Catherine

From another newsgroup: Phishers are getting more sophisticated. We got an email inquiry. Said they were referred by a tax pro we'd never heard of who "was retiring" We replied that we were interested in talking with them. We got this response: "Thanks for your response. Please View Docs of copy my ID, copies of my last year Tax return details, W-2, 1099 form, year-end investment tax statements, bank interest, mortgage interest, property taxes, medical expenses, contributions and all other supporting documents. I am prepared to pay all professional fees as requested of me. I have uploaded all documents on Google docs, kindly click on Google docs to view and download my documents with any of your email account." The link was not to Google Docs and nothing was shared to us on Google Docs.

Yes but be warned that you will need to paper-file and include copies of death certificate AND assignment of representative/executor/whatever they call it in your state. AND that it will take extra time to process. One I did last year took a good six months to get the refund. It was still easier for the out-of-state daughter of the deceased than to wrangle getting an "estate" bank account set up to receive one payment. Maybe not quicker -- but easier.

Oooh! Great idea -- client comes in, don't shake hands, instead say "I think I'm not contagious any longer" and let the assumptions fly. Along with them, right out the door. Use only as needed. Best part is it's all TRUE! Not even a white lie.

It's OK -- Daylight Savings Time starts March 13th so we lose an hour early, too. Whimper.

If memory serves, severance tax is levied because the materials are "severed" from their place of origin and used elsewhere. Sort of like the obverse of Use Tax.

This will get more widespread as we head into March and then April.

I'd love some stickers some times. Just had one client send in a big packet of forms. EVERY forms was in there three times; some of them FOUR times. In separate places in the pile. It's like she just started copying everything, lost her place,and started from the top again - and then sent me the lot. It took my assistant the better part of an hour to double check that we counted everything once and nothing more than once. Her bill just went up, too.

I hit folks with a late fee if they are chronically late. Yes, 1.5%/month. Basically once I start getting annoyed at repeated promises of payment without payment showing up.

Had one a couple years ago myself - asked questions about major rental property repairs and his response was "I don't see why you need to know that." Boy did HE get fired in a hurry! (Duh; I ask so I can up-charge your bill because I have nothing ELSE to do with my time. Why else?)

Won't necessarily help, Jack. You are presupposing that the mailman can read, AND takes the time to do that. Back in Worcester, we had one mailman who could read and another who could not. We had a central mailbox setup for the street, and it's a good thing we all knew each other because stuff got stuffed any which way. Currently, I get mail regularly for the same house NUMBER for any of three other STREETS, none of which have anything in common with my street name, and none of which have anything in common with any NAMES; many of which items DO have zip+4 codes. It's rushing at the sorting IN the local office onto trucks, and lack of attention at delivery. Zip+4 won't cure that operator error. PO Box is the cure. I still like the idea of scaring the bozos who won't play nice - but then I have this unpopular, cockamamie idea about individual civic responsibility.

We all knew THAT! Or, perhaps, we all charge way too LITTLE.

I still have the spreadsheet re-figuring my cost basis from when my ESPP shares from GTE got forcibly converted to Verizon - and then later for all the spin-offs. Whenever I decide to sell VZ, I'm ready! (If memory serves I ditched all the spin-offs pretty quickly.)

As long as there is no personal info (aside, maybe, from the email address - and don't we all have a "throwaway" address we use for anything like that?), then there is no issue. Yes, the dumb sites that make you sign up for an "account" when all you want is paint colors or nearby-parking-lot information or something else that should be publicly available. And the ones that demand a phone number.... I give them my old business number from Worcester. Hey, it worked just fine fifteen years ago! (Maybe I should call it and make sure I haven't been subjecting some elderly couple to bizarre telemarketer calls... hmmm.)

That's the one I have, as well.

Jack is correct; MA will not accept ANY prior year e-file.

Hi @Terry D I have an author. A couple of them, actually. Schedule C, yes indeed. I forget the business code but could look it up at my office tomorrow. Standard business expenses can include podcast hardware and hosting as well as web site domains, hosting, etc. Office in home yes but frequently you will just carry unusable expenses forward until a year they make money. In the deep and distant past royalties could be reported on Sch E and not subject to SE tax but that changed LONG ago. They want the SE tax. Which is sporadic for most authors (and when those unused home office expense carry-forwards come in handy).

I have a retired couple like @BulldogTom's folks. They mail everything to me since they moved south for retirement but used to drop it off. Everything of a like kind paper-clipped together with a computer-printed page on top in a BIG FONT saying "W-2" or "1099-R" or whatever. I do try to send it all back clipped the same way.

Where I would tell them that we are asking the IRS to investigate them for the possibility of tax fraud, identity theft, and fraudulent return filings, since they are purposefully keeping papers that were supposed to be delivered to a *known* tax accountant's office. After they change their pants, they would get much more cooperative!

@Roberts there are apps that are local to your computer. Those cannot be hacked externally, at least. 1Password is local and it was one of my criteria for choosing it.

Nice idea. Do you know what you paid for a stock you bought in 1952? Or even 1992? Or when you got three lots in the same year, via RSU's, ESPP's, and QSO's -- which one got sold and what's the basis? Even the nice brokerage statement basis figures frequently need more investigation. And DRIPs. Don't forget the corrections for DRIPs.

I also like the favorite quote types, where you use the first letter of each word. Example (that I do NOT use) "Four score and seven years ago our father brought forth on this continent" becomes fsasyaofbfotc; add your favorite fancy character at the end if you need, or make the first letter a capital.

I've got a client whose (non-work, thankfully) email announces to all and sundry that he is "bi" -- I really, really, did NOT need or want to know that, thank you. That one, of course, is the email he responds to the quickest. TMI!

I have a password-protected document that runs over 27 pages long. Far too many sites require not only complex passwords but you can never re-use so you have to keep track of what you have ever used there. Plus places where you need notes on navigating complex login procedures. I have 1Password for "normal" stuff (banks, shopping, etc) but still need the other file for details. E-services is a good example; lists of prior passwords, notes on how to get to the screen I need, click here, DON'T click this one, if you are looking to get to hither first you have to go to yon... blarg. It's ridiculous, when so many people use passwords like "password."

Since I instituted a $30 paid-in-advance fee for printing out and mailing a new return copy, the incidence of clients who cannot find their copies has plummeted to zero. I do gets calls or emails -- when I explain the fee (and note my handy-dandy "pay my fee" button on my web site), the "I'll take another look and get back to you" crowd somehow never has to get back to me.

Exactly, @RitaB! They are signing under penalty of perjury, so we at least have to try for as long as they are willing to listen.