Catherine

It's not quite as simple as counting the e-filed forms; that page count serves a different purpose (and yes, it's a royal pain in the patootie). The count is required for PAPER filing, because all the information gets encoded in the 2D bar symbols on the pages, and those pages get read by a scanner (which helps explain the truly abysmal print format; no one actually has to READ those horrid forms). The first page includes the total pages in the return -- if they don't match, the return gets kicked out for further scrutiny. Sorry for the delay in response -- was out of the office most of the day. Catherine

At one point there was a trick to this. You put a "." (a period) in the state field, and that tells (told, anyway) the program that the address listed was out-of-country. I haven't tried it yet myself this year as I haven't done my out-of-country client return yet. Hope this helps. Catherine

Hope you have a VERY :bday:

Hope you have a VERY :bday:

George Bush (both versions) proposed deficit budgets. Nixon took us off the gold standard. Wilson (D) had his "League of Nations" but Teddy Roosevelt ® didn't care much for the Constitution, limited government, OR private property. WSJ article on TR The problem is rampant throughout BOTH parties. And quite frankly, since they ALL took oaths to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution" and have failed to do so, there are hundreds of politicians out there who should be removed from office (if they are still in office) and then tried for treason. You don't support a country by undermining its' basic principles. The local taxes ARE the purview of localities -- and should be addressed at that level. The eroding of the Constitutional limits on our national government has been going on for over a hundred years now. That's why I've recommended to you Professor Pestritto's books - here's a link to one: Pestritto -- but you can probably get them through the library as well.

Fabulous!!!

THANK YOU to Eric, KC, and everyone else, for ALL you do for us!!!

That is VERY funny!!!

Ditto and likewise.

IRS will delay April 15 deadline for many in Mass. March 31, 2010 01:54 PM E-mail| – + Globe Staff Victims of severe storms and flooding in Massachusetts may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service; relief comes in the form of some IRS deadlines being moved back to May 11, including the April 15 deadline for filing 2009 individual income tax returns. President Obama has declared the Massachusetts counties of Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester as federal disaster areas qualifying for individual assistance. Taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area qualify for the May 11 deadlines in many cases, the IRS said. The IRS said its computer systems automatically identify taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and apply automatic filing and payment relief. Taxpayers in the disaster area who have not been severely impacted by the storm are encouraged to file by the traditional IRS deadlines. But taxpayers in these areas do not have to take any action to be eligible for the extended deadlines, an IRS spokeswoman said. Taxpayers in the affected areas will not be penalized for missing the traditional April 15 so long as they file on or before May 11. Collection activities by the IRS will also be suspended during that period, the IRS said.

I have mentioned here in the past that my husband comes up with truly terrible puns, even in his sleep. Well, this morning, I can up with something truly bizarre. It isn't a pun -- but it WAS in my sleep. And despite the date (our anniversary), this is not a joke -- it really happened (well, I really dreamed it). I was with a friend in a place like a StarBucks or a Peet's -- coffee and tea, some snacks, and racks of interesting and/or odd little things for sale. Mugs, tea filters, snacks, and the like. And over on one rack there was row after row of identical little white packets. Clear cellophane cover with a plastic package inside. Not a cocoa mix, as it was white. So I went over to see what they were. And on the package cover, it said, "Foaming Yak Butter Low-Calorie Drink Thinner" and I started laughing so hard in my dream - that I woke up laughing with tears running down my face.

Rita, I love you. (with apologies to Booger -- I still love you, too.)

Subject: Fwd: Disorder in the Court These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters. ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning? WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?' ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you? WITNESS: My name is Susan! ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact? WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active? WITNESS: No, I just lie there. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory? WITNESS: I forget. ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot? ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo? WITNESS: We both do. ATTORNEY: Voodoo? WITNESS: We do. ATTORNEY: You do? WITNESS: Yes, voodoo. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning? WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam? ____________________________________ ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he? WITNESS: He's twenty, much like your IQ. _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken? WITNESS: Are you shitting me? _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time? WITNESS: Getting laid ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: She had three children, right? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: How many were boys? WITNESS: None. ATTORNEY: Were there any girls? WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney? ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated? WITNESS: By death. ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated? WITNESS: Take a guess. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual? WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard. ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female? WITNESS: Unless the circus was in town, I'm going with male. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work. ______________________________________ ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people? WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight... ________________________________________ ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? WITNESS: Oral. _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? WITNESS : The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m. ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time? WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample? WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question? ______________________________________ And the best for last: ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor? WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

The one problem with the import is that there is no "mapping" for the transaction type and filer/spouse/joint columns. When it's tons and tons of entries, AFTER you do the import, SAVE. then un-protect Sch. D, paste in the "F's" and "S's" and "1's" etc, re-protect and re-save, and it's complete. Save just before unprotecting so if anything goes wrong you can quit without saving. For belt-and-suspenders approach, duplicate the return, then open and save again, then muck with unprotecting. Catherine

This is just astounding.... My link to a 9-minute "ballet" by backhoe

Very funny!!

