Catherine

I'm with you there, Joel. Although I'll settle for getting ALL their sorry asses voted OUT of office this November. Scum, the lot of them, with one or two honorable folk - exceptions that prove the rule.

The "tyranny" of the symbol is only because we the people have allowed the Federal gov't to usurp our, and our states', powers. They've crept in bit by bit since the days of Woodrow Wilson (a Constitution-hating tyrant wannabe; the more history I read the more loathsome he becomes). This November we get a chance to FIRE the whole stinkin' lot of power-hungry, Constitution-ignoring egomaniacs in the House, and a third of the Senate. Both parties!! This is NOT about parties -- it's about usurpation of powers they are not entitled to. Dump your legis-critter and start feeling proud of what the US stands for again. I prefer the Gadsden flag myself, but if a WW2 vet wants the Stars and Stripes, God bless him and may it make him proud to see it.

1099's take a long time to get accepted. Make sure the form version is correct before transmittal, then if they get rejected or you don't hear send email to tech support. They got a couple of mine cleared out in a day after I contacted them. At least this year they ARE responding to support emails!

OldJack; I hope and pray that you and your family stay safe! May the scum trying to hurt you get run over by a truck NOW, with just enough left to identify so you can breathe easy.

Except that we are NOT a democracy; we are a Constitutional Republic. There are important differences.

On the client copy of the return I highlight the "total tax" line (#60 this year).

@KC -- No problem. These folks were so stressed out about the house purchase it would not have been smart for them to delay. It was a short sale and the bank had dragged the process out for so long it was obscene -- and that was just the surface problem. I'm just really sorry that in addition to everything else they missed the cutoff. If they'd been in that house when they -should- have been (August!) without all the daily (hourly) "are we going to lose this house" crap, no one would care about the credit; it would be down in the noise. @Cathy -- Yes, that would be royally annoying. Yet another problem with constantly changing laws where no one can plan anything without looking back and thinking "Argh!!"

Not that simple, KC. My folks consist of an out-of-work spouse going stir crazy without enough to do, and a working spouse who had just started a high-profile, much-awaited job and was going nuts over multiple moves and stressing over the closing. Frankly for them the money would be nice but I'm not sure they wouldn't have had a major meltdown in the extra month.

These folks were forced to move the closing up because the condo they were renting was being sold and they had to be OUT.

I've been over the form and the instructions, and just want to make sure I have this correctly: Long-time residents sold old home (of many years residence) in July 09 and passed papers on new home October 09. So they are screwed as far as the reduced credit goes? I hate these credits and special treatments that change -within- the year.

I worked at that Woolworth's (in the lower level) on Washington Street from January to September of 1976. We may well have crossed paths!

I like and use the Tenenz ones but they discontinued my preferred color this year. If you're a big-volume practice, Binding Systems of America has some fabulous customizable folders - color, paper weight, texture, binding method, ink color, etc. But the minimum order is 500 which would last me a half-decade. The lady I got info from was Lezan Foley at 631-663-3979 if you're interested.

I've used it -- regular doc's AND trades. It's great. There is a limit to FOUR pdf files per client -- so make sure if you scan to lots of files that you have a pdf editor that can combine those little files. Turnaround is pretty quick; couple hours and you get an email when the file is ready. Then just click your way down the annotated list and enter info from original doc's without a desk drowning in even more paper. Between this product and my duplex scanner, things are going faster and smoother this year.

Hope you have a VERY

My first-ever "real" job (full-time) was cashier at a big Woolworth's (downtown Boston). Mind-numbingly boring. This was when cash registers that figure change for you were -just- coming out, and we had them and -had- to use the figure-the-change feature. Boy oh boy did those confuse the older folks -- they'd see $17.50 and pipe up "But this is only $2.50!!" and I'd have to explain. My only amusement was to see if I could figure out the change faster than the register did. It's a skill I have retained, and it's lots of fun to freak out cashiers. I hand over the money and say "and my change will be (insert proper figure)" -- and that's what it turns out to be! The looks on their faces can be priceless. Try it sometime.

