mcbreck

Saw an Instagram video where they went through the garage of an auto repair shop and asked each mechanic their SnapOn Tools current debt balance. If you want to see a REALLY impressive tool collection, visit an old farm equipment repair guy. My grandfather had a Massey dealership and worked on everything except Deere (which his brother in law owned).

This right here. Some new clients come in and are so used to spending hours filling out and reviewing their "organizer" that it's sad. I have a bunch of new clients from a CPA who told everyone he might be retiring and then didn't - they keep bringing in these 16 page organizers that they hold in their hands as if they are the holy grail I need to fill out their return.

The beneficiary (unless spouse) is required to withdraw all the funds within 10 years and you should take yearly distributions. Doesn't matter if the original owner was taking distributions or not. Even before this new set of rules, inherited IRAs were supposed to take immediate RMDs based upon their own life. There are exceptions to the 10 year rule - spouse, disabled child, child of the deceased who is a minor and if the person inheriting the IRA is <10 years younger than the original owner. As your brother, you MUST begin taking RMDs now. Whether it is your life expectancy or 10 years I do not know. You'd be called an "eligible designated beneficiary." I think it's probably your life expectancy if you wish it to be but check with the custodian.

Thanks. I'll check that.

Mine doesn't show that. I'd need the detail anyway as I show a bill price and then give a discount. Thanks.

Is there a way to see what I charged last year without going into last year's software? If not, I'll add it to my preparer notes.

My wife works for the med school / hospital of a major University and the tech group sends out phishing emails to all employees as a way to test if they are opening them and clicking the link. You can get a reward if you forward the email to tech to notify receiving it. All managers get notified if an employee gets caught. Compared to the phishing emails I get, they are sometimes VERY elaborate. Like NE, the email address is usually the easy sign, supposedly they've fixed that problem.

How much are they paying? I checked into it last year for my sister-in-law and Intuit paid $30 per hour and TaxAct paid $35 per hour plus a bonus that could easily get you up to $45 per hour. Not a bad supplement wage if you starting a practice. My sister-in-law is working on her EA to snag that in retirement. Her attitude is that $10k makes a massive difference.

When the broker set up an IRA distribution request form there would be a checkbox for the 72t distribution. Then the broker enters that when they make the distribution request and that's how the code is entered properly. The custodian has the ability to fix it, it just may take 6 months. Our firm runs a new set of corrected 1099-r forms in July I think. We can also fix a 1099 and change cost basis but it won't run until July. If the client follows through for all the years, the IRS will be fine with the current method. I don't know all the facts for why the firm is refusing to correct. For example maybe they didn't meet the distribution dollar amount requirement when they took the distribution or maybe they skipped a year in the 5. For example maybe this is year 5, they skipped year 3 and now the client wants a corrected 1099 and that's why the broker refuses. For example, I had a client several years ago who wanted to retroactively enter into a 72t agreement and his distribution amount wasn't based upon life expectancy. We refused to correct the 1099r.

No. The laptop is encrypted so data on it would be worthless to whoever stole it. (unless they figured out my password) Any desktop could be stolen out of an office just as easily. If I'm gone for a few days, I'll lock my laptop in my desk.

I've been using laptops for 20 years. In the office my laptop is set up as if I had a desktop computer with 2 external monitors, wireless keyboard and mouse. When I take the laptop with me I can run my office completely and client's have no idea. This past summer we took a vacation to Normandy France and Paris - took my laptop and could answer client questions each day. After dinner I'd get online for 20-30 minutes and get everything caught up so I didn't have a pile on my desk.

I've seen multiple threads on here about declining customer service at the tax software firms. It's routine for Drake that people are concerned about their future. Imagine if you called customer service with a problem and the rep was all of a sudden in India. Think that might be rather disconcerting? Imagine the gall at the idea of them charging you a premium because they fired all their US employees and outsourced to India. That's basically what you are doing when you hire one of these firms. I've seen threads on other boards where people have outsourced their data entry, they are outsourcing their problem solving and they refuse any client meetings during tax season and want everything handled remotely. I'm not sure what service they are providing clients but I'm guessing clients will soon be demanding a significant discount for such non-personalized service. People compared this to an extended warranty on a vehicle. This isn't that. This is the Toyota dealer closing their repair shop and directing you to take your car to Joey B's Auto Shop for your warranty work and expecting you to pay a privilege for the service. If Toyota did that, I wouldn't buy another Toyota.

