Lion EA

I'm still working on 2008 and prior year returns that people brought in and a fiscal year 990 on extension. One partnership brought me their 2009 stuff, but those older ones are ahead of it.

A very :bday:

And, for pete's sake, for all new work, new copies of old work, anything that wasn't billed before -- definitely charge your new billing rates that you would use for a new client, especially for a one-time project and not likely to be a continuing client, and not your old, much-too-low rates that you charged him in the past !!!

Give him the telephone numbers to order copies of his filed returns (S&U, payroll, tax, etc.) from the taxing authorities as an alternative to your up-front, cash-only charge to make copies of prior returns -- but only those he has paid for in the past. List the prior work you have done for him for the last year or so and the fees he has paid. List the work you have done that is still unpaid and the fees and the total due and payable now. Have him list the additional work/copies he wants you to do, then add your fees and hand it back to him or fax it back if all of this is taking place via fax. Ask him for a time in which he will bring cash for you to hand over new work. I like the idea of checking with your local police for advice to be prepared.

A very :bday:

A very :bday:

A very :bday:

A very :bday:

You look exactly the same as last year! :rolleyes:

A very :bday:

For the test, you will work with the info you have. Knowing what the IRS tests for will help you eliminate extraneous info. Don't confuse investment income with income from a trade or business. I know there's a gray area in reality, but in the EA Exam the info will help you determine whether the question is about someone with a profit motive as the IRS applies that to a trade or business or someone just waiting out the market for a good time to sell. However, for now during tax season, you have real clients that you can and should question. Your exploration of all possibilities can save your clients money and make you more valuable to them and report their activity correctly on their tax returns and find things they can change during 2010 to help them even more. So, let Jainen play devil's advocate and suggest the questions we could ask to clarify a real client's situation in our mind so we can best help them.

A very :bday:

She represented herself. It was very time-consuming, however.

I like to be aware of the items might clients might have read and be asking me about, so I do appreciate when posters link to the media. It helps me be prepared for that question someone will be sure to ask me tomorrow at church or that phone call asking me what I know about that topic.

