BLACK BART

It happened to me on the first couple of returns - went to fixed assets and the screen froze - couldn't move the cursor - nothing - couldn't even click on "shut down".  I hit Ctrl, Alt, Delete and shut down.  Went back in; same thing.  Repeated the shut down, went back in, and it fixed itself.  Don't know what was happening, but have done several returns since and had no problems.  

When the screen was frozen, there was a message on the screen saying this was part of ATX's "Enhanced Asset Depreciation" (think that was the title) and to "see your representative" to participate.  I think they are trying to sell you the super-duper depreciation module in addition to your regular fee.  If so, it was a terrible sales approach and I was very worried for a good while.  Is yours cured yet?

On 9/5/2020 at 1:49 AM, BLACK BART said:

...recently saw two (make that one) movies on Netflix that weren't completly crazy... 

I've gotta amend this piece of that last post. 

About that movie on Netflix that they're carryin' on about so much (yeah; that one); well I haven't actually seen it but they played a few clips on the news and I was so flabbergasted that I'm cancellin' my subscription.  And here's where this turns into a non-(N/T) question: I don't actually have a subscription to Netflix, but my tech-savvy granddaughter who lives off from here does and somehow I'm gettin' the movies on her card, code, cosmos, or whatever.  Is there a deduction (AR allows schedule A) in there somewhere for sacrificing for "the greater good" (some of those movies are just terrible)?  Or is my six months of watchin' them for free (never knew Bruce Willis and so many other aging actors were on it) a taxable line 21 item (after all, where else could you put it?)?   

I think I already know the answer, but if my luck holds (I won a cakewalk when I was eleven years old), who knows? 

On 8/29/2020 at 4:07 PM, Abby Normal said:

You should share stories here on a regular basis. I would so look forward to reading them!

Dear Abby (and friends),

I appreciate your comment and would indeed write more (I do enjoy it very much), but it seems to me that a steady diet of crackerbarrel humor and southern cornbread tends to become a tad overdone and stale PDQ (as you know, some tax pros want non-tax posts eliminated entirely).

I'll continue to contribute occasionally though.  We certainly could USE some humor nowadays, couldn't we?  Saw that divorces are up sharply among newlyweds (must not have suffered from as many slings and arrows of past events as this old bunch - I'm trudging through a fifty-something anniversary). Some good news: supposed to have a vaccine in a few months which is cheering.  Wonder of wonders - saw Lysol spray for sale on Amazon (if you want to pay $64.99 for three cans); the stuff's made in India. While my Prozac-popping pal looked a little bleary-eyed the other day, at least she's still with us, so that's encouraging.  Also recently saw two movies on Netflix that weren't completly crazy.  Hooray! 

Best regards, BB 

I swear, if that outfit calls me one more time I'm gonna, gonna, ....hmmm.... uh... answer it I guess.  They've lightened up lately - no more than three calls daily instead of the previously normal six.  Since they already own everything in internet-land (and probably a telephone company or two to boot), I don't suppose there's any chance of them runnin' out of cash any time in the next century or so.  At first they were calling on the up-and-up (ID said "out of region"); that didn't work so they bought up all our local three-digit prefix numbers so I'd think it might be a legit local customer, but the salesman's spiel gave that away pretty quick and we hung up immediately.  They quit that and started using strange out-of-the-way towns for caller ID (lucky for me that Horseshoe Bend, AR isn't strange 'cause I've already been to Possum Grape and Oil Trough).  The latest gimmick is they're using random names: now I've got to figure out who the heck is R. Hicks (no address listed).  

Sure wish I had my party line back - two long rings followed by three short.  'Course I guess faxin' would be a little more complicated and then there's those dadgum confidentiality rules to rassle with. 

 P. S.  Ran into a (socially-distanced) old friend the other day and right in the middle of my complaints she said "Bart - Prozac is not the answer! 

