Catherine

Office romance only as running gag -- but it certainly has been funny, I've gotten many a chuckle from the various posts.

LOL!! Just because he's switching to Drake doesn't mean he will abandon us at this forum. Lots of folks here have switched away from ATX but can't leave their friends. Booger's posts are always welcome here -- and I hope he'll keep us updated on Drake, too. They've been my fallback for several years now - I evaluate them every year and keep thinking that if CCH ever pushes me too far, I know where I will jump. Catherine

I e-filed the last one first thing Monday morning after chasing down/being chased down by late clients for the last week and weekend. I am SO glad this season is done; it's going to take every second of the remaining year to clear up and gear up for next year!

@Kea -- I'm very glad that my adventures helped you. Yes, Massachusetts has a real problem with not accepting changed names -- even when the source is their own incorrect information! If they just had a checkbox on the return for "name has changed since last return" it would probably go through. But NO, they can't do something that simple. Instead we get to keep notes on our clients of which name goes with which e-file. Sigh.

One client has hyphenated middle name; goes through fine for Federal. Massachusetts has never changed their computers to accept that hyphenated name. First part only. Another client has a Slavic name. Federal takes full first name and surname with the final vowel. Massachusetts requires dropping the final vowel on the surname, and will only take the first initial of the first name. The main source of the problem is the state of Mass. -- but regardless of where it originates, it is one royal PITA to deal with.

There is still the problem in Massachusetts that NONE of the health care penalty calculations working without over-riding everything on the worksheets. This has been an issue for years, since the first 1099-HC requirements were instituted in Mass.

Here's an annoying problem: creating e-files people whose names are accepted differently by different agencies. Example: John Joseph Smith & Jana Louise Jones-Smith. Fed e-file requires John J Smith and J L Jones-Smith state e-file only takes John J Smith and Jana L Jones (they've never caught on to her full name change) To e-file these folks currently, one must create and submit the Federal, wait _at least_ until it has been "Transmitted to Agency", then re-open the return, change Jones-Smith to Jones, create and submit the state e-file. Once THAT has been "Transmitted to Agency", one can then go back YET AGAIN and fix the names. Keeping careful notes all the while of what name is accepted by which agency. Any other way results in rejected e-files. If they had a place on the state e-file page for any special name requirements, all that extra work would be taken away. It's not even that it's so MUCH work -but rather trying to track all that while frantically making sure all returns get properly submitted. Catherine

@mlinder42 -- Spouse has an ITIN and is self-employed (handyman; odd jobs). @jainen -- will do; thank you _very_ much for the recommendation. Worst that happens is the same as doing nothing - clients have to pay back the credit. Not that they _have_ any money -- a handyman and an artist.... Catherine

More twists, courtesy of paperwork from client. Rejection of FTHB credit came via Form 4549, Examination changes. First I heard of examination, as well. How does this change the situation?

Problem for 2010 tax year. Client and spouse -- went on extension. Filed by paper in May, as they bought a house and applied for the FTHB credit. Turns out spouse is considered a non-resident alien or illegal alien or something (not known to me at the time; I thought spouse was here legally as they've been married for several years). So FTHB credit got dis-allowed. HOWEVER -- house and mortgage are in client's name only. Can we RE-file before the 17th as MFS and have it treated as the initial (if corrected) filing? I seem to have seen this before, here, but on quick search can't find details. Also - if we CAN do this, do we file 1040X or "just" a new set of 1040's (one each)? Would appreciate a quick answer as this would need to be sandwiched in amongst all the other last-minute-here's-the-info-you-asked-for-in-March returns in the queue. TIA, Catherine

@TaxCPANY -- you can also give the NEW pdf file a different name and it will still print to pdf.

@Lion -- paper is traditional for first anniversary. Money is paper! Gift cards are close to paper. If you really wanted to give them a physical gift (although it will be a bit late), American Stationery (www dot americanstationery dot com) has lovely gift sets of reasonably priced, high-quality personalized paper sets. @NECPA -- PayPal is indeed the way to go for taking credit cards (but it is easier if _you_ have a web site - and CPA site builder has a standard format site with no contracts for $50/month with file transfer and multiple email accounts etc.). You link your PayPal (business) account to the website - clients click on the "Pay My Bill" link and can pay by any method and they don't need a PayPal account themselves. Transferring the $$ to your business account is a matter of a couple clicks. It generally takes a couple days to transfer. Yes, there is a fee -- roughly 4%, if memory serves -- but for the few who want to use credit cards every year to pay my bill, in an entire year I don't spend on PayPal fees anywhere near what ONE month of credit card merchant service processing would cost.

