redux

Melvin, Please accept my apology. I had no intention of slighting you or any other founding employee. The company was successful and integrity laden due to all of you folks. I totally agree, however, that the integrity of a company mirrors that of the leadership. You were unknown to me as were some others when I became aware of ATX. I did know that the company was started by the two brothers, it's just that Glynn was more visible to the customers, as was William. Again, I apologize for leaving you out in my accolades. (just an afterthought, it must have been quite an interesting transition for you going from Caribou to Hawaii)

Clay. suppose you "invest" about $1,000 on this technique, and also suppose you charge by the hour at a rate of $85, you will have to save about 12 hours of W-2, 1099 input to break even. Do you spend that much time inputting these forms? Moreover, even with this equipment and expense, you will still have to "feed" the forms into the scanner AND as you say, not all forms can be scanned. For those forms, of course, you will still be inputting them as you do now. I don't want to rain on your parade but I personally don't see that this would be a wise business choice. If you did nothing all day but input W-2 and 1099 info, perhaps then it would be a time saver.

George, I recommend that you call ATX and get copies of their software for as far back as they have, I believe they're $20 each. Beyond that, it may sound tacky, but try also Turbotax.

Determining the value of donated property -revised April 2007 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p561.pdf

From NATP Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced S. 1219, The Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act of 2007, late last week. That bill includes a provision that would require paid tax preparers to pass a competency exam and maintain continuing education. The provisions of the bill are very similar to those contained in S. 832 during the last Congress. http://www.natptax.com/s1219.pdf

Thanks! So, he's SOL on the SOL. I sort of gleaned that they have guidelines of somewhere between 6 to 10 years based probably on the amount of income involved. It is a somewhat curious thing that if a self employed person has substantial income it seems logical that there would be a herd of 1099s generated each year, if not from clients, but from banks etc. If this person has not filed for some extensive period, I wonder how they escape the tracking of 1099s etc. Oh well, my job is not to wonder but to solve!

You have expressed my sentiments nearly exactly. While I no longer trust ATX since they are now operating under the cloak of their parent company, I am not going to do anything that results in hurting my business. I too am most familiar with, and prefer, the form input method. It makes little sense to me to "switch" to taxwise or another software operating under the same parent company as ATX. I am still undecided as to which software to purchase, however, the decision will be a business one and not one made from emotion.

Thank you! A source outside this forum thought it might be 10 years, so I will assume it is somewhere between 6 and 10. There is not much income involved, at least that's what I'm told without any verification. Of course, this is a self employed "artist," no W-2s etc.

Thanks Gene.

I have a client who has not filed for around 15 years. Anybody know of a Satute Of Limitations for filing. Is there a cutoff time, such that, beyond which one is no longer required to file? In other words, must this taxnonpayer file for the entire time he has not filed OR does he need to go back, say, 10 years only? If you have a cite that would be excellent progress for this situation, thanks.

I haven't a clue as to what you have viewed on the web concerning your question about FAFSA so...try this site paying particular attention to question 48 through 54. Good Luck http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publicat...2007/ques4.html

Ok, I have had requests for both my extra copies and they will be sent...I have no more extras. Of course, tomorrow is another day...maybe I'll get more :)

I was having trouble getting Drake to send me a 2006 demo... well now I can't get them to stop. I just received my THIRD copy. Anybody need a copy, I have two spares. Private Message me with your address and I'll send it to you.

Hi Sherri: Ordinarily extensions MUST be filed by the due date of the return. If so filed the extension of 6 months is automatic as long as an appropriate estimate of tax owed is also timely filed. I'm not sure what the procedure is to request an extension AFTER the due date of the return. I'm assuming, however, that even if such a late extension request is filed, there may be penalties and interest for not having paid the estimate of taxes owed in a timely manner. Of course, if there is no tax due, there may be a late filing penalty but no interest. I suggest you call the practitioners "hot" line to discuss your next move before you make it.

It is always amazing how the sound of a train whistle when you're stuck on the tracks and the symbols $6K evoke nearly the same reaction.

I couldn't agree more, Marilyn. Of course, there will be disagreements, that's a given. My hope is that those times can be without the negative emotions, the better than thou attitudes and sarcasm of old. I think we're all adults here and should be able to have animated discussions without being offensive.

I received my Drake demo today and I am about to install it. Meanwhile, in the package of "stuff" that came with the demo is a "Quick Reference Guide." That guide suggests to "view" a return use the hot keys [Ctrl]+[V] and to return to data entry from the "view" or "Print" mode use [Ctrl]+[E]. Let me know if it works for you. If you didn't get the "Quick reference Guide" I can scan it in and send it to you, let me know.

