Randall

I have composed letters for the client.  Do you upload the letter?  Once uploaded, is there a way to track the letter/response.  I have a client who mailed a response letter some time back and still hasn't heard from them.

23 hours ago, BrewOne said:

I know a full-service broker is expensive, but I have seen enough issues at tax time where they would have made a huge difference.

For example, fairly intelligent client with a discount broker that had allowed him for years to put 100% of the max contribution into a Roth IRA and a 100% of the max contribution into a Traditional IRA (yes, double the allowed amount).  His explanation when I finally heard about the excess contribution, "I didn't think you needed to know about Roth contributions because there's no tax benefit.  What a mess to straighten out.

Ouch!!

I can't speak for the safety of client info.  I haven't used it for client info but then I don't go to client offices anymore.  I do use it for some personal info, spreadsheets tracking my spending and other things.  But there is no info like SSNs or account numbers out there.  I use the One Note app for some personal things too, but usually just putting in quotes from things I read to have them available for recall.

How old was the laptop Acer?

There's a reason they call it "artificial" intelligence.

On 5/4/2023 at 3:05 PM, JimTaxes said:

I worked in audit for a big CPA right out of college.  A lot of it was tracing numbers from one source/report to another.  It was terrible work.  I am so glad I am on my own now doing taxes and small business accounting and payroll. 

We called it 'ticking and checking'.

On 5/4/2023 at 11:48 AM, BulldogTom said:

Old, Jaded & Cynical.   Sounds like a 80s rock band on their 2023 world tour.

I need to get the band back together.

Sounds like deja vu all over again.  I remember Arthur Andersen auditing companies that went kaput.  Gave them clean audit reports.  When I was young, I thought auditing was the thing.  I never worked in a big firm but did audit work with a small firm auditing local government entities (school boards, cities, etc.).  On my own, I audited some small non-profit organizations.  I began to feel uneasy about the whole auditing function.  I haven't done audit work in years but I am very skeptical about the whole thing.  Maybe I'm just old and jaded.  If I sound cynical, that's because I am.

On 4/29/2023 at 9:04 PM, cbslee said:

The beta version of Win 12 was released last month.

The full version of Win 12 is expected to be released mid 2024.

 

 

 

 

b

I was wondering about this.  I had heard Win 12 was coming.  I have Win 10 and I have been reluctant to upgrade an existing 'box'.  I have been going with a new 'box' every three years and getting the latest OS.  My current 'box' is in year 3 but if Win 12 coming, I may continue for a year 4 before getting the new 'box' with Win 12.

I ususally renew by May 31.  With only a few years left, I don't want to change so I just get it out of the way.

I'm planning to treat myself and buy a bottle of single malt scotch tomorrow (Tues, April 18).

As an additional question, do you all use the Form 8878?

I wonder too how much IRS really checks this.  I just use the amount of tax withheld in prior year as estimate for current year and show as that amount paid.  If they usually owe, I try to contact them to pay something.

I'm not sure if it's the same problem but something similar happened to me.  I did not have the letter (both Fed and state) clicked to show return would be efiled.  When I changed that, the direct deposit and bank info appeared This was on ATX.

2 hours ago, jklcpa said:

Horrible year personally but the work was OK. Everything is worked on and out.  I try to aim for around the 10th or 12th to get most done and give myself a cushion of time. I have one client meeting today for pickup, and then I'm waiting on signature forms for the rest. I will have only 3 extensions, all for one client for his personal and 2 little partnerships.  I took yesterday off!

I've been taking care of mom full-time for the last 5 years with increasing demands the last year or so.  Now at 96+ yrs old, early dementia and was still living at home until a fall in late March. She was unhurt, but it landed her in rehab.  Three days in she, I, and my husband all got a nasty GI virus circulating in that facility. I was completely down for a few days and feeling sick most of a week. Then a second hospital trip with her last weekend and another night with no sleep because rehab made a bad call on when in actuality she had lower rib and hip pain radiating. After all night in the ER told me to give her some extra strength Tylenol and that transport would be another 6-7 wait.  No way! I drove home for her van and took her back to rehab myself at 4-something in the morning!  In the next few weeks I have to find permanent placement for her somewhere and begin to clean out the family home that she has lived in for more than 70 years.

Because of mom's needs, I haven't taken any new clients in these last 5 years and most of my business clients got old, retired, and/or sold their businesses. My workload is much lighter than it should be now when I should have been building my practice and couldn't.  That is some of the reason I've had some extra time in the past few years to answer lots of questions here, away from the office and the internet to fill up time.