I heard this a couple weeks ago; it is just about the funniest thing I've ever heard. The poor telemarketer...!!!!

Top 10 Ways to Harass a Telemarketer 10. When they ask "How are you today?" Tell them! "I'm so glad you asked because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my dog just died...." 9. If they say they're John Doe from XYZ Company, ask them to spell their name. Then ask them to spell the company name. Then ask them where it is located. Continue asking them personal questions or questions about their company for as long as necessary. 8. Cry out in surprise, "Judy! Is that you? Oh my God! Judy, how have you been?" Hopefully, this will give Judy a few brief moments of pause as she tries to figure out where she could know you from. 7. If MCI calls trying to get you to sign up for the Family and Friends plan, reply, in as SINISTER a voice as you can, "I don't have any friends... would you be my friend?" 6. If they want to loan you money, tell them you are just about to file for bankruptcy and you could sure use some money. 5. Tell the telemarketer you are on "home incarceration" and ask if they could bring you a case of beer and some chips. 4. After the telemarketer gives their spiel, ask him/her to marry you. When they get all flustered, tell them that you could not just give your credit card number to a complete stranger. 3. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment and ask them if they will give you their HOME phone number so you can call them back. When the telemarketer explains that they cannot give out their HOME number, you say "I guess you don't want anyone bothering you at home, right?" The telemarketer will agree and you say, "Now you know how I feel!" 2. Insist that the caller is really your buddy Leon, playing a joke. "Come on Leon, cut it out! Seriously, Leon, how's your momma?" And first and foremost: 1. Tell them to talk VERY SLOWLY, because you want to write EVERY WORD down.

Hope you have a VERY

Hope you have a VERY

Hope you have a VERY

Hope you have a Fabulously

No, you can't make this up. I have right here a letter from the IRS, addressed a client c/o me, dated 1/27/10. It says: "Dear Taxpayer: This is in response to the inquiry of Nov. 10, 2009, from accountant [sic]. We have no record that you authorized them to act for you in this matter. Please notify them that we have replied directly to you." (yadda, yadda, send POA, blah blah). My clients did NOT get this letter -- only me. For reference, the POA was filed in September or October (I don't recall exactly) and I got online account transcripts at that time. My client and I had a good chuckle over that one. Catherine

So the lien and the problem are Terminated?

If I were to be punish-ed For every little pun I shed I'd hie me to a puny shed And there I'd hang my punnish head.

Zero Gravity Bureaucracy -- The Real Story When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they knew ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity. Now, the way the joke usually goes, you're told that to combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and millions of dollars developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside-down, on almost any surface including glass, and at temperatures ranging from -50 to over 160 degrees. Meanwhile, the joke goes, the Russians used a pencil. Yeah, well "ha ha". But Jumbo Joke is different, since we think the truth is even funnier. What really happened is pencils aren't ideal for space flight, since they're flammable, a broken-off point could be dangerous floating around the cabin, where it could be inhaled by astronauts, and sharpening it would create even more floating debris. (Even a mechanical pencil has the problem with broken off leads, but that's what NASA started with in the first place.) A private American citizen, Paul C. Fisher, figured out a way to make a pen that would work in zero gravity -- and he did it without any government funding whatever. Fisher submitted his Fisher Space Pen to NASA for testing. NASA loved Fisher's pen and adopted it in 1965, buying hundreds of them for use in spaceflights. (Dryly, NASA called it the "Data Recording Pen".) The pens are still available commercially today. Since it would also write upside-down on Earth, regular people loved them too. The Fisher Space Pen Company, which is still based in Nevada, went on to make millions of dollars per year on the invention -- and Fisher retired a millionaire. (He died in 2006 at the age of 93.) And the funny part? Not only did this brilliant bit of American capitalist ingenuity make Fisher a millionaire, but his pen was also adopted by -- yes! -- Russia's space program.