I think it's a choice in Office Manager for ProSystem fx. I ask them to send the email to me and not to my client directly who would be overwhelmed by the boilerplate stuff. If I have an email address for that client, I forward it as above. More personal than Form 9325. But, I like it mainly as a reminder to check for efile acknowledgments, especially from the states, and as an excuse to write to the client. If I have any reminders, such as funding their IRA or contacting me about how their college student should fill out his CT-W2 or whatever, I include that in my personal message at the top of the forward. Here's what arrives in my mailbox: -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Date: 13 Oct 2009 11:10:02 -0500 Subject: 2008 Electronic Return Accepted by the IRS CLIENT NAME IS HERE, You are receiving this e-mail on behalf of DOLLARS & SENSE, LLC.Your electronically filed federal income tax return for tax year 2008 was accepted by the IRS on 10/13/2009. Your return was sent to the Andover Service Center. Your Declaration Control Number is 000-63282-00110-9 . Your return was accepted using a PIN. (You entered a PIN or authorized the preparer to enter a PIN for you. PLEASE DO NOT SEND A PAPER COPY OF YOUR RETURN TO THE IRS. IF YOU DO, IT WILL DELAY THE PROCESSING OF THE RETURN. IF YOU NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE TO YOUR RETURN: If you need to make a change or correct the return you filed electronically, you should send a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to the IRS submission processing center that processes paper returns for your area. The address is available at www.irs.gov, or you can call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-829-1040. IF YOU NEED TO ASK ABOUT YOUR REFUND: The IRS will notify your Electronic Return Originator (ERO) when they accept your return, usually within 48 hours. If your return wasn't accepted, the IRS will notify your ERO of the reasons for rejection. If it has been more than three weeks since the IRS accepted your return and you have not received your refund, go to www.irs.gov and click on "Where's My Refund". Exception: please allow 4 to 6 weeks for processing of conditionally accepted returns. Also, you can call the IRS toll-free TeleTax return information number, 1-800-829-4477, to check the status of your refund. You will need to know the first social security number shown on your return, your filing status, and the exact amount of the refund you expect. TeleTax should give you the date for mailing or depositing your refund. You should receive your refund check within 30 days of the date given by TeleTax, or within one week of that date if you chose direct deposit. If you don't receive it by then, or if Tele-Tax does not give your refund information, call the Refund Hotline at 1-800-829-1954. The IRS uses refunds to cover overdue taxes and notifies you when this occurs. The Financial Management Service (FMS) offsets refunds through the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to cover past due child support, federal agency non-tax debts such as student loans and state income tax obligations. FMS sends you an offset notice if it applies your refund or part of your refund to non-tax debts. If you have questions about the offset, contact the agency identified in the notice. You may also call the Treasury Offset Program Call Center at 1-800-304-3107, if you have additional questions. IF YOU OWE TAX: If your e-filed return has a balance due, you must pay the amount you owe by the prescribed due date. If you paid by electronic funds withdrawal (direct debit) or by credit card while e-filing your return, no voucher is needed. To use your credit card to pay by phone or Internet, you may call, toll free, 1-888-PAY-1040 (1-888-729-1040) or 1-800-2PAY-TAX (1-800-272-9829), or visit www.PAY1040.com or www.officialpayments.com. You may use a VISA® card, American Express® Card, Discover Card® or MasterCard® card. The service providers, based on the amount you are paying, will charge a convenience fee. The fees may vary between providers. You will be told the amount of the fee during the transaction and you will be given the option to continue or end the transaction. To learn more about credit or debit card payment options, visit www.irs.gov keyword e-pay. If you are not paying electronically, you may use the Form 1040-V, payment voucher. You will receive the payment voucher in the mail or you can obtain a payment voucher from your electronic filer. If the IRS doesn't receive your payment by the prescribed due date, you will receive a notice that requests full payment of the tax due, plus penalties and interest. If you can't pay the amount in full, please complete Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request. To obtain a paper Form 9465, you may call 1-800-829-3676 or visit www.irs.gov. Mail the paper form to the address in the form's instructions. IF YOU NEED TO INQUIRE ABOUT YOUR ELECTRONIC FUNDS WITHDRAWAL PAYMENT: You can call 1-888-353-4537, toll-free, to inquire about the status of an electronic funds withdrawal payment. If there is a change to the bank account information included on your return, you should call this number to cancel a scheduled payment. You will need the social security number of the first person listed on the tax return, the payment amount and the bank account number. Cancellation requests must be received no later than 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, two business days prior to the scheduled payment date. REFUND ANTICIPATION LOANS: A refund anticipation loan is a loan made to you based on the refund you expect to receive. This loan is a contract between you and a lender. The IRS is not involved in this contract, can't grant or deny the loan, and can't answer any questions about it. If you have any questions about a refund anticipation loan, contact your electronic filer or the lender. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL. E-Mail was generated automatically from your request to be notified by e-mail rather than by postcard and is not monitored for incoming e-mail traffic. If you need assistance or have a question, please contact CCH Tax Support at 1-800-739-9998. Thank you.

Don't work with land contracts, but sounds as if the original purchase was with the land contract and the subsequent mortgage is more like a refinancing of the prior purchase. If so, that would make the purchase date too early for the new law for existing homebuyers.

I use the email from CCH that appears to be from the IRS acknowledging receipt. I forward it to the client with a personal note summing up the IRS info and adding the state(s) info and including anything I want them to remember: "Your federal income tax return was accepted by the IRS on 14 October 2009 as explained in the forward below. Your CT income tax return was accepted on 15 October 2009, but CT does not send out a separate acknowledgment. Give me a call after you return to CT so you can pick up your file copies. Please remember that you can contact me at any time with questions or concerns."