Thank you Lion & pcmcpa both. Found the checkboxes etc. However, this being ATX, some of the links don't work properly and I had to over-ride a number of fields to get them to populate correctly.

Several clients this year have had Roth conversions. This is the first one who wants to pay the tax half in 2011 and half in 2012. I can't find where in ATX to make this election -- didn't find an election choice, there was nothing on any of the 1099-R input or IRA info sheets... I'm sure it's obvious and I've tripped over it a half-dozen times without seeing it - but could someone please let me know where it is? Thanks, Catherine

Printing K-1 packages is still convoluted and confusing -- there should be one button on the Print Manager that gives a complete K-1 package to send to shareholders/partners.

I believe the pertinent time stamp is the "received by" at the EFC. Your mileage may vary. In areas affected by Irene, we have 'til the 22nd for Federal but not all the states are going along with that. I purposely did not tell my corporate clients (neither they nor I were badly affected, so it's no extra trouble for them), as I didn't want my individual extension window shortened.

A zero doesn't show but does NOT get rid of the RED diagnostic error, for me. Odd that it's different for the two of us.

Perhaps this one is more of a "bug" than a major issue, but I've stumbled into it a couple of times and it is annoying. Form 1120 -- Schedule K -- Line 13, where total receipts & assets <$250,000 for year. Asks for cash distributions/book value of property distributions for year. No entry gives a red error warning that dist's must be entered. Zero doesn't show up and gives a red error warning that dist's must be entered. Using the Alt-0 to force a zero to show up on the line gives a red error warning that dist's must be entered AND that value must be numeric only. Last I looked, zero WAS a valid numerical value -- and what's more, it's the -correct- value if no distributions were made! Catherine

Thanks, Jack, I will try that next time. "Undo" doesn't work - and it should. Had not heard of the "esc" dodge, though.

Ignoring the Print (non)Manager, as you requested, here is MY biggest gripe. ATX is a big, complex program that takes a _long_ time to load a file, or error-check it, or any of a half-dozen different tasks. When a file is opening, I will frequently go off to send a quick email. Then *poof* the program finishes, absconds with my cursor, and first off over-writes the client name with whatever word I was in the middle of in the email (or whatever). A "lock" on that client name -- or just that the program won't over-write ANYTHING until there is a positive "click" in the field rather than just, "I'm ATX and I get priority so 'still need docu...' overwrites "Jonathan" in the name field". I have some clients with odd name situations (where the e-file will reject unless it's _just_ so) and many a time I have had to quit without saving and then re-open a file (uh, what a waste of time) to reinstate the correct name field. Heck, I'd -happily- settle for the "UNDO" choice under the Edit menu to work in those situations. Because it doesn't work in the name fields. Catherine

Yes, what they said. A bunch of organizations have programs for members (and even if you're not a member, frequently you can get the same coverage under a non-group affiliation plan for few small $$ additional). The key is to get a number of quotes for a number of different coverage levels. I had insurance for years through one program, and decided it was time (larger practice, more complex cases, etc.) to increase my coverage. The company I'd been with for years gave me a quote that seemed high. So I tried another vendor -- slightly better coverage for about 25% less. Yet that _same_ vendor had been too high, years earlier. I think some might specialize in particular "case sizes", and if you hit their target market, you get a better deal. Target Insurance Services (underwritten through The Hartford) and Placer Insurance Agency (underwritten through Traveler's) are two to try. 800-692-5752 and 916-784-1008 (respectively) are the numbers I have easily available for them. If you might have clients coming to your home, make sure you also get a business rider on your homeowners (or renters) insurance. Someone trips & gets hurt on the front step and they were there for business, the regular house insurance will NOT cover the injury. Catherine

Time for another donation? You have TWO college educations to pay for in a mere 18 years!

They are beautiful!!! Congratulations to you both. You _will_ sleep again, someday -- but it won't be for a while, sorry to say. Thank you for all you do for us here. Catherine

One thing I can tell you is that you need to use "continue" instead of "current" as the date for leaving. Try that for that one error, anyway. I've found lots of weird little bugs and errors in the 2555 but eventually get it beaten into submission (usually about ten seconds before it would have succeeded in beating _me_ into submission). The "other" ATX forum might be useful, as well, as lots of folks here seem to be taking time away from their computers this summer.

I knew that Terry's situation was different; I was speaking of my own client. And yes, I do have clients who deduct expenses that are ordinary and necessary even if etc etc. However, with this one client and the amount SO high as a percentage of salary, I want to make doubly sure that he understands what I will need him to have ready for me if this return is called for audit. Belt, suspenders, duct tape, and staples.