JohnH

I agree with Jack. Fold them if the client has a balance due, mail them flat if there's a refund.

Great scores. Something to be very proud of.

---> Wow! This is the best tip I have gotten on this forum! I plan to try it in the guest bath and powder room this Christmas get together. <--- But Jack, isn't it going to get tedious trying to keep an eye on the bathrooms and running back in there to fix the roll every time somebody finishes?

Nice videos - it's obvious why you're proud of him. I notice that the only time he's on the ground is when there's at least one defender under him.

Jack: Now that they've seen the video, I want to see how many people will admit to having tried it. (I did)

Thanks Taxbilly. I wondered what Donald Rumsfeld was doing these days. As for folding the toilet paper, I'm just glad my drill sergeant didn't know about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRHU_r9LFK4

Looks like we're all engaged in off-season weekend nonsense. Apparently nobody has an opinion about the paper towels. I certainly don't because the Air Force didn't train me in that matter. Incidentally, I know the "saluting" toilet paper sounds like something from " No Time for Sergeants" with Andy Griffith, but I swear it's true. It was one of the first things they told us in basic training 35 years ago. I still remember the drill instructor making the point, since basic training is all about paying extreme attention to detail even in simple matters. Does anyone else who served in the military remember anything like this, or was it just my drill sergeant? (whose name I still remember to this day)

I didn't have an opinion on this subject until I enlisted In the US Air Force back when I was younger. I learned this very important fact in basic training - when the toilet paper roll is hanging horizontally, it clearly MUST dispense over the top. Otherwise, it would not be possible to fold the next sheet diagonally bottom-left to top-right when you finish, thus forming a smart salute (just in case the next person to use the facilities outranks you).

Here's one discussion we had about the subject. I think there may have been others. Taxbilly provided some good links as well.

Why embarrass yourself? Consider thie - just estimate the P&I, tell the client it's an estimate, and then tell them to expect a bill about 30-45 days after they file which will make all the final adjustments. I do this and never have any complaints - they usually give me the bill to check over for accuracy, but they expect to pay more based on what I told them at the outset. They're filing late, do they really care about a hundred dollars or so one way or the other? Not if you set the expectation correctly. But it is good to know that ATX isn't getting it right, so thanks for the heads up.

I also worked in a campaign once. I was the campus coordinator for the Democratic candidate for governor when I was in college. Got to go to all the meetings with the County officials, precinct bosses, and various other big shots. Pretty heady stuff for a college sophomore. Of course, I also labored under the illusion that the election was a contest of ideas and principles rather then the raw exercise of power by ruthless political operatives. I was so naive at the time - when they started handing out the envelopes of cash for "gas money" the night before the election, I actually thought the precinct bosses were going to use it to pay for fuel to transport people to the polls...

Did you look at this site? http://www.nps.gov/nr/faq.htm#restrictions

Counting ballots - what a novel idea! Glad you were there. Just think, if you were in Illinois and these were military ballots, you wouldn't have needed to bother with any of this pesky counting nonsense. (anyhow, thanks for performing a sometimes thankless task. Poll workers are the glue holding the system together.)

Check the drop-down in the lower left corner. It should say "ATX Community". Click the drop-down in the blue square and you can choose "--ATX Community (Large Text)"

I certainly am...

Thanks for bringing this up. I just made another donation after seeing your reminder. Hope many others will be able to do the same.

Eric: Thanks again for all your efforts. We really appreciate everything you do for this forum.

This is amazing. If you can get BOA to budge on any customer noservice issue, then you and the client are outstanding negotiators.

Yes, you're right. It really is better that they discuss things with us ahead of time. But based on this guy's behaviour, it appears that he gave her just enough info to obtain the answer he wanted and now he's backtracking with the REST of the truth. I don't like this type of client any more than the ones who take action without discussing things with us. The ones who feed us selected info are actually worse - they often have an agenda that involves passing out some blame if they can get away with it.

