BulldogTom

I don't think so, cause I bought one when I first switched. $20 for fully functioning new purchase of Max. And it was not a replacement of something I had previously bought. They have been doing the $20 thing for prior years for a long time. Tom Lodi, CA

Lets see - $20 for the cd and $80 to ship it. Sounds like the old ATX cd price with the new CCH shipping price. And the price of stamps are going up. Tom Lodi, CA

The iron is still hot. There is demand for a company that respects its customers. Many of us are praying that you will come through for us. We really want to see what you come up with. Tom Lodi, CA

On the other hand, I went to my mailbox at home yesterday and I found an advertisement for ATX in my mailbox. This was not at my office, but at my home. The advertisement piece was addressed to "Tom" instead of "Thomas", so I am guessing they believed that it was a different company since the address was different. At least they are soliciting for new business. This does not mean I trust them any farther than I can throw them, but the fact is they are advertising. Tom Lodi, CA

KC, you know I love you, but I am very curious about this. Do you remember when the staff in Caribou was laid off? It was just before the 30 day guarantee expired for all those who did not purchase until the last minute. When everyone got into an uproar about it, they put William Tasker, the most trusted person at ATX by the users, on this board to soothe all our fears. Fast forward to now. One month to go in the early renewal period. There is lots of negative chatter about ATX, other vendors are hearing it and using it to their advantage against CCH. And all the sudden, the most trusted voice on this board, KC, gets to post an e-mail to soothe all our fears about the upcoming year. I know you KC, and I know you would not knowingly be used as a tool of CCH. I just wonder about your source, and who is pulling his/her strings to allow this message to go out. I would have never thought William would allow himself to be used like he was last year, but it happened. I don't trust CCH. I will not be taken in by them again. Tom Lodi, CA

Can't agree with that. The mold needed to be taken care of to maintaIn the ability to rent the home. I definately go with repair now. With black mold, it had to be removed, and the cabinets had to go, along with the floor to get the dry rot. I would not hesitate anymore. I am firmly in the repair column. Tom Nashville TN (for 18 more hours)

KC, If you are going to send them a 1099 and open up the subcontractor/employee issues, why not send them a K-1 instead? If you don't have the ss for the 1099, you don't have it for the k-1 either, but you can still send it in with name and address. Seems like the cleaner way to proceed. I still think they can get it from the attorney, but I would put the income and deductions on a K-1 for the part of the year they were in partnership, and then go with a Sch C for the period after the partnership ended. Just thinking out loud. Tom

I'm with Old Jack. It is not what you think, but what you can prove at audit. Just because it is explained as a repair, you need to be able to document that fact. I agree with KC also, her analysis is right on, but there needs to be some kind of documentation added to make your point defensible at audit. Pictures of before and after would be nice. Tom Nashville, TN (for 1 more day)

How were they able to get a business license? Did they just use all of the original restaurant license, EIN, State tax EIN, etc? How did they file PR tax returns? You need more documentation. Lots of it. You need the original agreement and the court decision. Here is a wild idea, run it like a sole proprietorship and send the other couple a 1099. THIS IS NOT A GREAT IDEA, IT IS A REVENGE IDEA. Don't think too hard about this one, because it has payroll penalty implications that might make everything worse. Tom Nashville, TN (for 1 more day)

Those are normally paid by the employer. Are you sure they made the contributions themselves? IF so, then there is a portion that is health insurance for schedule A. tom Nashville, TN (for 2 more days)

Your points are well taken. I understand the mess that blatant fraud can make. My gut feeling is the tp is just afraid. The problem has snowballed and he kept running from it instead of taking care of it. If I can be of assistance in putting him on the right track, I will. If the IRS and CA are really seeking fraud, I will definately send him to an attorney (perhaps Joel is reading this). But I will make the first contacts and see if the IRS and CA will look at giving him some time to get the returns together and in, and from that first conversation, I should be able to judge their intentions and make the appropriate decisions. My dealings with the IRS in the past normally are good if the service believes the taxpayer truly is working to make everything right. CA is not always so forgiving, but in general will give a taxpayer one opportunity to get everything on track. Thanks for your comments Jainen. You know I value what you post, even if I don't always agree with it. Tom Nashville, TN (for 2 more days)

Thanks for all your answers. You are confirming my thought process. I have not seen his records yet, he is supposed to bring them to me next week. I suspect he is mostly W2 with an odd 1099 thrown in. I also suspect the tax withholding will cover the majority of the taxes due. So it comes down to a penalty fight, and the best you can do is ask for mercy. BTW, I am in Nashville TN and was looking for the advertising for Betty and Jerome. I would love to ask them what they would do, and maybe get a haircut and oil change at the same time. I will be here until Friday, so if you can get in touch with them, tell them to post their business address. Tom Lodi, CA

OK, phone rings while I am waiting for a BK client to arrive. Guy asks "Are you a tax attorney?". I should have said no and hung up right there, but silly me, I ask why he thinks he needs a tax attorney. "I have not filed in a loooong time and the California Tax Board or whatever they are called is gonna take my paycheck next week." So we talk for a while. Turns out he is 60 years old, makes $12/hour working construction. Has had multiple employers over his lifetime. Is not sure if he was ever self employed or not. Is not sure where his records are. I thought he was going to bail when I asked for a fairly good sized retainer, so I gave him some pointers on what to ask the next guy he called. Turns out I did not scare him away. I have an idea on how to represent this guy ($12/hour in my part of the country is not much and that should buy some time). I will get the first 3 returns done in case there are any refunds to go after, then start working backwards. The question is, how far do we go back? I am thinking 5 years (if his records look good on those, then I will send him back to look for more, but when he starts pulling numbers off the ceiling, then I think it is time to stop). What do you think? Thanks in advance. Tom Lodi, CA

