Jump to content
ATX Community

PJCCPA

Members
  • Posts

    20
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by PJCCPA

  1. I believe the treatment is different for Gold and Silver Bullion Coins held for investment as opposed to Collectible Coins.  I wanted to confirm with the community that you can take a capital loss on the sale of Gold and Silver Bullion Coins on a Tax Return.  Also, would this be reported on the same form as for Capital Gains and Losses for Paper Investments, or would this be reported on another form?  Thank you all for your wisdom and insight into this matter.

    Sincerely,

    Peter

  2. I double-checked on the Official ProSeries community, and apparently other people are having this same issue with transferring 2015 TurboTax files into 2015 ProSeries.  I spent about two hours on the telephone yesterday with Customer Support, and in the end, the lady I spoke with admits that it may be a glitch for 2015's software.  We were able to Transfer this given client's 2014 TurboTax file into 2014 ProSeries, so the workaround will be rolling forward the 2014 return and inputting the 2015 numbers from scratch.  Please let me know if anyone else out there that uses ProSeries is having this issue- getting the Unknown Error message when trying to transfer,

     

    • Like 1
  3. Hello, does anyone know if there is problem or if we are short of an update to be able to do this?

    I did 3 1040X Amended Returns for my mother and easily transferred her Turbo Tax Files into Pro Series and I am getting her back another $7.282 in additional refunds.

    However, I have a new client that wanted me to "check" her and her husbands work on a 2015 Turbo Tax File, but I keep getting an error when trying to transfer.

    Any thoughts, hints, suggestions, ideas?

    Thanks.

     

  4. As a brand new fully licensed CPA, I put everything in place to start my own part-time nights and weekends Tax Practice in time for the 2016 Tax Season.  The only problem is, ATX failed my Test.  It could not handle doing my own return easily or that of one of my pre-existing clients.  Since I live in New Jersey on the Delaware River and spent most of my time working in Wilmington, Delaware in the past, but my wife works in New Jersey, I need to be able to file MFJ on my Federal Return, MFS on my Delaware Non-Resident Return, and MFJ again on my New Jersey return to optimize my Returns and get the best result and biggest possible refund, same for one of my pre-existing clients and will likely be the same for many of my potential new clients.  Can ProSeries do this easily, seamlessly, and flawlessly by doing this all in one quick swoop and efiling all 3 in one shot without using the ATX solution of having to create a Duplicate Return for all 3, doing one set as MFJ and another set as MFS then efiling each one separately and risk the New Jersey return not giving the proper credit for Delaware Non-Resident Income Taxes Paid on the New Jersey return, and then trying to figure out how to override it?  Thoughts?  Suggestions?

  5. Hello Eric.  Sorry to trouble you.  Can you please help me change my username on this site to shorten it to just PJCCPA?  By putting the comma in there, people are unable to privately message me.  Also, I want to reduce my footprint by shortening my username to just my initials and primary designation.  Thank you kindly.

  6. Sorry to hear about your loss.  Prayers coming your way.  I have a friend whom I went to Graduate School with who might be interested in buying a Tax Practice in Lancaster, although probably not right away.  I believe he is in his fifties and had been a Union Flight Attendant for most of his career.  But he has been moonlighting nights and weekends during Tax Season for the past 3 or 4 seasons for a Tax Service, possibly Liberty Tax Service.  He was also studying for the EA Exam last time I spoke to him.  He lives in Wilmington, Delaware currently but his dream was always to move back to Lancaster where his family is and set up a Tax Practice there.  I'm not sure that he is ready, but I'm confident that he has the means.  I could reach out to him and see what his time frame is.  Message me if you are interested.

  7. I have the Drake Demo software on my Laptop.  I called them today and they said that they unlocked it so that I can add Delaware and try it.  ATX is going to give me until December 15th now before I have to decide on returning it.  Tomorrow, I'm going to a CPA friend's home practice to try out ProSeries from Intuit.  I will be making a better informed decision this way.  I was not yet fully ready to start my own business but I am doing it out of necessity for a dependable income.  I am only going to be doing it part-time nights and weekends while seeking a day job elsewhere.  I also wanted to thank you all again for pointing out that I need to be more careful so as to not insult people.  I was never very good at being politically correct, but I can see where it is becoming a problem.  I have been down on my luck for nearly 10 years since getting laid off of my last two permanent full time jobs during the Great Recession, and although I used to always have an optimistic outlook on the future, I suppose that I have developed a bit of a bad attitude lately so I will need to work on that going forward.  I overcame a disability to go back to Graduate School for a Master's Degree of Accounting and Financial Management, taking night classes in Philadelphia while working temporary contract jobs during the day in Delaware.  I finished with Distinction, at the top of the class with a perfect 4.0 GPA and then parlayed that into finally passing all 4 parts of the CPA Exam.  Then I had to get additional CPA-signed affidavits of work experience that totaled over a year, since I had to get multiple ones and put them together piecemeal.  This whole process took me about 6 years in total, and it was supposed to magically change my long-term employment prospects.  So far that has not yet happened, and I'm about out of time and refinancing options, so I'm doing this to try and pull myself up by my bootstraps before its too late.

