JohnH

If you're going to have to learn a bunch of new stuff, may as well switch to Drake. If you commit to actually doing it, you will you find the learning curve much less steep than you imagine. Most importantly, you'll find yourself being much more productive and profitable with Drake. You are in business to make a profit, aren't you?

Maybe you're just saving time & effort since she's likely to be the spouse on the next return.

I wouldn't wait until April if I were you. My cutoff is usually around March 15-20. After that, everyone gets an extension. Some extended returns will wind up being completed by Apr 15, but others won't. For me, things are a little different this year. I've already filed 21 extensions.

Smart move. It relieves stress, decreases your risk, and increases your profitability. Most clients don't care about your well-being or your physical/mental state. Some will pat you on the head and compliment your stamina if you work yourself to exhaustion, but they are just playing you. All they really care about is getting what they want from you in spite of their procrastination and lack of organization. And unless the tax preparer takes control of the sitiation, it's easy to go into April stressed out, sleep deprived, and cranky.

I guess I could go to that trouble. But it's easier to just laugh at the question, file an extension, put the file away, and finish it whenever they get back to me. The money is good to get whenever we get it done, and I like pushing things out past the 15th. It allows me to handle more returns. Extensions prevent me from losing productive time.

Me: You gave me all the expenses for your 3 rental properties, but you didn't give me the rental income for each of them. Client: OK, I'll get that to you later. By the way, how much tax do we owe? Me: Uh-h-h-h

Excellent article, and GREAT clarifications, Max. There is lots of actionable information in these two posts. Next to preparing an accurate return, helping a worried, overwhelmed client navigate a scary situation with the IRS is one of the most valuable services tax preparers can provide.

He is under age 55, but thanks for asking.

German citizen has been in the US working legally for 10+ years. Has been putting money into a 401(k) regularly. He is under 59-1/2 years of age. Has now decided to return to Germany permanently and will need to terminate the 401(k) since he will no longer have a valid US address. Does anyone know of any provision for him to avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty? I've told him I know of no exception, but this is a first for me so I thought I'd ask around.

No sticker on their copy of your invoice for last year? "Exorbitant Fee for Tax Prep"

The PA preparer is probably so happy to see the client gone that he will tell him whatever he wants to hear, just to be sure he doesn't come back.

You could call him and tell him you have good news and bad news: 1) The bad news is he owes IRS $ 9,720 2) The good news is he only owe you $ 972 for all the double-checking.

I'd handle it by telling him to take his business somewhere else.

I will add that I would continue to give them their mail, in spite of their infantile behavior. You're wasting your time trying to teach a pig to sing. All you get for your efforts is bad music and a frustrated pig.

When I send out my year-end letter to my clients, I include two return address labels. It's fascinating how many of the regulars will stick that label on an envelope and mail their stuff back to me. I then correspond with them by email or text if I have questions or if they left out something. Keeps them out of my office so I can get some work done.

I don't think you have any reasonable recourse against these people. There are people out there who just won't act responsibly or perhaps they enjoy injecting a little confusion into the process. Especially when someone else makes a mistake, their default is to compound the error rather than do the logical thing or act with dignity and common sense. So I think your only real solution is to get a PO Box. Anything else you try to do is a colossal waste of time and mental energy.

You heirs won't need top know what you paid for your stock. =========================================== It's easy to make a lot of money buying stock. Just take all your savings and buy a good stock that you know is going to go up. When it goes up, sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it. (With apologies to Will Rogers)

I decided to make "incorrect" my common password. That way, when I enter it incorrectly, the site will tell me "Your password is incorrect." Thank you...

You could always just sign up for Drake and kill three birds with one stone. 1) Best program for the money, by far. 2) Top notch customer support (which you will rarely need). 3) Increased profits/profitability because the program is more efficient that anything in its price range. It kills the competition with its speed, which directly translates into money in your pocket.

Michael: You got my attention with just the descriptions. I don't happen to owe you any money, do I?

OK. So what's the penalty for "You could probably do my return in your sleep." ??

Foregoing your fee on this one (if that is what happens), should be considered an investment in your long-term productivity and peace of mind.

At the rate he is going, this client may not last until December. You might need to fire him before the return is filed.

Going back a few years, I did have a client who was eager to get his return filed before Apr 15, but his brokerage statement had that little blurb that they might be changing it. So I told him we could file based on the info in hand, but if the subsequent statement gave us any significant difference, he would have to pay for an amended return. He agreed, so we filed based on the first 1099-Div/B. As it turned out, the final 1099-Div/B did have an adjustment which was slightly in his favor, but my charge for the amended return would exceed the tax savings. He chose to just leave things as they were. So all's well that ends well. At least we had properly set the table for what was to come.

So far I've seen less brokerage statements with the "You may get changes" notice this year. But for the past 3 years I've been telling alll my clients who receive brokerage statements that we will probably need to file extensions. That takes Apr 15 off the table as a relevant date and enables me to avoid a crunch in those situations. Better to give them advance notice than to be scrambling in early April.