mcb39

Thanks to all of you......the spies are out. I had no idea that I was that close until I sent the post. I guess Old Jack is right, I should spend more time working, but I truly love this board and any time I can offer some insight, even if it is wrong, it is a learning experience for me or someone. Thanks for your appreciation. Everyone on this board deserves the same.

Jainen, I have to interject that I don't always agree with or take you literally. However, I do tremendously admire your intelligence and knowledge and always try to read between the lines of your posts. Anyone who loves Roses and Jane Austen has to have a soft spot in there somewhere. In keeping with the thread, I find it interesting that someone wants to convert from sole proprietorship to Scorp. I hardly, if ever, see that any more. The entity of choice has become LLC for many of the reasons that Old Jack (also extremely intelligent) states. :huh:

I use Nortons Ghost monthly and back up to alternating Iomega Rev Disks. In theory, yes, everything should be there if your hard drive crashes. BUT, I also back up all important files daily to Rev, Zip and even floppy disks as well as jump drives. My thinking is that you cannot back up too much. As for solving the XP dilemma, I cannot help you with that as I am using the same OS and wonder myself what will happen when I have to update.

I have kept everything forever, but am going to start cleaning house this week......shredding and then incinerating in outside wood burner. I have everything on backup disks anyway; so saving more than 3 or 4 years is crazy unless the client has a history of investment purchases and sales. Then I will continue to save forever because so many of these companies have changed names. (or dissolved)! I can no longer stand the clutter and file cabinets are running over both upstairs and down.

Thanks Jainen...I have a few clients in California. However, I would imagine that list would be good informantion to have in ANY state.

Jainen is correct. You were always supposed to attach copies of any forms that had changed to the 1040X when submitting it. I know of very few instances where taxpayers try to do their own amendments. That is often when they start coming to us. Many taxpayers do not even know that you can amend a return, let alone three.

I am in WI and have never seen it......until now.

Sara, instead of using backup and restore, I always use export and import. That always works for me when I am moving files from one computer to another.

If the propety was purchased after 1985 receives a full stepup in basis (if there is one) on both halves of the property in a CPS. This results in less capital gain when the property is sold. You are correct about the original designation, but if they have been filing jointly, it would be "Survivorship Marital Property". This thread has presented a new learning process and back to the books.

Lucho.....if they were filing a Joint Tax Return, the basis would not change., and you would not have to make any adjustments.

Only the one who is going to live there can take the credit.....all of it!

I believe that it has to be the main residence of the purchaser. Therefore, the person who is going to occupy the home should get the entire credit, because the law says that it can be allocated in any way that you choose. Did you mean that they will be equal 1/3 owners or are there just two siblings.

"You catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar!" I wanted to say that in my original post, but was afraid it would call up a lot of protest. Am glad you got everything settled to your satisfaction. I do find that the 2008 express answers SOME questions that I can't solve other ways. Plus, this year we are going to receive the Master Tax Guide also; which is a constant reference in the TTG. Good Luck.

I received a free copy of The Tax Book in the mail a couple of months ago. It is very nice, but I find it a little confusing to have all that info crammed into one book. I am sticking with Quickfinders. They also have a great forum. IMO

Perhaps if you just call and ask them WHY you were never contacted this year, they will OFFER you the 10% discount. You may have missed the email, which was very early on. I just left it in my inbox until I was ready to order.

I received it on Aug 9, 2009; did not download the program, but am still cleaning up trace trojans on my laptop. :angry:

I was referring to Income Tax on the $10,000 she is withdrawing for a downpayment on a home. However, in reading back over the posts, I feel that the preparer is aware of that liability and is only wishing to avoid a penalty. I just hope the attorney (or someone) is smart enough to have tax withheld from the distribution, as opposed to the attorney that my client HAD!

BUT, won't she still have to pay income tax on the distribution? I have a similar situation coming up and we have to do some planning. So far, the plan was to roll into an IRA for my client in order to avoid tax as well as penalty.

Thanks, Joan, I am mulching my flower beds and generally putting the gardens to sleep. Snow forcast for tonight. Weekend off, then back to payroll quarterly issues.

I finished e-filing, receiving acks on Tuesday. Now, the payroll quarterly stuff is coming in. Am taking the weekend off, however, and back to parttime job on Monday. ^_^

It is always a big Hurrah when you find the answer yourself. It is also amazing how many elections, etc are to be found at the bottom of some of the forms pages. Often, we forget to look.

He energized his own as well as several other nations. He gave people reasons to hope that things would get better. If, (as it appears on this board), Jainen and I are the only ones who voted for him, how did he get elected? In my opinion, this board has gotten far, far too political. I promised myself to stay out of political posts, but all of this nit-picking about a prize that President Obama neither asked for, voted for or apparently expected, is just too much. Accept it as the honor that it is, and hope that we can live up to it.

Thank you, Jainen, for your insight!

I agree that "much appreciated" is an understatement. The software IS my most important tool. However, you did get the rest of my point. Wayne posts further down about the preparers who just ask questions and plug in the answers. That is something that we have all seen and many of those returns are ones that we have amended. He is right that nobody deserves to be treated that way. Therein lies some of the reason why the IRS is talking about licensing, etc; which is tarring all of us with the same brush. However, if it comes down to passing a test, that might be for the better good of many. Nonetheless, my bottom line is that I find ATX to be an excellent choice of software. However, I don't have a pile of research material on my floor and seminars under my belt for nothing. We have to do the best job possible for our clients. None of us can know all of the answers, but we have to know where to find the answers and this board is an exceptional source of knowledge also. :rolleyes:

This pretty much describes me. I work alone and, of course, concede that if you are doing thousands of returns, you might need a program that does more of the work for you. But, if you are doing thousands of returns, you probably can afford something else. I, on the other hand, only do hundreds. I find Quickfinders "All States" book to be a great help and only renew it every 3 years. It gives me a strong basis for all states and further checking can be done on the individula state web sites. Remember, every time this board or the original board has asked for ATX to do more, the price has gone up. As far as I am concerned, they have fine-tuned the software extremely well. They were the first (and as far as I know, only) software to offer the Organizer in the prior year software. That has always been a feature that has been appreciated. They were also among the first to integrate free e-filing into the program. I can well remember having to e-file through a third party and pay to do it and it was a nightmare. Yes, everyone has their own set of circumstances, but I still maintain that our first responsibility is to the client and we should KNOW what we are doing. My second responsibility is to myself and making a living by using the skills and knowledge that I have. Software, to me, is a much appreciated aid; but never a crutch.