I've had my share of 'em too but the best story I ever heard was third-hand (both parties are now deceased).  In the early eighties I worked for an accountant who had once worked under a CPA in a nearby large town.  My boss (an honest and truthful man) told me he was an actual witness to this scene:

A regular customer, grouchy and notorious for his chronic complaining, came in to pick up his return.  The CPA quoted a reasonable fee.  The patron promptly threw a fit, let out a string of curses, and roundly chewed them out for all manner of excessive charges, slipshod work, along with many outrageous slurs.   My boss said the CPA simply sat there through the diatribe; then calmly stood up, picked up the return, tore it in half, then quarters, threw it down on the desk, and said: "Now, get your a$$ out of my office!"       

I've always wanted to do that. 

Gosh, I don't know.  I used to have a Suzuki motorcycle that was hard to start.  Is that anywhere close?   

Well, nobODY CAn say you don't know your stuff.  After this, for a chaser of sorts, maybe get a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. 

Couldn't find anything on it, but years ago a venture capital trio of people in Austin, Texas put some money into it, so maybe that has something to do with the ATX name.

18 hours ago, schirallicpa said:

...I don't think I've ever tasted goat meat or goat milk...

15 hours ago, BulldogTom said:

It is tough unless cooked properly... 

Neither have I, but I once had a landlord tell me that some (evicted) renters had celebrated their home country's national holiday by slaughtering a goat on the apartment living room carpet.  He was mad enough to have chewed that goat up raw. 

4 hours ago, Christian said:

...I am just wondering where this is going....it is self evident but I wonder if they will in fact ever check him. Just curious to know what other preparers have seen in this regard in their experience with this sort of thing.

2 hours ago, RitaB said:

...For some reason, people think hobby farms are treated differently...Probably because they get away with it.  All the time. 

 

Where it's going is...nowhere.  Interesting subject though.  Many years ago a "farmer" of sorts sent his wife to me with his papers - she dutifully worked at the factory, made $15K (going wages at the time) and every year he lost $15K on the "hay farm".   He actually had equipment (discs, harrows, old tricycle John Deere, etc.).  I dutifully told her about hobby losses (she was unconcerned, saying "Smitty handles all that").  Third year: same story - I gave her one of Edsel's "Come to Jesus" talks and she replied "Well, we been doin' it this way 15 years and nobody's complained yet.  I've got a hair-do appointment, so if you give me my papers back I'll be on my way." 

I actually ran into "Smitty" one time a few years later, asked how it was going, and he said "Fine; just fine  Never heard nothin' frum nobody.  Guess ever'thang will be alright if the Smirnoff holds out" (he was a tad on the shiftless side).  

Curious, I looked up some IRS history on the subject: they (IRS) had (sometime in the 80's I think) done a survey on the hobby problem and it was much more widespread than they'd thought.  They sent many letters out about it and a majority replied and complied, but then they  did a follow-up survey about five years later and found that a large percentage had gone right back to their old ways of doin' things.  Surprisingly, IRS never followed that up or took any further action on it and the initiative died.

Still, I'd hate to be there if/when the shoe dropped.

P. S.  

As long as I'm on the subject, anybody happen to know if T/P had no refund for '18 or '19 and and paid with a direct debit or a check - will they still have to fill out GET MY PAYMENT at irs.gov ? (By the way, that site was down for a while yesterday but was back up a while ago).

Are the phone calls about this driving anybody else nuts? 

Typical: Where's my 12/24 hundred bucks?

Did you file for '19 yet?  

Nah.

What about '18?

Uh, I dunno.

Anyone know if the October 15th deadline of extensions (if you don't file by July 15th) is still good?

"Grasshopper" Bart

Thanx for the tip, Jack.  If I get acks tomorrow, I'll stop chewing on my fingernails and develop legendary patience.

Note to John H. - Is that you I hear snickering about me and my fellow goobers who stayed with ATX after the bad time several years back?

