rfassett

You haven't changed a bit! Well, maybe the hair style a little. :)

Whoa! End of the season? Did I sleep a couple extra days? My seaon ain't over for another 5 days. And that is certainly good news, since I have another 70 tax returns to get done before the season is over. But I concur - ATX needs to get it fixed - and soon!

Well put, Catherine. I could not agree more. If these two want to continue this pissing contest they should do it in private. I don't know who this newbie is - other than what he/she has stated. But until given good reason, he/she shoud be just as welcomed here as anyone else. It is nearing the deadline, and I suspect everyone, myself included, is wired to the max. Sleep de-prived, caffeine overly stimulated and stressed over what is not going to get done. Let's keep that in mind as we post and read other posts.

A resounding "YES!", assuming nothing happens between now and then that woud change my mind. I love the program and it is better again this year than last. Yes, it was a little bumpy out of the starting blocks - but it smoothed out and has been clear sailing since early February. I doubt that I will "early" renew, but that is just because I never have.

Could it have something to do with the tax year you have set up on the 1065? Just a thought.

I am a long time ATX user and hover right around the seven hundred mark for number of returns. And they cover the gamut. 1040's, 1041's, 1065's. 1120's, 1120S's, 990's, etc., etc. And this has been the smoothest year so far with the tax software. I am using hardware that is approaching 2 years old and running dual monitors. Just in the last month I am starting to experience some resident memory issues. Most likely caused by the number of different programs opened at any one time (upto six) and opening and closing as many as 15 to 20 tax returns in a day. After tax season I am going to add more memory. I do not fault ATX for my problems, I fault my hardware. And I would be willing to bet that most ATX issues are more hardware related than software related. Just my thoughts - and now back to work!

Check to be sure that you have the taxpayer's date of birth entered correctly for the return. Other than that, I agree with taxbilly.

Still getting the schema error on the business efiles that I tried to transmit yesterday. They were still in EFC validation when I came in this morning (since mid-day yesterday), so I did a synchronization and they came back with the error code again. I emailed tech support and will see what they have to say. In the meantime I am going to re-create and resubmit. Any ideas as to what this is about. I update my software every morning, so I don't think that is the issue. Previous business efiles have breezed through with no hic-ups. The problem just started yesterday.

The 1065 kicked back but that is not a big deal today. The 3 Corps are setting at "Validated by EFC" status - been there for about 5 hours. We went ahead and extended them (via paper extension) just in case.

Thanks for the diversion today. Actually I will say this and then get right back to work. Flower, my first GS, was in our back yard in Texas (the yard was fenced) and this new meter reader guy jumped over the retainer wall not knowing Flower was in the back yard. I heard this God-awful barking and thought my poor baby was in trouble. I almost ran through the sliding glass door trying to see what was the trouble. That poor guy - I don't know if he just jumped 15 feet high into the top of that pear tree - or if he just climbed it real fast. Flower only ever got about as big as Daisy is now, but I am sure to that meter reader, she looked twelve feet tall. Yes, Daisy will be GREAT with anyone that the pack leader is OK with. Everyone else, she will view as a potential threat.

I love German Shepherds. My first was back in 1973 and she was my BEST friend for 11 years. It took me 20 years to get over having to put her down - the second worst day of my life. Maggie, my current GS, was a Christmas present from my dear wife 2 years ago (because she got tired of hearing me whine everytime I saw a GS) and I am so in love with that dog. Yes, they eat poop. That is the wild animal in them. They get nutients from that, according to the readings I have done. If you give your GS a big raw steak, she will probably ignore the poop. Now I feed Maggie a very well balanced diet - in fact, she eats better than me - and that minimizes the poop eating. But I do not think it will ever be eliminated. So the best advice would be to feed her well, and keep her area cleaned up. Maggie, BTW, is pure-bred and at two and a-half years old, she tips the scales at 50.2 pounds. That's what a well balanced diet and exercise gets you.

No - I don't know, but wish I did. I just had 3 corporate and a partnerhip efiles reject with the same message. I just resubmitted and should know in a few minutes if they go through.

The problem is not with the software. The wonderful Commonwealth of PA does not permit the joint filing of tax returns. They allow filing of combined, but his is his and hers is hers and they are not to be netted. In other words, you can not use his loss to offset her income just like you can not offset loses in one class of income against income in other classes. My guess, if you can not put all of the transcation on one Schedule D, is that you will have to file a separate PA 40 for each.

