Yardley CPA

9 hours ago, Catherine said:

I have the most useless piece of crap sorry excuse for a legisvermin that exists. I'd rather give myself a root canal without novocaine. Better yet, give that to the "representative!"

Curious as to what congressional district you live in?

5 hours ago, mcbreck said:

Some pensions are tax free if part of the contributions were made with after tax income. Back in the 70's, that wasn't all that uncommon for employees to contribute after tax money and the corporation to contribute before tax money. That generates a portion being tax free. That's what happened with my client and their pension which was rolled into other pension plans via a merger. The only way to figure it out is for the plan to tell you via their actuaries.

I agree...some early pensions did have after tax contributions, and I have several clients with this exact type of pension.  In the OP, it sounds like that was not the case...with the taxpayer having no recollection of ever contributing.  But maybe the prior preparer has some info, who knows.   

On 5/25/2022 at 6:33 PM, Tracy Lee said:

TP says he never had to fund anything into his pension or the employee stock ownership, so there would be no basis. 

Sounds 100% taxable to me.  I'll be curious to see what you find and why the prior preparer only claimed a small portion.  

1 hour ago, cbslee said:

Now here's something you don't read about every day! 

Even though employees were allowed to return on Tuesday, IRS agents returned to the Galleria building where the firm is based and continued to search other floors Tuesday"

Must be a fun work environment for the employees.  I assume the firm will be holding some team building exercises, potentially behind bars. 

12 hours ago, Catherine said:

Well, I faxed in my letter on Friday and have heard nothing. For whatever that's worth.

All I had was a now-expired POA for tax returns only, signed by a partner/member who is now deceased (hence, the POA being expired).

I would be surprised if you do hear anything from them.  I wouldn't be surprised if you receive another letter demanding payment.  Those companies are ruthless. 

1 hour ago, RitaB said:

This year he comes in and tells me, "There is less this year; it shouldn't be as much."  That offended me, but I said, "Yes, there is only one state."  I charged him 225.  I might have charged less if he hadn't said that, but I doubt it because 2020 was such a real headache.  When he picked up, he was polite, but had to tell me they would go back to Illinois preparer next year because "it's a little too pricey here."

Me:  No problem, that's exactly what you should do.

Ultimately, do you really need clients like that?  Considering the amount of work you did for them, if they have the nerve to say "it's a little too pricey here", they're ignorant.  I don't want to minimize how important it is to establish relationships and maintain those relationships moving forward.  With that said, there needs to be a level of respect both given AND received.  If the client does not respect what I do, the service I provide, or the time I spend...good riddance. 

59 minutes ago, RitaB said:

I am in a commercial building, alone, in TN

 

You're the only one in the commercial building??  Do you walk around the building occasionally?  Say hi to imaginary friends?

Thanks very much for your reply.  It's very helpful. 

8 hours ago, mcbreck said:

When someone declares their rate on the internet, I'm always very skeptical. It's pretty common for people to declare they charge astronomical rates ($1k for a basic return). There are firms that advertise on the internet their rates and there are averages put out by the industry. The NSA put out a 400+ page survey with average pricing.

I guess preparers are less inclined to share rates, and that's fine.  I have no problem declaring what my minimum is.

In my post I indicated that some firms charge a minimum of $350 in my area.  That's not coming from the internet, that's coming from colleagues who are also in practice and shared what their firms charge.  I completely understand that some preparers/firms have high overhead and that impacts their rates.  

In any event, thanks for those who chimed in but didn't share any pricing info.  

I am a CPA with over thirty years of experience in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  Would some of you be willing to share your pricing?  I recognize there are many variables that go into what it costs to prepare a return, including the area in which you practice.  Just trying to get a sense of how you determine your charge.  Is it a rate based on time spent on the return or do you charge by form, or maybe a combination of those.  For new clients, I have established a minimum fee for a basic return and one state, Schedule A included, of $250, Schedule C, D and E clients are charged more.  Established clients may not pay that full amount, but its close.  That price is still low compared to what I see other preparers charging in my general region.  Some firms in the area charge a minimum of $350.  I'm sure some full-time preparers have higher costs than me, a single preparer doing this on weekends and evenings. 

I appreciate your insights on this topic. 

Officially thirty years for me.  I've enjoyed the relationships I've formed with my clients.  Some of those clients have stayed with me for all of those thirty years.  I go back to the days of Parson's Technology and also fondly recall the roaring tiger.  I miss the "simplicity" of those days.  

My tax preparation business is done during the evenings and on weekends, as I have a full time day job.  It obviously requires devoting a ton of time to but my family has been very understanding and I appreciate all of their support.  