I use them. It's very easy and very affordable.

Can you pull the transcript? I get hand written 1099-nec's all the time from clients. Never had a hand written K-1 but it isn't prohibited. My guess is she produced the tax return themselves?

Received! Weird when a company calls before 8am.

Thanks for the update. I buy from a reseller and they remotely install it on my laptop. Guessing I'll get it later this week but never really know when they will call.

I use LibreOffice and have for over 10 years, used to use OpenOffice but when they announced it would no longer be updated I made the switch. They are both open source programs and based upon an old Sun Microsystem program. I just use the Writer and Calc programs which open Word and Excel files but it has a database and other programs included. Years ago on an MS Office upgrade they wouldn't allow you to open certain file types - LibreOffice would do it so I made the switch. Also, Libre will open .numbers files I believe in case a client is using Apple. LibreOffice does everything I want except customized labels on pie-charts. I like to be able to manually move the label and it use a line to direct to the wedge - Libre doesn't allow that. I find it FAR superior to Google Sheets but my wife uses Sheets and says it's better than it used to be.

From an attorney I spoke to about this YEARS ago, as long as you explain to the client their obligation within the IRS rules and explain to them the penalties and interest which could be applied, you weren't willfully negligent (document it). I couldn't tell you if that's true as I'm not with the IRS but I recall it with Circular 230 that notifying them of their obligations and penalties is a big deal in your liability. I'm lucky because all my 1120S corps show a loss and I'm doubting the IRS is going after them. I've had them in the past and when I harped on their obligations, they left for a preparer who was less worried about it. I realize people would throw a fit but 1120S tax rules need to change. They are just ripe for abuse.

I didn't like this version but it IS very scary what's going to be coming down the pike in the future. They can generate fake photos, fake videos, fake interviews using AI to discredit a person. Instagram has entire pages of AI generated models for whatever you are interested in looking at. Very freaky when you consider political or economic events in the future. Imagine if someone goes massively short a particular stock using options and then releases a fake interview of the CEO making horrific claims. William Randolph Hearst supposedly said "You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war." AI can easily furnish all the evidence you need.

Thanks- I'll research 645 election! I'm completely unfamiliar with it, thanks.

A new client has been brought to me and I'm confused on how best to go about it. Client died in 2020, everything he owned was immediately moved to a Trust with an EIN, cost basis all adjusted. CPA then had a meltdown and demanded they file an Estate return using the EIN and filing on a fiscal basis. The CPA just stopped communicating with the attorney and beneficiary and there were errors in the tax return. This is likely going on for about 20 years so nobody wants this to continue on a fiscal basis. I'm filing a 3 month tax return to get it to the fiscal year and then we'll shift to the trust return and continue using the same EIN. Think that would be a major problem? Do I need to inform the IRS? It doesn't change any tax bill because everything was being distributed to a single beneficiary and she reported the income. Or should I just do a correct trust return for 3 months?

Just logged in, 8 digits and went fine. Since you have to log in with ID.me or another method, not seeing the point of additional security on the password.

Every like-kind exchange plan that comes to me I tell them to hire a real estate attorney to facilitate the transaction and make sure it is done within the IRS guidelines. That small fee always kills it. I'm no expert on that stuff and there are a ton of maneuvers to make in a timely manner for it to qualify and I'm not taking that liability. When I went through the EA training, their definition of "like-kind" property was very different from what people use today.

Do you handle much representation? I'm currently doing my securities CE via FINRA due next October. Tax CE is done before vacation after tax season.

Does anyone automatically do a 2848 for each client with the 3 future years so that you can talk to the IRS about their issues in the future? Every three years everyone could just sign a new form. How about the 8821, do you automatically have clients sign that form each year so you can get the transcripts when/ if you need it? I've seen that preparers do the 2848, charge a fee every three years to update the paperwork and then they can always talk with the IRS about a client's situation.