Chowdahead

The problem is even worse when you have "Toner Saver Mode" enabled on your laser printer. I ended up just printing the "Filing Copy" for clients anyway, as the "Client Copy" was taking way too much paper and toner to print line-by-line information for which 99% of my customers don't care about anyway.

I chuckle at Medical Expenses and Charitable Donations. The threshold for Medical Expenses to even count is a joke, unless someone has had a major medical procedure that required a large out-of-pocket payment. The Charitable Deduction is a bit better, but still, most clients have no receipts or evidence. The savings are minuscule for most taxpayers, and don't warrant the risk of an audit. Unless the person owns a home and pays a mortgage, most of the Schedule A deductions are useless, because the taxpayer will be better off taking the standard deduction in most cases. And even if the taxpayer owns a home and pays a mortgage, lately the interest on these homes is so high that they have a zero tax anyway. In total, whichever amount the taxpayer could attain by amending their taxes for these deductions will be eaten up by HR Block fees anyway so it will mostly be a wash.

CNN Money 2/13/09 Temporary credit for home buyers: The bill increases the size of an existing temporary and refundable first-time home buyer credit to $8,000, up from $7,500. It also removes the requirement under current law that the credit be paid back if the buyer stays in the home for at least three years. And it would extend the credit's expiration date to Dec. 1, 2009, from July 1. Those eligible for this credit must have purchased a home after Jan. 1, 2009, and before Dec. 1, 2009. The full credit is available to those making $75,000 or less ($150,000 for joint filers). Estimated cost: $6.6 billion.

I have several clients who insist on using her PO Box as the address t go on their return, despite IRS instructions which state they must use their residence address. These clients live in areas or a building where they don't trust any mail going to, especially if it's a check. How do you guys handle PO Boxes? Is there another location to enter a "mailing address" in the program?

Last I read was that the $7500 would be forgiven for homes purchased between Jan 1, 2009 until the end of August 2009. Houses purchased between April 8, 2008 and December 31, 2008 are still subject to the repayment terms. But I could be wrong since I have heard nothing else except the scrapping of the $15,000 proposal. I would also like to know if it has remained a refundable credit?

The telephone number is now included in the reject reason. Or maybe that's just for RAL rejects. But I'm not in my office at the moment so I can't check.

The form is dumb because it should block out the military question once it's indicated that the filer has an SSN. Instead it leaves it blue, leaving 99.9% of people with the impression that the question must be answered.

Thanks, I didn't even think about the income level being too low. Wow... she literally had income of $2963. So she missed it by $37...

Anyone going to answer the OP's original question? My guess is that the IRS will calculate the credit automatically. That is why we are seeing refund delays, as they are doing it manually if the RRC is not listed correctly on the return. So your client should see the extra $$$.

It's because whoever designed the worksheet is an idiot. Just click "Calculate the credit" and scroll all the way down to the second to last box (I think) and enter the amount they received for the stimulus in 2008. The last box will list the RRC, if any. Do not check any box in the "military question". You are actually instructed to skip that section, but you have to read the worksheet line by line to see this instruction.

I've notice the program is more unstable. I've had about 6-7 incidents of it freezing and having to ALT+CTRL+DEL to end the process. Not to mention this whole mess with the Recovery Rebate Credit. ATX should have allowed an option to make the RRC a RED error message during the error check, or to automatically calculate it for rollovers, or to automatically enter a zero on the RRC line. This may have minimized RRC delays. I have certain refund transfers (aka FeeCollect) that were transmitted as early as January 24 that have not been funded yet.

Doubtful. The IRS quit address-matching years ago. It became to complex. Now they have their hands full trying to track down the people claiming kids as nieces and nephews for the EIC. What I will say about the EIC is that under the current rules it discourages marriage because a couple filing each as Head of Household will get double they would get if they were married. There are so many problems with the EIC program it's ridiculous.

I have a client who filed in 2007 on a 1040EZ with zero exemptions. In March 2008 she had a child. I checked the Recovery Rebate Calculator on the IRS website and it says she was eligible for $0. When I enter $0 in on the Line 70 worksheet, the result is a $0 rebate for 2008. Who come? She had a kid and is now filing Head of Household. She made about $2900 in 2008. I thought taxpayers who have children or change filing status in 2008 are eligible? I absolutely hate this worksheet. What does Filing Status "1" mean anyway? Single? I can understand number of exemptions, but it asks for the filing status to be entered in as a number. :blink:

