Catherine

Post-meltdown HUGS!!

Went to a continuing ed class a couple years ago - guy specialized in OIC and bankruptcy cases. He said the same folks would come back every few years, in trouble again. One of the folks at the class wanted to know how he could stand to deal with the same problems from the same people time and again - didn't it drive him crazy after a while? He told us that the secret was not to see them as "perpetual problem clients" but rather as "walking annuities" and if nothing else stuck from that class, that phrase did! Attitude -- it's all in the attitude. (Or, at least, lots of it is in the attitude.)

Had a client last year who got me his 2012 1099-MISC vendor numbers in *November* -- almost a year after they were due to be sent out! I charged him triple my usual price, and put it on my bill as "1099-MISC preparation for calendar 2012, $100; additional fee for 1099-MISC preparation out of season, $200" except the numbers were higher than that. Am hoping that for 2013 he gets me the info by -oh, I dunno -- May? At that point, I'll just charge him double. Maybe still triple, depending on how annoying he gets or if I start seeing him as a "walking annuity" instead of a client.

I just read it, and I concur. Please pop over there and read!

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Thank you, KC!

bumping up the queue...

Homeowner's association, taxed as a corporation for various reasons, paid a couple thousand dollar fee as part of an application to be listed on the National Historical Register. The development was one of several designed by Gropius and built in the 1950's. Intangible asset. But is is amortizable, or an expense? It's not a license; it's not a trademark; it doesn't make the place more "salable" (in fact, it puts restrictions in place) -- but it's permanent (=multi-year use) and a couple thousand bucks.

My science training was showing: after my first guess at a rule, the first combo I would have proposed was a disprove combo...

My back has been in knots so I took an hour today to get a massage. THAT was a mini-vacation!

Think we've seen this before but it's still fun:

I think I heard the same joke back in my engineering days -- with an engineer in the spot the accountant holds in this version. Still very funny!

Here's the proper step-by-step procedure for dealing with this one: Acquire a brick. Give said brick to client, and recommend frequent application to head, until, say, August or so. Acquire a nice bottle of your preferred adult beverage. Hide under your desk and sip at the above beverage until the client and his brick are obliterated from your memory. Try again in August! Make the client bring you iced tea and cookies before you will speak to him.

Just remember: after you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.

Thank you both!

A chart, with circles and arrows and a paragraph explaining each step. That's what you need to tease this one apart. I'm with mcb39 on the "Huh?!?!" reaction.

For MA you can use whatever status works out best for the client. Not tied to federal. Always good to check, though, as some states are tied. A number of years ago I had a young couple who got married after being in grad school and working and having domicile all over the map. One federal and five state returns, some MFJ some MFS. Figuring out the overall least tax burden on that one had my head spinning in circles!

Thanks for posting the video, KC.

Hi Wendy -- I have something similar -- couple where he lives/works in MA and she lives/works in CT. Every year I do the comparison MFJ/MFS for the two states, and every year it comes out better overall for them to file MFJ, resident MA/nonresident CT. MA gives a (partial) credit for taxes paid to another jurisdiction on Schedule Z, I think it is. (At any rate, Schedules X, Y, and Z are all one form.) Post again or PM me if you need help with that credit schedule. Catherine

Not just the investments, but also if they are held in "street name" in the account. That means the brokerage hose holds the securities FOR the client -- and the client does business with the US-based brokerage house. Holding $20K worth of shares in, say, Royal Dutch Shell, via street name through Pershing or First Clearing, is NOT the same as having $20K in a bank on the other side of the pond.

With a lot of these options, there ends up being a small short-term capital loss. All of what would have been the "gain" gets included in the W-2 under that Code V and so is taxed at OI rates. After trade fees etc., there is usually a small loss.

Mass DCF has a *horrible* track record -- there is story after story of children being "lost" by the system, handed into the care of someone who supposedly has been forbidden same, given to foster care into homes with known criminals, deaths... and the governor still insists on standing by the department head (his nepot). As for the neurologist -- I'd like to know who gave him permission even to SEE this girl; she was not his patient, and how does a neurologist get involved in a case of flu without the parents' consent? Who pressured the court, as well -- it should have been a slam-dunk to release the girl to her parents. This case stinks on so many levels it is not funny. The parents have kept silent because they were under court order, and have been trying to play by the rules to get their daughter back. As her health fails (in state custody without proper treatment) they are now ready to take extra-legal measures in an attempt to save her life.

Client gets sent to various employer sites on assignment and so has various non-resident state returns. Last year, he worked in Maryland and earned somewhat under 40K while there (out of about triple that, in total). Anything I should watch out for in the MD NR return? Funny little "gotcha's" that out of state preparers miss? Corrections that need to be made that are phrased ambiguously on the forms? Anything about that special "nonresident tax" that I need to look into? This is a state I have not prepared before and I know there are places in the MA forms that confuse "furriners" so I'm sure there must be something similar for MD. Any advice gladly accepted and appreciated. Catherine

My deepest sympathies to you and all your family in this difficult year!!

QB for Mac is, as Jack said, only partially functional. I have described Intuit's treatment of QB/Mac as QB/PC's weird Uncle Seth who has to be invited for Thanksgiving but who picks his teeth at the table and no one wants to sit near. It works pretty much like QB/PC of 3 - 4 versions prior -- at best. It is possible to save a copy for export to Windows -- but it's a one-way trip, basically. So you can get a copy and see what a hash has been made of the books, but really cannot fix anything without going to your client (or having them come to you with a laptop) and fixing it yourself. I've also been pretty unhappy with QB Online (and only one client, thankfully, uses that). The best idea, if QB really is something that is going to be used, is buy a cheap laptop JUST for use with QB. But if the client's main focus is easier payments to vendors, why not just set up electronic payments through his bank? WAY cheaper and easier to learn than QB. I have yet to see an online payment system that doesn't let you print or save the transactions, too -- which he can then email/fax/mail to you.