Catherine

Sold to new owner -- who set up new company, new EIN, same name, same type of business. All gain was taxed at the 1120 level -- I have copies of the past two years' returns showing same. Matches the gain I had calculated from sale price and owner's original purchase in the early 90's, minus expenses of selling I did not have.

Thanks -- that was my thinking but I wanted a second (third, fourth, nineteenth) opinion.

Client owned a c-corp which was sold in 2012. Sale was reported on 1120 (which I don't do for this company) and client was issued a 1099-DIV with proceeds in Box 8 (liquidating distributions). Well, those are not taxable at the personal level. Yet we *know* that if I don't report it first thing client will get is a mis-match letter demanding additional taxes. So, is it better to report this on Line 21 with an additional line backing the amount out again as "Taxed on Form 1120" -- or on Schedule B as dividend paid and then backed out again as taxed elsewhere? Or does it really matter, so long as it goes somewhere? TIA, Catherine

Yes QB has its own good points and headache spots. The case I mentioned the guy split opening equity between the two owners and their two businesses -- when it was loans, not cash, from one shareholder's family members, to be repaid with interest, and split unequally between the two businesses. Plus two bank loans (one for each business) that he split both, equally, between the two. It was a nightmare. Thanks heavens for hair dye, is all I can say.

Plug if you need to -- but tell the folks that TTx made some prior-year errors you *will* need to fix going forward. Additional charge after 9/15 (heck, after 10/15 if you're busy) to get the numbers straight for next year. Next year the correction will read "adjustment for prior-year errors" on the balance sheet and your notes will be back-up. I had some folks come to me a couple years ago with these same kinds of errors. How bad could it be, I thought (silly me!) after only 14 months (one short year return, one regular year return, done by CPA who must have been senile and then died before end of 2nd full year). It was absolutely and utterly wrong from Day 1 and it cost them more to fix the accounting disaster afterwards than it cost to do the return. The good news was that day-to-day operations were OK. The bad news is that EVERY equity account was wrong. Assets, liabilities, equipment (mucked up state depreciation) , AAA, OAA, retained earnings -- all came from la-la land. Took me two years to get it really right. I think it's right. I hope and pray it's right. It's way "righter" than it was, at least. Let's just say I no longer want to lock myself in the front hall closet with a 14-oz bag of Skittles when they send their info in.

I have some different results from Jack's and -- while not as thoroughly disgusted as I was in, say, March -- am still FAR from convinced.

The entire concept of "the rule of law" (the opposite being rule by fallible and favorite-playing mankind) is that the law be applied equally to all, without regard to ANY factor outside the actual law. What should have absolutely NO bearing is social status, political leanings, hair color, skin color, number of teeth, number of friends in "high" places, depth of checking account, dwelling in mansion or trailer. So if one wishes to live (or lives in a country that claims to adhere to) under the rule of law, ANY time a (legal, properly passed, Constitutional) law is bent, twisted, or broken to accommodate one group - or punish a different group - that must be stopped, for the safety and the good of all.

There does seem to be a bit of bipolar here... in the "Detail" pages for various items (interest, dividends, W-2's, whatever) some of them are horizontal format and some are vertical. I almost don't care which (although I do prefer horizontal) BUT they really should standardize on one or the other. It's more than a bit jarring to enter stuff (or double check prior entries) in one format and then have to turn your brain 90 degrees to check another type of information.

There have been times when I have felt that way about broccoli myself!

I can't believe THAT!! We'll get something really, *really* good this time -- like a $25 gift certificate to Staples or Office Max. Possibly an extension of the *amazing* 10% discount they give for early renewals. No, really, it'll be great. And it should take no time at all to figure out our actual losses for the 2012 season, right? And the attorneys will make out like bandits.

http://youtu.be/z-sdO6pwVHQ from Second City ROTFLMAO funny. A "KickStart" fundraiser for WW3.

On another tax forum I frequent, someone posted a couple years ago about a royal PITA client -- business, always calling with problems, driving him nuts for the $1250/year fee charged. He had followed the advice given about doubling fees every year. $2500 -- paid without blinking but still a PITA who wouldn't go away. $5000 -- ditto. $10000 -- and suddenly they're his favorite client as he's finally being paid what their interruptions are worth to him! Frankly, if they'd bailed at the $5K point -- that's *still* a win if someone is really driving you nuts. Life is too short to be driven crazy but nutcase clients. And yes, it's hard to fire them but once you do you invariably think, "I should have done this YEARS ago!" (Ask me how I know, lol.)

My tax season letter always includes a disclaimer that NO new work can begin until prior year balances are paid in full. Yes, there are folks who pay late (same ones every year) but -- at least my clients -- always pay. What I generally do is charge a hefty fee for my forms and schedules -- then give the client a "discount" if they're nice, pay quickly, have all the info or respond quickly, don't drive me nuts... whatever. Those whom I need to pester get a much smaller discount -- if any. Built in PITA pricing. I never charge someone "what they paid last year" although I do look at last year's bill, last year's notes, last year's time lag to payment, etc. when figuring this year's price break. I send out statements to those who owe -- most will pay up promptly then, usually with an apology for forgetting. The few that don't get the point with the "no new work" line. I have had to fire people; I usually try to wait until after their bill is paid (AND cleared!) - but have on occasion figured it was better to write off the money owed than to be stuck with an albatross. But you're right; it's a tough line to draw and to hold.

A few years ago I sent my usual tax season letter out in early January. Most folks got a line "fees going up, you should expect to see an increase of 3-5%." Some half dozen PITA clients got the same letter but the figure was 30%. All but one of those folks left (here's your hat, what's your hurry, and don't stumble on the way out). Should have done it *years* earlier.

