redux

Look for the search feature below and put in a search parameter of "Vista" without the quotes. You should get at least three threads...this one included. Vista seems to work for some but may be not for others.

Evan: Your concerns may be valid, however this site is not affiliated with any particular organization or any specific profession. That said, we realize that many members are in the tax prep profession, however, that is not a requisite to becoming a member here. An unorganized group of people discussing any subject doesn't seem to be grounds to suspect a conspiracy to set and control prices. Moreover, while I'm sure the "webmaster" can speak for himself, I wonder if it is within his time management constraints to do the research you suggest. If you have strong feelings about the FTC, and the possible illegality of what we do here, perhaps you could do the research and let us know.

That's the way I see it also.

Well, there are certainly other conditions that have to be met. The thread was started by asking about the ATIN so the other conditions were not mentioned. We know nothing about the child's age, and while an adopted child is treated (for tax purposes) as the taxpayer's biological child, apparently the adoption had not been completed before the return was filed. If true, the child fails the relationship test as well. So, yes there are other conditions that must be met in order to claim the child as a qualifying child for EITC. The parents. however, may be able to get some EIC based on NO CHILDREN, or on their own biological child, if they meet the conditions of that scenario. The only point here is that this child is NOT a qualifying child for EITC because of the ATIN and no SS#. The rest of the conditions are moot. If you fail one condition, you have failed....

Not a chance. Without a doubt, the people who know about and refer callers to this site are not doing so in an official manner. If they had the blessing of CCH, I'm thinking the original site wouldn't have been car bombed.

In the case cited here in this thread, the child already had an ATIN. In the case you're citing there was no original Taxpayer Identification Number for the PARENTS. I'm not convinced that we're talking about the same thing. My point is that if the child was disqualified at the time of the filing of the tax return...that fact cannot be changed by later filing an amended return because the situation changed AFTER the filing of the original, in other words the original facts remain unchanged. Also see: Pub 596 Chap 2 Rule 8: Social security number. Your qualifying child must have a valid social security number (SSN), unless the child was born and died in 2006. You cannot claim the EIC on the basis of a qualifying child if: 1. Your qualifying child’s SSN is missing from your tax return or is incorrect, 2. Your qualifying child’s social security card says “Not valid for employment” and was issued for use in getting a federally funded benefit, or 3. Instead of an SSN, your qualifying child has: a. An individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), which is issued to a noncitizen who cannot get an SSN, or b. An adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN), issued to adopting parents who cannot get an SSN for the child being adopted until the adoption is final. Remember the ATIN is NOT for the parents ...it is for the Child.

Without any research on my part, my guess is NO! It is what it is at the time it is. So, at the time of the filing there was only an ATIN, that will be the disqualifying element. The documents and the law at the time of filing are controlling. Things that occur AFTER the filing, as far as meeting the IRS conditions of a thing, would not be retroactive. I'm sure others will have differing opinions. Can you apply for a driver's license (minimum age 16) if you're only 14 but know you will be 16 some day?

As soon as he mentioned the CPxxxx. One problem is that he's the type of person who, when you're trying to explain something, says...well, I don't care about all that just tell me how to solve the problem. I WILL solve this for him, but I do not want him as a steady client, you know the type.

It is interesting that some people, neighbors and friends, who know you are in the tax prep business insist that there is hardly reason that they would hire a tax professional to do their taxes. After all, they have been doing their own taxes for YEARS and know EXACTLY what and how to do it. (It's so simple a caveman could do it attitude) and THEN>>>>the CP2501 comes. Well, the neighbor says, all I did was clean out my investment portfolio and forget the $127,000+ in stocks I sold, now they want a either $42,213 in taxes or a Schedule D showing the purchase prices. How could they (the IRS) think the basis in the stocks was zero as they stated? I got that all straightened out, though, but then I got this other letter - a CP2000 And who do they think they are reducing the amount of my IRA deduction. I'm over 50 and I only deducted $4,500 (2005 return) in fact I'm 69 and so what that my employer has me on their retirement plan. There is no law that says I can't work AND collect social security AND add to my retirement through my emploter....IS THERE? Well no, not exactly I said, it's just that your IRA deduction may phase out depending on other factors. Phase out??? What is that? And on and on and....

