Catherine

Smart move to get that chair OUT of temptation-close-reach!! SO glad to hear you folks are home. You're STILL on the prayer list here.

All the folks I told to contact me after tax season called/emailed on Wednesday. NEXT year, I will specify "first week of MAY!!" instead. Sheesh. Along with Rita I desperately need time off and will NOT be getting it. However, I did take ONE day last weekend to go to the folk arts festival and spent the afternoon dancing. That was fun!

Good strong magnet passed over those disks will do a LOT to destroy data. Several passes with magnets but be AWAY from good data disks (and videotapes, and cassette tapes, etc) when you do that. Target practice is ALWAYS good. Scratching surfaces with a diamond pencil will also help. Go radially as well as in circles. Good luck!

Joan -- if you'd be willing to send me one, I'd be glad to buy it off you and pay postage. Drop me a private message... Thanks, Catherine

Such WONDERFUL news -- I know you will both feel more comfortable at home. You folks are still high on the prayers-for list, too.

One note on what Don said -- I did this several years ago and NEVER GOT the DVD, nor did they ever respond to any of my several inquiries. I was not pleased.

I'm not sure what would be the "undue hardship" requiring you to use the 1127-A instead of the 4868. For folks that I have on extension, I just used the 4868 and we made guesstimates from end of year statements or preliminary forms when needed.

The year, 1913. The brand-new income tax form, with all instructions and worksheets -- four pages. http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/04/today-is-tax-deadline-bring-us-back-to.html

A hearty THANK YOU to everyone here who helped this tax season. Many of us will hang around for extensions, but before we all headed off for some well-deserved R&R I wanted to be sure to send my thanks. Catherine And just to show what kind of a season it has been... :wall:

Wow as well. I've filed zillions of $0 extensions and never had one voided. The vast majority of those are clients from whom I don't get even one piece of paper 'til mid-August (I haven't bothered to tell those folks about just ONE extension being good 'til October). Sometimes there's no way for me to make any guess -- a refund IF they paid the estimated taxes I gave them coupons for; owe if not; how much depends on wildly varying income -- in those situations $0 is the best you can give.

If she's a friend and you're helping out, submit a Federal extension. Not going to hurt the Federal status and will give her time to get back from vacation and submit her state/local returns. I usually put in extensions for _everyone_ in early April, figuring if we make the deadline we're covered and if we don't, we're still covered. Payments? If needed (and I can figure it out - this assumes I have _some_ paperwork) they can mail 'em in. Catherine

John -- my sympathies. I filed all my extensions last Thursday, as Gwen was in the faculty dance recital at college this past weekend. We left mid-day Friday (after seeing a couple more clients) and got back late last evening. One more picked up earlier today (arrived very late due to parades and militia chasing Redcoats around here), and one more still to come. Got ours filed Friday before we left. This year has gone more easily than some, and then there were some bone-stupid mistakes that didn't get caught. Latest one folks emailed me over the weekend wondering why I hadn't sent them their e-file acceptances. Well, I did. On April 4th. Turns out they gave me their new address wrong; NORTH Town, not Town. They didn't catch it on the returns. So e-file acceptances went to the wrong place. So will their refund checks. The same street address exists in Town as in North Town - NOW what do I do? (Besides send them change of address forms to send in, pronto!)

Rita you are terrific!

That Mass. Sch HC penalty calculation is an exercise everyone should go through -- county, household size, income, premium, etc. It's a harbinger of what we'll be dealing with if the Supreme Court does not do their Constitutional duty and toss out the entire Health no-Care bill.

No vacation. Time off for sure -- as much as I can manage (at least a day or two!). Heading to Gwen's college tomorrow mid-day to see her in the faculty dance recital Saturday. Putting through my last extensions and returns today. LOTS of extensions this year (and I didn't give folks a choice; I _told_ them) with the new Sch D nonsense and LOTS of late-arriving forms. Plus Monday is the big holiday here (Patriot's Day; we can here the parades and musket fire from our house) so that only leaves Tuesday for folks to reasonably be able to get here. No, thanks. If extensions are in and we make it, good. If extensions are in and we don't make it, good. Catherine

I am so very glad you both enjoyed it. Wonder if I have room to upload an extremely cute, short video, called "soft porn". Not quite kid-safe, but not offensive at all and VERY funny. Originally an ad for Blaupunkt car speakers. Phooey -- error message says I am not permitted to attach "this kind of file" - whatever that means. Here's a link to it on YouTube instead. 17 seconds.

I pop over there from time to time and have not had any trouble (aside from them making you change your password as often as Italy changes governments).

Oh, no!! SO sorry to hear of this step backwards. Time to re-double the prayer efforts on behalf of Don, you, and your family. Glad that you at least have _some_ internet access, FarmTown, your Nook, and the various tax boards to provide you with some distraction when you need it. Catherine

I usually send clients the e-file ack from ATX since it has info for ALL jurisdictions. Lately I've added the 9325 as folks trying for a refi need something to show the mortgage people and most banks won't take the ATX ack.

NY taxes on income while a resident no matter where earned. CT should give credit for tax paid to NY; sometimes not dollar-for-dollar but better than nothing.

Just checked the "other" forum -- ATX finally admitted they are having serious server issues. Recommend trying sporadically during the day as returns are getting through at times. Just tried calling on a Mass return reject issue and hold times are in excess of 15 - 30 minutes. Hung up; don't have time for that crap. Would rather put the client on extension and deal next week. Sheesh.

I would tell clients to check credit reports first - that will tell them if there is more going on here than someone making up a number (or mis-entering a number) in order to get a tax refund (real or fraudulent). Put "fraud alert" with credit agencies, too. That should protect them in case whoever used the number once decides to see how much else they can get away with before it's noticed. If all is OK with credit, then contact IRS about mis-use of SSN. Have never had to deal, myself, but these days it's only a matter of time before one of my clients hits this problem.

Thanks, OldJack -- will go look that up now. Catherine

Anyone else want to weigh in on this? Partnership owns vehicle. Agreement has nothing about miles/use of car -- but personal use is substantial.

My cousin sent me this one this morning. I laughed until I cried, then I laughed some more. Quickly followed by sending it to a couple of friends. Pocket taser Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife. A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their anniversary submitted this: Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Taser. The effects of the Taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety...?? WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home.... I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button and pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave. Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and then thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and Taser in another. The directions said that: a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; and a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference (loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries); pretty cute really, and thinking to myself, 'no possible way!' What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best. I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side so as to say, 'Don't do it stupid,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny lil ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it.. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and... HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. WHAT THE... !!! I'm pretty sure Hulk Hogan ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs! The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.. Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a Taser, one note of caution: There is NO such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor! A three second burst would be considered conservative! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I had crapped in my shorts, but was too numb to know for sure, and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head, which I believe came from my hair.. I'm still looking for my testicles and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return! PS: My wife can't stop laughing about my experience, loved the gift and now regularly threatens me with it! If you think education is difficult, try being stupid!!!!