MargaretMort

I was wondering the same thing. At this moment in my life I don't want anything hard to handle--have enough of that. I thought I was told the Webnar would be in Nov. and here we are! MM

My, you certainly have made my Monday a lot brighter. Many thanks. I laughed again, even at the ones I had seen/read/heard before.

KC, you have been in my thoughts a lot recently. I wondered how everything has been going. Gall bladder, for crying out loud, is adding insult to injury. My husband was in the hospital the first 23 days of August so I can appreciate your problems. Here's to better times ahead. M

Definitely an upper. M

I remember my "foyer" in Caribou. You walked into a 4 ft sq. area, delicately balanced on one foot while you pulled off your snow boot and put on a shoe you pulled out of your shoe bag, put foot down, etc. Then, you opened the next door to the living room. This kept the cold out of the heated house. It was a lot of fun when you had a party. Even more fun was when you had a party and the power went off. (This was on the former military base outside the town.) I must admit I don't recall anyone leaving mud anywhere but then snow was much more prevalent. My son was just reminiscing the other day about playing golf during the spring thaw before the snow was completely gone. Good memories.

You have my support in any way possible. We all hope for the very best outcome. M

I have one efile with error messages and I have forgotten how to get the error message. It has not been validated by EFC, big red alert when I tried to send it but not message came up. Help. Thanks

This is very interesting because just this morning my husband noticed the postcard I received from TRX and was questioning why I didn't go on-line to check it out. I very neatly pulled out a floppy from Tax year 2000 and informed him that I had used them then. I never had any problems with the program. My problem was that it was DOS based--I am not--they had no 1-800 phone number--that got expensive--and at that point I had to pay to efile each return. When push came to shove, I switched to ATX because it was less expensive, and more in synch with my pea-brain, in the long run. That no longer seems to be true and I will certainly take a long look at them later in the year. At my age and stage, I don't even know if I will be doing taxes next year so I am not rushing into anything. The price is certainly right for the taxes I do.

I just happened to notice the birthdays today. May I be one of the first to wish both of you many happy returns. To KC especially because we know this past year has been very draining. You made aother one and we hope this year will be much much better.

Yes, on June 5 we will have been married 53 yrs. I keep telling everybody I am getting old and this tax year has proved it. I often think my mind has wandered off, probably looking for a frikkin' banana for JB.

I got a big red error message, when trying to efile one return about 4 CDT, said IMPORTANT MESSAGE but when I clicked on it nothing happened. I did get through to the "HelpDesk" after about 15 min. and a pleasant speaking young man told me that everybody on the East Coast was filing and the circuits were busy, that I should be able to efile in an hour. I will try in the morning. This was a first for me but I recall getting important messages in past years from ATX that you accessed immediately. Too bad they still don't have that capability.

Thank the good Lord for that. JB's fiancee might just possibly object strenuously and my ever-loving of nearly 53 yrs definitely would. but I am honored to be right up there with JB's frikkin' banana even without a parachute.

Gosh, I am so glad to add to the levity of the board. I lost my head, along with my mind, and forgot how to spell frikkin'. I am sooooooooo embarrassed. Not only that, my spell checker told me so. Oh well, this too will pass. M

This is not a vacation house, full-time rental. It didn't seem like an improvement to me but I am questioning all my thoughts now. My first instinct was to expense the entire cost. Probably will go that way. Thanks. Oh, and JB, please use a parachute so you don't squash the fricking banana.

I have a client who has a rental house. This past year he bought storm shutters for the house--we live near the Gulf Coast in FL. These ran in the neighborhood of $1200. The shutters are not permanently installed on the house, put up and taken down as needed in the event of a hurricane. For some reason I can't decide if I should depreciate the cost or not. What say you? Thanks

A child under 18 delivering newspapers to customers is exempt from SE tax, FICA and FUTA (IRC 1402)c)(2)(A) amd 3121(B )(14)). This is in The TAX Book. Sounds like they have to pay taxes on the income though.

For your first client, it depends on how the retirement income is reported. If it is a Canadian T5, that is "old age pension" and goes on L. 20. If it is another type, I would think it is reported on L. 16. Been a few years since I have had one of those and I don't recall the number. Don't forget to change the income to American if it is reported in Canadian amounts though this year the exchange rate has been pretty close to par on average.

Duh! Finally figured it out. If nothing else, writing the original message made me start to think.

Brain has gone to mush. Have a client who receives a 1099 INT with his SS # that really belongs to his brother. Last year I nomineed it out, probably filled out a 1099 INT, etc. This year I can't remember how I did the nominee on the Sch B. I know it is something easy, just can't remember. thanks.

That is what I do. My clients use vehicles for personal as well so only the business percentage is included. Had one client who started out taking the Standard deduction, was stuck with that for the time of the lease. This new lease he is keeping better records and taking actual expenses. Standard is quicker and easier for me, Actual is much better for him.

Gosh, I am glad to read the non-complaint idea. I have been using ATX for quite a few years, like the forms input, like the community board--yes, I was stunned last April and am thrilled that ERC started this one--and have learned a great deal. I will probably renew because the price is right for my small practice. I have a great deal of sympathy for the people who have larger tax practices and lots of questions and little help from the powers that be but......Sometimes we do go overboard. (I know I do this in relation to a golf course I am a member of--no input, no info, lots of question and complaints on my part) I certainly can't fuss about their complaints, just extremely glad that either my questions are answered on this board before I need to ask them or I have instant response the few times I have requested help. Here's to a final push to April 15.

I pulled out a client's statement of annuity paid (OPM) and compared it to what you described. The gross annuity amount is what the client received in 2007, original contributions was what he put in while working, and taxable annuity is what is taxable. You put the gross amount on L. 16-A and the taxable annuity on L. 16-B. (Actually you bunny hop to the input page and it takes care of the where it goes) The health insurance premium goes to Sch A and the distribution code is normal, same as any regular 1099-R.

I just looked at the time at the bottom--I had never noticed that before either. It said it is March 21 at 12:47 AM. According to my trusty computer time, it is March 20 at 6:49 PM. Very interesting. Gives me something to obsess on instead of taxes. I am not concerned about the time, to be perfectly honest. I read them when I read them and respond, or not, at that time. Does it matter to me if the program thinks it is a different time than I think it is. Absolutely not! The important thing, at least to me, is the question and the answers. My sincere thanks for all you do ERC. You are a godsend.

I just checked and mine had gone back to somewhere in the Pacific. I had reset the other day to Central time which is correct for me. When I reset today it told me my correct time was 5:47 when in fact it was 11:47 AM. The only thing I can figure is that GMT is off. Very interesting.

Unfortunately, he has a very poor record with the day trading. I suggested he might consider not dabbling a couple of years ago. He is no longer playing, thank goodness, but the losses won't be absorbed at $3000 a year before the income runs out. Thanks.