I used Tax Act when I first started my business and it's great for the price. Its' weaknesses (I still subscribe to the Tax Act newsgroup) remain part-year and non-resident returns. You must buy the 1040 package separately from 1120, which is separate from 1065, etc. Haven't tried any fiduciary returns with them and don't know if they even support those. They don't support W-2 or 1099 preparation, to my knowledge. But it's very much like ATX in the hop-from-line-to-field, it has excellent error checking, and decent tech support. Definitely worth a look. Catherine

It has to be completely repealed, as one of the provisions of the law is that major sections of it CANNOT be amended by future acts of Congress. As for doctors only being able to participate in government sponsored programs -- that WILL (not may, will) be the end result of the provisions that systematically destroy and dismantle the private care industry. And regardless of anything else, this will be a fiscal disaster. Here's a clip of what happens after you take out the accounting chicanery, as reported by the CBO. The fiscal stuff starts about 1 1/2 minutes into this 2 1/3 minute clip: CBO numbers And a longer, more detailed, but slightly earlier version is here (it's missing the last correction by the CBO to announced "adjustments" after this was taped): Health Care as Ponzi scheme

Not quite; they already HAVE all our bank account numbers, courtesy of all those 1099-INT's.

There is a HUGE difference. You can choose to go to anyone (who will see you) and pay them out of pocket. And then argue (or not) with the insurance company later. Hold a fund-raiser. Thumb your nose at them. Feel smug, ticked off, and/or superior. Whatever. With government controls, you CANNOT make that choice; you can only go to whomever they authorize, for whatever treatment is mandated/approved. And if that's not right for you -- tough. As for the "arbitration" -- every disagreement becomes the equivalent of an OIC application, and we all know how many of those are approved. When my younger girl was born, we had a midwife. At home. Not covered by insurance. Our choice (and a good choice, for us). We paid ourselves and have NEVER begrudged the cost. My chiropractor does not take insurance (and his rates are only $5/visit more now than they were twenty years ago). Neither does a friend who is an acupuncturist (and her visit rates are about the same as the chiropractor's rates). Both tell me that IF they accepted insurance, their rates would more than DOUBLE because of the extra people they'd have to hire just to chase the insurance companies and forms. Does health -insurance- need reform? I've said many times that YES, it does. But strangling the system wholesale is not going to help anyone in the long term.

And why on earth would -anyone- volunteer for four years of college, four years of medical school, a year of internship, three years or residency, plus the additional 3 - 7 years to specialize -- even without the hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans -- in order to work in a field where the government tells you who you will see, how you will treat them, how much you can charge, where you will work, and how much of that charge you can keep for yourself? If you're crazy enough to think -that- is a good deal, I'm not sure I would want you treating me! Are there reforms needed? There sure are!!! But applying the same "fixes" that have lessened health care outcomes in most of the rest of the world is not the way to go. Our couple-years-old health care law in Massachusetts (that the national law was largely based upon) is bankrupting us. You don't see it because the Federal government has been heavily subsidizing the way-more-than-expected costs. Those subsidies will end, and we'll be on the edge of collapse just like California. And the entire country will follow if this monstrosity is enacted rather than repealed. We've been living the future -- specialists are closing up shop and leaving the state (or medicine, entirely). Doctors aren't taking new patients because they're up to the limits of how many they can cover, and wait times for appointments are longer (so ER's are still over-used since you can't GET a doctor's appointment; they're booked with people who were sick two weeks ago). Health insurance costs are skyrocketing WAY above national averages (and the whole idea was to spread coverage through a bigger risk pool and lower costs). More and more people are requiring the state-subsidized insurance and the costs are crippling the state, taking revenue from other areas (like road, bridge and dam repairs). And the state's biggest insurer just posted its' biggest state LOSS ever -- so much for funding out of "high profit margins".

Sounds like a call to tech support is your best bet here.

Not to mention 139 Trillion in unfunded social security and medicare obligations AS OF TODAY. And those numbers are just going up. We won't be able to afford anything if we destroy the economy and financial system. Greece is near collapse from years of deficit spending and unfunded obligations, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland are close behind. England is shaky. France and Germany will be severely affected by a Greek collapse -- and we're heading full tilt down that SAME unsustainable path. We have to give up the notion of free anything -- or start planting medicinal herbs in our gardens. Willow bark tea for the end-of-tax-season headache, anyone? Foxglove for the palpitations? ;)

We have Party 1/Big Government plus taxes with Social Agenda 1, and Party 2/Big Government plus (very slightly lower) taxes, and Social Agenda 2. Census info: What is required

Liberal USED to mean someone who supported individual liberty. But now we're getting to some place we can agree on -- so here's a couple different ones for you. R. J. Pestritto, "American Progressivism: A Reader" and (same author) "Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism". Democrat or Republican -- it's all the same. Who has bought whom, and for how much this time? They are BOTH in the business of gathering as much power and control for themselves, to push their own agenda. And that agenda has nothing to do with "the greater good" or "equality" or "protecting the planet" -- or any other pseudo-sincere-sounding drivel they can abuse to cover the true agenda -- which is increasing the power and control centered in a political elite, who in turn owe their allegiance to their funding sources. Certainly not to us or the the Constitution they swore to "preserve, protect, and defend". Winston Churchill said, "With integrity, nothing else matters. Without integrity, nothing else matters." There is almost NO integrity in our so-called "leaders" OR in the lobbies and special interests that fund them. Allowing them to take more power is madness.