JohnH

They called back about 30 min later, then another call after 15-20 more minutes. I didn't answer - no message left either of these times. I'm guessing it's a part of their scam - they begin by raking you over the coals for not responding to their message. If I weren't trying to get out of the office for a weekend getaway, I'd tie them up on the phone for a while. At least that would delay their getting to their next victim. But they do have me a little paranoid now, because I'm wondering if they work various area codes in sequence. So I've called a couple of my elderly clients to personally warn them about this type of scam. Bottom line is, these idiots are cutting into my play time.

Caller ID showed 703.828.0423. I didn't answer but they left a threatening message on my voice mail about suspected fraud and all sorts of dire consequences if I or my attorney didn't call back. The person had an accent (Hispanic I think), and the syntax was a little convoluted, but not enough to notice if the hearer wasn't tuned in enough to know it's fraudulent. I can see how unsuspecting people can get sucked into this scam because overall they make it a very intimidating conversation. I feel sorry for the people who answer these calls and don't know up front that it's OK to hang up on them.

I think I see what stopped the horse's forward progress...

Long-time client & friend brings me his tax info. For years and years, has always paid when he picks up his return. He had some recent temporary financial setbacks (which I already knew about). Client: "I'm running a little tight right now. Is it OK if I pay you when I get my refund? Me: "Sure, no problem. I'll put a rush on your return. Than way you get your refund quicker and both of us benefit." Client: (with sly grin on his face) "H-m-m-. Mind if I start paying you when I get my refund every year?" Me: "Touche"

Give him time. If he keeps day trading, eventually he will go back to working as a security guard.

Talk about the ultimate photo bomb... That cow gets first prize.

Next time they call, have some fun with them. "Today I entered your income from your W-2 form. Tomorrow I'll get the withholding entered. Then maybe the next day I'll get to your wife's w-2. By the weekend I'll have your home mortgage interest and property taxes entered. These numbers are all pretty large, so it takes time to get them right. Then I'll start on your interest & dividend income. (That won't take too long). So as you can see, it's going pretty good overall. And with all this time it's taking, especially adding in the time to take your phone calls & give you progress reports, I'm really happy to see how your bill is adding up."

I'd try that, but I'm afraid some of my clients might want ME to submit to a personality test. That's when the real problems would surface...

What he really meant was: "It should only cost $260 a month. Then with my $257 subsidy, I'd be paying the difference. I think everybody should pay their way on this thing, and I'm willing to come up with my $3 fair share."

Here's a handy macro for Drake. For all clients who have no ACA issues, it marks the form appropriately. It launches from the main data entry screen and returns to the same place. HC>x>~ I used Alt-C because the keys are close together. (It meant overriding whatever Drake had pre-entered there - I don't remember what it was but I don't use theirs anyhow).

Why no extensions last month? No sense waiting until the last minute. Extensions take the due date off the table.

Or "what did we claim last year?". As though that had any bearing on this year...

Wonder what mandarin pie would taste like?

He could tell her that the last 2 years of returns might need to be amended to reverse the erroneous deduction claimed. And maybe she should consult her tax preparer or a tax attorney. That might convince her to leave him alone.

I was hoping my favorite math teacher would jump in here, and she did. She is the one who taught me to memorize all the digits of pi. That was a breeze. But I'm still working on getting them in the right order.

I decided to merge the throught on pi day with the thread on Form 8283 and the rounding discussion. If I prepare any returns today with non-cash contributions over $500, I'm going to divide the client-furnished FMV by 3.141592653, and the truncated result is the number I'm entering on the 8283. Thaty will probably be a more accurate figure than what the client thinks their junk is worth.

I think the value should be based on a per-pound average. They could just weigh each bag when it's delivered and write that on the ticket. A good value would probablly be 82.83 cents per pound - easy to remember, and probably as accurate as any other method.

Funny how highly some clients value their junk. Every now and then I'll ask one if they would pay that much for the items they describe if they saw it in a thrift shop. One (former client) gave me an especially revealing answer - they don't visit thift shops to buy, but the people who do would gladly pay that. Translation after taking into account their demeanor and overall snooty attitude - "It's beneath my dignity to buy it used, but at that price it's a bargain for the riff-raff."

Do many states require copies of the 1099-Misc? My state (NC) stopped requiring them years ago.

Uh, what's the problem, dude ?

Speaking of open windows, I've been looking for a reason to post this picture I snapped while driving down the road in Charlotte yesterday. I think these two are happy it's warm enough for their owner to open the windows...

Sounds like they gave you as hard a time as we did my cousin Jerry when we were kids. It took him a long time to understand why we laughed hysterically every time we told him to say "fire truck".

$5,600 sounds like a reasonable fee.

Dear Client: I'm too busy right now to waste time with reasons. Stop wasting my time (and yours) asking "why?" . Just take my word for it that I'm not interested in preparing your return. Then you can do something constructive, like find someone who will put up with your whining & pestering. Oh, and expect to pay them well (on time, in full, and without complaining).

Just out of curiosity, I ltook a trip down memor lane and looked up an old set of instructions on the SMR. I think the change occurred in the late 80's or early 90's., but I checked instructions for a 1980 return because that was an easy one for me to find. The SMR was 20 cents per mile for the first 15,000 miles, then 11 cents per mile for everything over 15,000 miles. But if the vehicle was "fully depreciated", the rate was 11 cents per mile beginning with the first business mile. So we can presume that IRS allocated 9 cents per mile as the depreciation component at that time.