Catherine

Too many questions. First, extension because trying to tackle this now "will only end in tears" to quote Bartok the Bat from the movie Anastasia. Second, need to find out what the will/trust said (or state law if intestate). Then will need payors to get info on when $ were earned. Check stubs (if available) or bank stmts for deposits (if no stubs) to give a basis for guesstimate if the payors won't disclose anything. The timeline will then determine what (if anything) needs to be changed. Glad it's for a colleague and not for you!

New payroll clerk in the denomination's office. Betcha.

MA stopped a couple of years ago accepting extensions without payments. I guess it was just too much paperwork for them. If I don't have debit info and permission for the client I use my portal to send them a payment coupon to print & mail with a check, along with a note to tell me how much they paid. If they don't do it, it's not my problem. I have enough on my plate without hand-holding grown-ups.

Thank you, @jklcpa! I just this afternoon found that it was a basis adjustment item - on the IRS instructions - and was going to post it here myself. But I'm going to save your version to the client's file, because you blew it up big enough to read without squinting.

Years ago I had a client bring in a box of receipts that he'd spilled a full cup of coffee on. Not a one of them was legible. Gave 'em back and told him to do his best to figure it out because he didn't make enough to pay me to do it! He came back later with hand-written totals.

I have to keep re-teaching myself not to care more about people's returns than they care themselves. I work hard for my clients, but if they can't get me papers in time they go on extension. Everyone is on extension right now - even clients I think will be finished. If they owe, that's on them, because my deadline is on my tax season letter that goes out the first frimping week of January. I'm not killing myself for people who can't be bothered to take care of themselves let alone me. But I'm mean and ornery and sometimes want to dope-slap my entire client base (not really; it just seems like it). Keep in mind too that the workman is worth his hire. Charge what you are worth (preaching to myself here, too). Yes, I am also seeing a lot more brain-fog cases in general. It's like stupid sauce got added to all the municipal water supplies. Don't know how my house escaped, but I'll take it!

What Tom said. My Enrollment Certificate has five - and only five - digits. Never had a problem with POAs in the past. Sloppy programming (as Abby said), or purposeful obfuscation. At this point in my life, I never attribute to stupidity what can best be explained by malice.

All I can say is, "When in danger, or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!" Really, in this case follow the money trail and report the money accurately. What else can you do?

Years ago while in college I did medical transcriptions from recordings in a hospital lab as a weekend job. Typed, not computer-ed. Six copies with carbon paper, so errors were a royal PITA to fix. Trying *so* hard to stay awake one day. Jerked awake to find FOUR reports I don't remember typing all neatly stacked, with no typing errors! Spent the rest of the work day trying to figure how to sleep my way through them every time.

Oh, now you're just cruel, @Gail in Virginia!

Hi @BulldogTomno I didn't figure it out. Got derailed by other problem clients and never got back to this one! The guy's in France until Monday so I tabled it. Looks from what you wrote that I need to pull that one out (tomorrow; too fried tonight) and see if I can make heads or tails of it on a second go-round. I'll report back, either way.

If we didn't know your statement was tongue-in-cheek, that would be dangerous. Asking for a bunch of ATXCommunity-ers to show up at your office with pitchforks and tar. Fortunately for you, we'd all have been too busy anyway!

I usually recommend filing with the "final" box checked, as I did have one trust years ago that had no requirement for its last year - and got a letter two years later wanting to know where the return was. For such returns I charge next to nothing because it's just name, address, EIN, and "final return" box checked.

Thanks for all the sympathy, empathy, and commiseration. My letter clearly states that if I don't have all materials in my hands by March 15th, all bets are off, *and* that every return not ready to file *will* (not may) be put on extension the first week of April. So it wasn't even deadline pressure that day. It was just all of a sudden the floodgates gave way and I was inundated with other people panicking, being stupid, or both, and I needed to rant. Thanks, friends, you're in the same boat so you get it.

I've always liked, "Couldn't pour sand out of a boot with direction written on the heel."

I'm glad you found what you needed. I have had clients make a partial payment by debit with filed return, and included the IA request (for under $10K) with the return. Done that way, it can take several months before the IRS starts taking the monthly debits. But eventually they do.

Since about 3pm, it has been utter lunacy here. I can't hang up the phone without it ringing again. People who have been agitating for signature documents are only signing 1 of the 3 sent, despite being told in the email with the docs that there are three required. Not optional; required. Colleagues calling who need advice or calming down or both. People showing up at the door, without warning, with papers to drop off. Several of my foreign-based clients decided to send docs too. I'm ready to crawl under my desk with a bottle of whiskey and a bag of Skittles and not come out until May. Except I gave up Skittles (and more) for Lent, so I can't even do that. I really want to scream right now. Rant over. Mostly. For a while, at least.

Yes, but they always have a form to prolong the pain! No form, no way to collect $.

It started out great and got progressively weirder and weirder.

One this year; adult child of client. Married, W2 job, new twins and mom stays home so no child care. Sounds like an easy one, yes? Stock options with basis missing (at least not ISO's with two bases) Consulting for dad Consulting for mom Unemployment for mom from before twins were born. The condo they moved out of for a bigger place (with twins on the way) is now a rental. "Repairs" for rental neatly listed but capital and expense intermixed and had to be teased apart. Partnership K-1 Various carry-forwards from 2020 return - easy except he sent me the wrong file three times. Signature pages don't help get carry-forward figures. This one took substantially longer than one would have thought, based on the description at the top. Typical for my practice. Oh, and the parents? Another "Simple" return; they sold their house (a duplex) and weren't sure how to handle the sale because of the rental portion. 2020 NOL not carried forward. Depreciation on all manner of items never taken. Form 3115 needed, as well as amended 2020.

The "All States" edition of the tax book doesn't even have a listing for South Dakota.

I think I'm going to go with Schedule C. These pets instead of any kind of herding/farm animal or livestock, and there are no hand-spinners or BBQ places around here that would consider the cats as source material. Not too much fur off of a kitten before it's placed, either.

Cats are not livestock, true. I got sidetracked by the common theme of "raising animals for resale" which she does with her sheep and goats.

It's a business, not a hobby. Already making far more money than the farm, which is also a business not a hobby.

MPAI; most people are idiots. On top of which, it's all too frequently the higher-IQ clients who don't read the (very clear!) instructions because they know better. And then claim "I never got X" when you have a reply from them quoting X. Anyone see the Dune movie? (I didn't, but read the book a gazillion years ago.) That Bene Gesserit box thing - take your hand out and you die? I'd like to use that on clients; they try to do anything before reading the directions, they die. Or at least have pain - as much pain as they cause us! (A girl can dream, can't she?)