JohnH

Helps explain why I often don't know whether I'm coming or going.

This discussion caused me to take a look at my iPhone for a unrelated reason. Lately the battery has been draining very early in the day. I tried rebooting and a few other things, but still had the battery drain. I took a closer look at my apps after reading Eric's post above, and noticed that WAZE had permission to run all the time in the background. I used WAZE a couple of weeks ago, and I'll bet simply activating the app gives it permission to not only activate for the session, but to stay activated. I'll know if that is the case by 5 or 6 pm today. Thanks Eric, for answering a question that hadn't even been asked (as well as the one which was).

Speaking of the "hover" feature, I'm betting someone is working on an app to enable a form of hovering on the touch screen devices. It will likely never be as convenient as the hover feature with a mouse, but one never knows what these creative minds can devise...

​Catherine: That's interesting. So I take it that you don't use your tablet for email? What about forums such as this one? I use my iPad in the same way I use my iPhone - email, texting, forums, web surfing & searches/research. But I don't use it for anything that needs to be secure.

I just looked at it on my desktop today, and I agree with everyone else - I like the changes! It looks great on the laptop, iPhone, and iPad. But when I see it on the big monitor, everythng really pops out.

I'm already fairly productive at that time...

i can't imagine being productive without a tablet. Desktops have their place and so do laptops. I use a windows desktop and a Mac for my laptop. But my iPad mini with a Bluetooth keyboard frees me from the constraints of both those devices. Just as Joan says, the tablet provided freedom you just can't get in any other way with any efficiency.

I have a couple of clients I'd like to send their way. I think I'll pass along the phone number to them.

Yes, it has a neat appearance and it is also a neat concept. Mainly because it carries considerably less risk for the preparer and leaves the resppnsiblity where it poperly belongs. I have no responsiblity for filing - that's the client's job.

Same here. Still preparing 1099's on paper, even for my client who issues over 200 of them each year. Hope he never hits 250. But then I'm paper-bound anyhow since I'm still preparing Form 1040 on paper. (Notice I said I'm "preparing" these returns, not "filing" them. The only return I FILE is my own. )

Catherine, I have a pretty good supply of red 1099 misc forms left over. I'm out of the office until Monday but will be glad to mail you some if you wish.

She sent the proper response and got them to drop the S/E tax assessment didn't she?

Looks good to me. And it wrks very well on my ipohne with the larger sizez - I'm making less tipyng ererrs.

Glad you joined us. We can be active on both forums - no problem. I havn't used ATX since the 2012 filing season, (switched to Drake and haven't looked back), but this forum and Tax Book are still my favorites. This forum still has an edge, though, because it isn''t subject to the whims of any vendor. That's powerful.

Speaking of how bureaucracies work, here is a prime example. It's the old "Sell the Fire Engine" ploy. When townspeople revolt against property taxes, the local politicians start crying that fire or police services will have to be cut. They insist there's absolutely no savings to be found in the bloated budgets for city hall, even though the mayor and half the city council have multiple family members on the payroll. Gotta make it painful for the public in order to get revenge and wear the taxpayers down until they extract more taxes. Same issue here with the IRS. Congress cuts their funding, so there's nothing to do but inconvenience the taxpayers so they will in turn complain to their Senators and Congresspersons. I'm sure there is absolutely nowhere else the IRS could save any money other than their front-facing segment. Put 'em on hold and make them wait, or just don't answer the phone at all. But it's full steam ahead on bonuses, union activities, and other "essential" expenditures. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of the hearings, although I'm sure that game is rigged as well. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-irs-deliberately-cut-its-own-customer-service-budget_927141.html

Eric is right. Fresh out of high school, I first learned to navigate bureaucracy during 4 years in the U.S. Air Force. Then came college. The bureaucratic challenges were different with college, but the basic territory was very familiar.

Whenever government intervention in the marketplace is contemplated, we should always remember that the most efficient government entity is the military. Relatively speaking, it produces more tangible results per dollar spent than any other bureaucracy. That should tell us all we need to know.

If the initial contact was by phone, it was definitely a scam. In the past month, I've been contacted by two scammers by phone. I also learned that three of my clients had received calls which they did not return, and one elderly couple this week had visited their bank after receiving a call. Luckily, the banker told them to speak with me before taking any action.

According to the instructions, it appears that they can. there's no harm in trying, and if it fails they can call IRS and try to set it up by phone. Sometimes the person on the phone can override if there is a minor issue preventing the online setup. I've found most of those people to be very helpful and courteous when a taxpayer had a problem of this type. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Payment-Plans-Installment-Agreements

When you're confident you're dealing with drones, it's a good idea to know how to feed them in order to keep them fat & lazy. Sometimes they try to fight back when the worker bees start ejecting them from the hive.

All this griping reminds me of the guy who joined the monastery. He was told he had to remain silent for 7 years and then there would be an examination. So after 7 years had passed, the big day came. They brought him into the gathering hall. Everyone crowded around him and the leader and told him he could say two words. His two words were - "Food Bad." The leader then told him there would now be 7 more years of silence. After 7 more years of silence they brought him into the gathering hall. Again everyone gathered around and the leader told him he could say two more words. His next two words were - "Bed Hard" The leader then told him there would now be 7 more years of silence. After this 7 years of silence they brought him into the gathering hall. Everyone gathered around and the leader told him he could now say two more words. This time his two words were - "I Quit" To which the leader responded: "Well, you may as well quit. You've done nothing but bitch and complain the whole time you've been here !"

Every time I've been asked for one, I just had the client send the lender a copy of the 4868. I've never had a question come back requesting any sort of proof of acceptance. (I like the path of least resistance)

Glad they think your're a wizard. This year I had a couple of clients tell me they think I'm a tax gargoyle.

Very good :)

Sweet humor.