That's not *quite* it. You charge what the time and effort is worth to you; where you feel fairly compensated for your trouble. If the market sees that as low, they will flock to you (as MsTabbyKat is finding) and you will then raise your prices. OTOH, if you lose clients, you will either lower your prices to entice new clients (and keep old ones), or decide to sell the business/close shop/retire/turn to hand-knotting hammocks to sale on Etsy. What a truly free market (which we have NOT had in this country or much of the rest of the world, for decades at the very least) will quickly establish is WHERE that level is, at this particular time, in this particular location. "A smelly mess in the barnyard is valuable fertilizer in the south 40." (RA Heinlein). Then one may decide (a) to purchase the good or service offered, ( b ) to offer that good or service oneself, ( c) or to refrain from either purchase or offer and do something else with one's time, effort, and money. There will always be someone who sees opportunity in moving items from the barnyard to the fields, and finds an investment (kerchief, clothespin) that makes the effort worth their while.

I figured Uncle Milty was enough of a stretch for some. And Adam Smith's work is taken out of context too much; you need to read his "Theory of Moral Sentiments" before "The Wealth of Nations" can be properly understood. (And yes, I know that "Uncle Milty" referred to Milton Berle. I was being facetious.)

Those surveys are all based on totally bogus suppositions. If you look at my "normal" billing rates for 1040-A-MA it would be $205. But who has a 1040 and Sch A without a Sch B? Or a D? Who can buy a house without sufficient resources to have other accounts? What about non-schedule complications to the 1040 like educator expenses or student loans with worksheets to determine how much is allowed? Plus, it makes no mention of all the other factors that go into pricing. If, for example, that 1040-A-MA return came in early, with every bit of info needed, I would probably discount the price - possibly as much as $50. If, on the other hand, I had to send a half-dozen emails asking for the 3Q property tax, or had to hound them for the closing statements to calculate the refi points amortization, I might hit them with a "accounting time" fee on top of the $205 -- which could easily hit $100 (depending on how much of a PITA they were to deal with). Here's one for you -- picked up a family for 2012, brother to an existing client. He was charged $1075 for 2011. I would have charged $385 for the very same return. And every single client who has come to me from (insert name of favorite big box tax store) has found me to be substantially less expensive even though I think I charge very fairly if a bit skewed towards my benefit. So I believe the "averages" they report in the article to be low -- or at the very least unable to be compared to real life situations. Nonsense, all of it. If you think your prices are fair to you, you're fine. If your clients think you're too high, they'll leave. That's fine, too -- it's called feedback. A free market runs on it -- what an un-coerced buyer is willing to pay an un-coerced seller for something they need that the seller is willing to sell. Milton Friedman talked about it a lot and there are plenty of videos on YouTube of him doing so.

I got five wrong; a couple of the grammar questions and a couple of the oddball history questions. Never learned my Civil War battles; no class ever covered them! 84% for me; phew! I get into high school.

This is a 1912 8th-grade graduation exam. It had to be passed before the student could enter high school. Can YOU pass it? Remember, 1912 -- so no calculators, no Wikipedia -- just you, and your knowledge. I'll let a few folks have some fun before I post the score I got. http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/2013/0812/1912-eighth-grade-exam-Could-you-make-it-to-high-school-in-1912/Arithmetic

They are called "wireless extenders;" there are a couple of flavors of them. There are USB and ethernet based wireless extenders. There are types with internal and external antennas as well. Internal antennas can be better in multi-path situations -- but external antennas are better when you need more gain. Go to New Egg and poke around after putting "wireless extender" in the search box. Lots of choices.

I've got some friends who are train nuts; they would probably sound JUST like the guy on the video in the same circumstance!

Best way to deal with the NSA is to bury them in useless and spurious data so that all their unConstitutional "collection" activities are useless. Add "sarin" or "ricin" to every text. Put "plutonium" in your sig line. When calling your spouse's cell phone to ask them to fetch a half gallon of milk on the way home, ask for milk and a set of RPG's. Have FUN with it!!

Being married to an electrical engineer whose specialty is microwave-band communications, we bandy all kinds of odd words about, with disgusting regularity, in this house. Faraday cage. Gigahertz range. 50db. Ground plane (not a plane on the tarmac). Impedance. Lossy. Non-ideal. Non-linear. RF. Plus lots more. We have a wireless network that works within the confines of the office, roughly. The house was built in 1952/53, during civil defense days. The walls are 3/8" rock lath, covered by 3/8" of a very sandy, brownish cement, covered by 1/4" hard plaster. Ceilings (basement and first floor) have expanded metal lath. The whole house is basically a set of interconnected Faraday cages. To download books to my Kindle, I cannot be farther away than the dining room. My daughter's laptop regularly loses its connection from the living room. All the business hardware (and much of the non-business hardware) is hard-wired to the network -- and will stay that way! I've worked in plenty of office buildings with fewer pieces of equipment and simpler network configurations than what we have here... Yes, you do have to be aware of the frequency bands of the various other bits and pieces around your wireless network. You need to be aware of metal studs in office building walls, expanded metal lath, and more. Plus with a wireless network you also have to have security protocols. It's best to have the network locked down so that only equipment with approved MAC addresses can even see the network. Anyone coming here with a wifi laptop can see several of the neighbors' networks (only *some* of which are secured) -- but even sitting right next to the hub, cannot see ours.

Marsh Traveller's Placer get quotes from all of them. be sure to ask about discounts from your professional organization (NAEA, NATP, CPA state society, EA state society, ATP, whatever).

Especially poignant considering he uses crutches due to a childhood bout with polio.