Catherine

I use Gruntworx organize (beautifully indexed pdf file) and trade (excel and csv files for trade data import - when there are more than a dozen or so to enter). I tried the populate but found it took just as long to double-check the entries (which are good but NOT perfect) as it took to just enter the info myself. Scan with *at least* 300dpi resolution; more if you can stand the extra scanning time (both my scanners bog *way* down bumping up to 400dpi but between 200 and 300 there is no noticeable extra time) and you will get less of the 6/8/3 problems. Although having documents not printed in 4-point font helps, too, and we have no control over that.

Thanks - I think....

They will be increasing but I have not determined how much. Office rent is up, utilities are up, CPE prices are up, supplies are up.... if prices don't go up I will be making even less than I do now which is already less than it should be.

My deepest, deepest sympathies on your loss. You have my prayers as well. As far as selling your practice, have you also posted on taxprofessionals or TaxProExchange Yahoo groups?

Then you are ahead of me. At this point, I don't even bother to ask as I have easier ways to waste my time.

That mirrors my experience. Box 3, Box 7, Box 6... I have seen ALL of those used for one client for whom the work is all the same and definitely SE work. I have seen honoraria of less than $150 reported in Box 7 when it was clearly NOT SE work (and under the $600 threshold). All manner of nonsense on these forms where many are clearly prepared by people who have no idea what they are doing; they've just been told "send these out." So while what @mcb39 and @Jack from Ohio state may well be the official IRS position, it does not absolve us from firing up the old neurons and seeing if the information presented to us is good - or garbage. GIGO, after all.

It was KC's posting last year that reminded me; this year I remembered. PTIN Renewals underway

I have found the phrase "I'll have to research that one and get back to you plus bill for the time" makes lots of folks demur. But it is always a judgement call. One of my local colleagues starts every tax return with a $150 PITA fee. IF they are not a PITA, and IF they have not pestered her with calls during the year, she discounts the fee. And of course you can start with a smaller fee and discount as much or as little as you want. So then it is built in to the tax return. I have some folks who call with multiple questions every year; when I do their return I keep those calls in mind when deciding how much to discount from my standard per-form fees. YMMV.

Too funny!!

You are right. Will work on finding an attorney in the current state who works with trusts. Hmmm... I wonder if the firm that set up the trusts is still around. First place to start looking, I guess.

I think the advice of an attorney in the grandmother's state is not out of line here, though.

I know we have a couple of folks here with double hats (tax and law), and maybe they have an answer for me. Trusts created by grandmother fbo grandchildren, in her state, formed under her state's laws and with situs in her state. No problem so far. Trustees of trusts live in two other states. Still no problem. What happens when grandmother dies? Are those trusts still sited in her state? Or does situs automatically move to the states where the trustees live? Or where the new funds custodian (moved out of grandmother's bank to an investment firm) has principal offices? Everything I can find online states what is needed is a positive decision by trustees along with 60-day prior notice to beneficiaries. Nothing automatic. If that is correct, situs is still grandmother's state unless and until the trustee(s) choose otherwise and so inform beneficiaries. Yes? No? Other?

It all makes perfect sense; the program was started as a way to *save* energy. Since it does the opposite, instead of scrapping it they expanded it. Typical government program action. (That is NOT meant to be a political diatribe, but rather a snarky snipe at bureaucracies and how they make decisions in general. How many times to we see the exact same "methodology" in every bureaucracy we deal with... too bleeping many!)

Just about any recent-ish version of Acrobat will password-protect files. I buy not-the-most-recent new, never used, licensable versions from ebay (which is usually good for 2 or 3 computers; perfect for a small office). Since it is not the "latest and greatest" it's usually less than half the cost of a new version. Since I don't need any of the fancy high-end features, there is no sense in paying for today's latest. But I do want a valid license. Citrix File Share *is* more than a bit pricey, as is their e-signature program. CPaperless has a much less expensive (per-signature only, no monthly fee) e-signature program that I like. They also have an add-on to Acrobat called Tic, Tie, and Calculate that I also very much like and use. File portal: someone will find a problem with ANYTHING you try to use. I have had trouble getting folks to use the "Secure Send" feature on my web site so I put the link in as part of my email signature. More now see it, at least... pdf995 also has a suite of products that either run in a sponsored mode free (ads with each use) or to license cost roughly $9.95 each (one of them is $19.95) and those are a good alternative if you don't want to try to find/install Acrobat.

LOVE it -- and you are right. Too elegant and too simple ever to be implemented.

So..... any tax programs that work on Linux?

Especially that last sentence...

I have a friend who sets his watch to Greenwich time and adjusts mentally from there. As far as he is concerned, the world around him changes *its* schedule.... he has a point.

OK; thanks!

Thanks, Lynn! Do you know him? Taken one of his classes?

Anyone here from the Phoenix area - or know someone there? My brother in law has decided to give up on TurboTax (at long last and about time) and wants a pro. But he also wants someone close enough to sit down with. Being at the other end of the country, that's not me.

Jack tends to be aggressive and snarky; we all know that. However, the original poster makes an excellent point. By charging sales tax that they are NOT passing on to the state, they are effectively stealing from both the state (in whose name they are taking additional funds that are not required to be collected) and from the person who is paying the higher-than-required price. My question is rather, do you really want to do business with a company that has NO qualms about such unethical acts?

So here's the question. I have a client who has a partnership K-1 with info from eleven states. Some of the states (don't have the list here; at my other office) info pages in TTB and online say "filing required for non-resident if there is ANY in-state income", regardless of amount. But is that at the partnership level or the partner level? It's just senseless to file all these states; the partnership paid in taxes and from most of them he would have $1 - $4 refunds. Opinions? Do we file these eleven states? Just the one where the refund might be more than my charge? None but the resident state? Pick a number via dartboard?

However, if she cannot make payments (insufficient cash flow) definitely check out the OIC option.

Dear MsTabbyKats: You have my prayers for a full and swift recovery. I am very glad you found a good buyer so quickly; the last thing you need is to be worrying about a business. Take care of yourself, and keep posting here! We will support you, listen to you -- and you can take pot shots as those of us who have not (yet?) high-tailed it for the nearest faraway place from taxes. Margaret said everything else I would have said, and she said it better than I would have.