BulldogTom

Hi Eli!

HSBC, River City, Republic, Santa Barbara and one more that isn't yet confirmed.

That is very interesting. I heard that HSBC was completely out of the Tax Return Banking. This is the first I have heard that they will be back next year.

Tom

Lodi, CA

Please do not respond if you are going to bash RALs. I don't like them, but they are a necessary evil to level the playing field with my competition.

Do any of you know what you are going to do about bank products if you renew with ATX?

I was with Republic for 3 years with ATX, but it never worked well. ATX and Republic did not play well. I finally switched to HSBC last year, and everything went perfect. But lo and behold, there will be no HSBC this year. I loved Santa Barbra when I was with ProSeries, and I see that Drake has a relationship with them.

The RAL crowd is the most fickle of them all. They will bail in a heartbeat if they think their check is going to get held up even one day.

There are some of my clients that just want to pay me out of the refund, and while I will hold a check until the refund arrives for some of them, I like the security of knowing that I will get paid when the refund is funded.

I need a solid bank to work with.

What are the rest of you who offer bank products going to do? Do you know which banks for sure are going to be offered by ATX? Any word on if they will be integrated like HSBC in the ATX software?

Thanks for your input.

Tom

Lodi, CA

I switched to Drake. Their price increase would have put me into MAX instead of 1040 Office. Max is more expensive then Drake and I'll byte the bullet and learn a new program this year instead of next year.

I met with the Drake people at Super Seminar last weekend. They should have put better salespeople in their booth. I was ready to switch until they opened their mouths, now I am not sure.

Can you tell me what features in the software (not the company) you thought were compelling to make the move from ATX? Price is not a factor for me as Max and Drake costs are so similar that I won't notice the difference. I have loaded the 2006 Drake software and started the setup process and will begin working returns in the next few weeks.

I would appreciate your comments.

PS, now I think I am going to forego both the Drake and ATX early discounts and wait until November. I am not ready to trust ATX, or to switch to a new software yet either.

Tom

Lodi, CA

Thank you Maribeth. Your help is appreciated.

Tom

Lodi, CA

Tom, if you use the NOL carry-forward worksheet, it should show the new NOL added and the remainder of the old NOL carried forward, and combine them, with none of it used in 05. I always attach that worksheet as a 'supporting document' with the 1045. On the 1045 itself, yes, I show the same amount in both columns.

But there was no carry forward on the 2005 NOL. I took the entire amount back to 2003 and carried nothing forward. So there is no worksheet to move forward into 2004. Now I am carrying 2006 back to 2004. That part is easy.

My question is what to show for the 2005 year on the 1045. I think you are saying to show the 2005 amounts on the 1045 and adjust nothing. Then I will carry the 9K forward to 2007, and I will use the NOL Carry Forward worksheet next year?

Am I understanding you correctly?

Tom

Lodi, CA

Tom,

I just went to an NOL seminar yesterday so i hope that I can help you with your question. The instructor said that the IRS now wants us to figure the intervening years calculation and place just the amount of the NOL that will be used in that specific year on the 1045. So in your second year, which already was a loss year, none of the 2006 NOl will be used. So I would make both columns the same to show that none of the carryback was used in that year.

I hope that I answered the question that you asked!

Maribeth

Thank you Maribeth. I think you answered my question. But please allow me to understand what I thought you meant for me to hear from what you said?

So I will show the amount of the NOL that can be used on the column for the second preceeding year (2004), and in the next column (first preceeding year) I will show the originally filed 2005, with no adjustments?

Then I will attach (per KC's post below) the carryforward worksheet?

Am I on target?

Thanks again for your help.

Tom

Lodi, CA

I appologize for not having done the research yet, but I thought I would ask here first since I won't get a chance to look it up for a few days.

Client has an NOL in 2005. I carried back the whole thing to 2003. All good, no issues. Client has already spent the check.

Client has an NOL again in 2006. I carried most of it back to 2004. 9K left. Since 2005 was also an NOL, what do I show on the 1045 for that year? Do I leave the 2005 numbers as originally filed, and carry the amount forward? Or do I leave that column blank, and carry forward (I think that will make the IRS computers go tilt)?

