JohnH

Thanks for the birthday wishes. This is the big 66th, and now it's time to begin drawing some of that Social Security. So thanks to all of you who are helping fund a small part of my retirement benefit. (Although at the rate I'm still working, I'm only costing you a part of it. According to my figures, I'm continuing to pay in SocSec taxes about 40% of what I'm receiving in benefits.) BTW, if anyone is approaching retirement or knows someone who is, be sure to mention that they should look into the "Free Spousal Benefit". That, coupled with "File and Suspend", can be a great tool for increasing long-term retirement income. In certain situations, it is almost a no-brainer, but retirement planners and even Social Security consultants often misunderstand it or miss it altogether.

I am sorry for your losses and for the pressures you are under. Several others have already mentioned extensions, and I will add a strong encouragement for you to use that as your relief valve. If you simply tell your clients of your situation and that you must file extensions, most of them will surprise you with how readily they agree to it. (at least, the good clients will understand). You should tell them that the last thing they want is to have you trying to finish their work under pressure of deadlines and all the other personal things you are dealing with right now. Their financial situation is too important for the work to be prepared by a tired, distracted, overwhelmed preparer being ruled by an arbitrary Apr 15 deadline. If they don't trust your judgment in this situation, then there is no trust in the business relationship at all. Filing the extension doesn't mean their work will wait until Oct 15 - it simply means you may not be able to get their return finished until Apr 20, Apr 30, May 10, May 20, etc. Taking Apr 15 off the table as a meaningful date will provide you tremendous relief and will enable you to be more effective at this critical time. Be proactive - make filing the extension a normal part of your intake process. You should start filing extensions soon - maybe as early as March 1. Discuss this with the client when they bring their info to you; don't wait until the first of April to address this. The good clients will understand, and the lousy, insensitive clients will show their true colors. Both ways, you win.

I've just recently been working with QB online, getting familar with it and kicking the tires. It has quite a few limitations, but overall i'm impressed. I think intuit will continue to improve it and clean up its weaknesses. If you decide to abandon it later, you could dump all the data into an excel spreadsheet and then move it into whatever you like. based on what you described, I think QB online would work well for you and your client. only one fee necessary, as the client would simply give you the username and password, then either of you can sign on at ay time from anywhere. Since the client mainly wants to use it to write checks, this would give you a low-key means to test drive QB online yourself.

H-m-m. For me, that train has already left the station.

That happened to me twice - with the same client. (With one intervening year). You'd think one of us would have leaned. Now every year I ask him "are you SURE you didn't add any dependents last year?"

So here is my first question. I bought Office for Mac, so I'm able to do word processing and excel seamlessly between the Mac and PC without an emulator. At this point, I'm not planning to prepare tax returns on the Mac book so there's no need to enable it to run my tax software. (That will change when I buy the desktop Mac mini, but only for that machine) Bottom line is I don't see any reason to install a PC emulator on the MacBook . The really good emulators seem to require a lot of memory, so I'm not sure I want to commit large chunks of Memory to that task. Am I missing something in this approach? BTW, on another note the Magic Mouse is truly revolutionary. One of the coolest things I've ever seen for any computer.

I'd tell the client to keep the $20 and forget about it. If IRS ever discovers their mistake, they will ask for the money back. Or,if the client wants me to straighten it out, I will write all the letters they want at $50 each. They can decide when enough is enough.

Thanks. I'll check on it, because I'm sure not happy with some aspects of Big Bank (enter name here).

Seems like it ought to be the other way around. If I'm handing cash over to a teller I don't know, expecting it to be placed in my bank account, I should be the one with the right to ask the TELLER for some ID. Interesting conversation about the banks and credit unions. I was going to move my business accounts over to my credit union long ago, but credit unions can't have business accounts in NC. It's possible to circumvent that, but then there's the risk that the NCSUIF coverage might not be valid because the account is being operated under false pretenses.

Speaking of wierd client interactions, a very elegant lady just walked into my office to inquire if I would be wiling to consult with her on her tax return because she did a "simple 1031 exchange" last year and isn't sure how to handle THAT PART of her return. Ignoring the fact that I won't prepare PART OF a return, I explained that I looked into doing some dedicated work on 1031 exchanges several years ago, and after becoming aware of all the pitfalls I decided to avoid them altogether. SO I'm not the person she needs to be speaking with. Naturally, it didn't end there. So we talked about 15 minutes about other rental properties she owns (more red flags for me), and something a little unusual about this "simple" 1031 exchange she failed to mention at the outset (something which might in fact blow the whole deal for her if it's ever examined). I wished her well, and as she was leaving she mentioned that maybe I should "read up on 1031 exchanges so I could help out if someone came in with the same questions in the future". "Thanks for the advice, ma'am, but that particular train left the station long before you came in my door - did you miss the part where I said I DECIDED years ago not to do that very thing?". It's obvious once again that people frequently only hear what they want to hear. Fortunately there are no papers to return in this case since I never accepted any from her. Didn't even ask her name. And best of all, I had not given her a business card. I've learned not to be so quick to hand out that card until I know a little more about the situation. (It would have been awkward asking her to return the business card as she left my office).