Joel, Just noticed your tag line. How long ago were you in? What stations? I was in Jan 1984 to Dec 1987. San Francisco Yerba Buena Island Small Boat Station, Estartit Spain Loran Station, and Bodega Bay Small Boat Station. Boastwains Mate 2nd. Tom Lodi, CA

I'm in. You will be in my prayers. May God give you strength, courage, and peace during these difficult times. Tom Lodi, CA

How much income is going to be reported? How much were his "draws"? Can he take the tax hit by showing no salary, and including the dividend "draws" into income? When did he begin his business? Is it possible he did not start really begin the business in Fla until later in the year and can go with a fiscal year? If so, he could then make a payroll check out and pay back the loans from the corporation. Is it possible that he can have a corp in FL and a sole proprietorship in Texas and report them separately and the corp loaned some money to the proprietor? There could be some notes executed that would include the interest that is to be paid as a balloon at the end of the 18-24 month term of the note. Way to many questions, not enough info to really get a good answer. There are possibilities to minimize the taxes. It just takes a little working through. Tom Lodi, CA

I can vouch for that. I am one of the few people on this board who have actually had the pleasure of meeting this beautiful southern belle. Tom Lodi, CA

Booger, The conversation between you and Joe is probably what all of us are thinking right now. There is a part that wants to beleive that ATX is going to be as good or better than we have come to expect. There is another part that believes CCH has damaged it so much that it will damage our practices. Who to believe, and how much faith to put into that entity is the 68,000 dollar question. I don't trust CCH for many of the reasons Joe has stated. You seem to believe it will all be OK. One of us will be right, but we won't know until next year. Each of us will be making decisions based on our beliefs about CCH and other software companies. BTW, I am skeptical too about the TRX, but that does not mean I won't take a look at it. It may like ATX was a few years ago - a good product, great support, low price. Probably not for $299, but I will take a peek anyway. Tom Lodi, CA

Wow, thanks for taking the time to go to all that trouble. I am glad you can see where my confusion came from. Tom Lodi, CA

I know you say you don't want an all in one, but I LOVE my Canon MF3110 print/copy/scan. The toners are expensive and don't last as long as I would like, but the ability to scan and copy right at my desk as well as 22 ppm works for me. I have 3 of them. I would not even think of having just a printer ever again. Tom Lodi, CA

I will pray for you. And I will ask that God provide you with the knowledge, wisdom, and confidence to impart your teachings in a way that glorifies Jesus Christ. I am sure you will do extremely well. And if I may follow up one more time. http://www.guidestoneretirement.org/~/medi...dule%20pdf.ashx I don't know how to paste a link, but this is the form directly from the Guidestone website. If you look at the document, in section 1, it lists minister housing allowance as compensation for purposes of contributions. Is there a chance you have time to look at this website and comment? I know you are extremely busy and you are giving professional advice for free. I am just so confused now. I thought housing allowances were excluded, then I thought they were allowed, now I don't have a clue. Thanks in Advance Mike. Tom Lodi, CA

I am sorry to say that you all are going about this the wrong way. By answering all 0 or 1 million, you make it easy for them to screen you out. You need to intentionally answer incorrectly within the bell curve, so that you skew the data without them knowing it. So, most of us should be answering that we are 20-30 something, with masters degrees and 500-1000 client bases, 5 employees and 2 locations. Our clients are all 20-30 something with AGI's in the 100,000 range. We do approximately 20% RALs and 30% other bank products. 30% of our clients have business returns and we do write-up work for 20% of our clients. 15% of our clients have partnerships, and 25% have active trusts for which we prepare the tax returns and maintain the trust accounting. Now, If 150 of us filled out the survey just like above, it would probably make it into the totals and skew the data. CCH would then either have to scrap the results if they thought it was invalid, or they would make decisions based on incorrect data, and then we can sit back and laugh at them. Wait till you see the advertising for the trust accounting and returns fill you e-mail in box. Just a thought. Tom Lodi, CA

I don't have any problems, but I am still on QB 2003 Pro. I have it open almost all the time with ATX 07, 06,05, 04 depending on what I am doing. I don't notice any perfomance issues with ATX with it open. Tom Lodi, CA

You work too hard my friend. I guess the paychecks are bigger in Texas also. I bought the tickets Friday. We are flying out on a red eye July 2nd and will arrive early morning the 3rd in Hartford. Trying to find a hotel in Boston for the 4th without costing one of your overtime paychecks. Not going so well. But Patty and the boys are really looking forward to the trip. Still planning to go to Plymouth, Salem, Kennebunkport, Boston, and NYC before coming back to Hartford to fly home. I need to look at the Matinee theater schedule for that Saturday in NY. I am threatening my kids to take them to Shakespear if they are not good. I see you have good weather right now. Been over to the island for spring break? Tom Lodi, CA

That is funny. You have been scarce on the board lately. Is every thing OK down there? Tom Lodi, CA