BulldogTom

eeeeewwwwwwwww that smell.... can't ya smell that smell... eeeeewwwwwww that smell... the smell of death surrounds you.... Whisky bottle...brand new car...oak tree your in my way... there's to much coke...and too much smoke...look whats going on inside you.. eeeewwwwww that smell... I think that is how it goes. Tom Lodi, CA

It seems like a lot of you are registered for E-services with IRS. I have not because I just don't want to go through another hassle of setting up ANOTHER account, probably with a password, only to get spammed every day with a bunch of crap. Is e-services worth the hassle? I would like my letter, but that is the only reason so far that I would need to register for e-services. Anyone who would like to share their experiences? Tom Lodi, CA

Thanks Danielle. I forgot that I can't have a return open. DUH! Tom Lodi, CA

Help please. I want to make some chages to the billing master. Make some permanent choices (bill by form, show forms on front page of invoice). I do it every year and I think I forget how every year. Can someone please refresh my memory? Thanks Tom Lodi, CA

I just went in to check the printing on the checks and it said I was not enrolled. How did I get checks if I did not enroll? Had to go through the whole process again. New passwords (I think we should all use CCHsucks123 as our passwords - everyone of us), re enter all the info again, everything I did back in Novemeber. This must be ATX's way of keeping close tabs on who is on the websites. Then I had to run the test print and allow 2 installations of programs on my computer. This is scary. When this goes down, we are not going to get any help. Tom Lodi, CA

I got my checks today. Using SBBT. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am getting really scared about CCH. This is another "last minute suprise" from them. We are a couple of days away from starting the e-files and bank products, and they are just laying this "new process" on us. And it is not within the software anymore, but their secure website. It is out of our hands. I think this is going to be the worst season ever for bank products because of CCH greed. And what happens when the server or secure login does not work? Who will support this - let me give you a hint, they don't live in Carribou anymore. There will be no support. The phones will go dead just like the board last year. I am really worried. I am bailing on them as soon as this season is over. I cannot take this kind of stress from a corporation that is just greedy and treats its customers like they own them. I should have bailed on this company in June like I planned originally. Tom Lodi, CA

I think we all appreciate those of you who are helping out. Very sorry to hear that you were let go. CCH is making a grave mistake IMHO by letting so many outstanding Customer Focused employees go. But you are always welcome and appreciated in our community. Tom Lodi, cA

Thanks Beth. I am not happy about this, but I appreciate the response. Tom Lodi, CA

Nicole, Please allow me to beat a dead horse here. Is the $10 fee applied to any bank product, or is it just RAL's. I am putting my price sheets together and would like to make full disclosure about the transmission fees going to ATX to my clients. Thanks. Tom Lodil, CA

Are you thinking of the Federal Agency that clips federal tax refunds? I don't remember the name, but it is a code that you get when a refund is less than expected. Tom Lodi, CA

You are a great assistance, and I really appreciate your time on the board. If I sound perturbed, and slam ATX, it is not because of people like you, William, Kerry, etc, etc. The sales and support staff were always great. But management has got me stirred up right now. Thanks again for your input. Tom Lodi, CA

Is there another enrollment step? I signed up through ATX in November for SBBT. I got a confirmation and a marketing kit, but no checks. Is there something else I need to do? We are calling SBBT today to find out where we stand. They have been helpful in the past, so I hope to get some answers from them today. For all you EX-ATX employees (or currently employed) - Is there anyway to bypass ATX and deal directly with SBBT? Or some other bank? I would like to take ATX out of the equation becuase they don't seem to have it together this year on the bank products. I remember a few years ago we went through this crap with ATX and banks and I lost some customers. I can't afford to lose any this year (I am just making good headway in a new city after moving my practice from Fresno to Lodi). A bank product debacle would make my practice look really bad. I am worried - big time - that ATX is going to screw us on the bank products this year and not give a damn about it. They are going to take their fees for nothing, and leave us to explain why we have an additional fee for no service from ATX. Tom Lodi, CA

Hopefully, it is. And hopefully, he is looking for Mel in Hawaii to start a new product line. His non-compete must be up by about now. But please, no airline tickets. (sorry, I could not resist). Tom Lodi, CA

It has been rumored that he was here all the time - incognito. This is peculiar timing that he "came out in the open" just as the layoffs in Maine were announced. Several ATX (or ex-ATX) employees have just recently come on the board also. Since William has not spoken on the issue, we don't know for sure why he is now visable to us on this forum. I think we are all dying to know what the reason is, but because we all want his expertise for this upcoming year, we are respecting his silence. Tom Lodi, CA

Eric would have to kick me off the site and my pastor would kick me out of the church if I told you how I really feel. This is freaking robbery. I like the advertisement on the MAX that says "no hidden fees". I guess this is not hidden? They never told me about it, and still have not officially. In some license agreement? Who reads that crap anyway? And who understands it?. This is the last straw for me. I am going to go to another software next year, and I am going to campaign for everyone to go also. There is no good reason for ATX to get greedy like this. Tom Lodi, CA

