Lion EA

Laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.

They were building the computer center after I started college in 1965. Had to have strong foundations and building (no tremors) and temperature controlled computer room. We used the keypunch machines and handed our pack of cards through a window, returning in three days for our printouts. Fortran and Fast Fortran. A sorority sister working for the business department used C as well. Took a few computer courses but was not a computer science major, so got no special privileges (couldn't get inside the air conditioned areas!). I still miss DOS where you were in charge of the commands, not some intermediary Windows. Type dir and see where things are, what's missing, etc. Now programs install other programs, mess with your registry, etc., and I'm in over my head tracking down a problem.

That's a great idea. For the savings over the NYC hotel, I can afford airfare! Maybe I'll go.

I knew we'd have some science fiction fans who would remember. My husband just watched the movie recently, but I was working and hadn't seen it in ages.

Our sympathies are with you while you deal with family matters. May you have strength to give your husband strength.

Can't point to a client this year. But, I know my clients that have K-1s have had Sec 179 and I e-file most of my clients. Any other diagnostics to give a better explanation of why you must paper file?

Anybody going to the IRS conference in Las Vegas? NYC? I could take the train into NYC each day, but by the time I pay for parking and train and get up before dawn... The Las Vegas hotel is the cheapest. Are they worth three days out of your life? Are the instructors any good?

I just remember that it was an acronym for something HAL 9000 or something in full? I had my dot matrix printer until I needed to print resumes and finally purchased an HP LaserJet 4L that I still have printing (not tax returns, too slow for that) but still beautiful print and all I've ever done is replace rollers once.

Congratulations! To JB and to his lucky, understanding fiance. Our 14th is Wednesday (second marriage for us both). Wishing you both long and loving lives.

I remember all of that. I guess I'm old. My first computer had no hard drive, but I was thrilled that it had two floppy drives so I could copy or use both program and data disks without swapping floppies! And, the monotone monitor. My ex-husband lugged both back from Singapore. No copyright laws, so lots of software on floppies.

It seems like so long ago that I'm foggy on the details, but I had a choice of the IRS e-mailing my clients or e-mailing ME on behalf of my clients when their returns are accepted. I chose ME and am glad I did, because the IRS e-mail seems a bit overwhelming with lots of info like what if you need to amend or have a bank product or.... So, I forward the IRS e-mail to my clients with my own brief note at the beginning telling them their return was accepted by the IRS on DATE as acknowledged in the email forwarded below and that the state(s) accepted on DATE(S) but do not send out a separate acknowledgment. I thank them for continuing to use me and remind them to contact me anytime blah blah. I've actually gotten a few thank yous from clients for following up.

I have been attaching the IRS e-mail to Form 8879 before filing. I take it my tax prep software would fill out and print Form 9325? Not sure if I could manage time before a direct deposit to get a personalized snail mail in their hands. But, I did love it when Block sent thank you notes and grumbled when they wouldn't let us contact clients that way anymore. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts on this. You're giving me lots of things to think about. Want my clients to know that I have their backs.

I wouldn't mind skipping the trip to the bank or being able to take a check over the telephone. Can I do that via one of QB's service? It'd be good to keep my vendors to a minimum, my learning curves, too. Let me know what you choose and how it works.

Thanks, folks. After being with Block who sent nothing after e-filing, I guess my forwarding on the IRS acknowledgment that is basically the Form 9325 should keep clients aware that I checked on their status for them. However, that was only to those for whom I have e-mail addresses. Need to collect more e-mail addresses. And, I did get some thank-yous in response, too, so obviously it was appreciated. I have the kind of clients that expect a little more than just file and forget. Thank you for your thoughts.

New models replace the old ones so fast that it's hard to offer any help other than my repair history. I always read Consumers' Reports before making a big purchase, but by the time they make it to print the models have changed! It's hard to go wrong at the price you were seeing, though. As long as you price out the consumables so you know what you're getting into. Good luck.

So, I was a Blockhead and never used Form 9325. Who uses it? Why? I have been forwarding the IRS e-mail acknowledgment to my clients for which I have e-mail; it seems to have the same information. (I don't have it go directly to them as it seems to be overkill, so I like to add my own short message at the top and mention the states, too.) Do I really need to add paper to mail to what has been an electronic filing? Too many years following Block's rules to grasp this Form.

That's my luck with Brother. Had a decent simple Brother fax. When it died, decided to upgrade and stick with Brother since I knew the controls. Well, went through about three in about a year with various problems. And, a Brother printer that came bundled with a computer or laptop similarly died within months. All had very light home use, not office. Been afraid of Brother ever since.

I'm like Bay. Went out on my own last year. Out in the boonies. Wanted to make it as easy as possible for clients to follow me. Take all major credit cards through QB. Easy for me and well worth the fees to get paid quickly and let clients choose their own payment method. Most think I won't take cards and bring their checkbooks. Some use my two drop-off points in neighboring towns; they can give me CC info over the telephone if they want me to drop off their returns. It's easier than taking checks to the bank. I'm happy with my system. I don't have the RAL crowd, so didn't want to use a bank service to deduct fees from clients' refunds. Letting them charge helps their cash flow and mine.

I have the older HP2550N which has served me well a couple of tax seasons. Its color is beautiful. It's fast, very fast in black only; a short pause before it starts printing, especially .pdf's and/or lots of color graphics, but then swoosh the pages come flying out. Everything I bought by Brother died quickly. I still own all the HP printers and all-in-ones I ever bought. My old HP4L is still printing, too slow for tax returns with a client waiting, but at my husband's computer; replaced the rollers once. He also has a very old color HP inkjet at his computer and an old all-in-one he uses mostly as a scanner but also as a color printer. I have the 2250 and a new all-in-one used mostly as a free-standing fax but also printer for my laptop. Had great luck with HP.

If he received direct payment for weddings or funerals or speaking or...he may have Schedule C income, also.

Do you then have to collect even more sales tax for the exotic dancer?

Isn't TaxWorks the one that HRB bought a year ago? Heard from some Blockheads that did NOT like it for their entity returns. I think Dennis (DTS) on The Tax Book board uses it; but he's shopping for new software now. Don't buy it too soon without getting some feedback from users.

Oh, I liked that a lot, Tom. I copied it into a file to save, 'cause I know I'll need it someday. Thank you for sharing.

Could the rent payment be a catch-up payment of past due rent now that the LLC came into some money?

Nice site, Catherine. That motivated me to add File Share. I'm usually able to use Mozilla FireFox. Once in a while, my site or e-mail or Site Builder or even this board acts funny under Mozilla; then I click the IE switch. The techies at Site Builder use and love Mozilla, so they'll get the kinks worked out someday.