Don't know about the hours, but what is the problem? Maybe we can help!

I have a long-time client in the used car business. They do about $2.5 million in sales annually. Heretofore they have been using a DOS based program that was pretty complete. That program is no longer being supported and they asked me for recommendations for a windows based progarm that would be a complete package. Any ideas? TIA Ron

Doesn't sound right! What is the tax rate for SH? Did you take the credit paid to other municpalites?

OK - we are all well into filing season! Let's take an objective look at ATX. We keep hearing what is wrong with ATX. Let's try looking at it the other way. What do you LIKE about ATX? And the word "nothing" does not count. I'll go first. I like the way the little puppy wiggles and kicks his legs when I rub his tummy! Next?

Under the "constructive receipt" rules, she had contol of the funds in 2007 (she chose to not cash the check). If it is income, it is 2007 income. In fact, cashing the check has nothing to do with the issue. She receive a negotiable instrument in 2007. End of story. Ron

Good point JB! I made the assumption that she signed the 8879 when she paid the fee. I have a standard policy in my office that we "press the button" at the end of the day (which is usually somtime after 9:00 pm) on all of the 8879's that were signed that day. That gives the client time to look over the returns, if that feel so motivated, before we are put in the position of having to amend returns that otherwise could have been avoided. I think we only get one or two per year that require change (most likely because we did not have all of the info), but this gives the client a level of comfort (at least for my client base) that things are not being done too quickly. It works for us.

WHAT???? Give her her money back? Did you do the work? Would you stand behind your work? Why would you not be expected to be compensated for that? But to answer your question, my understanding is that now she is restricted to filing an amended return. If I were in your shoes, I would have her call her dad from your office (since he seems to be steering the boat) and you explain to him why the refund is lower. Keep in mind, you are not the bad guy here. If she has 3 W-2's there is a large possibilty that some of that money was from part-time employment and some of it may have been low enough to escape the FIT withholding. But the fact of the matter, assuming no refundable credits are involved, she is no worse off. She either got the money in her paycheck, or she gets it back from Uncle Sam. Either way, the sum total will be the same. Don't devalue your skills and expertise by refunding money to clients that whine! Do your job, do it to the best of your ability, and accept proper compensation for your efforts. OK - I will stand down now! Ron

[i will not defend any of the players here (State, EIC, or payroll service), but it sounds like you are "shooting the messenger". Sounds like the payroll service is doing what the State told them to do. Ron

Let me understand this. You are paying all of those big bucks for the Thomson products and then nickle and dime when it comes to efiling the payroll reports? I have used CS products (writeup and depreciation) since 1996. (I have also used ATX that same amount of time.) I added payroll and file cabinet a year and a half ago when I thought I could make the move to UT. Just like all of the rant and raving about CCH and ATX, I just wanted to point out that Thomson sometimes does not deliver on their promises either.

I actually attempted this move last year (going into the 2006 tax return filing year). I use CS for write-up and payroll and data management and thought I would move to Ultra Tax (despite my love for ATX). The issue was one of perceived efficiencies. I contracted with them in early October to do the conversion and they said it would take two weeks. I waited until the end of November and then contacted them only to be told that they really did not mean two weeks and they would not be able to convert until the new version of ATX was released. I asked when they were going to bother to communicate this delay to me and they said "oops". Well, I pulled back and now I am in the process of moving away from CS completely. It will take a couple of years to accomplish. I post this only to make you aware. Good luck!

The NOL worksheet, at least in prior years, had you add back the standard deduction. Worksheet or not, your client does not have an NOL carryforward. A net operating loss can not be created with the exemptions or below the line deductions.

This off the Weblog - The Latest ATX news (posted today)- at myatx.com: Some customers are calling the CS Dept and encountering busy signals or are hearing the message to call back later due to high volume. We are having phone issues that we are trying to resolve with the help of AT&T. We apologize for this problem; the only resolution we have is to keep trying to contact CS until you get thru. We are receiving incoming calls from the minute we open until we close. We are keeping the "Latest News" page up-to-date, to help reduce the issues that require a phone call. OK - so what are you guys doing to jam the lines? Seriously though, the issues seem to be as much after the phone is answered as they are before we get through. Maybe if ATX could get some of the issues resolved, the phones would not be so busy?