rfassett

Me too - 3,263,442 in less than a minute. I am not an engineer but have a niece and a nephew that are.

I do not disagree with you that that is how the press and the public perceive that it is being done - and in your district it may very well be the case. But in my district, the rhetoric is there, but the substance is not. The only way you get a first mortgage modification in this district is outside of bankruptcy. A second mortgage in a Chapter 7 can be discharged to the extent that there is no value in the property securing even a little bit of that second. The second will not ininiate foreclosure proceedings because it has nothing to gain. The second's lien, however, does not go away, and if and when that property gets sold, they will have their hand out. This point is what makes the Chapter 13 appealing because the lien held by the second can get stripped away. That is how things are playing out in this district. I always encourage folks considering bankruptcy to do their homework in their own district and then hire the most competent legal counsel that they can afford.

I missed something that the original poster MAS said. There is no "IF you include" it. A bankruptcy filing requires you to list ALL of your assets and ALL of your debts and the debtor is attesting to the fact that the petition is true to the best of their knowledge. Do people hide assets? Most likely. Is it legal? No. What happens if they are caught? The bankruptcy filing is considered fradulent and the bankruptcy is dismissed with or without prejudice (depending on the judge and the severity of the fraud). That simply means that life is as if you had not ever filed the bankruptcy - or worse, not allowing you to file again for a certain amount of time. I do a lot of bankruptcy counseling - and I always, always, always tell my clients to be honest to a fault. I do not understand why anyone would want to risk the new start - considering where they are coming from and what the new start means to them, but there are some who want to play that game. If I am aware of it, they get their counsel from someone else. I don't swim in those waters.

There is not much area for negotiation in a Chapter 7 as far as the primary residence is concerned. Congress has been extremely reluctant to give the Bankruptcy Court the ability to modify the primary mortgage. (The banking industry still has the stronger lobby in Washington.) But as jainen points out, each state does have its own set of exemption rules. The way that works is that if the exemption amount is greater than or equal to the equity in the house, then you can keep the house if you reaffirm the debt. If the exemption amount is significantly less than the equity in the home, then the trustee would more than likely capture the house as an asset available to sell to pay off other creditors. Again the foregoing assumes a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In a Chapter 13, on the other hand, if there is a second mortgage on the property and the first mortgage in "under water", then many of the districts across the country are allowing the lien securing the "unsecured" second mortgage to be stripped and the debt discharged.

The house is collaterolizing (sp) the debt making it a secured debt. Consequently, unless the debtor reaffirms the debt (and that means the debtor is agreeing to pay the debt with no concessions by the bank) then the bank will foreclose on the property. The bank will then sell the home to try to cover the mortgage. But as far as the debtor is concerned, again if the mortgage is not reaffirmed, the debt is cancelled (discharged) for ever and a day. The end result is the debtor gets a fresh start with a new address. The foregoing is assuming a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The rules are different for a Chapter 13, 12, or 11.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, let me suggest the old adage, "he who hesitates, loses". I do not know the particulars of this person's demise, nor of his practice make up. But put yourself in his client's shoes. For those that are on extension, if they have not called you already, they probably won't call. If I got word that my attorney went to be with the Lord and that attorney was in the middle of something for me, I would not wait for his widow to get her house in order. I would seek out other professional help to pick up where the other guy left off (assuming that the wife was not also an attorney). I would think the same thing may be happening here. Now, all of that said, I did BUY a practice from an estate, once upon a time, because I wanted the lion's share of the pie. But I had to deal with the deceased's two sons; no widow was involved. And as I recall, I approached the sons within a week of the passing of their father, and they could not have thanked me more. They were in way over their heads and had no idea what they were doing. The phone had been ringing off of the hook and they needed someone to step in and take charge. They knew me by reputation (their dad's office and mine were only five addresses apart) and knew that I would not take advantage of them. But until I approached them, they had no idea that I would even be interested in taking on the additional workload. Just some thoughts. Obvioulsy this is a highly emotional arena that you dare to venture into. Good luck. And I pray that the Lord will lead you into making the RIGHT decisions.

