.

The only problem I've had in 25 years of using Eset AV is it blocking successful downloads of QB installers. I know now to temporarily disable it whenever I have to download QB.

2 hours ago, TAXMAN said:

Just so understand. If mileage used in first 2 years, actual used after that, then want to switch back to mileage then what would the rate be if all depreciation has been used?

The beauty of mileage is that the depreciation component does not go away after the vehicle is fully depreciated. So you can end up getting more depreciation than the car cost, but for fixed assets purposes, the net value does not go below zero. LOOPHOLE!

If you choose mileage in the first year, you will use SL depreciation in any year you take actual expenses.

If you're using ATX, it properly calculates the cents per mile depreciation for you (Yay!) in any year you take mileage, so your depreciation will be correct, even if you switch between standard mileage and actual.

This is assuming you used fixed assets to enter the mileage. If you used Sch C then you will need to calculate the prior mileage depreciation manually to enter into fixed assets.

1 hour ago, Lion EA said:

AMT. What would've been the Sales Tax deduction. Maybe something else I'm missing.

If you claimed sales tax the year before, and if your tax was zero (no tax benefit).

When there's AMT, we open up last year's return and reduce the income tax deduction by the amount of the refund to see if the federal tax changes. Then we print page 2 of the 1040 and the Sch A to prove it's not taxable.

This is where closing without saving is such a great idea.

See how easily it could have been done! And just tape your check to the other side!

What do you mean by 'Pre-QBI'?

Everyone is. Fix is supposed to come today. Workaround is use direct deposit for refunds. I haven't had a balance due so I don't know if the bug exists for that as well.

On 2/9/2019 at 3:01 PM, cbslee said:

Weird, because there is nothing in the message that says or implies that it has anything to do with claiming EIC

Exactly.

Booooo, MD.

If there's a glitch in the IRS database for that child's name, you'll have to paper file.

I had a trust I couldn't efile for years because the name control was wrong in the IRS database. I kept transmitting it every year and finally one year it went through.

If they ask for paper, I just give them the 1040 and the any schedule forms (A, B, E,..). Rarely more than 10 pages (used to be 5).

It can matter if there is a state tax refund. Claiming sales tax makes the state refund not taxable next year. And my state (MD) allows sales tax as an itemized deduction but not income tax, so it can save state taxes too!

On one return this year, I did an analysis to see if it was better to force itemized (it was) and then if it was better to take sales tax instead of income tax (it wasn't). It's not as simple of a decision as it seems on the surface.

From my How to notes:

If you get locked out of the support site, reset your password. The temp password is the main install code for the current year.

IP PINs work and have stopped a lot of fraudulent returns, but we all know that some the letters the IRS sends out each year with your new IP PIN will be lost in the mail lost by the taxpayer or sent to an old address Then we'll end up having to paper file without a PIN (if it's October) or extend and wait for a new PIN letter. Supposedly, if you have an IRS account, you can login and download your PIN letter, or maybe it's just request a new one be mailed?

I use Thunderbird and I have 572 filters, mostly for clients, to get mail into hundreds of separate folders. I hate when clients use new email addresses.

If no assets rolled over, you have to delete the return.