Good Choice John, thanks.

That's nice, thanks. There are several other sites as well that some of the posters from the old ATX site have migrated to. While it may be prudent to have a variety of resources to tap when needed, my hope is that we can make THIS forum THE ONE to go to for expert advise and fine companionship. erc has put a lot of effort into this site for the good of the community. He didn't even have a dog in the ATX fight.

Welcome home!

Of course, it was your fault. You people simply will not accept responsibility - what gives with that? :lol:

None yet, thank you very much!

Sorry Mike, I can't agree with you. We didn't own the contents of the forum, nor could we use it if we had it. See erc's post.

Well KC, you may well be right. I too am among the undecided. I'm not into shooting myself in the foot for spite. My comment, about changing the name of this forum, was made somewhat tongue-in cheek and had more to do with a statement by others to the effect that they wondered how we could maintain "Program" help when so many of us may not be using the same programs. My purpose in the statement was to provide some assurance that the tax law help would remain unchanged here even if the program help may not remain because of the various software in use. The following scenario is NOT fiction, it is the reality of life and it is something we ALL need to consider before we make a choice on “07” software. I’m not a magician either, so I can’t suggest how we can go about evaluating the “07” ATX software without purchasing it, but we need to use our respective “gut” feelings and go from there. Company #1 produces an outstanding tax product that has many hidden features and has all the not-so-hidden bells and whistles that are apparent to its user customers. Company #1 has been in business for generations and produces abundant research tools for many professions, including tax law. Their software has few problems for which they maintain excellent support at convenient hours. The remarkable downside to this company’s product, however, is its price. Enter Company #2. Company #2 begins its existence on a shoestring with many problems in nearly all areas. Company #2 has but a 15 year history. In that time, however, the product improvements, customer relations, reliability, support, and research tools has made their product one of top quality while maintaining a reasonable price. As the quality of Company #2’s product improves and approaches that of Company #1’s product but is offered at 1/3 the price of Company #1’s product, it is viewed as, and has become a threat to, Company #1. Company #1 makes a buyout offer to Company #2 that Company #2 can’t refuse, and the change of regime happens. The first thing that comes to mind for a user of Company #2’s software, is “Why did Company #1 acquire Company #2? The next consideration is “what will change?” And lastly, the all time favorite question, “If a company has two products that are very similar in quality, why would they attempt to sell one product for 1/3 of the price of the other? The obvious answer for the acquisition is to suppress competition. If the two pieces of software (now owned by a single company) are similar except in price, what would be the next business decision for Company #1? 1. Would it be to lower the price of their previous “flagship” software? 2. Would it be to increase the price of the “acquired” software? 3. Would it be to eliminate features of the “acquired” software to make it less appealing while maintaining its lower price? 4. Would it be to ultimately eliminate the “two” product line in favor of the “flagship” product, at the higher price, of course? So, this is intended simply as food for thought to consider before one jumps ship or renews with their present vendor. Business is just that, the profit motive is alive an well here, even if customer relations are non-existent. One very foolish move by the acquisition company has destroyed a long time relationship. The removal of the community is in and of itself, inconsequential to the quality of the software product. That said, however, the method and manner of the community’s removal is demonstrative of an attitude that may well be something that “07” purchasers and beyond, will have to contend with in their relationship with Company #1, and/or its support. I’m not sure that I’m willing to do that. I suggest that if Company #1,s foolish move had not taken place, this discussion wouldn’t exist either. The entire acquisition would have had about as much attention and consideration to Company #2’s users as did the Kleinrock acquisition of ATX.

My take on the old ATX board was that there was perhaps 200 or so users each year. What I noticed over the years was that there was a core of maybe 50 - 75 or so year-to-year users and the rest of the current year users were new as older ones dropped out, or at least quit posting. I would imagine that many quit posting but lurked reading posts daily. It may be they quit posting because of the bullies that would berate them in sarcastic ways, or because they were tired of being treated as children and being mothered. When I visited ATX in the summer of 2006 I was discussing the board with our "tour" guide and he indicated that there were many more (in the hundreds) registered users of the forum than we knew about. In fact he was surprised that I suggested there were only a 100 or so users. I believe this can be a very productive forum to discuss tax issues, if not program issues, since we may all be using different software. It certainly has a good beginning, and If we can keep the bullies from being so...it'll be a plus.