Husband is doing well with fighting the bladder cancer, the prostate cancer is treated and gone, and other issues were fixed in '21 that were heart ablation and AAA repair.

When a SIL passed suddenly last June, I started walking with my brother in the very early morning and have gotten more fit again.  I'd walk anywhere from 3-5 miles every morning until the time changed and everything fell apart with mom.  I wanted to walk last week but in the turmoil I ended up with a twisted or sprained ankle that I'm babying at the moment. I don't know how that happened but it's getting better.

Also thanks to two brothers, my husband and I have taken up shooting sporting clays, or some may still call them clay pigeons. They are all excellent marksmen, so I have lots to learn and catch up on. I love the outdoors and all kinds of activities, and this is the latest and one I never dreamed of trying. I bought a shotgun of my own.  We took advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather, went shooting, and got away from all the pressure for the afternoon. I'm slowly improving and was pleased with my progress on a more difficult and new-to-us course.

If you made it through all of that, thanks for reading!

 

Sorry to hear your news.  I went thru that with my Mom.  She's been gone nine years now.  Her situation wasn't nearly as bad as yours though.

On 4/4/2023 at 10:51 AM, cbslee said:

Leaving for Kauai on April 17th for 2 weeks

I take a day off but I don't like to plan a regular vacation immediately after the tax season.  A few weeks later or a month or two later for me.

I don't get the message of the original poster.  But off and on this year, I would click on the ATX icon to open it and nothing happens.  I restart and all is well.  But this is something new to me this year.  Not sure what's going on.

I just received one and all it had was the bank name.  Nothing else.  No document the client was trying to send.

12 hours ago, JJStephens said:

Loved it! But it also brought a momentary horrific flashback to freshman English when I had recite the original soliloquy in front of the class. Even all these years later... I shuddered!

Ha, my sophomore HS English class, we had to recite Marc Anthony's speech.  Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend me your ears.

8 hours ago, Sara EA said:

I have just called it a day and am drinking a nice cold beer.  (Could be classified as any of the above.)  Soon I will get ready for bed and have a hot cup of tea and see if I can get through ten pages of a book.  How I miss reading good fiction, although some of my clients' tax docs might fall under that category.

Ha, I usually can't read this time of year.  Too tired.  I did have some wine last night though.

6 hours ago, BrewOne said:

Technically, an amended return filed before the due date is a superseded return; however, without a checkbox I don't see any option in ATX but to do an amended, which will not be a quick process (regardless of e-filed or mailed in).

Just had an amended return rejected for e-filing--taxpayer filed as surviving spouse and original was e-filed.  This was an IRS (not ATX) reject that the account had been frozen because primary taxpayer was deceased. Didn't see an alternative to mailing it in.  Mail in, I'm guessing it makes a 4 month process about a 5 month process (on average).

Re-thinking this...since it was a mail-in, should have done a 1040 and wrote "Superseded" at the top of page 1.

When I have a surviving spouse return, I make the surviving spouse the primary taxpayer.  I'm not sure if this would have prevented your problem.

I don't call IRS for clients.  I have them call.  The client can wait for hours on the phone instead of me.

I hate to post too, not bad things for me.  But I've been doing a group hiking thing the past few years, one weekend a month.  I started out skipping the first 3 months of the year.  Their final group in April is usually after the tax due date.  Then I started going for the January weekend, I was not too busy.  Then added February.  Then the past few years, going in March.  It was tough to take a weekend off in March.  This year they threw me a curve and no hikes after the tax due date but I went anyway in April, this past weekend April 1-2.  I was working even longer the past few weeks to get ahead of the game.   It felt refreshing to take the weekend off this late in the tax season.  I've been trying to cut back the past few years but it seems I've been busier than normal.  I have been cutting back the past few years after the due date.  Fridays off, shorter hours the other four days.  

13 hours ago, G2R said:

Does ATX have the superseded checkbox option? 

And when you efile this return, does the 1040X still get filed?  Or should we delete it before e-filing?

Or if filing a superseding return, do you just duplicate the original  instead of 'amending'?

3 hours ago, Max W said:

I always file form 56 with the return, otherwise the signature may not be accepted.

I've been filing 1310 with the return in the past.  Recently, a client (sister, executrix) received a letter from IRS, called IRS, was told they needed Form 56.  I didn't see in ATX.  I got the form from irs.gov, completed it and she mailed it it.  Then another client, I just completed the Form 56 for him and efiled the 1040, he mailed the Form 56, hoping we could cut the time short and avoid an IRS letter.   This is my first knowledge of the Form 56.  Can you file it with the return as a pdf attachment?