SCL

TRX/REDGEAR - send a donation erc (whatever your corporate heart can handle), the mastermind behind this board...who spun off a TRX forum to handle a slow (but sure?) migration of ATX preparers (with 50-100-150 clients...it seems to be a niche) to TRX. i have almost made the move a couple of times...maybe next year. i would guess there are hundreds, if not thousands, of preparers like me. DONATION is available on the far right of the home page heading.

jb and kc, i feel the empathy in this thread. for what it's worth... yes, in the usa (or since western civilization's 18th century's era of enlightenment) there could be a better outcome for an unwed mom and child...but, for almost anywhere else in the world, a similar outcome would be much worse.

people who know the basis in their iras from prior non deductible contributions (when this irs scam started 20+ years ago) are rare. it would take an extraordinary effort to track that basis until now. thankfully, not many folks got trapped in this game...because 401ks, and later, roth iras replaced the income limits that caused taxpayers to think that nondeductible ira contributions was a good idea...it wasn't.

you cannot efile a current year fm5405, it must be paper filed. a suggestion, if it applies (i think this is correct), efile current year return without fm5405...and amend 2009 tax return with 2010 fm5405 carryback. bonus points...you get taxpayer 1 year's interest on $8000.

my guess: icarty is the preparer/client and looking for a "hail mary" response to the 10% early withdrawal penalty. what does the 1099r, box 7 code say? #1?

"I informed them that if we were to show gambling winnings of $100,000+ and gambling losses of the same amount, someone from the IRS may knock at their door. I told them that the IRS would expect proof of the loss, such as a statement from the casinos they gamble at. I know that, as a member of the casino preffered program, you are given a casino card that you can input into the slot machine or hand to the dealer and they are able to track (within some approximate reason) your losses as well as your winnings. They tell me that is not a problem and they have enough losses to offset the winnings." if they are claiming they have a casino statement of a yearly net win/loss, i would want to see it. it is better than nothing. nobody has a daily win/loss record to substantiate "gambling losses to extent of winnings". also, i don't understand why there was no fed/state withholding by the casino unless the gambler claimed, under oath, no expected tax liability (i don't know if that is even possible)...that makes me suspect. i would wish them well and shown the door to become another preparer's potential legal problem.

my comment...without research confirmation (ie; from some vague memory). i believe(?), rmd applies to the total retirement balance...something not easily known (especially to the irs). if OTHER retirement/pension withdrawals are more than a total rdm requirement, then no harm, no foul on this small, 500 amount.

lion - i wonder if prosysfx/cch has a different efile story than atx/cch. the atx support did not tell me anything about the time stamp...only that timely ment hitting the 11am ET drain. in fact, she acted like this was the first time she had heard of a time stamp thing. it seems to me, this would be a very common Q&A. gene - me too. the balance due efile i transmitted on 10/15 at 4:30pm CT (posting on efile manager as 5:30pm ET) was accepted today in my ack...but the accepted date is 10/16@12am. my thinking is the irs would only accept a return that was considered filed on 10/15 (regardless of the final 10/16 acceptance date).

until this afternoon, i thought this was how atx/cch did it...the time stamp thing after the drain on april or october 15. maybe i am remembering how old atx did it...or maybe i am wrong all the way around. this 10/15 pm, atx/cch support told me (after conferring with someone else) that an atx/cch timely return needed to make the 11 am ET drain. this was somewhat confirmed by a helpful fellow at the irs ehelp desk (1 866 255 0654). this can't be right atx/cch...if it is, it is very wrong...mail beats efile? luckily (i hope), i was able to scramble and get my balance due return mailed under a 10/15 postmark (as recommended by the ehelp guy)...but i now have an efiled and a mailed return in the works to sort out later...LOL.

LOL @ bulldog tom... love the sinner but hate the sin. or in cch's case, is it the other way around or another combination of the choices?

it is easy to print a paper record of an efiled w2/1099...hit print. there is a want/need/hope for a 1099 efile program to go with the trx's atx offer.

does Medlin do 1099 efile?

good point JohnH. i second the motion. also, i hope trx hits the donate button for a large number. this forum could turn into "the official trx community"...lol.

