Catherine

I've never heard of Team Viewer, and I've never needed Drake to take over my computer. However, I have had Drake people walk me through various tasks step by step in great detail. Instead of asking for TV, how about asking for someone to walk you through Task X step by step, because you think you're doing something wrong. I bet they will be both eager to assist a huge help.

We start to get panicked phone calls by January 10th if folks don't have them in-hand. Which phone calls then interrupt our attempts to deal with W2s and 1099s. Ugh; can't win.

What @Abby Normal said. Report on F8949; use cost basis. Any remaining "gain" is then excluded under Section 121 for primary residence. Remember that includes time spent in a nursing home etc; those are considered temporary/disregarded absences for the sake of the exclusion. If you don't file the return, your client WILL get a letter demanding $20K in tax plus penalties and interest. In her 80's she'll have forgotten any conversation when she gets the letter. Prevent the stroke and file the return!

I'd love to send mine out today, but I can't get Engagement Letters yet unless I roll all my clients over one by one. The batch rollover in Drake will be available this week... they're late, probably due to the huge tax law changes. In prior years we've had everything printed out, envelopes stuffed, ready to pop in the mailbox on the first business day of the year. Not this year, though - so we have our checklist and general letter printed and ready, and mailing labels ready. As soon as we get batch rollover out they go! Then we'll start on payroll client W2s and business client 1099s. It begins! God help us all.

Thank you both, @SaraEA and @Jack from Ohio !

Client needs two gift tax returns filed; one for 2017 and one for 2018. Of course we found out about the 2017 requirement when she came to talk about gifts made in late 2018. There were little notes on a sheet of paper about Dec 2017.... sigh. So I've done the returns and those are ready for signature and mailing. However, the 2017 instructions say to mail to Cincinnati OH, and the 2018 instructions (yes, the 709 is ready to print, sign, and send in Drake for 2018) say to mail to Kansas City MO. So whaddo I do? Sent '17 to Cinti and '18 to KC-MO? Or send 'em both to KC-MO (in separate envelopes) if that is now the center handling all 709's? ("When in danger, or in doubt, run in circles, scream, and shout." Assume that's already finished.)

Also don't PWD (pickle while driving - you'll get brine all over your car; ick)!

Some great points have been made on both sides. As I see it, it comes down to your second sentence: "This client has issues anyway." What would make it worth, to YOU, to deal with those issues again? How much is it worth, to YOU, NOT to be dealing with those issues? Simple return, grovelling before the IRS on the OIC, OK... it can all be done. How much would you have to charge him, up front and in cash, to deal? Feel free to say $10,000 if you were that glad to see the back side of him walk away. $500? $750? More? Less? If he'll pay that, up front, in cash, happily - or at least without verbal grumbling anywhere you can hear him, take him back. But he gets ONE chance to accept, and ONE opportunity to pay in full up front - or out he goes. If he doesn't kiss your boots (metaphorically) and happily hand over full cash right away, then he'll be nothing but trouble from the minute the cash hits your hand. Should you take him back, what you want is a happy compliant client who does what you tell him to do and who never fusses about your fee. You do not want the client equivalent of chronic lower back pain!

This channel has a mix of unusual, classical-style Christmas music: https://www.stream.me/content

To all my friends here, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy New Year 2019. And Happy any other holidays you celebrate (Hanukkah is complete, so in that case I hope it WAS good).

One trust a client of mine is beneficiary of did this. The trust paid tax for eight bene's. My client, and one other, were hounded for almost a YEAR by the state for that estimated tax that the state (my own incompetent MA, of course) had, had proof of, admitted it had, but could NOT match with one quarter of the bene's. Ugh! We sent them the same information monthly for WAY too long before they got it matched up. Took intervention by the state taxpayer advocate office. If they were competent, they'd be dangerous!

Facts and circumstances in everything! Sometimes getting that e-file ack is worth the delay. The client can always PAY now, and wait those extra weeks to file. Sometimes it's more important to get the return in process. We do what is best for that client and that client's overall situation

If it's a refund, you can also wait until they re-open efile, and submit then.

One of my colleagues has done that for a couple of years. Don't know if she still plans on it; it was during a transition after a move so her business was temporarily small.

That's actually all too common. And we end up having to back it off either on the IRA line or the other income line (whichever is easiest in our own software).

Tell the local guy that with the new, higher, standard deduction, this is going to become a LOT more common. If he wants to keep his clients, he NEEDS to figure this out. It's not rocket science.

Indeed! I switched *during* the 2012 season debacle, and my "learning curve" took far less than the time I'd already spent trying to get ATX to work. My business partners also switched, and while neither of them consider themselves experts yet, they both agree that it took far less learning than they had feared, and that they believe it is faster overall (for our client base, anyway).

$30 paid up-front before we'll re-print and mail. Gee, when they go back to look they never call back.... As for multi pages - MA went to four pages last year. Was only two not too long ago. Only the *middle* third has any info. Total tax at the bottom of page 3 info; withheld tax at top of page 4 info. Impossible to compare without flipping pages. Grrr!

Well, Abby, you may enjoy playing with fire - and you may be experienced enough to handle it. I've done it myself, on occasion. But I would NEVER advise someone who hasn't been down in the trenches to attempt it without a full registry backup plus restore point. A couple extra minutes before diving in, so that you can edit away without fear of permanently mucking up your machine, is very cheap insurance; doubly so for a registry-edit newbie.

Would it help to write a letter stating these facts? Domicile actually in China/India/Timbuktu/New Zealand/whatever, uses brother's address as a convenience due to difficulties in receiving mail at legal residence. Any proofs of same (details from FEI form, pay statements from Acme of India Pvt Ltd, Wile E Coyote CEO, scan of envelope for electric bill from Christchurch Electric Power, other) to placate Illinois. However, if this guy really has a *domicile* in Illinois (rather than merely a mail drop), then you have to look at what the state will tax.

In some ways, it always *does* - this is just going to suck in new and different ways.

Oh, jeezel louisel, folks, never, ever, EVER edit your registry directly without having a fresh REGISTRY backup as well as a SYSTEM backup. That caution in place, it's a powerful tool.

First question is WHY is he getting a W2 from a partnership he owns? He should be getting "guaranteed payments" on a K-1, subject to SE tax. At first glance there are more problems than merely "does this get the reduction" going on.

We ALL do it on occasion!

Or pay her to stay HOME until you give the all-clear that the plow has been through!