You go JB! I concur with the others - you should be commended for keeping your priorities in order. Spending time with your daughter is important, but visiting the home of the Golden Flashes - now THAT is what I call keeping your priorities in order. My first degree came from Kent State University just a short five years after the tragedy of May 4th, 1970. The education I received there has served me well over the years.

I may be missing something (which is very possible at this late date and early hour) but I don't think this is even a transaction for the person that you are talking with. The house was in the inlaws name? The sale should be reported on their return - no?

In my opionion, your first mistake is to do that "in person". We respect the clients' privacy and their right to react in private - without an audience. We simply call them and say: "Wow, you had a really good year last year, didn't you?" And the response invariably is "yeah we did". And I say, "Well you know that that means more tax, right?" In other words, I lead them into the "bad news". By the time the call ends, they are thanking me with sincerity. This gives them time to do two things before I see them. They can brainstorm to see if they forgot to give me anything (which is rare) plus it gives them time to think about how they are going to pay there tax. By the time they get to my office, all of that is resolved. They give me a check, sign the efile sheets and take their voucher to send a check on the 15th.

66? That's a walk in the park! Actually I was hoping to get the number under 100 today but when I was doing the 100th, two more came in the door and two more came in the mail. Those coming in now are automatically extended. The other 100 were in before my cut-off so I feel obligated to get them done. It will be close.

I concur with the other posters - bad form, Erc! If it was anybody but you, there probably would have been a lynching. I can only think of one other April fool's joke that I bought hook, line and sinker even more than this one and that one occur over 3 decades ago and my wife was the pertitrator. You are in good company, Erc. I will share that other joke at another time and place. But for now, I have to go get some sedatives. Be still my heart! Oh - BTW - thanks for the diversion. I would guess that we all needed that!

I will not impede on the Ohio brethens' territory (because I do not know the answer to your question), but I was drawn by the query since I was born and raised in Ashtabula. So that means that now there are two of us that have escaped. Really, though, Ashtabula is an old Indian name and the town is right on Lake Erie and the lake perch are absolutely "to die for" when done up in a proper beer batter. Beautiful river flowing through town and very scenic areas. But enough of that, I have got to get back to work. I hope someone comes along that can answer your question, but if not, try this link: http://dw.ohio.gov/tax/dynamicforms/ or this http://dw.ohio.gov/tax/ Good luck!

Yep! I was aware. This changed 18 months ago and it is just now becoming an issue to you? Even without that benefit, in my opinion, and for my money, and for my practice, ATX is still the best value out there.

I am sitting here alone (working on tax returns) and laughing out loud so hard I am afraid someone might walk in and call the funny farm to finally have me checked in. And it will be all your fault, Duane. Seriously, thanks for a great laugh!

Friday's ATX-TV or the "good morning America" version had a piece on this. They indicated the problem is being sporatic and they are asking anyone with the problem to contact them and explain the system set up, the printer, the forms, etc so they can isolate the problem and do a fix.

If the stock has the same rights then they have to be treated the same way. A C-Corp can have multiple classes of stock, but the stock itself will dictate what rights each class has.

That taints the S-election by introducing a second class of stock. Distributions from an S-Corp have to be done ratably across the board.

