SCL

A sentence is a word you should not end a sentence with.

That is the kind of pedantry, up with which I will not put.

funny - i totally agree with.

>>We just topped 300<<

So far today, 3% participation.

even more selective than 3%. 300 out of 30000? atx customers = 1%.

9 out of 30000 = .03%.

nevertheless; i am grateful to be able to be here and receive the benefit of the questions & answers that are generated by this very select board!

Oh please.

It is clear that the warranty covers penalties and interest, but in this case it is clearly an additional tax. What the preparer failed to include on the tax return was the 10% additional tax that was due. The tax code 72(t) clearly calls it an additional tax so we should quit calling it a penalty and trying to make it covered by the warranty.

AMEN!

One product that's been mentioned before is OrrTax (aka IntelliTax) Forms oriented, form on right, list of forms on left, drill down to worksheets. If you buy directly from OrrTax ( http://www.orrtax.com/ ) it's priced roughly the same as MAX. However they also sell thru distributors and resellers who put their own logo on the product.[1] One of these is Tax Refund Xpress ( http://www.trxalliance.com/ ) who is selling the whole package including unlimited e-file for $299 + $39 s/h.

I signed up, and have been playing with the 2006 product. My initial impression is positive. They have a conversion from ATX, and it worked well - including the depreciation which came across correctly. There are some things that OrrTax does better - the EIN database, a zip-code database, the smooth handling of the various NY pension exclusions. Some things are poorer - tax exempt dividends which are also partially state exempt. Some thing are just dead wrong - AMT depreciation adjustment for assets used on a 2106. I haven't had the occasion to call customer support because OrrTax has a great on-line knowledge base that solved all my technical problems. As a matter of fact, the Tax Refund Xpress tech rep called me this week to see how I was doing. All in all it looks like a package I can live with at a price much less than ATX. I guess only time will tell[2].

Don

[1] Back in the olden days, ATX licensed their entity programs to the TaxCut for Business product line. Th box said TaxCut but the help files and error messages still said ATX.

[2] I actually used the DOS version of OrrTax about ten years ago in a store-front RAL environment. It was a solid product then, but limited to 1040 returns. The conversion to Windows and entity returns was a disaster. Fortunately they continued to also distribute the DOS version under the name 'OrrTax Classic'

[/quote

<<< THANKS DonUpstateNY - This could be my future. After being with ATX for many years (#23064), I have achieved efficiencies within the program. I expect to renew for at least one more year - like Taxbilly and others - and I hope for more. The new reality has me on the cusp of 1040Office and Max which brings OrrTax into the picture. All you folks with at least 125 returns, efile, and business returns - I don't know why you would even consider anything except Max or more (if I grew just a little I would definitely stay, but I like my current age/work/income tradeoff). I really want to stay with ATX, but I find like many others, I might be fighting the last war (Parsons to Intuit buyout to finding ATX).

PS - DonUpstateNY. Keep posting to where I can find you. You are an unselfish tax pro who contributes your knowledge with grace and goodwill. "Only time will tell".

Would that be the same Wikepedia that can be editited and modified by anyone with or without the facts?

"with or without the facts" hints at an argument, even if only rhetorical. Wikepedia was just a suggestion to point you in the direction of facts. So try the other sites: usgs.gov, noaa.gov, climate.org, and epa.gov - same story.

You folks may already have this, but here is the link to the ProSeries message board.

http://www.intuitaccountants.com/webx/forums/

Some comments look kinda familiar...I guess nobody's perfect, right?

It was funny to see $5000+ Lacerte clients squealing like stuck pigs, and threatening to go to equally expensive CCH ProFx or Ultratax (if I have the products straight).

The money involved in TurboCrap, Lacerte, and ProSeries verses ATX was humbling. It looks likes the small fish (me) will always be scrambling to keep up, let alone survive.

Guess again, Bob :ph34r:

How about Henry? "Well I'm just a monkey man. I'm glad you are a monkey, monkey woman too." A good Rolling Stones tune.

joanmcq - You are right about sea level (maybe even 8 inches). My sea level comment was a two cents attempt from memory. I googled 'sea level' and selected Wikipedia. There is lots of stuff about sea level. Also, Alaska and Russia were connected by a landmass during the cold ice age period when the oceans were 300-400 feet lower than today.

jainen - Your heart could warm the corners of the universe. :>)

"Just wondering!" Yes, ice that is already floating on water will not increase water level when it melts (in the total scheme of things, a lower percentage). Most of the ice on Greenland and Antarctica is on land and will raise sea levels when it melts (or suddenly collapses).

It is "a natural cycle that man's impact is adding to and exacerbating". As well as I understand things I have read, there has been an approximate 100,000 year ice age cycle for the last 700,000 years (and possibly the last 2 million years to the beginning of the Pleistocene geologic epoch). It is made up of 10,000 years of warming (like now) and 90,000 years of the cold "ice age" period. It's called the astronomical theory of the ice ages. There are 3 major cycles: 1) a 100,000 year cycle - the eccentricity of the earth's orbit around the sun. 2) a 41,000 year cycle - the tilt of the earth from 22 degrees to 25 degrees and back. 3) a 23,000 year cycle - the wobble of the earth's orbit known as the precession of the equinoxes.

