Catherine

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!!!!

Late yesterday I found a simple return; done, printed, ready for client pickup first thing Saturday morning -- looked at it and found an item I just plain-old forgot to include. Remember thinking "Must go back and get that in there" -- and never did. So I'm re-printing it now. Sigh. My response last night? Only one sensible thing to do; catch the last hour of the local contra dance. It was fun but I sure was tired out from all the long hours and am glad I was only there for an hour! Wednesday I had my whole schedule scrambled utterly and completely on me THREE times before 11AM. By the end of the day I was an absolute wreck. Had to duck out on a quick errand to pick something up and on the way back stopped at a local church that was having quiet prayer time all week. Spent 15 minutes in the quiet and dark, on my knees, remembering all I have to be grateful for. Did me a -world- of good.

I had to go through some convolutions but finally got my forms. Something at the ATX site called "webengine" I had to download and install first. All very aggravating and utterly unnecessary. But I have my 941's now, thank goodness. That really was time I did NOT need to spend agonizing over nonsense this week. Sigh.

Trying to find Form 941 for 2012. Program says update NOT available; can't find any info on ATX site (lots for 2011 and earlier versions, though). It's April and I need my 941's!! Anyone else having this trouble? I see posts about e-filing 941's which indicates someone has the forms. :wall:

Thank you both -- getting to that point in tax season where simple questions set off a long chain of concerns that you then are too confused to sort through!

My letter next year is going to put in bold face not only my drop-dead date of March 10th, but that I must have ALL documents in house on that date. This year I got a slew of folks who dropped off in early March and when I got to their piles there was TONS of stuff missing. Now am having to remind them that the letter did say _complete_ and not partial. Lion - same issue as you with timing; too. A gazillion drop-offs in a week and a half and going through in order means the ones at the end of that week and a half now think I've been eating bonbons for a month, LOL.

Very small partnership. Two partners. Own a small private plane together and were advised to form the partnership to share expenses for the plane. Private enjoyment and personal use only; NO business purpose at all. No outside income; equal contributions to capital for upkeep etc. Partnership owns the plane now - they bought it together years ago and deeded it over to the partnership when it was formed. 50% each of value to partner's capital. Does this plane get depreciated? I should think NOT since there is no business use. But I've never dealt with a no-business-purpose deal like this and figured to run it by y'all. Catherine

My husband reports that he has often heard me muttering form numbers and tax terms in my sleep in the thick of the season. I can report many dreams of forms, numbers, returns, etc. I have _never_, however, dreamed of listening to that horrid muzak while on "ignore" with the IRS. First time I do that, I'm quitting!

Just printed out a NY return -- the IT-203 came out page 2, page 1, page 4, page 3. Really useful. Fortunately I print to pdf first and caught it (thanks to this thread!) -before- it went to the printer. Grrr!!! Even if they scramble the form order, each form itself should be in order!!!

Utterly bizarre. Go to print out a completed return with several states. The default state form printing order is this: MA M-9325 MA EF info MA 1 MA Sch B MA Sch C NY TR-579-IT MA Sch D NY EF info NY IT-203 NY IT-2 MA Sch INC NY IT-203-ATT MA Sch HC NY IT-216 MA Sch X,Y, Z, DI How's THAT for an absolute jumble!!

As friends of mine elsewhere have stated, we need a special sarcasm FONT. Then we'd all know. But you're right -- it does not come through very well in print for the most part. (A *sarcasm* or *dripping sarcasm* appended to the text would help, but is cumbersome.)

I handled this year even more sternly than most. My "welcome to tax season" letter that went out the 1st week of January flat-out TOLD my clients with lots of trades that they WILL be put on extension. My cutoff date for ALL materials IN-house is March 10th -- after that date, even if all you owe me is $3 in bank interest from East Podunk Savings -- no guarantees. I have five returns left to touch where the client met my cutoff date - and I have no reason to push myself to finish those if _anything_ is missing (and there is _always_ something missing. That said, I work hard and I work long. But after church this morning my husband and I went out to brunch for our anniversary and just got back a little while ago. I have found that, for me, when I am so desperately tired that I need a nap, I can sit here, caffeinate myself, and get nothing done in three hours -- or I can go take a half-hour nap, get up and get stuff done. Huge advantage to working at home - I can go conk out in my older girl's room (east side of house; dim and quiet in the afternoon), set the timer on the microwave that won't shut off until I get up and push the button. Does me a world of good. Good luck to all. I hear from too many new clients about how their former preparer dropped dead at their desk from heart attack or stroke. Age doesn't explain all of it by a LONG shot. I am determined NOT to be one of that number, ever. Please everyone here take care of yourselves; the clients can just bloody well WAIT sometimes. Catherine

Lack of rubber chickens.

Thanks, Kea & Deb!

I have also noticed this. The Print Manager has always been the weakest part of ATX. I have not noticed intra-form wrong pages (mine have all come out pg1, pg2, pg3) -- but the order sure gets jumbled!! I had been thinking one got scrambled and then it "remembered selections" to re-scramble -- but I tossed that possibility some time ago. Decided the Print Manager has gone wonkier and am keeping an eye on it. Will keep a closer eye now.

I've used an engagement letter for years that I put together from bits and pieces of a half-dozen or more samples available on the web, from folks in this group, and from other tax newsgroups. Never had anyone refuse to sign. Couple of small questions from the few who have actually read it. Separate and somewhat more detailed letter for businesses. Put a couple hours into customizing one in the off-season and it's pretty much reusable from year to year. My word _is_ my bond. Can't say the same for my clients, though - even if it's true - as I just don't know any of them well enough.

After a ridiculous amount of searching, I found the answer on the "other" ATX board. IRS "rejects" (but still processes and takes) payments that are scheduled. They only "accept" payments that are instantaneous. This has apparently been an issue for a couple of years and they just don't fix it. Nothing to do with ATX or CCH. My beef with the "other" board is that a search for the _exact_ name I finally found several threads on, turned up zilch. At the least they should make sure their in-house search functions properly.

Client was set up for payment of Fed tax due on 4/12/12. Efile came back with NO notice on the e-file ack -- but the 9325 has Box 5 checked, "payment rejected." I assume client now has to send paper check -- but I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this, and if there is any REASON for a direct debit payment to be rejected. Valid routing number, valid account number, payment scheduled for before the due date..... ???? TIA, Catherine

There is still a "Donations" button at the top of the page, next to the "MyATX" button. A good reminder to us all to make another donation!

While MAS is correct that they sometimes (frequently?) leave out "insignificant details" like missing info, not responding to repeated requests by former preparer for specific items, etc., that does NOT relieve the Circular 230 responsibility. You could consider filling out a disclosure authorization and sending that to the former preparer, along with a letter quoting the Circular 230 requirement to return all original client documents (or a copy of that portion of C230, with a big circle around that part). The letter should be polite and respectful but clear that you expect them to fulfill their obligation while leaving you OUT of any disagreement with their (former) client. Good luck.