You should receive an email that looks like this: <<"Dear Margaret, Thank you for registering for the CCH Small Firm Services webinar. This online training session will be presented online and via audio conference. Below is some important information about your webinar. Please click the link to go directly to information on the following topics: Logging in to the Webinar Earning Your Certificate: NASBA Standards Logging in to the Webinar Please log in five to fifteen minutes prior to the session start time by clicking the first link in the text box below. The Meeting ID and Meeting Key should automatically insert in the applicable fields, but are also listed below in case they need to be entered manually. After logging into the Live Meeting session, call the toll-free number listed below and enter the Participant Code when prompted to join the conference call. Click Here to Join Live Meeting Subject: Webinar: ATX 2008 Update- December 2008 @ AM ET Meeting URL: Meeting ID: Meeting Key: Role: Attendee Audio Conferencing (Toll-free): Additional audio information: You will be provided with phone conference codes when you log in to the webinar online. FIRST TIME USERS: To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is compatible with Microsoft Office Live Meeting. For assistance with the Live Meeting console, visit Live Meeting Help and Support: http://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidLiveMe...&p4=support This Live Meeting invitation is a personal invitation; it should not be forwarded. Earning Your Certificate: NASBA Standards Universal Tax Systems, Inc., is a NASBA-approved sponsor of continuing professional education. NASBA standards require that webinars monitor the student’s attendance of group-Internet events. Due to these standards, please note the following: When you log on to Live Meeting, make sure you type both your first and last name in the Name field. This helps ensure that the instructor can monitor each person correctly. During each webinar, the instructor asks questions at random intervals. These questions are relevant to the course material. While there is not a required minimum passing score, you are required to answer each question in order to fulfill CPE requirements. Each participant’s time in the session is recorded by the instructor using the Live Meeting software and the conference calling technology. If any participant is not in attendance during the session and/or does not answer all of the questions during the session, that participant may receive partial or no CPE credit for the session. The CPE credit received depends upon the time the student actually attends the session and interacts with the instructor during the session. Thank you,">> I have deleted some of the information that is particular to the event I will be participating in, but you can get the jist of what will happen. I would encourage you to check your system for compatability prior to the day of the event.

I received my CD on Wednesday and installed it this morning but have not had time to "play" with it yet. Changes for 2008: Transfer K-1 info from 1041, 1065, 1120S directly to K-1 input worksheets in the Big Five return types; added tax agency compliance (blocking changes to certain fields; Enhanced K-1 input Worksheet including ability to delete columns; Can now print W2/W2Cs by state and locality; ability to mask sensitive client data when printing; ability to adjust 4th quarter estimated voucher due dates through the Client Letter Wizard; deletion of lone spaces or lone decimal points in fields (these spaces and decimals caused rejection of efiles); all users who e-file returns are eligible to offer Audit Shield. These "are just a few of the enhancements" "made to some commonly used forms and program features for 2008".

I don't want to make light of your problem because I know second hand what you are going through (my wife is experiencing a lot of what you mention) but it made me grin when I read your headline. Not sure that is what you had in mind. I believe that is a completely different condition than you describe. Oh - and my wife's doctor has diagnosed anything from shoulder impingment to arthritis. My wife is on some of her own remedies such as a high dose of fish oil daily as well as the 8 hour Tylenol and I just saw some Synflex hit the mailbox a couple of days ago. She has some very, very good days followed by days of near incapacitation. So get checked out.

My only problem with RDC, KC, is that I have not been able to figure out how to print at the remote PC. But your point is valid and I do use RDC when I do not have to print.

I use gotomypc and it works great! Allows me to print at home and the whole 9 yards. Check it out www.gotomypc.com

I take offense to that comment.

I can tell you that you should be certain that the updates are done on the server and NONE, NO UPDATES, should be done at the workstations. Updating at the workstation does not create any undoable issues, but it does create a file that causes the workstation to look somewhere other than the server for your database. Gave me quite a scare when I thought my database was gone. Tech support was able to walk me through the fix of the problem quickly, but nonetheless, it was scarey and not something you need to go through. Do all of your updates at the server and tell all of your staff not to do any updates at their workstations. One caveat, this took place a couple of years ago and perhaps the issue has been resolved. You might want to call tech support and ask them during the slow season. Since the database resides on the server, you should not have to back up the workstations (for ATX purposes), just the server. I went to a server based system in 2006 and wonder why I did not do it before. You should love the efficiencies. Hope this helps!

Two short year returns. But I'm finding it difficult to believe that he received a notice in July of 2008 granting an effective date a year and a half earlier. Are you certain of the dates?