NECPA in NEBRASKA

I will check out the CNA one again, but I have added so much stuff on FATCA, etc, that my engagement letter has gotten pretty unwieldy. It's only a little on the third page, but it does include a ton of stuff.

It is super tedious, but I have to cover my butt and their letters aren't good enough for my insurance company.

I don't use their letters anyway. I have an annual letter that I send and a three page engagement letter that goes to everyone. I haven't printed organizers yet, but will later this week.

My first season was in 1979, but I was still an intern in college. We did them by hand first in pencil and then finalized them after they were reviewed. I don't miss doing them by hand, but I do miss being able to rattle numbers off of the top of my head, because the rules were easier and didn't change constantly. I used to be able to memorize almost everything, but now I have to look everything up.

I knew that I should have waited to renew. Last year they didn't charge my credit card until February and this year they billed me in December.

I am a CPA that has used ATX for 16 years and feel that ATX prepares correct returns for my clients. I prepare returns for many different states and they all are handled differently. You have to read the instructions to make sure that the return is prepared correctly. The state rules often change every year, just like federal taxes. You are able to override many lines by right clicking on the entry and selecting override. I am careful when I do that, because many times, the program is smarter than I am. There are way more expensive programs that will streamline more items and Drake is reasonable with great customer service. By using this website or the ATX website, you can get help from many knowledgeable tax professionals. ATX monitors their website and will help as much as possible.

Eric, Are you talking about phishing emails directly from their accounts or emails that look like they might be from their account, but if you hover over the account, it's totally incorrect. I ask because I have had people receive emails that they think are from me, but are not from my account and have my business name backward or completely screwed up. I've had an IT guy check my computer and I run Malwarebytes and AVG constantly. I get this crap from my friends and clients, but normally I can see that it's a spoof. I'm still trying to figure out if my email account has been hacked or if it is from an old AOL hack. I've changed my passwords a lot, but my brother just chewed me out because of one that he received months ago. I guess he's not smart enough to know my name. How do you stop these things, besides a strong password? Thanks!

For Small Businesses: IRS Raises Tangible Property Expensing Threshold to $2,500; Simplifies Filing and Recordkeeping IR-2015-133, Nov. 24, 2015 WASHINGTON —The Internal Revenue Service today simplified the paperwork and recordkeeping requirements for small businesses by raising from $500 to $2,500 the safe harbor threshold for deducting certain capital items. The change affects businesses that do not maintain an applicable financial statement (audited financial statement). It applies to amounts spent to acquire, produce or improve tangible property that would normally qualify as a capital item. The new $2,500 threshold applies to any such item substantiated by an invoice. As a result, small businesses will be able to immediately deduct many expenditures that would otherwise need to be spread over a period of years through annual depreciation deductions. “We received many thoughtful comments from taxpayers, their representatives and the professional tax community, said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “This important step simplifies taxes for small businesses, easing the recordkeeping and paperwork burden on small business owners and their tax preparers.“ Responding to a February comment request, the IRS received more than 150 letters from businesses and their representatives suggesting an increase in the threshold. Commenters noted that the existing $500 threshold was too low to effectively reduce administrative burden on small business. Moreover, the cost of many commonly expensed items such as tablet-style personal computers, smart phones, and machinery and equipment parts typically surpass the $500 threshold. As before, businesses can still claim otherwise deductible repair and maintenance costs, even if they exceed the $2,500 threshold. The new $2,500 threshold takes effect starting with tax year 2016. In addition, the IRS will provide audit protection to eligible businesses by not challenging use of the new $2,500 threshold in tax years prior to 2016. For taxpayers with an applicable financial statement, the de minimis or small-dollar threshold remains $5,000. Further details on this change can be found in Notice 2015-82, posted today on IRS.gov.

I sent a message to my rep, because I was unaware that I was paying for 5 concurrent users for a 1 person office. I just ordered what I had before and didn't see that I was paying for more than I needed.

If a flight instructor already has his CFI and CFII and has been instructing for over three years, would the cost of obtaining a multi-engine instructor be considered deductible? I don't want to be too aggressive, but it is not to get a new job, but to improve his skills in a job that he already has. I'm just trying to help my son out some, because he spent quite a bit of money on the training and testing this year. I guess it seemed like continuing education to me. Thanks!

