JohnH

Sad to hear this. Harlan was a great guy.

2 Weeks seems about right in this office as well. But I've already prepared one extension and plan to file several more the first of next week. March 13 is going to be my drop dead date for extensions this year. After that date, everything goes on extension as it comes in the door. (The only exceptions are the very simple ones). Keeps life manageable...

There is absolutely no limit to the creative ways people can mess up their lives. Not much we can or should do about it unless we want to get drawn into the craziness.

Drake just now sent this same warning to all its users. Looks like it's creating lots of concern.

I've been fiddling this morning, and I don't even play a musical instrument.

Say, can you send me the link to that form? I don' do any PA work, but one never knows when it might come up some time and I want to be ready.

Personally, I wouldn't buddge on refusing to handle his work after he goes to Costa Rica. Trying to bone up on somehting like this for a single client is a losing propostion. I'd tell him he has to find someone else and he can expect to pay them a lot of money to prepare his returns. If he can't afford it, then he can't afford to go to Costa Rica.

My response:

Since you forced hinm to find someone else and pay more, I think you should reimburse him the difference. Good client relations and all that stuff, you know. After all, whatever happens to him has to somebody else's fault - may as wel be you.

And as long as Terry doesn't prepare the mother's return, the issue is much less problematical for Terry and for the client. Terry has been told that mom has already filed, Terry knows what the student-/client's wishes are, and there is no way Terry can or should become involved in Mom's tax situation.

Judy: That's a great explanation. Mind if I print it off and give to a couple of clients who just can't seem to understand me?

This is another of those situations where it pays to migrate clients over to e-mail & text communication. Email them the link to "Where's My Refund?" and then let them check it to their heart's content. If they call (or hopefully email or text you) to ask about it, just say you don't have any more info than they are getting from the web site.

It doesn't help when people are being bombarded by TV commercials showing tax preparers shoving pallets of money out the back of airplanes & floating down into their living rooms. It feeds their perception of the "handout" mentality surrounding the free money concept of tax refunds.

I'm dealing with a similar situation. My client has 3 dependents plus him and his wife living in the home, with a family income of about $50K. His 21-year-old daughter (4th dependent) is a full-time college student who works, having a w-2 showing about $20K , with most of her tuition paid by grants & scholarships. She lives in an aparment near her campus. I don't see how he can claim her as a dependent, but still thinking about it. Maybe this thread will help both of us figure it out.

We woke up to 22 degrees this morning. Some people are complaining, but not me. Compared to what you folks are enduring, this is a heat wave.

I forgot to mention - planning to file my first extension tomorrow.

Reminds me of when I was in the Air Force. Stayed constantly depressed because every time we had mail call I had a couple of "Dear John" letters.

Rita: Whenever she calls, just tell her you pulled her return out of the stack to give her an answer, but you don't remember where it was so now you have to put it back on the bottom of the stack. After the third or fourth call, maybe she will get the message.

Naveen you are in my prayers at this difficult time. May God give you comfort - He will see you through this.

I don't sign returns when I don't charge, because I like to follow the instructions. Page 75 of the 1040 instrructions couldn't be more clear. " Generally, anyone you pay to prepare your return must sign it and include their Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) in the space provided. The preparer must give you a copy of the return for your records. Someone who prepares your return but does not charge you should not sign your return."

I didn't address the issue of using standard deduction on Federal and itemizing on NC because I can't think of a situation in which that would happen. The NC standard deduction is much higher than Federal across-the-board. It seems to me that the charitable contributions credit (and maybe a few other adjustments) are the only issues at stake. For the most part, NC has "simplified" by raising rhe standard deduction, lowering the marginal rates, and eliminating many adjustments to income and credits. They pitched this as being of little consequence to most taxpayers, but I'm still not convinced that is the reality.

The contributions credit for non-itemizers has been eliminated. Here is a good summary of all the changes form the NCDOR web site: http://www.dor.state.nc.us/taxes/individual/ind_whatsnew.html

Wonder what the IRS reaction would be if he take the advice to go to someone else who knows less, they do it wrong, he gets tagged by the IRS, and he shows them the printout of the email you sent him which essentially recommended that course of action.

I'll bet #14 will sail through without any questions. That's a catch-all big enough to drive a truck through.

Buying tax advice is like buying oats. For a reasonable price I can provide good quality oats. On the other hand, if price is your only concern, then you are free to go somewhere else, pay less, and risk getting oats that have already been through the horse. Your call.