In the past, the warm periods would peak at a CO2 level of 280-300 parts per million and at an average earth temperature of 60 degrees F. Today the temperature is 60 degrees but the CO2 level is above 300ppm and on its way to 600ppm and more. This is the new situation that man has caused. The higher CO2 levels are predicted to raise the average earth temperature by 5-15 degrees F over the next 50-100 years. Overall, this will probably not be a good thing.

Also, I don't think the sea level has gone up 6 inches in the last century. It may be that is the VERY optimistic prediction for the next 50-100 years. I believe there is 20-50+ feet available in the Greenland and Antarctic glaciers. The sea level has been that much higher at times in the past.

>>a qual intermediary must broker the third party exchange<<

There is absolutely no requirement in the code or the regs to use a qualified intermediary. It is simply one of several safe harbors, popular and convenient, but by no means the ONLY valid way to do a multi-leg exchange.

fair enough. i was only suggesting that this situation did not appear to me to be on the road to a 'valid .. multi-leg exchange'.

Well, it seems that we have had conflicting views on this subject. I went ahead and filed it with a 1040X. Here's hoping it goes through.

i think it will. you have tried to present the correct position, whether on a 1040x or original return (and esp since you are sending more money).

>>Take either or both antidotes repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system.<<

It's actually kind of like chicken pox. I was exposed to it as a child, and it immunized me for the rest of my life!

unlike the lifetime chicken pox antibody, this WORK virus only responds to a remedy that is water soluble. it must be administered every time the virus appears.

Yes the field is used for hay production in his farm, carried on his schedule F. He wishes to locate property closer to his larger ranch about 30 miles away. He has an offer for the 20 acres but wishes only to purchase other property. I see that he has only 45 days to locate the property but 180 to complete the purchase. Can the purchase of property be from a releated person? The sale of the original is not to a releated person. He has not identified the property yet and he might not be able to locate anything for sale in that short period of time. Is there anything else that he can do to delay the tax on the sale of the property??

unless it is a direct exchange of prop A for prop B, a qual intermediary must broker the third party exchange. otherwise his sale of the first property is a recognized taxable event - regardless of your concern about the 45 or 180 day requirements. i am not sure about your related party question, but as much as i understand this situation, i don't think you are on a 1031 tax free exchange path.

Thank you very much.

this is number 40 so I feel as if I reached a milestone. I now get to get up and go to the bathroom most nights about 4 am. But life is great.

ahh 40 - 'those were the days my friend, i thought they'd never end.'

ditto to redux and taxbilly. i usually don't have to worry about sleeping through an alarm anymore. i have a 2hour prostate alarm going off.

KC, who the heck do you think "they" is? - some of us on this board, that's who! Like LLBWest, if you can't stop disparaging us and move back to the topic of tax & software, I'll be moving on. Funny, I don't seem to enjoy being insulted on a regular basis.

Google GE and the first hit is the stock price chart from Google Financial. That one shows five splits since 1979 -- all in May.

1983 2:1

1987 2:1

1994 2:1

1997 2:1

2000 3:1

So your 48:1 clue is right on! Her basis is $54.87 against a current price of $37.45.

Our children & grandchildren may curse this generation for having sold them out if things continue on the path we appear to be taking at the present time.

'begging the question?' - nuh uhh.

you're begging the question by defining price fixing as a 'discussion' of prices without acknowledging that it does not effect the prices of a multilayered national tax prep market (not a monopoly or even close to an OLIGOPOLY).

mtlady - i am not yet in vista, but i believe tbilly (call atx support direct) and wbrasch offer good suggestions - esp wbrasch suggestion that vista properties offers an XP mode until vista (business &/or ultimate?) bugs are worked out.

>>The original post asked for dollar amounts for specific services.<<

When we specifically share rates or elements of rates (such as costs) for the purpose of setting fees, that is indeed the very definition of price-fixing. It is not a big problem for the economy, and as our moderator points out it is not very effective anyway, because our industry has so many small and independent practitioners. But it is unethical and contributes to a poor public opinion of our profession.

I'm betting its all the returns that aren't 1040s.

Beyond doubting that they would 'give up control' of the old forum data, I wonder if they are going to go after the name for legal reasons. Personally I feel that someone resurecting the board is a good thing, but the ATX today is not the ATX of yesteryear.

with atx payer manager and rollover of year to year files, i have found efficiencies there. no scan, just click a couple of buttons. of course, new entries require an original entry, but only once.

1) the code v amount from the sale (included in w-2 wages) is the gain of the the selling price over the option price. this is part of the sch d basis.

2) the other part of the basis is in the transaction sheets from the broker or employer like joanmcq says. it is the cost of the options that is deducted from the sale proceeds.

gross proceeds - cost (gain + option cost) = 0, with a loss from the broker commission.