BulldogTom

You going to be getting some new clients this year Eli? Tom Lodi, CA

It is curious that the deadline for nominations for the prize was February 10th. Lets see, Obama took office on January 20th, and in 21 days accomplished so much to bring peace to the world that he is bestowed (what was until now) one of the most prestigeous honors in the world. I am not a big fan of Clinton either, but I would be able to make a better case for him winning than Obama. This is like the NFL deciding after the draft who has the best team and awarding the super bowl trophy before the season starts. Mind boggling? Tom Lodi, CA

What conflict is he resolving? Iran? Afganistan? Israel? When J. Carter won, he made extrordinary progress in the middle east. Obama has not done anything yet. He may, at some point, be very successful in resolving some of the world's problems and be worthy of such a distinguished honor. But I don't see anything yet that qualifies him. Tom Lodi, CA

Has anyone used this bank for RAL's and Refund Checks? I am looking for a way to divorce from CCH on the bank products and keep ATX software. My experience with SBBT /ATX / CCH has been less than desirable. Their website makes it sound like a solution that I would like. Of course, that is just sales material. I have requested information and will call them in the next couple of weeks. Any experiences that anyone would like to share? Tom Lodi, CA

You may want to have a chat with your client about voluntarily changing to Accrual before the IRS does it for them. If the company is going to continue to grow and have these revenues, they are going to go to accrual regardless of if they want to or not. If they elect to make the switch, they get 4 years to take the accrual variance into income. If the IRS imposes the method of accounting, it all comes in at once. One other thing that can happen is if taxable income goes over 1 million in the year of the switch, you are now under more restrictive Estimated tax rules. Some of your safe harbor goes away. I know this because my company is under the new rules because in the last year of our 481 election, we ended up in this boat. Sucks. Tom Lodi, CA

Message on my answering machine from frikkin piece of dog crap ATX. "The ERO application is now live. If you are going to offer bank products, you must update your application. Hurry, because space is limited for Bank Products." So I go onto the frikkin piece of dog crap MyATX website to submit my application. OOPs. You need to Login as ADMIN. Never set up an ADMIN account, so I had to call Frikkin piece of dog crap Customer Support. Told them what happened and they set up my ADMIN account for me. So far so good. Then they tell me I cannot submit the application until I renew. Frikkin pieces of dog crap. space is not limited in the bank products, it was just a way to try and get me to pay for the software early. I was going to renew early, until that frikkin piece of crap sales jerk tried to get me to sign a 3 page document of legalize to take the frikkin sales tax as a autodebit from my account. And the frikkin lying piece of dog crap salesman changed the amount from what he had quoted me on the phone. The frikkin piece of dog crap wouldn't even return my e-mail when I pointed it out. I am done venting now. Tom Lodi, CA

Thanks KC. I think it is the §1202 exclusion that I am looking for. Tom Lodi, CA

I have a question for those of you who know something about §1244 Qualified Small Business Stock and ESOPS. C Corporation was formed in 1987. Single shareholder with 100% of stock. Is looking at starting an ESOP for the employees. If he sells some of his shares to the ESOP, does he get a break on his Capital Gains tax? I seem to remember something about a 50% reduction in tax for the sale of §1244 stock, but I can't find it right now. It may have been something from way back when and no longer applies. Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated. Thanks Tom Lodi, CA

I use Accountant Stationers and Printers out of Los Angeles. I use a generic cover and put my own lables on them. I like that you can buy them in packs of 50. I forget how much they cost, but I have been using them for about 8 years. Tom Lodi, CA

I just called AMEX to see what they say about the legality of charging the $20 fee. It is legal in Georgia (the state where the transaction is initiated is ruling - not the state where the customer is) to charge up to 5% according to the AMEX rep. However, it may violate the terms of ATX's agreement with American Express if they did not change their agreement prior to instituting the charge. AMEX is going to look at the agreement and see if ATX in fact made the amendment to its agreement with AMEX before charging this fee. I should not let these little things bother me, but it is $20, and that is money I would rather spend on other things than ATX. Tom Lodi, CA

