Lion EA

Of course you did, Margaret. Thank you! That just shows that if I have to scroll, I can miss things. I honestly did scroll up to see who posted that unsolicited opinion, and saw Mar... and forgot the rest of your name by the time I scrolled back down. That probably says more about my short-term memory than it does about the need to do as little scrolling as possible when I'm in a hurry. And, Eric, I just noticed the Follow topic switch. I just toggled it to see how it'll work.

I just tried Eric's new Compressed Theme. I like it. More fits on my screen. My boards are on the left half of a landscape monitor (with my email on the right half) so this view lets more show. I'm less likely to miss a new thread or a new reply, need less scrolling. I'm going to use this for awhile to see if it's my favorite! Thank you, Eric. And, thank you, Judy, And, thank you, Marilyn, for your unsolicited opinion!

One of my favorite instructors, Tony Nitti of RubinBrown, taught a free course yesterday with three of his colleagues on PPP Forgiveness. There is still a lot we don't know: https://www.rubinbrown.com/Resources/covid-19-resource-center/covid-19-webinars.aspx Loans after a certain date default to 24 weeks, but can be an earlier date, probably. Loans prior to a certain date default to 8 weeks, but can elect 24 weeks -- but, by telling their bank or just using a longer-than-8-week period on their forgiveness application... Whereas the 1-year or-5-year repayment is definitely a negotiation with the lender. Maybe.

List the wash sales individually. I import, so all sales are listed individually. But, I know some preparers break out the wash sales individually and then enter the others in bulk.

They have decided that now that they've invested in their first house together (they lived in a house the H bought before they were married that met his needs at that time) and will be there for some time and both are maxing out their 401(k) and 403(b) with matches at work and started a 529 for their 1-year-old (plus H has IBM stock from his parents' days at that firm) that their next investment should be in solar. They see that as a good return on their money based on the high electricity costs in their area, and spent time developing scenarios. (H rebuilds and races cars for a hobby, dating back long before the marriage. So, I think they want to invest in something that improves the house for all three of them, something more tangible than paper investments -- at least, that's how I see them acting!)

I'd meant to say that eSign can be managed completely from the AssureSign site for NON-CCH/WK users. Yes, WK seems to be appearing on everything. And, my account number changed from my old six-digit number to a new ten-digit account number, which I haven't memorized yet.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/amended-eip-return

Thanx, Matthew. I know "the kids" got new bids after taking down dead trees, but I don't know what they are. They would have an interest-free loan for 18 months (or two years?) and are budgeting to pay it off in time. They did talk to friends in their general area, and claim repairs & maintenance are negligible. Their top three installation candidates are all long-time area companies owned by multiple electricians. They don't have $30k to put into the market at this time, so are not missing out on any investment income. Their electric bills have been much higher this year with the hot, humid summer plus both working from home plus their first full year with a baby. SIL's an engineer and stepdaughter was a math major working for a not-for-profit who plans their international conferences, so they did run numbers, set up spreadsheets, etc., that led them to turn down solar before dead trees came down and to re-explore solar now that their roof gets more sunshine. They investigated any CT rebates themselves, so I don't know what they discovered. So, with Interest $0, and no investments other than their 401(k), 403(b), and 529, and no CT credit that I know of, and even keeping the $5,000 for repairs in your numbers. Plus their 20-year energy savings would be about $60,000, not accounting for inflation; but they say this is their forever home, at least until all their children graduate college and move away from home (maybe by 2050 or so). So, the Cost is then $35,454 in their favor after ten years. Because of a divorce, they have three sets of parents telling them what to do! So, I try to stick to taxes. My biggest issue was the new W-4 and helping them reduce w/h to have more in their pockets this year, if they are expecting a solar credit next year or the year after. But, SIL was very reluctant to change his withholding. I fed them numbers and tried not to say what I would do (we do not have solar; we did add a whole-house generator due to hurricanes; we keep our w/h very low) and will smile and tell them they did good when this pandemic ends and we can visit them and see that they do or do not have solar panels on their roof. Thank you, everyone, for helping me work through this for my kids. PS: Talking to friends my age who are selling and downsizing, solar does seem to increase the resale value of homes in this area with high electric costs. Not that the kids expect that to be an issue for them in the near future.

You can make use of the "shared secret" and report the result in that client's Verifyle. YOU are doing the verification of your client's identity; it's not happening automatically by Verifyle. It may not be a big deal if you have only a few clients to use it, or once you get into a routine. I've heard that Verifyle has webinars and videos.

Here's a webinar that has a strong commercial element, but it's free (I think). You should be able to get some good ideas. https://practiceignition.zoom.us/webinar/register/1316007117987/WN_Z_2atlMCSymM2pcUpCJGIw

I hear Oregon is a beautiful state. Lots of green. Except during wildfires! With a temperate climate that I would probably prefer. I do love CT, but it's expensive. And, Fairfield County is snobby. Now that 10,000 New Yorkers fled to our area during Covid, the attitude is even worse. And, hurricanes! I miss the friendliness of the Midwest. And, my sister and cousins in IL. The Art Institute. But, not the rioting. I remember Chicago during the Democratic Convention in the 1960s, I think. But, the mob mentality is so much worse now, everywhere. I also lived in CA for a decade. I found that all the friendly people I met there had come from the Midwest.

eSign is a standalone. (It works well from within ProSystem fx as I can send for eSign on the same screen as exporting/holding a return to e-file.) It can be managed completely from the eSign/AssureSign website for CCH users. FileShare is part of CCH's SiteBuilder website; it might be available as a standalone. CCH also has a more robust portal available as a standalone; more features if you have employees &/or your biz clients have employees. Talk to your sales rep. CCH's small business unit now includes Pro fx and all the CCH products, except perhaps Axcess, so check it out. I would expect the small biz unit would work with your on pricing a bundle that meets your needs. I have found that most of what I use along with Pro fx is also available to ATX users, and often at a much lower cost. I love IntelliConnect (now AnswerConnect) but it was pricey. Some years back, it was available to ATX users at a much, much lower price. I calculated that I could purchase the cheapest ATX version plus buy IntelliConnect as an ATX user and pay less than I was paying for IntelliConnect., while still preparing returns on Pro fx. I talked to my rep, and he worked out an IntelliConnect discount for me.