Judy, I'm so sorry about your dog. Our pets are so important to us and it is so hard when they are sick.

Congratulations on the new grandbaby! I hope that you get to hold her soon! I have finished everything that will get finished today. I'm still waiting on info from two clients and one will owe a bunch! I warned him that he would owe. The other one was emailed Saturday with the one piece that I still need. I have plenty of old returns and bookkeeping to do the rest of the year, but at least I won't have to be so slammed. I'm leaving at 4:30 for my step-son's wedding rehearsal and the wedding is tomorrow so I'm taking a couple of days off. ,

Thanks, you two. I searched, but used too many words with composite. That was my own question from earlier this year. I hadn't run into the problem this season. I hate that my memory is failing me as I get older.

I am trying to add the taxes paid to a couple of states on composite returns on oil company K-1s. I swear that this worked before. The boxes are greyed out. I deleted the form and added it back to the return. It's only $8, but ATX changed the way this form works this year, so maybe they changed it so that I have to have a state return included, which won't work at all. If anyone has gotten this to work, please let me know. Thanks!

Thank you all! She is very grateful! She lost her husband and her only child in the past two years, so I am so glad to be able to ease her mind a little.

I received a letter even though I reported the 1099Q and backed it out on line 21. I just responded that all of the money was used for tuition and room and board and they accepted it without any receipts for 2013. They need to find a better way to report the 1099Q's. We did not have any education credits, so maybe that is why they accepted my response without question.

My friend's son died suddenly and she called me to ask for help. The son has no assets, only debt. There was a life insurance policy with her as the beneficiary. She asked me if she will have to pay the debts. I told her that I'm not an attorney, but that it looks like his federal student loan will be canceled and the debt discharged. She does not know if her filed a 2013 tax return or if he owed anything. She does know that he did not have any filing requirement for 2014. There was no will and she is his only surviving relative. I have no idea if the IRS or debt collectors can come after the life insurance proceeds. He has lived at her address for at over two years and no letters have come from the IRS. I would be grateful for any free advice that I can pass on to her. She is in so much pain, that anything that I can do to help her will be appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks, Judy. It is such a pain when people try to save money by doing stuff online and then create a can of worms.

This would be possible. I don't know what they would be worth, since there was never any money put into it to start up and no assets in the LLC name. He is really sorry that he didn't call someone before answering the questions online.

A new client, created an LLC online in 2014 with he and his wife as the partners. His wife has nothing to do with the business. It is strictly a service business. He did open a checking account in the LLC name. He had no idea that he would be stuck with two tax returns and that his wife would end up with 50% of the income. I have both the 1065 and the 1040 on extension. He wanted to be a Schedule C, but didn't answer the online questions correctly. Does anyone know how to get out of this mess? They live in Iowa. Someone has told him now to file as a Sub S and he won't have to pay income tax on his profit. I explained that it doesn't work like that if I prepare the return, especially when it virtually all profit. They have always prepared their own returns and are very cost conscious so NOW they don't want to file two returns. Thanks for any ideas on how to make this easier. I would like to kill the partnership, if it's possible.

From everything that I have read or learned in classes, you should probably send the potential client to an attorney that is experienced in these dealings. If they are delinquent, there are large penalties. I have in my engagement letter that if my client's know or think that they have FABAR or FATCA reporting, that they should contact an attorney that is experienced in these matters. The attorney can then hire me, if necessary. It's just too much liability for me to want to take on.

Now I know why I have always just bought a Dell. I talked to my IT people and the estimate is over $1,300 for the tower and the processor and the RAM are not as good as my old machine. I know that the SSD will cost a lot more, but I think that I am too computer illiterate to explain what I want. Maybe I should just put a new hard drive and wifi card in this one.

Thanks, everyone! That is my preference. I know Windows 7 Pro and love it. I will ask for an SSD. I don't know what the heck it is, but I will look.

It looks like I can't wait any longer. I'm going to go order a computer to be built today or tomorrow. Should I stay with Windows 7 Pro? My hard drive is apparently failing and I can't see putting more money into a five year old computer.

The visit was because the seasonal employer box was not being checked and they had not filed 941's for all four quarters in 2013 when they began payroll. That made my week.