Lion EA

He can take all the distributions he wants from previously taxed earnings. But, does that justify lowering his salary? Wouldn't his salary be based on what he does for the company? If that hasn't changed and if the total amount he's going to end up with doesn't change, as much as he'd like less salary and more distributions, he hasn't given me a business reason to reduce his salary. He wasn't looking to justify taking distributions, he was looking to justify lowering his salary while taking more distributions.

It would be a minor feature for me, good in a few instances. Just starting with the oldest (or with the earliest open year), completing one, then rolling forward to the next year, and on and on, saves a lot of typing of unchanged info and carries forward things like LTCG carryforwards. I get two or three a year who haven't filed for two years or more. Usually businesses, including Schedules C, and people with a lot of trades might wait for two or three years until they receive an IRS letter saying they didn't file for 200X. Less frequently, I get the taxpayer who hasn't filed for ten years or so. Now that I'm on my own and take new customers only from referrals, I don't get those non-filers who used to walk into H&R Block. Last year was my first year with ProSystem fx, so I might've misunderstood what was happening, but I swear it carried client information BACKWARD for someone who had more than one year to file. Nothing like an NOL, just name/address type stuff. Maybe I'm mis-remembering.

PS The Form 8888 is fairly new, allowing one refund to be split into more than one account, such as your IRA, savings, checking, brokerage account, etc. However, without Form 8888 and before it existed, you could directly deposit your refund. Again, hopefully in your own account, but I've seen others deposit without the name matching. And, I've seen a deposit get kicked back by a bank. Not on MY prepared returns, though.

And, even if you ignore what a paid preparer should not do but what an unknowing relative did in the past, you still have to worry about what a bank might do if you repeat this in the future. If the bank is paying attention, they will not deposit a refund in an account with a different name but will send it back to the IRS. Then, you'll be waiting weeks, months even, to receive a check in the mail. So, even if you're unaware of various regulations, you do want to make it as easy as possible for the IRS to return your money to you as quickly as possible and want the return name to match the account name. Don't forget to proofread the bank routing and account numbers, too. You keep our computers running smoothly, and we'll advise you on tax matters.

Is that the one for the elderly &/or disabled where you have to make a very, very small amount of money to get any benefit? Think I was close to using it once, but too much income.

But the OP asked about cutting salary in order to take MORE in distributions while taking the same overall. He just wants to distribute it differently. In other words, he has no business purpose for lowering his salary while simultaneously increasing his distributions. It's just tax avoidance. The company is not doing worse. Salaries in his field in his region have not dropped. What would he get paid for performing similar duties as an employee in a company in which he is not a shareholder? That would be a reason to reduce or increase his salary. If avoiding SE tax is the only reason he can give an auditor, you might want to suggest he research salaries to document a business reason for his change.

If the price is similar, I'd go with the more recent Office 2007 just because I'll be able to go longer before I have to upgrade again. I think for an "upgrade" you just have to have an earlier version installed on your computer. It's probably more a pricing thing, but it should bring in your settings from your earlier version.

Do you use QuickBooks or a write-up software for bookkeeping anyway? See if something you already work with has a payroll module available.

Back up now. And, if you don't have an external hard drive that you back up to, get one now. Two is even better, swapping them out every other day. Or, back up to the VMS server. When your computer crashes, you will be able to grab your external back up or download from VMS and be back up and running on a new or borrowed or rented or purchased computer fast. Good luck.

Was "Somebody" his barber or mechanic?

Hope this means fewer corrected forms from brokers arriving in March and later.

IRS starts accepting Friday 16 January. Check the ATX release dates for the forms you still need.

He's still going to get a 1099-R for his 401(k) distribution, retiree or not. And, unless he's filed any change of address notices, it will probably wind up in HER mailbox. Jainen gave you a likely scenario if that happens.

A very :bday:

Bob, so did I. Call Kyle. They are techies but know ATX and other software, too. A good combo for your needs.

I love HPs. They're workhorses. I also had an old HP 4L; my husband now uses it. I have a color 2550n which has been replaced by HP with a newer and cheaper model, maybe in the 2600 range. I might buy a black only with a small footprint and speedier printing this year or next. I've been watching sales at Staples and HP online, too. Some people swear by eBay and Craigslist.

Bob, you're gonna love these guys. Probably already know some from their old ATX days. Call Kyle to discuss your needs. Like you say, even if you can do it yourself, you don't have time during the season. I talked to Kyle and got set up with support plus off-site automatic backups. Then Susan solved my printing problem. At a time that was convenient for me, Thomas set me up for the backups, got things going to my external drive, also, worked on a restore to previous set point issue and taught me about defragging. Then he called me to set an appointment to make sure my computer was clean and at peak performance going into tax season; he checked on the previous restore issue, on Norton, installed a spyware program, set up automatic scans by everything, answered questions, etc. I've had hours and hours of service, all for $199, and have a year to go! And, they're around 24/7 during tax season. It's a bargain.

This type of issue might be one that Kyle and his crew at VMS could resolve.

But, he's not lowering his salary to save someone's job or to save the company, he wants to take a lower salary so he can take higher distributions. I realize that he has a strong personal reason for doing that, but does he have a business reason? If his only reason is tax avoidance, do you want to sign that return?

A very [And, it's nice to see Billy as our official greeter, again!]

I too sometimes leave it out of the government copy after preparing the balance sheet. But, that's usually because I'm not convinced the client did what he said instead of what's necessary for a "balancing" entry -- not me, I didn't take any money out of the company...

If you lowered the salary for any other employee, would he remain with you for long? Still be productive? Do you have a business reason for lowering your own salary? If you do something for tax reasons only and not for a business reason...

Wow, that's brilliant, Zeke!

it was soaked in milk, I think, as part of the preparation, and grilled on the bar-b-q outside, and eaten in a bun.

all the warnings scare me