Ditto!, We'll be good.

Too late, they're on the way.

He was born in 1946 according to his profile. I'm guessing we're the elders on here Gene, which may or may not be a good thing.

It's as clear as my motto: A duck IS because they fly so high and one leg is both the same.

;)

Well, some may say you're too pretty... I think there is a place to put an "avatar" and another to show a photo. I see your drawing of "Killroy" when I view your profile. Try putting it in as an avatar also...I believe it'll them show up.

Thank you sir! That certainly makes sense.

This is a non-post...alternatively known as as oooppps!

I wonder why the statistics on the ATX Community page consistently show fewer members than there are in actuality? Today we have 224 members but it shows 214. Also can we depend on the "newest" member that is shown in the stats to be the real "newest" member? These are NOT important issues erc, so please don't spend a lot of time on them, it is just a point of curiosity.

It may be a spoof message from a spammer. The board is still up as of seconds ago and with more than the usual amount of spam.

Wayne, I'm sure many of us still care about the ATX program operation. Yours is good news to those of us who may be purchasing a new computer in the coming months that may be loaded with Vista. Dell, however, has gone back to giving the purchaser an option as to XP or Vista, that seems to be a good move. In any case thanks for the information. It gives one the confidence needed to load an archived ATX program on a machine running Vista.

A statement such as the one above about an attorney's motive is akin to saying that ALL tax preparers are only interested in charging large fees and don't care about their clients, just their fee. Obviously, neither statement is true, so without implying, or agreeing with the previous poster that all attorneys are corrupt, there probably is some merit to the suggestion of getting a second opinion. Yes, the bankruptcy laws have changed substantially, and complete debt forgiveness is no longer an option, based on what little I know about it. The worse thing a person deeply in debt can do is to believe that the situation is hopeless. The next worse thing they can do is to remain quiet and not discuss their situation with the creditors. Most always, the creditors are not happy that the accounts cannot be paid as agreed, but are willing to discuss the situation and to arrange some formal payment plan which may exclude turning the account over to a collection agency. Banks, and mortgage companies DO NOT want the property, they want payment. If the previous terms of payment are impossible to meet, many times they, the creditors, will work with the debtor to arrive at a payment schedule that will work for all concerned. I would try this approach first.

Yes, the ATX program does have a billing invoice, and a relatively good one loaded with options. I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that Sherri was looking for something in addition to that invoice. And, yes, I know what happens when you assume.

You might want to check out Chaos software at: http://www.chaossoftware.com/legal_billing.html

I first bought ATX in 1998. I don't remember ever calling support, but if I did, we no doubt talked, although I'm sorry to say that I don't remember. Not remembering as much as you'd like is included in the price for getting older. It is a small price to pay, however, when you consider the alternative to getting older. As for William, I never confused him as a company founder or one of the brothers. I did know, however, that he was a very early employee. At one point he talked about his first desk being a door placed flat on milk crates.

You're welcome here as are all tax practitioners. One small correction though, please be assured that ATX has NOTHING to do with this board, with the exception that many of us are (or were) ATX users. ATX, when it was still ATX, and not corrupted by its present ownership, had an extremely useful board with 1000's of archived articles. That board was removed by the new owners and is no longer available, including the archives. erc began this board...on his own...with no ulterior motive other than to give the "old" ATXers a place to come and with the hope that this board will ultimately become as useful as the old ATX board. erc has no affiliation with ATX or any other software vendor (of which we are aware) and, as unusual as it may sound in 2007, he did it for the good of the users. Outstanding attitude, isn't it? Welcome to the board and don't forget to donate, see the button above.