It won't get there by Monday. I have to pay the Shipping and Taxes right now. Am I the only one who waited for the last minute to renew with the discount? Tom Lodi, CA

OK, so I have waited until the last minute to renew my software. Still getting the 10% discount and no billing until December. So I call in - and they still have that stupid $69 shipping charge. I expected that. They won't budge. Fine. But then he tells me there is an additional $20 charge for putting this on my Credit Card. What the heck is that for? "Because our credit card processor is charging us and we are passing it on to you." Nickels and dimes and $20 bills they keep nicking us for. Venting - thanks for letting me. Tom Lodi, CA

That makes more sense. Many accounting software packages lock out postings to retained earnings. But usually, if they are locking out retained earnings, they will provide for opening prior periods for audit adjustments (the software I work with does). I am glad you got it all worked out. Tom Lodi, CA

<<So my concern for 2009 is proposing an adjustment to the books to reduce A/D and depreciation by debiting A/D and crediting depreciation, then making another adjustment to debit depreciation and crediting an income account. But by doing this I over state the income by 200k, unless I create an opening equity account credit it instead of the income account, does this sound correct?>>> NO NO NO You need to make one entry (well, two if you count the income tax liability). On 1/1/09 adjust ONLY the Retained Earnings and the Accumulated Depreciation. Debit Accum. Deprec. and Credit Retained Earnings. Explain it as a prior year adjustment. Do not touch depreciation expense or income. Those accounts were not affected in 2009. By hitting retained earnings, you are accounting for the additional income already. When the CPA audits the financial statements this year, they will go back and restate the prior year(s) and footnote the clients activity. My next question is why the CPA is not doing this? If they are aware of the audit and they know there is a material change to the audited financial statements they put out, I would think they would be providing the accounting entries. Something sounds like there is an issue with the financial audit. Just speculating, but it don't add up to me. Tom Lodi, CA

Are you trying to do this in some software for the books, or just on the tax return? The retained earnings account is normally adjusted when the year is closed. Your software will do this for you. If you go back and open the year and make the debit to accumulated depreciation and the credit to depreciation expense and re-close the year, the adjustment will be made to retained earnings automatically. Then do the same thing for the next year. Everything will roll forward. If you are just doing this for the 2008 year on the tax return, ajdust your beginning retained earnings and beginning accumulated depreciation and you are good to go. I am not sure that this is what you needed. If not, post again and I will try to explain better. Tom Lodi, CA

Actually, writing a tax court petition is the part of my job I love the most. I have only done it 3 times, but I love doing the research. When you know for certain you are absolutely correct in your application of the tax law, and you write it out with all the code sections, regulations, case law, and rev. rulings that support your position, there is a great feeling of accomplishment. BTW, the client won on all three. Beating the IRS is fun. Tom Lodi, CA

I know you know this, but just as a reminder - the only way to go to tax court without paying the tax up front is to file the petition within the statutory period. It is hard and fast. Your client (even though it is not your fault they are in this mess) will not be happy if they have to cough up 50K before they can go to court. Protect yourself and make sure you file the petition a week before the due date CERTIFIED RETURN RECEIPT. Just my 2 cents. Tom Lodi, CA

Duane, Sorry that offended you. I just meant it to be funny - it was not pointed at anyone in particular. I know it is a tough job, and I would not do it myself. Too much hostility and public interaction for me. I appologize. Tom Lodi, CA

The church can give all it wants to any person in any amount. Not taxable to the recipient. HOWEVER, they should be very careful that the recipient is not a pastor or staff member of the church, as any gift to an employee is presumed to be taxable wages unless it falls under the de minimus exception. Hope this helps. Tom Lodi, CA

>>how do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist?<< Well, I am not David Letterman, but here is my top 10 ways to know if it really is a census worker: 10. You can't understand their broken english 9. They show up in the middle of the day when you are at work 8. They ask to borrow a pencil because they didn't get one issued and the handheld doesn't work 7. While standing at your door with the number on the side of the house, they ask for your address 6. They show up at dinner time and demand that your dinner wait while they talk to you 5. They tell you they used to be community organizers in Chicago 4. The woman shows up with a baby in tow and starts breastfeeding while you answer the questions 3. It takes them 3 days to go to every home on your cul - de - sac. Con artists would have it done in 2 hours. 2. They drive up in a nice car, but can't afford deodorant And the number one way you can tell if it is a census worker and not a con artist, They tell you it is their first day on the job and you are the first person they have contacted. They promptly trip on your threshhold and ask for your homeowners insurance information to file a claim. I hope I don't offend anyone, but I am bored right now. If this is not funny to you, please try to do better. I know we have some very creative minds on this board. Tom Lodi, CA

Thanks for the heads up KC. Interesting.