And this is why we need a lawyer. How is it that ATX can charge a fee that they don't tell us about? To our customers? What else are they taking? Our clients personal information? Are they selling tax return info from our clients without telling us? I wish I knew a lawyer so I could ask if this is legal? We could have a nice class action against these dirty @$$^0!&$ if this is not legal. I am so steamed about this - if it was not too late in the year, I would dump this pile of crap company with their lies and deception. They should be taken out behind the woodshed and have the crap kicked out of them. No wonder they closed the other board. I am going to make it my mission this year to make life as difficult as possible for this company. They deserve nothing but the worst. Tom Lodi, CA

Wow, I was suprised to see you as the newest member on the stats page. WELCOME aboard - Welcome back. We missed you sweet Willy. Tom Lodi, CA

It seems like a conspiracy theory, but with 10 guests on the board, right after ATX canned the Maine office, do you think management is monitoring this board to check up on what we are saying about the jerks? Remember how they pulled the old ATX board at the end of last filing season when they thought they were being bashed? I bet they are looking at this board after their latest slap at their customers. It is NOT paranoia if they really are after you. Tom Lodi, CA

I don't file 1040A's. My clients go 1040EZ or 1040, and the EZ is more of a marketing pitch than a form preference. It takes the same amount of time to do a simple 1040 as a simple 1040A or EZ. So the Schedule 2 won't impact me. But the education credits and residential energy credits will impact about 25% of my clients Tom Lodi, CA

How many of you are going to offer to file the tax return without the education credits and residential energy credit, and then amend at a later date? Will you charge for the amended return Just Curious? Tom Lodi, CA

I worked for a company that had a religeous backup proceedure. It was done every night, and in the morning, the tape would be removed and put in a box on top of the server. When the building was burning, the accountant who devised this brilliant plan asked the plant manager to run into the fire and get them. Because he was having an affair with her, he was willing to try. The owner stopped him from going into the building just before the roof fell in. This is a true story. I was hired a few months after the fire and the firing of the accountant. Try getting your AR recreated when you have to rely on the customer to tell you how much they owe you. Try fighting a vendor when they insist you have not paid an invoice and you don't have any records to show you paid. Try working with your bank to to get copies of all the checks that cleared (those service charges for back statements and front and back copies of checks start adding up in a hurry). And worse of all, try filing your quarterly and year end payroll returns with no records. Oh yeah, this was a farming operation with over 600 employees, most with "questionable" documentation. Those who had their last paystubs actually got a fairly accurate W2. The IRS was kind enough to waive the penalties for the late filing of the returns. I make a data cd of all returns, QB company files, and all my documents every night during the tax season, and once a week or so in the off season. CD-R's go on sale for about $5 per 50 every once in a while, and I buy a couple of spindles when they do. Tom Lodi, CA

It has been over a year since I was with Republic, so this may not be the case anymore. 2 seasons ago (2005 tax returns processed in 2006), you would not print the check out of ATX, but out of the Republic software itself. The process went something like this: Prepare return, transmit to ATX, ATX transmits bank app to Republic, IRS issues ACK, ATX transmits ACK to Republic (at this point ATX is out of the equation), Republic sends you a check authorization, you print the check out of Republic software, you transmit check info to Republic via their software, Republic sends you info when IRS funds account, when check clears bank, and when your fees are deposited. You needed to connect to the bank every day for your information. The communication between ATX and Republic was not very good, leading to lots of "Where is my ACK and why haven't you sent it to the Bank" phone calls and posts on the other board to ATX. It is why I switched banks last year. HSBC is integrated into ATX, making the process smoother (last year was the best year I have ever had with bank products - even though I don't process very many of them). I did not have a single bank product problem last year (I think I did about 12 between Rals and ERC/RT's.) I hope this helps. It may not be the way Republic works this year, but it was how it was done in the past. Let me know if I can be of more help to you. Tom Lodi, CA

Blaming all of this on Bush is not fair. AMT has been a problem for years, and multiple congress' and the presidents have been including the revenue projections from AMT into their budgets knowing that they were never going to tax the middle class via AMT. It is just getting harder and harder the longer they put it off. This happens to land in GW's lap, but it ain't all him. It is not his tax cuts that caused all of this, even if they were a contributing factor. Mostly, it is politicians lying, then blaming someone else, then lying some more that got us into this fiasco. Tom Lodi, CA

OK, this may not be correct, but if I remember my partnership classes, you may be able to get to that result. I think you need to do a complete close of the book at the time of the split, and get a complete accounting of the capital accounts. Get the hard assets accounted for next. Hopefully, you will be short about 5K (25K X 20%). Value the intangible for the difference. Distribute his capital back to him in the form of the intangible. It is creative accounting, but if you do it correctly, it might work so long as all the income is properly accounted for and included on the K-1s. This is total unresearched. I am not an expert on Partnership taxation. I am just recalling some stuff from some classes I took. Tom Lodi, CA

<<No assets or money will change hands. The 20% partner simply ceases his involvement with the business>> That partnership interest must have had some value (positive or negative). That value was transfered to the remaining partner, which is an acquistion of a partnership interest to him, and a disposition of a partnership interest to the minority partner. In addition, the value of the client list that the minority partner took should also be evaluated. He may have traded the client list (intangible asset) for his partnership interest? Are there any debts in the partnership that the majority partner assumed? or that the minority partner is relieved of? There are many questions that need to be answered before any determination of tax consequences is made. And if I am reading this correctly, the partnership disolution only memorializes what happened LAST YEAR, when the tax consequences would apply. Tom Lodi, CA