Kea

Thanks. So no security issues with efilemyforms or others? It's one thing to trust ATX or Drake with SSNs, but not as sure about the "random" internet company. But, I'm OK with it if they have a good reputation. It's only 3 1099 Misc with the accompanying 1096. The contractors already received copies that I did in a PDF. It's just the Red copies that are an issue. Besides, I prefer e-file whenever possible.

Retired clients plan to sell house & travel the US in their RV. They will not have any set location (unless you count a vacation house in another country). They are US citizens & will spend most of their time in US. Can they follow the advice of the major RV experts (Good Sam, Escapeeze) in regards to choosing a tax home? Not sure if these sources are as "reliable" as the MLM advisers (or local hairdresser, etc.). Basically, can they choose any state they want to establish an address? Will a mailing address alone be sufficient for things like tax returns (including state residency)?

I just signed up to file 1 W2 /W3 & what I did was basically what Judy explained. But I haven't found a way to e-file the 1099s / 1096 other than FIRE. And that seemed fairly complicated. So, it's paper file again. (I don't do very many & not every year.)

According to a webinar I just watched, IRS has new Direct Deposit limits: - Can deposit a maximum of 3 tax refunds into 1 account per calendar year - Only made to accounts in taxpayer's name -- cannot deposit into preparer's account as payment for services -- cannot use Form 8888 to split between tax payer & tax preparer FWIW, this may be the reason ATX now requests the account holder name on bank info sheet.

Catherine, Here in Austin, I'm not familiar with negative temperatures. And as a "night person" not very familiar with "7:32 AM," either. Except for the rare time I'm up "that late" working. Sudoku & Reversi, on the other hand....

My deepest condolences, too.

I can only speak for myself (of course). But at this point I'm checking the ACA forum more frequently due to the new changes & also because it is a smaller forum. Actually I'm more worried about the repair reg rules than the ACA. Granted it affects a fewer number of clients, but the new repair reg rules are much more confusing (to me) and there seems to be so many contradictions in methods. I'm glad to see some of these posts pinned. Personally, I wouldn't mind a separate forum for the repair regs, but understand that we don't want to have too many separate forums. Just my 2 cents.

But now I can get an individual policy on my own. No longer need to worry about getting a policy from a group!

I agree with HV Ken. I took the same classes and they specifically told us that these new rules did NOT apply to assets already being depreciated. This was only for new assets going forward. I also got the NATP email (after taking the classes) that the 3115 was required for all returns with depreciation. Gets confusing when you get two different answers - especially when they both come from one organization that should know the right answer!

I did not have an issue / rejection when e-filing her return last year. She did contact me a few weeks later about why her refund was taking so long. I gave her the standard where's my refund website. I just figured the delay was for EITC. From what I'm hearing at this point the delay last year was due to the ID theft / fraud issue. It somehow involved her ex-husband's new girlfriend. She never really elaborated details. I guess she just thought it was a one-time thing?

You may want to hold off on that Cabo trip. They really got slammed by Hurricane Odile. Some of the pictures I saw reminded me of the Gulf Coast after Katrina. I hope Cabo is able to recover more quickly.

She originally told me that she had not had any issues. After she talked to the person on the phone (who would only direct her to the website) she then told me she had an issue last year. I have no idea why she answered my question wrong previously. I'm just trying to help her since she is very nice and is a long term client. Not sure why she answered my question about ID theft wrong the first time. Maybe because she already realized that the original case last year was fraud and not ID theft. But it is looking like mailing might be better. I'll see what she wants to do.

I have 1999 - 2009 ATX (2010 - 2012 other tax software) successfully runing on my old Win 7 Home PC. So far I've only installed 2012 - 2013 ATX on my new Win 7 Pro PC. I'll install other prior years later as I get around to them. I did have to put the older programs in XP compatiblity mode.

OK, this question is probably more stupid. On Form 14039 she should check Box 1 in section A since she has already had an ID theft issue. But she never received PIN in the mail (assume it was sent earlier this year). So what # does she fax it to? Box 1 people are supposed to fax to # on letter (that she doesn't have). But there is a fax # for Box 2 but that's only for people that "might" have a problem. I "assume" that forms faxed to that # will not be prossessed as a priority. Any suggestions as to good fax numbers?

Humm, sounds like method just takes too long. When I'm reviewing the info with the client, I state which W2s, 1099s, etc. I receive and ask if there should be others. I'll also mention companies that were on previous year's return that are missing from current year & ask if there should be one from missing company X. Since I deal with most of my clients though e-mail, I get the "paper trail" saying that I had everything.

Thanks. I / we will try that.

UPDATE: Client called me today. She called the phone number and they told her to use the website. When she uses the website it can't verify her identity. She has tried everyday for the last week and a half. She said that every time they can't verify you, they make you wait 24 hours before trying again. She asked me to try it. With her still on the phone and my looking at her 2012 tax return, I went through the process, too. I got the same error she did. It said they couldn't verify her identity and that something didn't match their records. However, there was nothing on the page to indicate which field they didn't like. Comment - It turns out that she had to deal with an ID theft issue when trying to process her 2012 return. But she didn't receive an IP Pin this year. (I have no idea why she told me she's never had any issues with ID theft when I asked her that point blank several times.) So she does need the replacement PIN and my original question is now moot. She's called IRS again and they have not been able to help her - just send her to the website. She's very frustrated and I'm not sure what else to suggest. Does anyone have any tips about filling out the website? When it asks for first name, do they really want first name and middle initial? They want the address exactly as it was on prior return. So, for the zip code my prior 2012 software left in the hyphen even though the 4 digit extension was not there. I tried entering the hyphen on the IP PIN website and it wouldn't take it. For the optional field of the phone number - I entered her current phone # "assuming" (since it was optional) it was for contacting her about this process. Should this have been her previous phone # so that they could match to the files? Does the website care what type of computer / phone / browser you use? Yes, I could have her try these various scenarios, but if you can only do one try per day, it would be nice to know what their matching system wants the first time. I'll try the practitioner hotline, but not sure they can help with this.

I ended up using Flash from the Chrome browser on my Mac. Worked perfectly. I wish they would have mentioned the Flash option on the sign-up screen when they were doing the computer check. That would have saved me a few hours of aggravation!

2. My MacBook has Flash. Apple refuses to use Flash on their mobile products, however (iPhone, iPad, iPod). It's true that there are very many companies that do not write their software for Mac. However, most types of software I've ever needed or wanted are available. Perhaps a choice or only 1 or 2 companies, (or more) rather than a choice of 10 or more competitors. The only product I use on a regular basis that is not available for Mac is tax software. (OK one company has recently announced a Mac version, but, well, no.) Off my MacSoapBox.

I passed on the weblink and phone number. She said she would contact them. I'll let you know when I hear back from her.

I tried the link from Firefox and Chrome. In Firefox it says it requires the player. In Chrome it seems OK but when you check the details, it says It can't verify the presence of Media Player from Chrome. Thanks for the tip about Flash. I'll try that when the Webinar starts.

Is anybody else getting an error message about installing Windows Media Player when they sign up? I've tried it from 3 different computers (2 PCs and a Mac), all of which have Media Player installed (or Flip4Mac so that QuickTime on the Mac can read the Media Player files). Granted, I never use Media Player so I had to configure the version that was already installed on one of the PCs. But even after that the registration website says it's missing. I've spent more time on this than the 1 hour the seminar will even last. Grrr.

Good to know. Thanks!

Thanks. I'll pass all this info to her.

I did contact the client and she says she's never been a victim of ID Theft.