Any help would be appreciated. I have put this on the shelf since the end of tax season and need to actually get it done sometime this summer. But I have had more fun building a redwood deck and installing a hot tub in my back yard.

Tom

Lodi, CA

Tom, open the extension form in the return. Click on the ef form and blank out the pins. Create efile, choose extension, and presto. It's done. So easy. Hope that helps. Neil

I already sent the snail mail version, but I do appreciate the information. If I am with ATX next year, I am sure it will be useful.

Tom

They don't have to sign the efile form; in fact, you have to remove all PIN info to get them to create. I started efiling them this year; so easy. The only ones I printed out were for people that had to send in checks. Even mine I had direct debited. Just like efiling 1099s; don't think I'll ever go back to paper.

Joan

OK, I have one client that I am putting on Extention. I was going to try to e-file it, but I could not get the signature, so I mailed it.

Could someone walk me through the process of e-filing an extention without the client to sign the form? And since I use Practitioner Pin for all my returns, how do I go about removing the pin?

Any help appreciated.

Tom

Lodi, CA

Oh Tommmmmm, Does 38-6 ring a bell?

(Ok..I agree...my tiger looks sick, but will have to do for the time being!)

I am sure I don't know what you are talking about. Was that ancient history or something?

I was really bummed that I did not get to go to that game. Dispite the outcome, it would have been a trip of a lifetime. And of course, hope springs eternal in Bulldog land. We get a Big12 team in Bulldog Stadium this year (Kansas State).

And in two months, my oldest son (age 13, 6'1", 200lb, nose tackle) will be going to the Fresno State football camp. Hopefully he will catch coach Hill's attention and get on his recruiting list in a couple of years. Since he was 7, it was his dream to play for Coach Hill.

What will your kitty cats do with all the talent they are losing (Russel, Bowe, Landry)? Might be a re-building year in the Bayou?

Tom

Lodi, CA

Cathy,

Here Kitty Kitty? Bring it on.

Tom

It shows up when people view your profile. What you may be looking for is the Avatar, which appears under your name when you post.

OK, it took a while, but now I think I have my "Avatar".

It is funny that I never knew what an "Avatar" was, even though my 11 year old watches the cartoon "Avatar - the last airbender" every single day.

Thanks for the help.

Tom

Lodi, CA

I added a picture to my profile. I am just checking to see when it shows up.

Tom

Lodi, CA

Where are you seeing the prices for next year. I went to the catalog and it is the same price as last year for MAX ($1,065). I have a feeling that is not the 2007 price. Or is it?

I got the e-mail but it does not have a price, just a 10% discount for ordering early. I am not inclined to order early, because I don't know what is going to be there when tax season comes along. I guess I am just pessimistic (sp?).

I am going to be looking at Drake. They are going to have a booth at the CSEA Super Seminar in Reno, so I will check it out there. If I don't like it, I still have time to get ATX's discount.

It is a shame that ATX was purchased by CCH, because this was the most flawless year they had. No real e-file screw ups (remember 3 years ago?) and all my CA forms were timely. I was looking forward to many more years with ATX, because they really got it right this year.

Oh well, we will see what the future holds, but I don't have high hopes for a long relationship with ATX.

Tom

Lodi, CA

Of the registered users so far, the avg age is 52.28 years with the oldest being 79 and the youngest 28. I guess you can see I have a little bit of free time on my hands

Eli,

I am real glad to see you got here. Too bad you are not up to your eyeballs in tax returns.

Tom

Lodi, CA

:unsure: I am looking for the tax court petition forms in ATX. I can get them online directly from the Tax Court Website, but I would rather have them as part of the client file in ATX. Not having any luck. Does ATX software include the tax court petition.

BTW, the client is divorced. Ex claimed the kids in 2005, but lived with her all year. He filed first, she got a notice of deficiency because she did nothing when the IRS notice of redetermination arrived. It came to me at this late stage, so I am helping her file the petition, knowing that we will get diverted to appeals for resolution. But I still need the client to file the petition to protect her rights.

Tom

Lodi, CA