Roberts

living in the mid-west does have its advantages. MichaelMars - if your son is interested in engineering - he should look at Illinois. Tremendous engineering program especially electrical. Friend's daughter is deciding between Purdue and Alabama. Here's what's odd - grades aren't good enough to get into Illinois - Alabama will give her a full-ride scholarship. Friend told me if she goes to Alabama for two years and then transfer anywhere she wants - they'll pay for her to get a masters. I suspect that will be her deciding factor. Several SEC schools offer fantastic scholarship opportunities to lure in top students from out of state to boost up their academic rankings. Alabama, Arkansas and Ole' Miss are favorites in our area.

It's only a matter of time until I shift all my phone activity to my cell-phone / focused on wifi connections. There are multiple services available that give good rates. The problem = sprint and t-mobile are pretty horrible in rural areas around here (essentially non-existent) so that's an issue.

I never enter the information unless it is required for multiple reasons: 1. Do you charge clients to enter information that the IRS isn't interested in receiving? Do you inform the client you are doing so? 2. Why give the IRS information they don't want? If it's wrong, you've produced a problem which could have easily been avoided. 3. Having dealt with auditors and regulators - I NEVER give information unless I'm told or specifically asked. It will usually come back to bite me later.

Ikea sells stand up desks also. They don't have to be expensive. I wonder, how often do you really stand while working? I just go for walks throughout the office building a few times per day or around the block.

About the same as any other year. I do only a handful to returns in January - February 1st tends to be the watershed moment. 50% of my income comes from an estate attorney who brings me his client's returns. Every year the first one is right around February 5th. Another attorney is likely going to start doing that - he's informed me Feb 19th is when he'd start delivering. Haven't heard from the new guy in over a month so we'll see. My co-worker yelled at him on the phone so we'll see.

Client has a "loan" to his company where he already paid income tax but kept the money in his 1120S. He distributes a small amount to his wife every month to pay for groceries and such - why he doesn't just take a check for it all - no clue. He looks on the tax return and sees this loan dropping and freaks out - how could this possibly be happening? After explaining it to him what we've been doing the last 6-7 years, he declares he didn't write all the checks that he entered into Quickbooks and I should have known that (the checks oddly all clear the bank). To cap it all off - he asks if he shouldn't pay to the company the balance of the loan (that is owed to him) so that the company is debt free. Would that reduce his taxes? On Monday he wanted to know if he could reinvest his required minimum IRA distribution into a new IRA to eliminate his tax burden.

If you are ready to start collecting and want to maximize your check now - neither of the primary changes would impact that. The File and Suspend plan is essentially taking a small benefit now for a greater benefit later.

I received a virus just yesterday in what I thought was a pdf file. If you get one - be sure and do a bootscan of your startup because those little suckers are deeply hidden. Avast has an easy boot scan and it does a great / free job.

I didn't receive a card the last time I renewed. I keep my card tucked into my original (framed) Certificate of Enrollment and it shows me expiring in 2014. Yes I renewed.

I've purchased from Suppliesoutlet previously and I suspect they are no different than anywhere else. The cartridges always worked well. For the price, I can't imagine ever buying the product again in-store.

efile season doesn't start until the 19th so it would have been up and running long before then. I renewed back in November!

Agree with Abby. I scan all documents and keep them as pdf files. Just me but if you use a "file cabinet" software program, you are bound to that company and the price increases will eventually drive you nuts. My tax software allows me to put those pdf files into the return for later access - I rarely do so. I really like my tax software but refuse to bind myself to it so that I can't easily leave if required. I don't do scan and fill either. Don't trust them and if I'm verifying numbers, I may as well enter them myself and accept responsibility for the entries. I also do returns with 2 computer screens. One has this years software - the second has last years running so I can immediately look back and forth. On the second screen I can quickly and easily look up last years pdf file of documents if so inclined while I keep the primary return in front of me.

So does the IRS require this information? My state doesn't currently require it.

