Lion EA

Restricted Stock Units. One of the many flavors of employer stock options.

I'm working and have a client picking up on her way home from work. I'll be at church on Sunday but probably back at work (OIH) the rest of the day. My retired husband shopped and will cook a ham and scalloped potatoes. So I will take time out for a nice dinner with him. If I include a glass of wine, I'll probably end up napping. But still hope to get in at least one return Sunday. I might not answer my phone until Monday, except for call backs I'm expecting. Whoever set up tax season to include Passover and Easter and the Spring Forward time change just didn't think. Why not between Labor Day and Thanksgiving? And this year with the delay from Congress...! And, I got calls yesterday from two different clients who received corrected consolidated 1099s, one a second correction. Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Spring! Happy Weekend! Enjoy!

SBS? Does the new guy have a body guard?

And the two different clients who each received corrected broker statements today.

Watch fish? Guard guppies? Maybe a piranha?

Oh, gee, I have RSUs coming up, too. Every client has a new twist: foreclosure, TN, 1099-Q, biz expenses for a biz closed 10 years ago, an estate, a new trust, excess contributions to an HSA, RI withheld when his ship was docked in Newport Oregon, finding W-2s for the kids in with the parents stuff and the kids worked in more states with college and home and spending the summer with a friend, etc.

Tell her not to use any drink with red dye. A client was having trouble drinking all the fluid, using the prep stuff in water, so his doctor told him to add Kool-Aid. He did that and said it was worse. He'd used the Kool-Aid powder without adding any sugar!

You could show her the pictures!

Your client is the seller? Per TTB, When a put expires, seller reports the amount received for the put as a short-term capital gain. When a put is sold by the holder, this does not effect the seller. When a put is exercised, seller reduces the basis in the stock purchased by the amount received for the put. (even though you didn't ask about exercise!)

Just like Farrah Fawcett Majors! Seriously, I procrastinated for over a decade, so I know the feeling. But, with those soft tissues, you may not have any signs until three major organs are cancer-riddled. A new internist after my older doctor retired finally talked some sense into me. The procedure is nothing as you're asleep. Drinking a gallon of salty liquid is nasty, but no worse than some things we do for health or love or money! It's not as bad as the flu or food poisoning, really, and doesn't last as long, either. My cousin's kid laughs that he doesn't have to use the porta-potties on construction sites anymore. But, he'd give anything to not be wearing the bag and have severe diet restrictions and be taking lots of medications and taking time away from his family and work to go to a major medical center for tests every three months, not to mention the months out of work recuperating from his surgery. Have the colonoscopy. Do the prep on Sunday, have the procedure on Monday, be back at work after a great lunch out or at least by Tuesday. The doctor told my husband to take me out for a great dinner with wine! We stopped at Five Guys for lunch on the way home, but he wasn't off the hook and had to take me out to a nice dinner that night also.

My cousin sent me Dave Barry's article when I was procrastinating. His son is a colon cancer survivor, but only due to an hours long surgery that removed parts of three major organs. So, I finally made an appointment. Dave Barry tells the truth! Honestly. It took me 24 hours to down the gallons of liquid that tasted like wet salt. I love salty foods, but drinks should not be salty, with the exception of margaritas. Next time I will add tequila. My doctor's follow-up letter included his thank you for my thorough preparation! He did have to snip out a couple of polyps, not unusual for my age. But, the best part is that I don't have to return for five years. Get a colonoscopy. It's a medical procedure that can actually prevent cancer.

Great analogy, John.

Can you export to Excel? (I don't use ATX so don't know.) Maybe export so you have them all. Then delete the ATX form. Try a couple of transactions to see how the new form is working. If all is well, import from Excel.

If it was POM, then it paid for the client's additional tax, penalties, and interest, up to a maximum amount, maybe $5,000. So for a combined federal and state tax rate of 37%, for example, that's another $1,850 in 2012 taxes. But, I too am a former Blockhead from a Premium office where POM was included in the fees for everyone and had to explain it at the time of tax preparation and explain it again whenever anyone came in with a claim and then receive the irate complaints of the spouse at the time of preparing the following tax return. Still, I'd rather pay $1,850 a year later than pay $5,000 a year earlier. Not a bad trade, even if they were at a regular office and had to pay $20 or whatever to purchase POM.

Did you ask your software company?

It's not too late. You can send in the form separately now. (And, future years with the return.) Or she can make her hubby pay his bills or help him pay his bills.

Thank you very much for sharing, Bart. That's a great spreadsheet to have for these last weeks!

And, the proud grandfather (money manager who funded his grandson's account) sent me a picture of his eight-year-old grandson signing his first tax return. Priceless!

Clay and Margaret: ditto! John: I agree with you, but new client (referral from a long-time client who's a source of many referrals) is adamant that her IA will be nullified if they don't pay by 15 April, and she didn't agree with my suggestion to pay with the extension. I'm starting their return now; if everything's in their envelope, I'll complete it today. Maybe they misbehaved in the past. They're both sales people with wildly fluctuating income, so maybe 2010 wasn't the first time they didn't make ES and had to go on an IA and got a stern warning from the IRS. If I complete their returns (a couple of states and all the usual stuff like child care, Goodwill donations, investments, and a really lot of 2106 expenses for both of them), then in future years I will NOT be this accommodating; I'm doing it for my long-time clients who are nice.

Just had my first TN e-file accepted. Not bad for a CT yankee.

I started talking extensions, on a case by case basis, 1 March. I'd hoped to actually file them by now, but maybe next weekend. It's going to be a higher number for me, waiting on forms, more with K-1s not out yet, corrected statements from brokers, clients not having everything when they first drop off, and new issues with old clients (a foreclosure here, an estate there, here a problem, there a problem, everywhere a problem, problem) have me barely treading water. And 2011 returns brought in this year and 2011 letters. And more states than usual. I've been blaming Congress, but my clients created a lot of issues too. And, everyone's fussing about not being first in my queue. This one can't go on extension or she'll lose her installment agreement, this one can't because she needs her FAFSA, this one can't with the baby due in May, etc. "I know my return won't be ready until next week, but can you tell me how much I owe?" I let the telephone go to voice mail, but I'm starting to wait until I'm good and ready to answer emails now too.

That's the line for a deductible HSA contribution, one made directly by the taxpayer from after-tax money directly to the plan holder, not via payroll deduction. For instance, now that my husband is retired but still has his HDHP, he writes checks from our checking account to contribute to his HSA.

He probably didn't fill out a new withholding form with his NYC address.

Sleep late, laundry, catch up with biz clients. Going to a women's healing yoga workshop near my son's Inn later in April, so that will be my vacation week before delving into extensions. Clients are calling constantly now, so I may need to turn the ringer off the last two weeks of April until I start getting more done in May. Training for this summer's Appalachia Service Project; leave the last Saturday in June for 10 days. And, my twice rescheduled parachute jump with my kids which started out on my 65th birthday, but weather hasn't been cooperating.

I have an client who spends over $100,000 on his home health care aides. Takes out that amount from his IRA each year. His federal return balances out nicely with the income and the deductions. But he owes a bundle to the state which does not have itemized deductions! And, he'll be out of money next year. So sad.