mcb39

Bear in mind that there are some who don't back up anything.  Worse yet, are the clients who keep everything, including banking and business bookkeeping on their phones.  They make me shiver and cringe.

I have found Texting and Messaging to be the biggest waste of time that I have ever encountered in all the years of doing tax prep.  Second to that is e-mailing, but sometimes that has some value.

Yes.......I have always believed that you cannot have too many backups.

A Merry and Blessed Christmas wish to all of you who do so much to help me limp through continuing tax seasons.  My appreciation knows no bounds. 

I use EaseUS to do Backup; backing up entire system to alternating external harddrives at specific times.  Harddrives are kept in a safe.  Each computer has its own set of backup drives.  At the same time, ATX clients are backed up religiously and on the go to jump drives that we can pass back and forth.

I use a small program called "Family Lawyer"

Depreciation equals allowed or allowable; which everyone seems to realize.  These seem to be coming up fairly frequently lately; perhaps because of the housing market.  

Did you set up a depreciation schedule for him ten years ago, when he first came to you?  I would consider all aspects when deciding on the pricing.

I gave a little speech this year right before we prayed.  Since my youngest Grandson and his wife just bought their first home and the entire family that my husband and I are the heads of, were here.  I pointed out how thankful we are and how proud we are of all of them.  I said that we were very thankful for the life we have built together over 64 years of marriage and hope that they all take something away from our example.  However, this Great-Grandma is getting tired and it may soon be time to pass the torch.  Since I don't have a daughter, they will have to figure that out.  When I heard my Grandson say "Nobody's dressing tastes like Grandma's", my heart swelled.  I am certainly not giving up on life or the work that I do in this office.  It was just time to contemplate!

And, then we prayed!

The day after is a REALLY great day for the cook!!!

1 hour ago, joanmcq said:

I always have issues getting into ATX.  and then have issues installing because something doesn't set up correctly in my computer.  Ugh.

I always have issues logging in as well; to the point where I want to scream.  Today I tried to stay calm.  Once in, installation went very smoothly and quickly.  I am still using 10 for ATX.

3 hours ago, BrewOne said:

always.  Every year I face an expired password and hold my breath while I try to get in.

But I'm in no rush, going to give them some time to get things sorted.

Not so bad this year.  Once I got logged in, the download went smoothly.  I also received my Record of Completion Credentials today.  Tomorrow I can concentrate on cooking. 

Now the trick is to log into the web page.  Am I the only one who always has trouble with that?

7 hours ago, NECPA in NEBRASKA said:

 I always swore that I would not be some of the "old people" dragging around their oxygen and snoring in class. My boss was one of them. I was 19 and I thought that he was probably 80. In retrospect, he was probably 60. LOL I still have another 8 hour tax update next month and any random ones that I can fit in. 

Isn't that the truth?  I don't have the oxygen but have been attending these classes since 2009.  My goal is to take away at least one new item of knowledge as well as the certificate and the credential.  Another successful year.  Happy learning to all of you!

Two full days of Webinars attended via Iowa State University.  I hope that I am at least a little smarter.  A lot to absorb in a couple of long days.  However, I am one step closer to Tax Prep Season 2024.

What's really neat, if you like history, and have a chance to read an abstract; do so.  These were issued before title insurance became the vehicle of use.  Abstracts can be many pages long and start out with the parent property.  They go back through every sale and parcel breakoff.  You will be amazed how many times a parcel or part of a parcel was sold over the years "for $1 and other valuable considerations.  I have an abstract for the property that I live on because it originally belonged to my husband's Grandfather, approximately 6 generations ago.  We also have a Quitclaim Deed with the same wording because abstracts were no longer in use when it was gifted to us for (you got it) $1 and other valuable considerations.  We didn't pay a penny, but did a considerable amount of improvements in 50 years.  If we were to sell it today, we would escape CG anyway because of it being our homestead property, as the law stands now.  This subject fascinates me to no end.

4 hours ago, Jim Oh Bkkr said:

Remember, this is a legal document, not a financial document.  Every deed I have seen, (and I've seen a lot), started with:

"For the sum of $1 and other valuable consideration" (exact wording).  Maybe that is Ohio's legalese, but I've never seen a deed give a selling price.

Nor, have I.  We just recently purchased a plat of land in WI.  My Warranty Deed only says "For a Valuable Consideration".  Have the client do some digging for paperwork, cancelled check, etc on the actual sale.  It is usually worth their while.  I have had some dandies in the past few years, where the land was practically worthless when they got it, but they forget about all of the costs of purchase and sale and/or any improvements they have made over the years.  You might be surprised ie: "Oh, I had a well put in, etc."

Bear in mind that the return that the return is for 2021 and the filer did not pass until 2023.  I would go ahead and file it because to all intents and purposes he was alive and an active participant in the Tax Year 2021.

I can remember years ago keeping copies of all purchases, transactions, splits, etc and then spending hours adding back dividends.  It was a great learning experience but there were way fewer clients of mine who had investments at that time.  For whatever reason, I have never disposed of those transactions and they might be welcome in some IRS museum at some given time.  We never had it easy in the early days and we don't have it easy now.

I have never been able to access what I want from e-services.  After much frustration, I just gave up and have not tried it for a few years now.

Smooth as silk!  One more hurdle over.

12 hours ago, cbslee said:

Refer them to VITA or the Tax Counseling for the Elderly.

That really doesn't solve anything because many of those preparers are volunteers with little knowledge of tax law or procedures.  I totally stress filing timely even if they cannot pay and let the IRS handle it from there.  Not necessarily a good solution; but you have done your due diligence and if they don't want to listen, it is on them.  They would definitely be off the client list for the following year.

I, and my children, are my own worst clients.  When I say I, that includes my husband's business as well as mine.  Guess who does the bookkeeping.

On 10/5/2023 at 6:49 PM, Max W said:

But I don't suppose we will get a refund for the overcharged years.

We did get a refund the year that we took the RTRP test.

After just reading about the millionaire non-filers, I would just leave it alone.  W2 withholding and SE Tax end up about the same.  Apparently the IRS just doesn't know their butt from their elbow and are going after the little guys.  I doubt that this would ever be questioned.  Just because they might have an EIN doesn't mean that they conducted any business.

A little humor here as I had two young fellows approach me this summer to set up their Partnership.  They came in together and I told them explicitly what the steps were going to be and they both assured me that they understood.  They both promised to bring me the Partnership return as well as their separate personal returns.  I never like to prepare a 1065 if I don't also get to prepare the returns of the Partners.  So far, that has always been the case.  The Primary Partner here already was a client of mine as a Sch C filer.  We can do good things and issue great guidance if they only learn to ask. 

In the past, I have had clients who took pictures of the large amounts of clothing and household items donated. One had every item documented.  She was never questioned on the donation.