My two cents follows saminga's reservations...while kc's analysis makes sense for "the too good to be true" scenario. 1) Braeden from TRX says TRX has "premier accts division" status with CCH. For how long?...one, two, or five years? We don't have a guarantee from TRX that ATX will be delivered in 2010. I guess there is a money back guarantee, except I don't understand the practical effect of the guarentee. 2)TRX sold Orrtax/Intellitax(?) at a discount. CCH bought Orrtax/Intellitax and converted preparers to TaxWise (although, it seems some were able to get an ATX product). CCH had previously bought ATX and TaxWise...hmmmm? 3)Until CCH buys TRX (or pulls the plug on TRX, as saminga says), it looks like a deal to go with TRX...while the "too good to be true" senario lasts. Even after one year, the alternative would be to go back to CCH/ATX (hopefully ATX), until the merged ATX/TaxWise product comes along in a few years (as Sasha from CCH has explained). 4) Then, at what price for a small tax practice like me? Stay tuned...news at 11:00.

i have a problem with this discussion (a problem that was immedietally questioned but not answered). divorce in 2/09?...and payments that relate to the 2008 tax return? (or the 2009 tax return?)

kc, i totally agree about bob being a good guy (and very smart about tax and other matters). your comment about him as "a bit obsessive about some things" is an under (and under, under) statement...lol!

when i first came to the original ATX web site several years ago, i entered into the middle of a kc/kamman brouhaha that continued until kamman was banned for whatever reason (i would have called it temporary insanity...something i understand, especially in the middle of tax season). then, kc was called "the queen bee"...as if that was an insult or even a criticism. when i quickly saw her unselfish and brilliant contribution to the tax board, i saw her as 'the queen'...period...and i still do. btw, a 'kamman' has appeared on the other atx board. i think it could be the old 'kamman'...based on the insight and knowledge of his tax questions and answers.

as i read the very superficial instructions in the 1040 instruction book..."enter your box number only if your post office does not deliver mail to your home." 1) this has to be an irs suggestion/hope to be able to find a tax cheat at their home. a hint for the irs - "sorry, I MOVED!!"...or just refer to the address of any politician or investment banker they know. that should keep them busy enough. and isn't there something in the constitution or bill of rights about this? 2) i can totally understand folks who do not want mail/checks delivered to an insecure home address. 3) i have several cases in my rural and relatively secure little area of the world where the local post office defaults a mailing address to a post office box...like at "Cheers - Where everybody knows your name." 4) or, what jack said, lol.

jh - it was just my suggestion about eflinging (i know your consistent position from many current and past postings, lol)...but, i bet you do not unreasonably put staples on your mailed return filings. awhile back (way back), i remember someone (you?) commenting on their red, Pink Pearl pencil eraser. i am finally at the end of my multi-year office supply inventory (eflinging prolonged my inventory). i have 2 remaining (i need to get a few more). how about you? i bet you still have an inventory!

the 'messing with the man' going on here are just poor grunts on the line trying to do their job, sort of like we are trying to do our job...i know i don't like folks reasonably messing with me, let alone a total unreasonable messing with me. now, (if i could, but i know i really can't) i wouldn't mind messing with state legislators, congressmen, or others who create stupid bottlenecks in my job as a tax preparer. efile and you don't have to staple anything.

yea, daschle, geithner, many other "gop...tax cheats", and their tax accountants are a disgrace...and in my book, fraudulent criminals. but for some perspective about "real" immoral money...i believe bush's treasury secretary paulson took $500,000,000 out of goldman sachs in the prior 5-10 year investment banking boom/rape that has resulted in our current near financial collapse.

for an additional iowa cap gains exclusion (ded?), go to the relevent iowa tax form line #...and link to the ia instructions. i'm pretty sure that an iowa agriculture cap gains get an extra loophole.

the atx or not question is about the size of the business. a smaller sole prop business, 125 returns (me) or less, is looking for an alternative. trx is a possibility, although my opinion is that atx is still has value even for a smaller tax practice. for you folks with a somewhat larger business (or are able to bill $125+/hour), an atx product should be a no-brainer. if you have a much larger practice, quit being cheap and go with a more expensive program - or get atx and the more expensive program - you can afford it. and quit complaining - your problem of too many returns and not being satisfied with atx is a bore.

as this post and responses suggest, there is no min fee answer. it all depends on your particular set and setting - known as the supply/demand curve for your market. in my small world of serious competetion, $250 for a 'simple return' would mean i have no business. i also do not do returns on an earthquake fault line or in downtown nyc. :)

sometimes a masochist gets paid off.