BulldogTom

Who do you want enforcing that freedom, and how much freedom are you willing to cede to them to protect your freedom? My son has a quote that he picked up in an American History class that went something like this: "He who would trade liberty for security deserves neither". I don't know who said that, but it has some wisdom in it. Tom Hollister, CA

Late to the conversation. There are 2 real issues here that all of you are dancing around, but not saying directly: 1. What is the definition of a "free society"? 2. What limits are we going to allow the government to place on "free individuals"? Everything you argue on both sides comes down to this. The framers of the constitution came from a time of government tyranny. They understood that an all powerful government would excercise that power over "free" individuals if allowed to. Therefore, they placed limits on the excercise of control over the people by the government. Over time, we have realized that "free" people in a "free society" will take advantage of that freedom to the detriment of other "free peoples". Government has stepped in and enacted laws limiting the freedoms of all with the idea of betterment of "free society" for all. In general, most of those laws were well intended and agreed to by society as a whole. Laws against murder, rape, theft, mayhem, arson, etc with the associated punishments for breaking those laws are pretty much universally accepted. Today, we look at most of the laws that are passed or proposed, and we see a shift in their intent. Most laws today are proactive in nature - they intend to change behaviors or force the behaviors to come about that the goverment wishes to obtain. All in the name of the "betterment" of society. It seems to me that every one of the laws passed in the last 2-3 decades in some way takes more and more of the "freedoms" from the "free peoples" of the society. Today, most look to government to determine all the rules of society, with factions pushing for their agendas of what "free peoples" can do in a "free society". As these laws have passed, the "need" for goverment to enforce and regulate increases, to the point that (check me on this) about 17% of the society is employed by the government. Another 15-20% rely on the government for their livelyhood through direct government payments (social security, welfare, medicare, medicade, unemployment, disability). As the government gets more and more control over the livelyhood of these individuals, they can enforce more and more behaviors that the government wishes to obtain from the people. This is really what we are talking about in this entire thread. Do we as a "free society" and "free peoples" want to concede our "freedoms" to the government to regulate more of our actions in a "free society"? At what point do we limit the power of the government to regulate our lives in this "free society"? Everything else is just details in the argument. But it comes down to the question "Do I want the government to have the authority to make this decision about the interactions of the "free people" of this "free society" and regulate their actions"? We could use this same discourse not only for this thread, but every social issue that comes up, such as: Should Government mandate the purchase of health insurance? Should Government mandate the purchase of auto insurance? Should Government mandate the level of retirement savings? Should Government allow the marriage of people of the same gender? Should Government define marriage? Does Government have the right to outlaw a religeous conviction. Does Government have the right to force acceptance of an action that is contrary to a religeous conviction? Should Government regulate the content of television transmissions? Should Government outlaw the ownership of handguns? Should Government be allowed the right to tax the income of individuals? and at what rate? Should Government be allowed to put to death those who violate the laws it passes? Should the President of the United States have the power of execution of American Citizens in foreign lands when he believes they are enimies of the state? Should the President have the power to order the execution of American Citizens on American soil when he believes they are enimies of the state? Should the Government allow the breaking of immigration laws in the name of human rights? Is the Government responsible for the education of our children? Is the Government responsible for the health of all of its citizens? Is the Government required to feed every person in the US? Is it the sole responsibility of the Government to determine the uses of private land? Is it the sole responsibility of the Government to "protect" the environment and determine the uses of all land, minerals, and water in country regardless of the ownership of those assets? Are the Governmental goals of the state of the "free society" higher than the individual "freedoms" of the "free peoples of the society"? I am sure you could add a bunch more, but I think you get the point. What is Freedom these days? Tom Hollister, CA

I have an "EIC Idea". The Feds should dump EIC payments on the states. Make the individuals go to the welfare department with their tax return and apply for the EIC payments. Feds reimburse the state or pay directly to the individuals after state certification. State welfare will have a better handle on who lives where, who is getting what government assistance payments, etc. The state welfare system is a better place to document and approve these payments. It also takes it out of the Tax system and puts it in the welfare system where it belongs. Should also allow for easier transmission of information between 50 states and the Feds rather than 100,000 preparers and the Feds. Finally, the Feds can then use this as a stimulus measure and release the checks at the time of the year they want to for maximum effect on the economy. How much you want to bet they will release them before the election? Just my 2 cents. Tom Hollister, CA

I worked for a farmer who had his office burned down by a disgruntled mentally unstable homeless man. The fire happened before I came to work for him. The prior office manager was very good about making backups every day. She sat them right on top of the server when she was done. The story goes that when the fire was discovered, she came down to the ranch office and the shed manager was there already. The building was engulfed in flames. She asked the shed manager to go in and get the backup tapes! Took almost 2 years to get everything straightened out. I came in in the middle of it. Vendors were sending tons of past due invoices. Just getting the check register rebuilt took 6 months. Payroll and payroll taxes were a nightmare. Make sure you have an off site backup. Tom Hollister, CA

That is interesting. I never saw it presented that way. Tom Hollister, CA

They are already storing them. How else would they be able to offer you the prior two years? Don't pay unless you have a failure, then call them up and buy the service. Tom Hollister, CA

I don't know anything about it KC. Sorry. Tom Hollister, CA

I smell total mess coming: So, taxpayer goes to IRS site on January 15th and files. Big refund and EITC. Then, the other information is filed with the IRS for the job they forgot about, and the stock options they excercised. Taxpayer gets a huge bill that they can't pay, and the IRS has to be both the "paid preparer" and the prosecutor for the taxpayer. Will the IRS be subject to penalties for not asking all the questions and obtaining the documentation for EIC? Should they have known or did they ask the taxpayer all the relevent questions? Wouldn't they be subject to gross negligence penalties? Go government. Get me some more business. Tom Hollister, CA