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

    • Like 1
  8. Again, I'm sorry and I apologize and its not my intention to insult people here.  I sincerely appreciate all of your help and advice on this matter.  The last two firms that I worked for did not treat me fairly.  One kept one of my personal friends as a business client which I helped bring into the firm as an investment in my future career with that firm, and the other still owes me money from accrued vacation pay that was never paid out to me.

    I did read all of your posts carefully and I have zeroed in on the problem with the software, which is not an easy fix with the ATX Software as I was just on the telephone with customer support.  This is probably going to be a deal breaker for me in using this particular software going forward.  

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

     

  9. Well, then let me first reply that it was not my intention to offend EA's and other Tax Professionals, so if you were offended, then I apologize.  I do see the value in the Enrolled Agent Credential which is why I also started studying for that, too as well.  Although I am a brand-new licensed CPA, I have 20 years of prior Accounting, Auditing, and Tax Experience.  I only have about 2 years of combined Public Accounting experience, about a year and a half of Auditing back in 1996-1997, and then I worked for a Public Accounting Firm this past Tax Season and completed 165 Individual and State Tax Returns including some local returns.  Since these were mostly High-Net Worth Clients such as Doctors, Lawyers, Business Owners, and perhaps those born with a Trust Fund, the majority of the returns that I did were more complex in nature so I saw a little bit of just about everything in one Tax Season.  I have also had a few clients of my own on the side over the past 2 or 3 years, but this will be the first year that I will be signing off as the paid preparer with my own EFIN number.  So I admit that I have much more to learn in the Public Accounting realm.   I enjoy the profession and love doing it, but I have grown weary of bending over backwards for greedy Small Firm owners who do not want to put the time and money into grooming me to be a better CPA and expect me to be perfect 100% on every single task without giving me a learning curve to make the adjustment from going from Corporate Accounting back to Public Accounting even when I told them up front what I'm good at, what I need to work on to improve, and what I have absolutely no experience with at all.

    Sincerely,

    Peter J, Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

  10. Yes, then it all makes sense now.  So what I really need to do is to figure out the easiest way to file MFJ for Federal with ATX, and then file MFS for my Delaware Return for just myself and only include my Delaware Income, as I had 2 temporary jobs this year and a seasonal job with the Wilmington, Delaware CPA Firm over Tax Season.  My wife has only New Jersey income and we are Pennsville, New Jersey residents.

    Do you know an easy way to do this with ATX without having to create a second, brand new return for myself from scratch?

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

  11. Wait, I just re-read your post and I realized you mentioned both people if filing on a joint basis.  That might be the problem, as when I did a Church Friend's Tax Return at work on Pro-Systems F/X Tax, he was in the same situation as me in that he was Married Filing Jointly for Federal, but he worked in Delaware and his wife worked in New Jersey.  I used Pro-Systems F/X Tax and selected MFJ status, but the Program optimized his return by selecting Married Filing Seperately Status for his Delaware State Income Tax Return.  Perhaps this is what I should be doing for my own Delaware State Return, is to file Seperately for Myself but not my wife since she both lives and works in New Jersey.  By filing my Church Friend's Tax Return this way, we received a more favorable result.  But I'm not sure if there is an easy, time efficient way to do this with ATX.

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

  12. Thanks Judy.  I obtained my CPA License from Delaware, in fact just got it in the mail last week.  I was working for a Wilmington, Delaware based CPA Firm at the time when I did it using Pro-Systems F/X Tax.  The Managing Partner of that firm actually checked my Return from Pro-Systems F/X Tax and we filed it and I was comparing the ATX Return as I did it to the Pro-Systems F/X Tax Return from my Prior Firm.  Perhaps you are correct and that maybe the ATX version is correct, but I kind of find it hard to believe considering that Pro-Systems F/X Tax is a much more expensive Tax Software Package and is fact CCH Wolters-Kluwers Flagship Tax Software.  I am also surprised if it was wrong that Delaware gave me the much bigger refund $239 more than what the ATX Software says I'm entitled to.  If I could afford it, I would have paid more for Pro-Systems F/X Tax because I used it all through this past Tax Season.  I will look into this further and see what I find.  Thanks for your help and advice!!!