8 hours ago, Slippery Pencil said:

I don't think this is new.  For years, spam calls have registered on my caller id as numerous local business names, AT&T, names of numerous clients' employers just like when they called from their office phones (General Motors, Toyota, Lear, Siemens, etc.), individual names, Citizens Bank (where my business account is located), CSC Southfield (Southfield being the city neighboring the one I live in), various city & states, non-local business names, Americenters, and two local hospitals.  

It's not new, it's old.  It's been happening for a long time now.  Those scammers will utilize any means possible to scam successfully.  

2 hours ago, b#tax said:

I have about 100 extensions to work 1040 and entity and have been using Taxwise. However, Taxwise has not kept up with my state requirements or the advance reporting on entity returns (QBI multiple business activities, K-2) I have bought Drake PPR in the past and am considering it or ATX to finish out this year. They are both pricing out about the same with Drake charging for 300.00 for 2021 plus the 2022. I don't like the direct return input on Drake and am leaning to ATX. Thoughts? 

Have you considered a trial of ProSeries?

17 hours ago, cbslee said:

They may be paranoid about other people having access to their EIN?

They're a summer camp with clients who more than likely ask for their EIN.  What would the paranoia be over exactly?  

Why wouldn't they supply it?  What exactly is the down side of them supplying it to a paying customer?

2 hours ago, ILLMAS said:

Network and multi user edition?  

ProSeries is loaded on my desktop, it's not network or multi-user.  I'm a one man shop. 

1 hour ago, ILLMAS said:

The $95 fee is for technology/maintenance after they stopped shipping a CD.  Now imagine saving the cost of the software and preparing every single return by hand .   ATX cost is peanuts compared to ProSeries, plus Proseries charges $47 states.

I'm not sure where you are getting your information?  I was an ATX user back to the days of Saber.  Their cost, like almost every other technology company, have risen through the years.  For me it became cost prohibitive.  I switched to ProSeries for this past season.  I locked in their Choice 200 rate which provides me up up to 200 federal returns (all business and personal).  It includes every state as well, advanced calculations and unlimited use of their portal.  The cost for that package easily saved me $600 or more compared to what I would have paid for ATX MAX and their portal.  Granted, I'm limited to a total of 200 federal clients, but that is not an issue for me. 

I'm not suggesting ATX is inferior, I enjoyed using the program.  With that said, ProSeries has saved me time and has added efficiencies that have helped me and my clients.     

This time of year is all-consuming for some of us.  It causes us to occasionally (maybe more than occasionally) lose sight of what really matters.  We move through life thinking "it will never happen to me".  The fact is, it can and it does.  I'm happy to know your daughter is doing well.  Best wishes to her and her car.  Sounds like she'll be in the market for a new one. 

 Just curious as to why you are seeking a workaround?

It's been one of my more challenging years in the 32 that I've been involved in.  One of the main reasons for that: having to wait to complete returns because clients have not provided all the data.  I recognize that normally happens and has happened almost every year.  For some reason, this year it's much more magnified. The other issue, clients providing their tax information late.  Many have dropped off their data after April 1.  I let them know it will be placed on extension "just in case" but I still have that hanging over me.  

With that said, with all that is going on in the world today, I recognize my issues pale in comparison to others.  I'm thankful for all the blessings and know this is just another tax season that is coming to an end.  

Each day starts with the best intentions though.  "This is the day that I cruise through a bunch of returns."  That thought is quickly dashed.  :-)

On 4/2/2022 at 7:54 PM, Abby Normal said:

Is crypto still considered collectibles? I couldn't find anything definite on the IRS site, pubs, or instructions (as usual).

Not sure where the C came in.  M for sure though.  

21 hours ago, KimR said:

You just summarized it and did t list each transaction? I just had someone drop off their statement with over 100 pages attached. I’m dreading it. 

That's exactly what I did.  I entered the total proceeds and total cost of all the transactions on two lines, one for short-term and one for long-term.  Used code M and C.  Moved on to the next return. 

12 minutes ago, jklcpa said:

Yes, if the AQEE exceeds the distribution, then the earnings are tax-free, but if they are taxable, they'd be reported on 1040, Sch 1, line 8z.  As I said in my earlier post, that is why I put them on and then back them off with a negative number that brings the taxable portion to -0-.   That way if the IRS' AUR was to match up the 1099Q, it is on the return as is my pdf attachment of explanation.

Judy...thanks for the reply.  I have never attached a pdf statement but it certainly makes sense as an additional means of explanation. 

Since the qualified education expenses exceed the total distribution, shouldn't you still report the earnings as income and then back the earnings amount out as "Qualified Education Expenses"?  I've done it that way for years and I've never had an issue.  

I entered one last night with over a thousand sale events.  Just entered the totals on Schedule D of the total purchase price and sales amount, labeled it as MC.  All good.