Christian, Do you know you can edit your posts when you make a spelling error? You don't have to post a second time. Go to the original post and click edit and make your spelling corrections. Unless you are trying to get to "supreme master" or "Grand Poo Bah" status on your profile. Tom Hollister, CA

And herein lies the problem. Only employers with more than 250 employees need to report the DD right now. What to do with an employee who works for a company not required to report? And I know a lot of companies over 250 are not up to speed on the reporting. I work for one and we didn't get this dialed in until a couple of weeks ago (I did not start working here until late december, so I can blame my predicessor. I got it fixed eventually). This is going to drive us nuts. I have a lot of clients that will qualify for the subsidies if they figure out how to apply for them. I am really concerned that this is going to slam us in 2 years. Tom Hollister, CA

The mandate is effective Jan 1, 2014. Therefore, when the 2014 return is filed in 2015, we will be calculating the penalty. My question is how they will account for the subsidies that are supposed to come with it. If I understand this correctly, the subsidies go to the insurance company for reducing the cost of the insurance. So the taxpayer never really gets the money, just a lower cost policy. Then, after the year is complete and the income for the year is actually reported, the subsidy has to be repaid if you did not qualify for as much as you thought when you signed up for it. Not sure how all this is going to play out, but I have a feeling the 2014 tax year is going to be a mess. I would really like anyone who is more up on this to chime in. I have been getting this in bits and pieces and "I don't know what I don't know" about this new tax law. That is the scary part. If I know that I don't know enough about Like Kind Exchanges, Offers in Compromise, Sub S health insurance, or anything like that, I have a good idea where to go to find out about it. I know what I do know and I have a good idea about what I don't know, but I know where to go to find out if I need to know something new for one of my clients. I am totally bewildered about ACA. Tom Hollister, CA

Think of it this way KC, if the worst thing I could think of to say about you is "She posts links so I can't have more conversations with her", you are doing alright. Tom Hollister, CA

I have been backing up my ATX to flash drives all year. It is very simple (one of the "enhancements" that I actually like this year). Put it in the usb port, click on backup, select your drive, and it will back up everything that has changed since the last backup. I can only speculatet that the CD issue relates to read/write ability of the device. If you can't "replace" the data on the cd every time you back up, it might be an issue. I might be exposing my ignorance, but back in the day before read/write came into existance, I think you could only add to a CD, not find and replace. I think the new ATX has a new backup method and it might not be compatible with CD's. That said, once the data is backed up, I bet you can burn it to a CD. Again, not a techie, but just a guy who has used everything to back up his tax files in the last 15 years. Tom Hollister, CA

I still have one client who has not gotten their refund from 1.30.13 accepted e-file. I am so frustrated. Called the IRS twice and still all they can tell me is it is in review and will be processed when they get to it. Anyone got a magic bullet that gets the IRS off their A$$ on these things? Thinking about calling my congressman. Any other suggestions. BTW, the clients are unemployed and on disability now. Just a little bit of income that kicked in a small EIC payment. No kids, just the two of them. They could really use the couple hundred bucks that is mostly withholding. Tom Hollister, CA

So, now that KC knows she has the love from this site --- time for me to complain about her NT posts. And not just her, but anyone who does this. When I open a NT post, I absolutely refuse to click on a link to take me to another site. I am paranoid about cookies and viruses and all the other crap that could get on my "Tax Computer" that has all my client information on it. So when the rest of you are having a lively conversation about some article that has a link to it, I am left out. Whatever happened to the good ol' days of "cut and paste"? So if you want to know why I pass on most of the NT posts, it is because if I see a link I pass on the entire post. KC, we could have much better conversations if you would stop doing that! My rant is over. Tom Hollister, CA

I don't know how many of you have ever met KC in person, but I have broken bread with her. There is not a more charming, giving person in the world. My heart still breaks for her loss in the last year, and the health issues she has gone through. During that entire time, she was still here with us. I consider her a friend. If she is not here, this board will be greatly diminished. Tom Hollister, CA

Son saw a post on facebook that had Woody from Toy Story lighting off fireworks in the back yard and the quote underneath said "Still did it better than North Korea.". Tom Hollister, CA

OK, now I get it. Father set up a UGMA account and named himself as the beneficiary. Thanks. First time I had seen TOD acronym. Tom Hollister, CA

OK, I am dumb. What does TOD stand for? Tom Hollister, CA

Are you inviting me to take a flying leap? Tom Hollister, CA

Yeah, share. I don't have time to look up and I don't know. Tom Hollister, CA

On the CA 3801 there is a tab at the bottom for Sch E acts. Blue boxes for Passive and Non Passive differences between Fed and CA. That is where I fixed mine. Tom Hollister, CA

You night owls and vampires amaze me. I would rather do a 6AM than a 6PM. I am like the commercial for the US Army that ran a while back....I can do more before 9AM than most people can do all day. After 3PM my mind starts working slower and slower. Tom Hollister, CA

Dang Rita, here I was thinking you had a softer side, then you pull this out. I am still very afraid of you and am very glad the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas are between us. Tom Hollister, CA

Does the 1099 show withholding? If it shows "PR Taxes" on his deduction statements, I would investigate very thoroughly before proceeding. Can you extrapolate what the numbers would be based on the two deduction statements? Was his income steady (silly question, but hey, you never know). I hate these situations. Tom Hollister, CA