We talked to two different ATX reps a few minutes ago.  They looked ours up and said two from this morning showed up in the system and were being processed.  He didn't show the other six in the system, but said to wait and they would eventually get to them.  Didn't say when. They said everyone is working from home, so I don't know if anybody's minding the office (they wouldn't say).   However, my wife grilled them some and they promised to get everything handled and not leave us in the lurch (keeping my fingers crossed). 

Sent off several returns to ATX about 4 hours ago and get "transmitted to EFC" but not "transmitted to AGENCY" yet.   Anybody else getting that today?

I  just saw on Memphis TV news that Treasury Secretary Mnuchin (Munchkin, Muppet, whatever) announced that the FILING DATE was also extended to July 15th in addition to the extension to July 15 for PAYMENT.   Don't know what this does to extensions.  I HAVE NOT seen the actual OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT, so DON'T QUOTE ME.  Anybody know anything different?

Some guy posted on the internet (got 36K replies): Said: "It's Sunday, so I think I'll take a day off from panicking and pick it up again tomorrow."

Okay, that's it.  Out the window.

If one more person....just one; comes in and starts in on what all's gonna happen; I swear I'll either overdose on a bottle of Germ-X or throw myself out the window (even if it is only a one-story building). 

(Not that I, myself, haven't already mentioned every possible dire consequence in the world 'til my other half finally told me to shut up.) 

Just when I think I'm over the hill:  Guy drives up today, gets out, crips in the office (a bit unsteady - says "I've been sick.") He's 103 - yeah, one hundred and three).  No cane, no walker, no wheelchair.  All health is mostly intact, but requests I write for pickup instead of calling (his hearing is shot).  He's a widower, buys mutual funds (his son/sole heir is a churn 'em and burn 'em broker but doesn't lose too much) and there's enough money to last another century, so everybody's happy (including me - decent fee guaranteed & no complaint).

Maybe God's in his heaven and all's right (well, mostly) with the world after all. 

On 2/25/2020 at 12:10 PM, Roberts said:

...the previous preparer made mental errors...

Yeah, I'm prone to those too (so my wife says), but anyway, who can tell what's right to charge.  Everybody varies and the determining factors are all over the board.  It may depend on who it is - what's included in the "short form" they claim it is and it ain't - do/are they: coughing in my face, wearing enough perfume to burn my eyes, poor-mouthing while I know they have enough cash to burn a wet mule, likable, affable, cheerful, have body odor that would drop an ox, be poor, pitiful, or pretty.  Sometimes I gouge and sometimes I practically give it away.  I had a fit the other day and charged a client $800 for a quoted $400 maddening job and then made a grand gesture of slashing it in half in front of him when he complained.  Kept the client but I'm still P.O.ed about it.  What next?  Oh well, such is life the old man used to say.  RANT OVER!

I charge $75 for one W-2 and a state.  $95 for two W-2s, $110 if they have an HSA or other stray form, $150 to $300 and up for C or E, etc.  The more complicated it gets runs it up to $500 or possibly $900.  Course, this is pore boy country so it probably won't fit the Yankee prices.  Meanwhile, I'm playing it by ear (and nose).

Schedule E client bought a heater for $2,000 and in the fixed asset screen section ATX automatically plugs the whole $2K in the special allowance box and writes it off in full.  I don't need or want fast depreciation this year and thought that 179 was not allowed on rental house furnishings.  Is the 100% special allowance not considered a form of 179 and must be taken on all equipment regardless?

Me, too.  BUT -  just now phoned them.  Rep says it's not you; that it's their (ATX) error,  that everybody will get that message, they are working on it, and should be cleared up in a day or two (hope the part about clearing it soon up is right).  Didn't say if it had any effect on anything, but I'm not sending any morer efiles 'til they say it has gone away for good.

I'm gettin' an early jump on the holiday this year since I'm famous (notorius my wife says) for coming up empty-handed on Saint Valentine's Day.   No more heart-shaped little box of candy.  More later.