Catherine

http://www.aicpa.org/download/cpaltr/2007_02/feb07.pdf Page 10 has the "official" AICPA take on the matter. If you're an EA, as I am, there's no question of "attest" functions anyway. So make sure you stay within your professional boundaries.

My opinion (which is worth every penny you've paid for it) is to NOT do the letter. I've seen some very lively discussions on other boards, and pretty much all I can see as "do-able" is some version of "we prepared returns for X years for this client based on information provided by client. we did not audit or otherwise verify, blah blah". Basically, the lender wants your malpractice insurance to co-guarantee their loan. Doesn't sound like a good deal when put that way, does it?

Client called with a question from an extended-family member. This person wants to get into "affordable housing" in Massachusetts and (they say) should qualify on income etc. They were advised to find and use an attorney to guide them through the process, and the one they were referred to wanted a retainer of $4,000 with pretty much no guarantees of anything. Their questions were a) do they really need an attorney for this?, B ) what kind of attorney to look for?, c) where to find those attorneys, and d) isn't $4K a bit much for this up front? If this lady -had- $4K, she most likely wouldn't need the affordable housing, after all. I have -no- idea, and said I would make inquiries. Hoping here for some general guidelines. Thanks all, and I'm doing a bit better today but still taking it real easy. Catherine

Too late to do me any good!! I did tons of laundry on Friday, including bathroom rugs and all sorts of other "occasional" items. Ran up and down stairs all day and was just fine. 4AM Saturday...... oooph. Today even the -thought- of running up and down those stairs, -without- baskets in hand, is too much. Oh, yes, I'm taking it easy. In fact, I'm going to go take it easy some more, right now.

Hope you have a VERY :bday:

Hope you have a VERY :bday:

Karen Lee -- Glad you are better. I've already cancelled everything I had scheduled through mid-week and will probably cancel more tomorrow. I'm sure not planning on going shopping or contra dancing! Bonnie, I will take your cautions very seriously and hope that your son recovers fully very soon. I got the "regular" flu shot as soon as it was available to the public -- probably six weeks ago. That leaves two options; either this is swine flu, or the regular shot didn't do squat. Many thanks to all for prayers and suggestions. Lion, I am learning to be specific. Juice. Toast. Chicken soup. The headache is lifting (hallelujah), and I came online to post a tale sent to me. Then I think it'll be time for another nap. Catherine

How are folks on the forum doing regarding the flu? Has anyone gotten the swine flu or the regular flu? This question is suddenly near and dear to me, as I came down with the flu yesterday morning (don't know which variety, but I got my "regular" shot over a month ago). I have lots of sympathy for anyone else who's been through it. The worst part for me has been the unrelenting headache. And there's a small plug in here for sympathy as I'm not getting all that much TLC at home. :blush:

Hope you have a VERY :bday:

Bonnie -- I'm SO glad that it went well. Now relax this weekend!

Perfect. And the little picture, too.

In addition to many family members who have served in the past, I currently have a cousin in Afghanistan (he was also in Iraq). So I also appreciate the wishes for our veterans.

As usual, KC has a great idea -- thanks, KC, for the link. I would also like to say THANK YOU to all our colleagues here who have served, and thanks also go out to those who serve/served but do NOT subscribe to this board.

Well, my two are both IT and internet security professionals, and I must admit it makes me wonder sometimes. My brother-in-law is nearly as bad, and his wife torments him into eating right and exercising by telling him that if he keels over, she's going to spend all their money online after he's gone. :lol:

Massachusetts has a check-box opt-out, as well. And then there are the inevitable folks who just can't stay up-to-date no matter what.

I was thinking GruntWorx as well. Since KC mentioned it, I looked, trialed, and eventually signed up for it. Now I'm considering duplex scanners. The Fujitsu ScanSnaps that have been recommended here are not TWAIN compliant which means my scanning manager (Gwen) will have to use my machine to scan, and I'm not sure how well that would work. Maybe, since they're small machines, it could live on her computer desk for the tax season.

What about just waiting until after the extension date -- say, October 24th? At that point, they will -not- accept e-files and will have to take paper -- or add in some system for e-filing prior-year returns. I also have a couple of clients (in IT) who refuse to e-file returns (one won't even log in to a bank account, and will barely use an ATM machine). They'll have to make -some- provision for those who have complex returns but won't e-file.

My husband, Doug, frequently comes up with outrageous, convoluted puns at dinner time. However, yesterday he assaulted us with this one, at -breakfast-. Gwen (younger daughter) had received a bottle of a new (to us) soda, called "Ting". It's from Jamaica, and is grapefruit juice based; it's actually very good. It has a sharp edge very different from the sicky-sweet of most sodas. Doug told us that if it was mixed with an artificial orange drink and then given to an Australian marsupial steel drummer, we would have a "Ting Tang Wallaby Bing-Bang". And somehow, we let him live.... Yes, you may admire our restraint. Catherine

Hope you have a VERY :bday:

Hope you have a VERY :bday:

My younger daughter and I toured the gardens at the state capitol building when we were there before our fiddle camp in '07. the rose gardens were glorious! And the trees -- WOW; those were amazing!

Thank you, taxbilly!

I had one of those in Worcester and it was -beautiful- with a glorious scent. I still miss it. We have three climbers (two deep red, one pale pink) with mild-to-moderate scent and repeat bloom. But the vines grow SO tall that they get stuck in the eaves of the house. And I cut them back to knee-level every spring. There's also an unnamed dark pink shrub with a sweet scent. It also got cut to about knee level this spring but is now about 8 feet tall. None of our roses do well indoors, though. The scent fades within a half hour to hour and a half. The petals stay for several days, though, so I guess that glass (vase?) is half-full.

No, not my tax position, but the -legistlative- position that was taken when AMT was passed. It has been subverted and is now being used as a tool for monetary extraction from those from whom it was never intended to affect, simply because a bunch of gutless nincompoops see a way to weasel more money out of folks without having to take a stand. I do not now nor have I every supported AMT. I have NO problem with diverging opinions. But I DO have a problem with name-calling and with twisting another's words to form a meaning that is clearly NOT what was intended. jainen does both, frequently. One of my dearest friends is an out-and-out socialist. We have very lively discussions and email interchanges. And neither of us EVER call the other names. And that, JohnH, is what I was referring to. Not jainen's opinions. But the way he mis-states other's words, and that he sometimes name-calls. jainen -- you have the right to ANY opinion, and to express that opinion. But express YOUR opinion, please. And I'd love to talk about roses some time. You've mentioned yours a number of times, but not what types you have or whether you look for scent, color, shape, size, etc. I have three climbers that keep trying to take over the house, and one shrub that in the last few years seems to be imitating the climbers.

This advice would not apply to ancient completed returns but just to other client documents? Such as? I keep NO original docs, but I do have notes, a few organizers (mainly blank, which is why I pretty much don't use them), and sometimes faxes of originals. So I don't see why I should contact a client before shredding -my- copy of tax returns in the client's possession (especially when I still have pdf's of all of them).