Catherine

Sent to me by a tax preparer friend: The local restaurant was so sure that its host was the strongest man around that they offered a standing $1000 bet. The host would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and hand the lemon to a patron. Anyone who could squeeze one more drop of juice out would win the money. Many people had tried over time (weight lifters, longshoremen, etc.), but nobody could do it. Then one day, this scrawny little man came in, wearing thick glasses and a polyester suit, and said in a tiny, squeaky voice, "I'd like to try the bet." After the laughter had died down, the host said "OK," grabbed a lemon and squeezed away. Then he handed the wrinkled remains of the rind to the little man. But the crowd's laughter turned to total silence as the man clenched his fist around the lemon and six drops fell into the glass. As the crowd cheered, the host paid the $1000, and asked the little man, What do you do for a living? Are you a lumberjack, a weightlifter, or what?" The man replied, "I work for the IRS."

How about this one, given to me by a friend years ago: Dear Lord, So far today, God, I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or over-indulgent. I'm very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on, I'm going to need a lot more help. Amen.

I took the old test and have NO interest in taking the new one. I used the Gleim course to prepare, and passed all four sections first try. Good luck. Catherine

Please let us know how it goes! I'm sticking with ATX for the coming tax year, but they are most definitely "on probation". I had some serious e-filing problems (especially with MA), and lots of instances where information did not flow properly to state forms. I was sorely tempted by Drake this year, but didn't quite make up my mind to switch. I'm sure there are a number of us besides just me who will be very curious how it goes for you -- the easy stuff, the surprise "gotcha's", the weirdnesses, and all. Catherine

I've been thinking of buying that one myself. LOL!! Catherine

I disagree; the mere fact that Congress' screw-ups become law does not change the fact that they screw up (and durned near everything they touch gets screwed up in one way or another, in my view). They have simply developed an efficient method for codifying idiocy. This opinion is most decidedly worth every penny you have paid for it. Catherine

It wasn't that long ago the they were strongly pushing trans fats as a safer and better alternative to the mean, nasty animal fats. Nincompoops. (That's not _really_ what I think of them, but it's one I can print. ) Catherine

Thanks, KC. Been trying to teach this to my girls; time will tell if I've succeeded. Catherine

Massachusetts does a lot of weird things and they take hissy fits at all kinds of stuff that is mainly _their_ problem. That said, they folks who deal with Form 2 are frequently a little more on the ball than others (because the drones are dealing with Form 1, individuals, or child support issues -- a full 1/3 of MassDOR folks work child support enforcement!). I would send it in with a cover letter explaining that the trust is following Federal precedent for using 2007 forms and short year; trust dissolved in April; bene's want to file ASAP, blah blah blah. They will most likely accept that. If there is any fallout, send me a note. I have some contacts who might be able to help if whoever gets the return does decide to pout. Good luck! Catherine

Indeed, a lovely twist on the original post. FWIW, I've had many more problems with MassDOR than IRS, but still laughed out loud. And one of my best friends -- a truly excellent attorney -- loves to collect lawyer jokes. She's going to _adore_ the first one!

<snip> Massachusetts business efiling after an extension is efiled and accepted--We have identified a problem with the MA business efile system and we've identified the work-around solution. Problem: Once you send a MA business extension electronically and that efile is accepted, our EFC system is not allowing you to send the MA business efile return. The Work around is this: You must email or call the CS Dept with the affected EINs. CS requests that our EFC team "unlock" the EFC for these EINs, which will allow you to efile the MA business return. <snip> And they seem to have expanded this problem to personal returns. Just got an efile rejection on a personal return because "standalone state already accepted" (or similar wording) -- when all that was filed was an extension. This one waits until Tuesday; they'll be closed until Monday but I'll be away from early AM until evening that day. Sigh. Thanks for posting the information.

You can also just right-click anywhere on the page and you get choices that include "view page in IE tab".