I got mine. Did it saturday. The salesman told me that they did the math, and if every car dealer participated, they could each sell 12 cars under the program. The dealer I bought from did 60. Another dealer I looked at had 40 done before the program became fully active on July 23. If the numbers are correct, the 1 billion will fund about 250K car sales. The US is on a pace to sell 9-10 million cars this year (down from the 15 million average). At 9.5 million sales, the car companies are selling about 183K cars a week. That means this program spurred 1-2 weeks of additional sales. That should clean up some inventory, but it won't be enough to add another shift at the car manufacturer's plants. The news last night said the government would honor every sale that was consumated by midnight last night. What I thought was really interesting was that the Obama administration was signalling that they would extend the program. How are they going to do this when the CONSTITUTION says only Congress may authorize the spending of money. This guy needs to figure out that he is not a ruler, but a servant to the people. He can't do what ever he wants just because he sits in the White House. Tom Lodi, CA

Personally, I would not have given these audits away. (It sounds like you already have). Number one is more troublesome, but if you can get documents, it should be something you can accomplish. Number two is easier, as you prepared the returns except the oldest ones. You seem to be overly concerned about the final results. While you can screw this up, I don't think you will. Your concern for the clients will lead you to do the best you can. Any anything less than the proposed amounts on the letter is a win for your client. #2 specifically, if all the returs that you prepared are correct, it shows a pattern of compliance, even if late. Since the client seems to agree with the taxes and is willing to pay when the home sells, you don't have a lot to negotiate over on those years except for the payment. Perhaps you can offer the IRS a lien on the property to be paid from the sale (that will probalby not sit well with the ex, but hey, they aren't sleeping together any more anyway). And from what I am reading in your post, most of what you know about 2003 sounds legitimate on the surface. As an attorney, you can represent before the IRS. Good luck. Tom Lodi, CA

Sorry JRS - you got most of it wrong - <<First, no one wants to work in the fields.>> Wrong - there are thousands of workers lining up at the border to take these jobs. You should have said " No one who can get government social services money will take those jobs". <<Second, they can't get any water. >> The Farmer must have water in the fields at all times. We got fined by OSHA one time for running out of paper cups. The water was there, but the cups were backordered from our supplier. They came in the next day. Too bad - $1000 fine. <<Why don't they put air conditioning on their harvesters>> The tractor driver does have AC. <<flush toilets>> Close but not quite. They are porta-pots, but they have mens and womens and are required to have a hand wash station and must be cleaned 2X per day. <<catering trucks show up for the breaks and lunches>> They show up like clock work. Breakfast and lunch and dinner. I believe this was done by OSHA in response to the 16 year old illegal immigrant who died in the cherry orchard last year. She falsified her documents to get a job, was working right next to her boyfriend and family, and no one noticed she was suffering from heat exhaustion. They never took her to the hospital and she died that night. The family blamed the farmer for not having enough shade in the orchard - It was a cherry orchard with fully grown cherry trees!!! There was shade everywhere!!!! Tom Lodi, CA

I heard this on the radio this morning. A major tomato farming operation of several thousand acres was shut down in Solono County in California Tuesday. The CAL OSHA inspector said there was not enough shade for the workers. So he shut down the harvest. If you are not familiar with tomato farms, they don't let trees grow in them because they tend to get in the way of the tractors and the sunlight the tomatoes need to grow. And the harvest needs to happen before the tomatoes get too ripe or they will not last in shipping. So this farmer, who has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in his crop cannot pick it until he puts up shades all over his fields at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. This is what happens when government decides to run businesses. Tom Lodi, CA