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

  13. I did enter everything correctly at the bottom of the W-2 input screens for the Program and broke out the state income at the bottom like I'm supposed to for both states (Delaware and New Jersey for mine only.)  The problem is that on the Delaware worksheet which feeds into the top line of the Delaware Non-Resident Return, there are two columns, a left column and a right column for Delaware-source Income only.  On my Delaware worksheet done with Pro-Systems F/X Tax, Line 1 at the top on the Left column has about $15,500 and change (this is correct as it is my Delaware W-2 Income) and on the right column of Line 1 for Delaware-source Income, it has a lower number still which is about $11,500 and this is also correct.  Then the numbers carry down the worksheet to the bottom and over to the front page of the Delaware Return.  The problem is that with ATX on my Delaware 2-Column Worksheet, Line 1 of the Left Column at the Top has about $57,500, which is incorrect because it is including my wife's New Jersey W-2 Income which it should not be including.  I have tried to figure out how to change this, but it is pulling this number from Line 7 I believe of the 1040 directly, which it should not be doing.  It does say Federal at the Top of the Delaware Worksheet on the Left Column, but this is also Incorrect.  I cannot figure out how to Edit, Override, Change or Fix this problem.  The more expensive Flagship CCH Wolters-Kluwer Tax Software Pro-System F/X Tax does a much better job and Optimizes the Return by only pulling in my Income from 3 Delaware Temporary and Seasonal Job W-2's without adding in my Wife's New Jersey W-2 Income at the Top of the Delaware Worksheet Left-Hand Column Line 1.  An older, more experienced CPA who I'm going to work for Part-Time this week said he used ATX back in 2004-2005 and switched because he did not like it because he felt it was not Accurate, and he also mentioned that he knew other CPA's who switched because they also felt it was not Accurate enough.  I'm starting to think that ATX might be okay for Non-Licensed Tax Professionals and maybe even Enrolled Agents, but it's not CPA material.  As CPA's, we are much more anal about doing things right and keeping our License because it was so tough to get in the first place.

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

  14. Thanks, Judy.  You started to touch base on my problem, then drifted off a bit.  There are two Columns on the Delaware Return Worksheet, first column and then the second column for Delaware Source Income.  But even the first column should not be pulling in my wife's W-2 Income from the State of New Jersey, since she only lives and works in New Jersey.  When I did it on Pro-Systems F/X Tax earlier this year during Tax Season, it was correct and pulled in the right numbers for my Delaware W-2 Income only for the left column, and a lower number still in the right column for my Delaware Source Income.  I need to go back and fool around with it some more, but at this point I am leaning towards giving up on it and sending it back already for a refund. If it cannot even do my own Return correctly, how can I rely on it to do my Client's Tax Returns?

     I would probably switch to either Pro-Series from Intuit or maybe Drake.  From what you said however, the ATX Program is not smart enough to Optimize someone's Tax Return.  For example, I also did a Church friend's Tax Return Last Year at work on Pro-Systems F/X Tax, and it optimized his return by letting me file him MFJ for Federal and MFS for his Delaware Return, thus giving him a better result for both without having to manually enter the Data twice.

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

  15. Thanks for responding, BulldogTom, I input from our W-2's as they were given to me.  When I used Pro-Systems F/X Tax earlier this year at my prior CPA FIrm that I worked for, it properly allocated my wife's New Jersey Income from her W-2 and my Delaware Income from my W-2's.  I input both states at the bottom for mine, however the ATX Program is including all of our Income from the Federal Return (I believe Line 7) at the top of both State Forms or Worksheets, so it is incorrectly calculating my Delaware State Income, Taxes, and Refund as well as for New Jersey.  How do I fix it to make each state pick up the right amounts from each W-2?  Is there a field somewhere to do this?  Also, I noticed that there appears to be no Override Option in ATX, so if there is not an easy work-around I will have to send the Software back for a Refund and switch to something else.  If I had filed it as it is, it would be shorting me $239 on my Delaware State Refund and shorting me $118 on my New Jersey State Refund.

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

     

  16. Hello, I am a brand new fully licensed CPA and a brand new ATX user going solo to start a part-time nights and weekends Tax Practice out of my home office.  My deadline is until December 1st to send back my ATX Software for a Refund and get something else.  I re-did my own Tax Return to Test out the software.   I am finding that the Federal Return is Accurate, but my wife and I have Income from both New Jersey and Delaware so we need to do a Multi-State Return.  How do I properly allocate income from W-2's to the proper states for my State Returns?  The Delaware and New Jersey Returns both want to pull in the Total Number from the Federal Return, so I would be getting overtaxed and under-refunded if I filed this way.  Is there a way with ATX that I can properly allocate my W-2 Income between each state?  If I can get the states to work accurately, then I can keep the software, but if not, I need to return it to get something else.   Can anyone help me?  Thank you in advance.

    Sincerely,

    Peter J. Chrustowski, CPA, CGMA, MAFM

×
×
  • Create New...