I have a web site done by site builder and it has the "Do your taxes online" button. No one used it this past year, but it doesn't cost me extra, so there it stays. Catherine

The first computer I used was batch cards submitted after waiting your turn for the keypunch machine. Come back in an hour to see where your program died and go back to wait in line for keypunch again. Then we got _paper_ printing terminals that talked with the mainframe through a 300-baud link with a telephone handset stuck in a modem. Only the computer science majors got monochrome CRT monitors. And you had to work after midnight, and the proto-internet was still called the Arpanet.... My first work computer was a 2-floppy Mac, and the first home computer was a DOS machine. My oh my; quite a change in not very many years. I started college in 1976, so start to finish is just over thirty years for me. There's more computing power in my cell phone today than in the whole state back in '76. Catherine

Since I posted the above, I downloaded and installed Firefox 3.0. The file size is about HALF the size of version 2 (a whopping 7 MB), so they have obviously streamlined and tightened the code substantially. They've also instituted some security upgrades (although even the old version was light years beyond Internet Exploder). The new version works the same _way_ as the old one (with some nice upgraded features) and has a slightly different "look" - just enough so see it's different from the old version. So anyone who's thinking about it -- I'd say to go for it. Separate question -- how does Thunderbird email compare to Eudora email? Anyone have a comparison? Catherine

The rates get updated, I believe. Catherine

I just print out the Federal and state e-file acceptance histories from ATX and mail those out. Or print as pdf and email them. Catherine

I'm using version 2.??? and will get the upgrade soon, and also be pleased with it, I'm sure. But I never try to be first in these things. Catherine

Rick -- I'm going to recommend a book to you that, if you read, you may find some surprising areas of interest and agreement. The book is "Day of Reckoning" and it was written by Pat Buchanan. You may think that it's a strange recommendation to give to someone with "42 years of voting Democratic" -- but you'll find a _really_ interesting analysis of our military commitments, the national implications of "free trade" agreements especially in regards to the middle class, and our standing in the world at large. I picked the book up at the library on someone's recommendation, fully expecting to be able to vehemently disagree with most of it. While there are surely parts I disagree with, the analysis and background are extremely well-researched, carefully thought-out, and well presented. And if you think, reading this, that I am espousing either a liberal OR conservative point of view, you would be incorrect. I think both major parties are, for the most part, wrong in their party platforms, but in very different ways. Catherine

I take plastic through my web site. There's a PayPal button where people can use PayPal to pay me WITHOUT needing a PayPal account of their own. They can use a PayPal account, or use their MasterCard or Visa card, as they choose. Payment gets put straight into my bank account. No monthly fees -- which is good, because to date I've had only ONE person choose to pay this way (most give me a check). I'd really hate to be paying a monthly fee for that.... after a year of monthly fees, it would be cheaper to do that one return gratis! And that's sure a precedent I don't want to set. Catherine

From CFS online Tax Research, Quick Reference Guide, CFS/Federal Information/Retirement Beneficiary qualifies as a designated beneficiary, is not the sole beneficiary, and is spouse or is a qualified designated beneficiary: Beginning no later than 12/31 after the year of death, if there are not separate accounts, use the age of the oldest beneficiary in the calendar year immediately following the year of death and Single Life Expectancy (reduced by one in each subsequent year). If all the beneficiaries are not all individuals, the 5-year rule applies. If there are separate accounts, use the Single Life Expectancy (reduced by one in each subsequent year) of each beneficiary for their separate account. If RMD had been reached, use the longer of the life expectancy of the oldest beneficiary or the decedent in the calendar year following the year of death. Not sure if this really helps, but it was what I could find quickly. Catherine

Why that particular day? (There are still signs on lampposts around here warning people that the Rapture will take place on some day in October, 1997 -- we're still here, no one disappeared to my knowledge.)

Desktop Dozen is a set of 12 desktop utilities. There is a postage calculator, a printing calculator (like a paper tape, only on-screen), zip code finder, area code finder, multi-year calendar, a date calculator (good for "client was in US from date X to date Y - do they get NR Alien status?"), and a bunch of others. Cost was like $20 or something. They run quick and took hardly any disk space. http://www.spudcity.com/d12/desktop_dozen.htm is where to look. Catherine

There's a desktop utility called "desktop dozen" (did someone here or on another forum recommend it to me?). It has all the postage rates. Use the scale for weight, and the utility for postage. Also, Dymo has a new labeller package that comes with the label printer, a digital scale, and an online postage purchasing account. Not cheap, but it's a permanent solution. I have a label printer that I use constantly; it's a real convenience and a real workhorse. Catherine

There's another old saying that a double negative means a positive, but that there are NO double positives that mean a negative. Yeah, right. Catherine