Shoudn't the person who sold him the HSA have been answering these questions anyhow? Whenver someone asks me about their HSA, I tell them to check with their agent and that all I can do is process the paperwork at year-end. From the way you explain this, I'm guessing he already had his answer from the person who sold him the HSA - he was just feeding you bits & pieces of info to try and get a response from you that he liked. I'd tell him I can only give answers that are as good as the info I'm provided, and if he has dug a hole for himself I can't really do anything to get him out of it. Follow it up with: "Oh, one more thing. We'll talk at the end of the year when you bring in your info. Until then, you need to get specific advice from the people who sold you the plan." If you're lucky, maybe he will get mad & go somewhere else.

He's also confused about something else. In another article, he suggests the old nonsense about a business owner worried about being denied a tax deduction for failing to issue a 1099. I've also seen this misninformation thrown around on tax forums for years, yet there's absolutely no cite to support such a notion. (I think I saw one tax preparer mention that it came up in an audit, but even there the issue was murky). Maybe the law will be changed in the future, but as things currently stand there's simply no support for making such a statement. However, I do agree with the basic premise of the article, and I'll gladly do my part to contribute to the paperwork blizzrd if the law isn't changed.

I also like Tenenz. Fast shipment, reasonable prices, and the folders are good quality. http://www.tenenz.com/index.php?view=landing_page&SRC=TENENZ&SRCID=ATXSSPRDCT

Depending upon total income to him and the corp, he's probably just as well off paying tax on the distribution as a constructive dividend and sticking with the facts as they are, double taxation & all. He may even be better off. If he reports the distributions as Schedule C income, then he pays 15% S/E tax and regular income tax on the earnings, even though the corp gets to deduct the 1099 payments to him. But if he lets the corp report the income then the corp tax rate is 15% (roughly the same as the S/E tax), and on his personal return he gets to treat the constructive dividend as a qualified dividend subject to the lower tax rates. The only down side is that he won't get SocSec earnings credits for the two years. (This could be a major issue or it may not matter at all - just depends upon his total filing situation, age, etc) Of course, if the income is very high and his corp jumps well into the 25% bracket, or if his personal income exceeds the SocSec maxiumum, or if he's subject to AMT, then all the above could change drastically. State considerations might also affect the total outcome as well. Running a dummy return using round numbers would give you the difference, but it's likely you'll quickly discover that the double taxation really doesn't matter from a net cash standpoint when all the dust settles. And reporting things as they actually occurred, coupled with getting it right from this point forward, might go a long way in getting a quick resolution if he gets tagged for an audit. Sometimes an auditor will reward straighforward reporting, whereas they can get downright testy when there's been a lot of creative reclassification.

Yes - my iPad also functions as my ebook reader. You can download apps for the iPad that make it work as a Nook, Kindle, etc, so you have access to all of their offerings - you're not limited to a single vendor. I've never used one of the others, but I've read that the iPad display is better than any of the other readers. Some people even claim that the iPad has made the other readers obsolete, but I'm not suggesting that as a fact. I think the prices for the ebooks are very reasonable, and it's really handy to decide you want to read a particular book and then have it in your hands 5 minutes later. The ability to carry dozens (or hundreds) of books on a single device is awesome. If you like to read different books simultaneously, then each book is always on hand. I'd suggest comparing the features of and of the readers to the iPad. The upfront cost will be considerably more, but you may decide it's worth it because the iPad offers infinitely more features. Could easily be wrong here, I think it's likely that within a few years, a business person who isn't using an iPad (or similar device) will be hamstrung as much as someone who doesn't use email these days. Here's an article that appears to be unbiased. It lists the pros & cons of each, and concludes that the Kindle is the better choice, provided your only interest is in the e-book reader features. http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/kindle-vs-ipad/

The iPad screen is about the same size as a netbook screen. However, layout isn't really a problem with the iPad. It becomes second nature to zoom in & out on the fly using the "finger pinch" feature. (no mouse or keyboard needed). An iPad user is equally at home using it or a full-size screen on a desktop computer.