Has anyone else been seeing a problem when trying to determine why a return has been rejected? In past years, all I would have to do is go to the E-File Tab, select the rejected e-file, and click File>Display Rejection Message for Selected Return. Then the return would open up and the e-file error(s) would be displayed in a box below. In this year's program, I frequently get a box that says "No error for this return found" when I complete these steps. This is despite the fact that the return is clearly listed as rejected. If I open up the return and click the button at top to see any rejection errors within the return, sometimes I can see the actual error. But most times I get a box at the bottom that just says "Because the federal return was rejected, the corresponding piggyback file was also rejected". I called ATX about this and the only solution they have is for me to logon to the ATX Support site and manually type in the client's SSN and look up the reject codes there. To me that's not a good alternative. Sure, it provides more detail, but it's yet another manual step I have to take for each return, when this info was available in each rejected return within the program. I'm wondering if this is just a problem with my installation or if this is a system-wide problem.

This is what SBBT said on January 24: This e-mail led me to believe that leaving the line blank would allow the IRS to calculate the credit, with no delay. Inserting an incorrect amount would cause a delay. So in essence, leaving it blank seemed to be the safest course of action.

Yes, but does that clause apply to the "leaving it blank part" or the "entering a zero part"? It reads to me like like all returns that have the line blank will need to be manually reviewed, and if a zero is entered it will need to manually reviewed, unless zero is the correct amount. This might explain why my clients are seeing such a funding delay. I've got one a few clients who I e-filed back on January 24, and they still haven't seen their refund yet.

Thanks. It was a code 7. Now I have to break the news to him that his entire AGI will go up... along with his tax.

They've got to be kidding me. So if a customer tells me they received their incentive check in 2008, I am supposed to go to their website and calculate it anway? Calculating the credit is way to complicated as it is in the program. I only do it when the client tells me they never received it. So if the program leaves line 70 blank, it delays the refund even if the person received their stimulis check? And the IRS decides to come out with this on Feb 8? Sheesh....

I've got a client who is 65, clearly over the 59 1/2 age limit. He should be able to avoid the 10% penalty correct? Also, does the distribution, which is about $26,000, have to be added to his AGI, thereby increasing his taxable income? If so he is going to be a bit surprised at his refund. He had about $1,200 in federal taxes withheld from one of the distributions already. What sheet would I check to determine if he is being hit with the 10% tax, or would the software automatically calculate it due to his age?

Printing is atrociously slow this year. Sometimes it prints out 3-4 pages... pauses... and prints out 3-4 pages.. and pauses.... Also, I have had to ATL+CTRL+DEL to End Program about 6 or 7 times this year because when I have tried to switch windows to another program (i.e. Web Browser) while ATX is still processing the print job (i.e. hourglass in ATX).. the program will become unresponsive. No way out other than to force it closed. Same thing happens if I start a print job in ATX and then press "cancel print" on the printer. The program freezes. So I've learned to not touch anything while the hourglass is still rotating in the print window.

Yeah thanks. I may avoid entering it in from now. It's one more thing that can go wrong. I didn't realize it would simply default to the FID if nothing was entered.

Now I am getting annoyed. Perhaps it's the crappy economy, but I am hearing some of the oddest deduction requests this year. Most of which I have to shoot down. The latest is timeshares. Two different clients have told me that they were told they could deduct expenses related to their timeshare. The first client said she was told she could deduct her travel expenses, and those of her family, to Florida to use their timeshare. She even brought in the online receipt printout for the airline tickets. Even better.. since she splits the cost with a friend.. she said she was told she would have to alternate years to take the deduction. I told her travel expenses are only allowed on Schedule E for rental property (with a myriad of rules). The second client has an interest statement for interest paid on a timeshare financing. I told him I was highly doubtful since it's not a primary residence or a rental. Am I right on both counts?

Anyone have any experience with completing the return of a police officer? In a few days I'll be tackling one. He's single, no dependents. What are the common deductions that they can take on the Schedule A? Drycleaning? Crewcuts? Guns? Handcuffs? Mileage to detail assignments? Are there any special credits or forms specifically for police officers?

So essentially it's definitely has to go through the Schedule C, correct?

I'm getting questions from nearly every client regarding the latest stimulus package and how much stimulus payments will be this time. The only thing I read on the latest package is that it will cost almost $900 billion, and includes a whole bunch of money for controversial programs. But as anyone here been able to ascertain how much they are proposing actual stimulus payments to each person to be (i.e. $600 for individuals? $300 per dependent?) Is there any info on these amounts so I can give clients an idea? Or are they not going to do direct payments this time? A month ago I heard that they were considering cutting the federal income tax withheld from paychecks instead.