Catherine

This one from the NAEA page on facebuck (sic): John R. Dundon Yesterday at 2:07pm Scammers almost got me and my team today. We are very particular but these scammers are getting increasingly clever. Email title was innocuous enough reading 'Help with Tax Issues' - we get about 5-6 of these per day originating from my tax blog. Most are deadbeats but this particular email referenced that they were a referral of an existing client, asserted that we had met briefly at a social function, referenced a bike race in which I participated and included links as well as attachments for 'efficiency' purposes because they 'knew' me to be 'trustworthy and forthright'. The email completely disarmed me and I almost bit... Before reaching out to the 'prospect' (or clicking on any links or opening attachments in the email) I called the client to thank her for the referral only to learn that her server had been hacked. Turns out yes indeed the email originated from a scammer intent on getting into my server. This is the 3rd type of incident of attempted hacking that has happened to me and my team in the last week or so all with increasing sophistication. Tread lightly y'all. This shit is getting scary.

Mounds' don't!

In MA, the state penalty interacts with the federal - that is, they subtract the federal penalty from the state and you pay whatever is left. Plus, unlike the aca, the MA state law is written that they CAN go after you for unpaid penalty (unlike the feds, who can just send letters but not lien or levy). Watch for those complications, too.

I have never used any chat support with Drake. However, from the tax software (dunno about acctg), the "Support" menu item has a drop-down menu. One of the items listed is chat support; second up from the bottom. Good luck, and tell us how it goes!

We've got a big HP in the main office - 45xx or something. About two feet tall, holds an entire ream of paper, duplex prints, really fast. We got it as a hand-me-down but boy that thing flies.

Simple. State-paid insurance for nearly anyone who applies. And vicious penalties for not having insurance pushing people to apply.

Go to the census office and ask them "Can you print this out for me 'cuz I don't have a computer?"

We tend to have a few who forget the checkbook (or wallet) and send a check once home. If they forget, we send email reminders with the bill attached. However, when gearing up for the new year we will occasionally find one or two who slipped through the cracks. Those people get our welcome packet with a note that NO new work will be started until the prior balance is paid. Over twenty years, I've only had a few people stiff me, and for all of them I was glad to see them go. Although one lady came back almost ten years later, hoping I had copies of her daughter's adoption papers that had been lost (burst pipe? something; don't recall). She still owed $150 (a partial pay who stopped). I promised to look after she paid and I had payment through paypal in five minutes. *And* I found the adoption paper scans, too. She was thrilled. But I would not take her back as a client! (Not that she asked.)

Ooh, ooh, we should do this, too!

Doncha just *love* those! Here in MA the state sends out "prove that you had tax withheld on this 1099-R income" letters where they want a copy of the 1099-R showing MA tax withheld. INCLUDING 1099-R's for Mass Teachers Retirement, where THEY are withholding the tax! How deeply stupid can they be?! No, wait, I should NOT say that - they take it as a challenge!

I have someone coming shortly so can't answer most. I will note that once you put in the AOTC years, it should update next year. That might be a conversion issue.

When I converted, I had a few depreciation details (asset numbers, mainly, if memory serves) that got mixed up.

Drake has so many customization features that - even after five years - I have not taken the time to investigate. But they are there, and there are tutorials online if you want to investigate them.

I had to go look up perichoresis... Perichoresis at Theopedia (who knew there even was a Theopedia?!)

I switched to Drake - enough of us did that we have our own mini-forum that you can see from the home page. Customer service is astounding, but you won't need it much once you get used to how Drake arranges input. They'll give you current-year software for free, now that we're past 4/17, and any/all prior years for free as well. AND they will support those years.

In early February of 2013 I called them with a big problem, during the 2012 debacle. They could not figure it out and promised a call back with an answer within 48 hours. I am still waiting for have not received that call.

Please do not conflate it with Veteran's Day; that holiday in November is for the living. Memorial Day is for those who have died. Friday, May 25, 2018 To: Friends & Supporters From: Gary Bauer Patriot Graves Monday marks Memorial Day, a national observance first known as Decoration Day. The first Memorial Day was observed on May 30, 1868, on the orders of General John Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. Flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Initially meant as a time to remember those who fell during the bloody battles of our brutal Civil War, the holiday's significance has been extended to honor all those who paid the ultimate price for our nation. As they have done every year since 1948, soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment placed flags at more than 280,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They will remain at Arlington National Cemetery throughout the holiday weekend, making sure that the flags remain upright. Unfortunately, over time Memorial Day weekend has become more of an occasion for relaxation than for reflection about our patriots' graves and the values for which they gave "the last full measure of devotion." This weekend I encourage you to do both -- relax and reflect. Have that picnic, hug your kids and have some fun at the beach. But let's also remind ourselves about what happened at Concord Bridge, on the fields of Antietam and the beaches of Normandy, and that it still requires vigilance and courage to preserve liberty today. Explain to your children the price that was paid to stop the evil of fascism and the cancer of Soviet communism. Tell them why there was a Berlin Wall, what happened at Okinawa, at Ground Zero and over the fields of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Explain to them why we still fight in Afghanistan, and against the existential threat to Western Civilization posed by radical Islamic supremacism. Take a moment this weekend to teach our children and grandchildren to love the things we love, and to honor the things we honor. Finally, let's remind ourselves that liberty is a gift from God and that each generation has paid in flesh and blood to preserve it. As General George Patton said: "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

Better than a letter saying "huh? where's the 1120? why are you sending this 1120-S?"

She has to become a British subject to keep her title of Duchess. The Queen can give it ahead of time, but once she hits the 5-year mark for residence, they'll likely push her on it.

Does this make FDNY our resident statesman?

Not needed! Sorry you won't be able to make it this summer.

What Abby said. Whatever you get, get the fastest. Get more memory (RAM) than you think you need. Get bigger drives than you think you need - preferably SSD.

One of my husband's friends says what we really need is not caller ID, but call IQ. To see if it's worth bothering to answer. Of course, I got not one, not two, but three "Windows Technical Support" calls yesterday. Kept two of them going for a bit by playing stupid. It was funny.

I grew up with an unusual Italian name and was thrilled to bits to change it as soon as I could (after my dad died, too). I knew which lists where ALL my junk mail was purchased from, by the way the name was mis-spelled. They got real creative at times. Now with White, the only weird one was when someone thought it was Hoyt. Now I say "like the color" and yes don't go all physics-technical on me, people call it a color!

I only use bonus depreciation if there is an overwhelming reason for it - in other words, almost never. Plus MA doesn't allow it, so right there you end up with two schedules to trace in perpetuity. They could not even spell horse?! Really?! And could not even be consistent in their mis-spelling? I'd be happy to drive WAY more than 18 miles to find someone competent. But that's just me. I still drive 45 miles each way to the dentist after finding a real good one when I lived in Worcester.