Catherine

Hope you have a VERY

Hope you have a VERY

When did CCH say they're going to merge ATX with TaxWise?!?! I see Drake in my future......

Ummm -- SOL clock doesn't start until the returns are filed?

Jacques Chirac, The French Prime Minister, was sitting in his office wondering what kind of mischief he could perpetrate against the United States when his telephone rang. "Hallo, Mr. Chirac!", a heavily accented voice said. "This is Paddy down at the Harp Pub in County Sligo, Ireland. I am ringing to inform you that we are officially declaring war on you!" "Well, Paddy," Chirac replied, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?" "Right now," said Paddy, after a moment's calculation, "there is myself, me cousin Sean, me next door neighbor Seamus, and the entire dart team from the pub. That makes eight!" Chirac paused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have one hundred thousand men in my army waiting to move on my command." "Begorra!" said Paddy. "I'll have to ring you back!" Sure enough, the next day, Paddy called again. "Mr. Chirac, the war is still on. We have managed to get us some infantry equipment!" "And what equipment would that be, Paddy?" Chirac asked. "Well, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Murphy's farm tractor." Chirac sighed, amused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 6,000 tanks and 5,000 armored personnel carriers. Also, I've increased my army to one hundred fifty-thousand since we last spoke." "Saints preserve us!" said Paddy. "I'll have to get back to you." Sure enough, Paddy rang again the next day. "Mr. Chirac, the war is still on!" We have managed to get ourselves airborne! We've modified Jackie McLaughlin's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Shamrock Pub have joined us as well!" Chirac was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you Paddy, that I have 100 bombers and 200 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to two hundred thousand!" "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!", said Paddy, "I'll have to ring you back." Sure enough, Paddy called again the next day. "Top o' the mornin', Mr. Chirac! I am sorry to tell you that we have had to call off the war." "I'm sorry to hear that," said Chirac. "Why the sudden change of heart?" "Well," said Paddy, "we've all had a long chat over a bunch of pints, and decided there's no freakin' way we can feed two hundred thousand prisoners...

Thanks Deb & Gail -- it's what I'd figured but before responding I thought it would be good to check with others.

Two different clients, two questions. 1. Loan documents on refi note 0.25% paid as points at closing (not rolled into loan). Nothing on 1098 in the "points" box from that lender. Can I assume that closing documents are more likely to be accurate than the 1098? 2. Another client had her apartment's building burn down. She wants to know if there is a hardship withdrawal from 401k for this type of loss, and I can't find one - she escaped relatively unscathed; it's just all her stuff that's gone. Anyone out here know of something I'm missing? I know about casualty loss rules -- but she wants $$ in hand, not a deduction (although that will help too). Thanks as usual. Catherine

What a hoot!

Hope you have a VERY

Mass. has a similar thing called "WebFile for Business" (this year they're rolling out WebFile for Income, for personal taxes). PITA and not ready for prime time when they started it. The DUA (unemployment) wanted their own site as well to deal with unemp taxes. Seriously not ready for prime time (even MassDOR warned them) and they've had huge problems. However, WebFile has now been around for several years and I have access to client accounts. Makes lots of things easier for me and way easier for the clients.

One big reason I file all my extensions a week early. -Every- year there is a crucial server down on "der tag". ATX, IRS, state, -- even other vendors - that then clog the lines with the back-up. Sheesh. I'd forgotten it was corporate extension day; that explains the down time.

Let's just say "not that I know of".

Well they must have gone home because it seems to be working now. Thanks for letting me know I wasn't the only one! You always worry that the problem is in your machine.

Getting this when I try to receive acks: The connection to the server is established. Requesting acks. Server Error: Error: Transmission cannot continue because of the server response. Please try again, and if this error persists, contact customer service. Error: A fatal error prevents further communication with the server at this time. Anyone else? Catherine

I got a form and locality name from the prior-year return and then did a Google search. Each locality seems to have their own form version, so the place I got mine (if I could find it; this was a couple years ago) won't do you much good. Good luck! Tracking down the bleeping form was the worst part for me.

I'm not in New Mexico but I've done a number of these over the years. The full-year resident is pretty straightforward. Part-year residents also need the PIT-B to apportion income. They do give credit for tax paid to another state. You need a PIT-8453 to e-file. If there's anything else more specific, ask away and I'll see if I can answer.

There is also the local return. I ran into a couple of these with some folks who moved to MA from PA. ATX has a generic local form, but frequently the local district has a blank or fill-in version specific to them at a local web site. They have to be mailed in anyway, so using the local version means you don't miss any tiny twists. I noticed some differences between the ATX local generic and the from-their-site local specific forms.

I've stayed a sole prop. Our state EA association has had several attorneys in at various times to talk to us about entities, and from what I gather, neither the LLC nor the S-corp structure will "save" you when what you're selling is your personal expertise. So I have never bothered to spend the money on some sort of more formalized structure -- instead I buy good E&O insurance. If I were to expand and have employees who provided services, I would want to talk to an attorney to see what protections would then be available through a formal structure. So that would be my recommendation for a place to start. Talk to a couple of folks about your options and what it does for you -- and what requirements your state has, as well. Mass., for example, charges more for the annual LLC "filing fee" than it does for the "minimum tax" on a corporation. But the LLC structure is easier to maintain in terms of annual meeting, record-keeping, and other niggly things that cannot be forgotten with a corp. without possibly breaching that "corporate veil" protection. One of our speakers made the point that there are folks who pay lawyers lots of money to set up entities when what they really need is just more, and better, insurance.

Today is Pi Day (3.14), and the Google search page has a terrific graphic. A friend mentioned this morning that he was going to get a pie and eat some at 1:59:26 (PM, not AM). Happy Pi Day, everyone!

From the Rollover Manager, click on the "Type" heading and it will give you all your 1120's and 1120-S's in a row. And using the Rollover, you'll be sure to get everyone from last year's list.

I always try all of them before settling on one. Make sure the ed credits form is loaded -- it does not auto-load this year. Sometimes I've skipped the Hope entirely because another method works better. This year the AOC is working nicely for a lot of folks -- it has a refundable credit portion.

We start Daylight Savings Time tomorrow, folks. So we'll all be an hour short on sleep. Watch out on the roads this week! Traffic accidents have a roughly one-week spike -- too many people short of sleep, not awake, and rushing because they're late.

I should probably check with the attorney and see how detailed she's going to get. I referred the widow to her, so she should at least be able to tell me that much. And this route has the additional advantage of putting off finishing up until Monday at the earliest. Thanks!

Mass. also mandates e-file of business returns, with a $100 fine (in specific cases) if you don't. Grrr.

Great; thanks.