Thank you for the updates. My sister still lives in the house where we grew up in Bellwood. I attended Proviso East/Maywood and Proviso West/Hillside (they moved the boundary line) High Schools and worked at Marshall Field's in Oak Park. Growing up, I liked nothing better than to take a bus and the L into the Loop on Saturdays to use the Chicago Public Library and go to a museum and window shop and eat lunch at Marshall Field's. My sister -- pre-pandemic and when she could walk better -- enjoyed the Chicago scene for cultural events followed by good restaurants with her friends (they called themselves the Marching & Eating Society). I need to call her this weekend. I own farmland (corn & beans) in Montgomery County that my grandfather purchased in the 1880s or earlier, only a few acres as I have five cousins who received part of the farm also. I root for the Cubs and the Bears and belong to a Facebook group called I Grew Up In Bellwood, Illinois. You can't take IL out of the girl. I graduated from Michigan State way back in the 1960s. I miss the Midwest.

There might be a limit on how many likes you can make in a time period.

Me, too!

If any of you use CCH's AnswerConnect or any of the research iterations of IntelliConnect, it can be "connected" to your browser (I use Chrome and IE and dabble in Edge). When you search, you'll get a line that says "Display CCH AnswerConnect search results." Click on that to get AnswerConnect results. It doesn't take up screen space when you don't want your AnswerConnect results (or when there aren't any, such as searching for your dentist's phone number). It's always at work in the background. No need to first open AnswerConnect or be within a tax return.

I use FileShare that's included in my CCH SiteBuilder web site along with CCH's eSign that handles signatures as well as delivering a digital return copy. I had NO one come into my home office this year. Everyone, except for young kids with no digital footprint yet, was able to sign via eSign (now that NY finally accepts electronic signatures). For the kids who "failed" eSign, I uploaded signature pages to FileShare. Talk to your Drake rep about what they might offer &/or what they've found that works best with Drake. NAEA offers Verifyle free as a member benefit. Maybe NATP does also. Most of my clients still want their physical "tax folders," so I mail them (actually, Hubby mails them for me) when I have time. Some of my elderly clients don't have access to a scanner, so they mail me their tax documents/information, or UPS/FedEx/etc. The best thing I did when I created my home office was install a large mail slot in my front door for local clients to drop off. Contactless; I let their envelopes set for three days in my entryway.

Margaret and I were posting at the same time!

I think you have to do that with Verifyle, also. And, I have clients without printers, and not just the elderly. The young do everything on their smart phones and don't print anything!

If using eSign for MFJ, each spouse need an separate email. Each spouse gets an email on my behalf via eSign and follows the instructions. eSign combines the signatures and sends me an 8879 with both signatures and dates on it. I had a couple this year where the husband doesn't have email. Wife had email and could have one also at her work, so she had me use one for her and one for hubby, and all worked fine.

That makes me so sad, I have no words. I hope you're staying safe and well.

Lawry's is closing?!

If no touch screen, but a mouse, a client can use their mouse to sign.

Your tax prep software or internet provider or...might have a simple website that includes a simple portal. I use CCH's SiteBuilder website that includes FileShare. If you're an NAEA member (or NATP?) you can use Verifyle as a free member benefit to communicate securely with your clients, including exchanging documents. No clients came to my home office this year! They uploaded to FileShare, mailed, faxed (I use eFax right into my computer), FedEx/UPSed, and even dropped through the large mail slot in my front door (I let those papers sit in my entryway for three days). I have clients from CA to CT, FL to MA, TN to CO, 13 states in all.

They can use their finger on their smart phone or touch screen, but there's an option to just type in their name -- or so clients tell me. I myself cannot pass the verification (ex used this address for a long time, so no matter how many times I work with the credit bureaus, I still have things from his second marriage creep back in, get questions like what street did you live on in Syracuse or who was your mortgage holder on your current house or which number is your Brooks Bros account? that have nothing to do with me!!) so haven't been able to get all the way to the signing to test it myself. I'd hoped to have a client eSign in my office so I could watch the process from a client's perspective, but I had NO clients in my home office this year. I haven't had anyone "fail" eSign due to not being able to sign. I've had young kids without much of an electronic footprint out there who couldn't pass. (All my college-kid clients pass.) Because NY wouldn't accept any type of electronic signature until they tested it a bit this year (and finally voted it in) and I have NY residents and a lot of NY commuters, I haven't used eSign a lot until this year and not for all of this season. This is my third year with it. But now that NY allows electronic signatures, I try it first with all personal returns. (I don't think biz returns are eligible.) I think it's three out of four questions to "pass," but I've had clients who "fail" (usually a question way in their past) a couple times over my three years, and I just resend and they "pass" the second time. The resulting signature box is really teeny, tiny, but there's also a box that verifies it was eSigned with date/time. I'm going to ask around about the touch screen issue.