For some people, charities are little more than competition to greater government service dollars. If an all powerful centralized government is the answer in the war on poverty, surely claims against their wealth and power are destructive? There have been comments lately that even charitable hospitals are undermining the greater good because they are avoiding the payment of due tax dollars.

bought a cheap HP with Win10 installed. Returned it about 8 hours later. Didn't work with that stations Canon printer and Canon said there wouldn't be a driver offered that would work with Win10. It's not that old of a printer. Don't know if the computer was bad, the keyboard or the software but it wasn't recognizing the keyboard that came with the computer (it would only notice about 1/3rd of the keys pressed but then notice them all for a while the return back), it wasn't installing software required like Adobe (computer repeatedly locked up) and it generally was unusable. Purchased a mini-PC with Win8.1 and it works like a dream. Well sort of. The power button is funky. I'm getting too old to figure out the new operating systems. I install Classic Shell and make it look like an old one. I just simply can't find things on the new systems in a timely fashion. Since it's not the computer I use - I'm not learning until required.

I'm not registering for their service to get their white paper. Password protection is meaningless and has been mentioned here previously. Encryption w/ password protection is not the same thing.

Old versions of adobe would password protect without encrypting. Same is true with Microsoft Office with Word and Excel files. There were websites were you could upload the file and they would crack it open in seconds making the password protection meaningless. That is NOT the same as encrypting the pdf file. Even 128bit encryption can take over 100 years for a piece of software to crack it. There are TONS of excel files out there where they password protect so you can't manipulate the data - those passwords are easily broken making them virtually worthless.

I use Medlin for payroll - it does the job well. I'd trust their accounting software if I needed it.

For Cnet it depends on the software file. When installing the file, often times the normal agreement box that you click "OK" is actually an agreement to accept malware. You need to read those with CNET these days. I avoid them whenever possible because I've made the mistake and installed junk that took forever to get rid of.

I use a free piece of software called Primopdf. When you want an encrypted PDF just print your file. You change the printer for that particular job to Primopdf and instead of printing - it generates a pdf file. With the FREE software you can choose to encrypt the pdf file with whatever password you want. Very easy. It's a <7 mb program so it doesn't bog down your system. Do NOT download from CNET as they'll get you with malware if you aren't careful at the install. I encrypt any attachment that I send out because it looks more professional and adds perceived value to whatever I'm sending them. I also use FREE software called Advanced Scan to PDF Free to generate pdf files from things I scan. It's also a tiny program, works exceptionally quickly (far faster than anything else I've used) and does a solid job. Only wish is that it would allow custom file names but I can manually rename the pdf files on my own.

I agree with this 100%. There isn't a magical rule that says our fees should be equal for each client. Nice clients who ask lots of questions aren't charged at the same rate as jerky clients who ask a lot of questions. Everything is in perspective. My business is small enough to remember these things - if larger - just make a note on their return to remind you when you update the client list for the new tax season to charge $x more for X service.

additional services could be tax prep, trustee fees, the fee may include other accounts not being charged at all (Charitable trust), they may have foreign accounts with additional paperwork, there may be concierge services for the family including some legal representation included in the fee. There may be direct ownership of real estate management fees included as asset fees. The client may have chosen a day trading type service. Every firm offers a different variety of services. The flat fee versus paying individually per hour or per trade as a commission isn't an easy answer. A local journalist declared that any financial professional charging a commission was a suspect for over charging - horrible thought process IMO. Paying $500 to buy $40,000 of Exxon Mobil to own the next 40 years isn't a bad choice if they are providing you services. Paying .5% per year to own a 20 year bond? It's also easy to declare that anyone can do it on their own. The same could be said about tax preparation. We all know that's not the reality.

If a client wants to use my services in that way that's my fault, not their moral shortcoming. I obviously didn't impress upon them the value they receive for the fee I charge. Your customers have started multiple threads on this site outlining the shortcomings of the product and customer service provided. Do they have a moral obligation to utilize your product going forward regardless of that just because they utilized an option for a free season which YOU offered? I've been given coupons for free ice cream and free soda at the gas station when my local sports team wins big! If I take them up on that advertised offer, did I accept a moral obligation to forever buy my soda (or gas) at that gas station in the future?

My fee is determined by an analysis of all factors involved: How the client first came to me. Are they nice or jerks? How much do they earn and how that relates to ability to pay? Hours worked on the return and offseason time spent. How complicated the return is to prepare What did their previous preparer charge? My rate for a 1040, A, B and D can be anywhere from $100 up to $750. A 1041 can be anywhere from $150 to $1,000. A 1040, A, B and D with Schedule E can be $250-$1,000+. 1065 can range from $125 - $1,000+

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