A very :bday:

I don't file (will change as I do more scanning into computer and less filing of paper in cabinets) until I have the signed 8879 or client has his mailing copy. Then, I keep the signed 8879s in a stack in constant view until I receive the email (from CCH?) for Federal acceptance which triggers me to check for state acceptance, since CT is about a day later than IRS. When everything's accepted for a return, I file its 8879. If an older 8879 is in my stack with newer ones being accepted, I know to go back in and make sure I actually efiled that return. I do get an email for a federal rejection also, so I know to correct and re-efile. I might not immediately file, but I would move to my to-be-filed box when I no longer have to track that return or 8879. From time to time, I print out a list of efiled returns and compare against my return manager, or have someone else compare to get a second set of eyes on it.

The company line is that a new client gets an experienced preparer but a returning client can get a new preparer. They've researched that a returning client is more likely to forgive a problem and return again the next year, even if not to the same preparer. In practice, however, the experienced preparers can be totally filled with their "regular" clients and have no openings for new clients. The new preparer can get any client not requesting a specific preparer and be in waaaay over his head. You're relying on manager-types and the front desk to manage traffic flow, and the receptionists (called by a different title) are the least trained, least knowledgeable, etc.! A new client can find himself a good, experienced HRB preparer if he makes it clear that he has some more complex issues and what they are and is willing to wait, or better yet, to drop off his information and undergo the interview via telephone. Also, the Premium offices are not supposed to have any new preparers, but charge a premium over the usual fee. Sometimes an office can be filled with too many new preparers and not enough experienced ones, just a fluke of geography and hiring that season. Office managers are not necessarily seasoned preparers, so you can't always get good advice there, but they will know their people as the season progresses, know their strengths and weaknesses. A client can always speak up for himself, state that he's not comfortable with the preparer's level of skill with his return, and request another preparer. But, most probably just pick up and go to a different office or different franchise.

The HRB fee is based on the forms, schedules, worksheets, lines, etc., in the return and not on the experience of the preparer. I worked for Block for years (although only 1 1/2 in a regular office; Premium the rest of the time) and charged whatever the computer calculated or the price list said or the Block hourly rate. I had one nice couple at about $139 for years. Gentleman is still with me (wife passed away a couple of years ago) at $140 now. But, I don't do any other returns that low and didn't even while still at Block. You can't tell how experienced your preparer is at Block by the price.

Seldom used ATX for personal returns. But, have worked with software that has a code for puts that allows the dates to be right for them.

Unlike the EA exam, the new exam covers personal returns or the other with personal and small business 1040 returns. So, no need to study up on corporations if you don't want. The official notice included a chapter covering the test topics.<br><br>HRB has had its own certification process for a few years, tests and 30 hours of education required each year. And, that's after passing the Basic test. So, HRB preparers certainly have the opportunity to be well enough educated to pass this new IRS test. Obviously, we've all met or seen HRB preparers who don't care or are run over by clients demanding their way.&nbsp; There are so many of them, that we can come across lots that we wouldn't want to work with.&nbsp; And, some offices seem to attract them.<br><br>Nothing will get rid of all bad preparers, those who chose to be bad and those that just are not good. But, registration might make it easier to track them and get rid of a few. Of course, I can say all of this as an EA who won't have to take a new test and already takes plenty of courses each year!<br><br>Prometrics has 5000 exam centers.&nbsp; You shouldn't have to drive far.&nbsp; When I took the two-day EA exam, I really didn't want to have to take it ever again.&nbsp; And, the only site in CT in those days before Prometrics was a couple hours away with bad rush hour traffic.&nbsp; So, I booked a room at the hotel for two nights.&nbsp; It was well worth the price to be well-rested and unrushed and pass all four parts and be done with it evermore!&nbsp; Besides, I was already working in the field for many years, so it was business travel.&nbsp; The IRS even had a special rate with the hotel.<br>

Marilyn, now that the EA exam is given by Prometrics in all of their locations, you might find a closer site than when the IRS administered it in one or a few locations in each state. If so, that might make more sense for you than taking the new preparer exam where ever the IRS decides to give it in your state.

If you use QB, you can efile all payroll forms via QB.