Oh, pardon me. I guess it's becoming obvious that one of us can't read very well. I did look it up, and apparently Pub 587 is in error in calling it an "exception" "Exceptions to Exclusive Use You do not have to meet the exclusive use test if either of the following applies. You use part of your home for the storage of inventory or product samples (discussed next). You use part of your home as a daycare facility, discussed later under Daycare Facility ." But I guess I should follow your wording rather than the Publication you suggested that I read, so I'll withdraw the use of the word "exception" if it bothers you.

Isn't storage of inventory or product samples one of the exceptions to the exclusive use and separate space rules? (provided of course that the other qualifications are met).

Judy explained it well. Most macros are written in such a way that they will perform an automated or repetitive task from anywhere within the program, although you can write them to begin their work while you are in a particular form. It's a little difficult to explain if you aren't familiar with them. But if you will go through the steps to write one or two simple ones, you will quickly appreciate their potential. There are several places on the Drake Forum where Macros are discussed in detail, and a number of users have shared their Macros there.

I stand corrected. Just changed my mind on this, in spite of IRS instructions. (I have been known to throw the bull around , but never completely out of the corral)

I'd be inclined to leave this one off the return and deal with the CP2000 when or IF one appears. No sense waving a red flag in front of the bull at the outset. If IRS has questions, they know how to get in touch.

Keep track of time expended and charge an hourly rate. Some clients give you everything ready to go and you can crank out 20-30 in a short period of time, including cross checking and submitting the IRS copies. Others could take hours for the same task if their records are sloppy.

Have to hand it to those people at Apple Computer. They know how to create loyalty by providing a great product and super service. The MacBook arrived today - a day earlier than projected. (always smart to under-promise and over-deliver). Took the computer out of the box, read the note that the battery is already fully charged, and took about 20 minutes to set it up. After making the internet connection, I was reading email and am now posting to this forum on it. The quality is obvious in the construction and in the performance. I think this changeover is going to be fun.

It is a great article, but as the author pointed out, it is difficult to get people to see the wisdom of Rothifying when applicable. No matte how you run the numbers and how valid it looks, they will usually still hold out. Just can't bring themselves to turn loose of the money now. I did it a couple of years ago for part of some IRA money I had, and intended to do some more in 2013. But kept putting it off until it was too late.

The 50% reduction for business meals does not apply to volunteer meals. This is from Pub 526, page 6: "Deductible travel expenses. These in­clude: Air, rail, and bus transportation, Out­of­pocket expenses for your car, Taxi fares or other costs of transportation between the airport or station and your ho­tel, Lodging costs, and the cost of meals. Because these travel expenses are not busi­ness­ related, they are not subject to the same limits as business related expenses. For infor­ mation on business travel expenses, see Travelin Publication 463, "

See page 5 of Publication 526 for your answers. Mr Pencil has also provided very good additional information on this matter. Not every charitable contribution requires a receipt from the organization involved (regardless of whether it is Scounts, a church, or other legitimate charity) . A canceled check or other suitable documentation is often sufficient, especially if the $250 threshhold is not exceeded. Are you unreasonably denying this type of deduction for your clients when they qualify for it, simply because you misunderstand the rules?

Got to "Tools", "File Maintenance", and "Backup" when you want to back up your files. Then follow the screen prompts to select your location, choose file types, and start the process. Like almost everything else in Drake, it is fast, efficient, and seamless. Can't help you with the "Export" and "Import" functions. Maybe someone else can help with more details there, but I did see that they are also accessed through the "tools" heading.

I agree with Mike. There are often many deductible out-of-pocket expenses which volunteers incur in situations such as this. They are considered cash contributions to the qualified charitable organization - no different than a check written to the organization. The volunteer should, of course, keep good records. If you ask her some more questions, you may find that she incurred other deductible expenses in the trip that she isn't thinking to tell you about. Did she pay her own lodging, for example? Here is a good summary of the tax implications for certain expenses incurred by scouting leaders. It is about as comprehensive as any you will find, and it is factually accurate insofar as the tax laws are concerned . Might be a good resource to send or print out and give to anyone serving as an adult leader for any youth-related tax deductible organization. http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/subpages/TaxesGirlScouts.htm

Good to know - thanks for replying. I think you and Kea will be able to provide some relevant answers to some real questions after I get the Mac out of the box next week.

Feel free to correct my numbers, if you wish. But don't waster your time or mine with nickels and dimes. Are you suggesting that my 33% premium for a comparable product is grossly inaccurate?

Not sure I follow the math. It would be foolish to compare the cost of a desktop to a laptop - that would skew the data. My research showed I would pay about 1/3 more between a PC and a Mac when comparing apples to apples. This laptop cost me about $2,400 delivered, with taxes paid. A comparable PC laptop seemed to be about $1,900 delivered & taxes paid, which fits the pattern. I haven't run the numbers on the desktops yet, but I'm betting the ratio is the same. As for software, my tax prep software, Excel/Word, and Quickbooks make up anout 75% of what I do. My other big application is a toss-up between Keynote and Power Point, but I have a strong preference tor Keynote, so the Mac was way ahead of the game in that department already. The majority of my other software consists of iPad apps. Each of us has different needs, but for me the premium for the Mac seems to be shrinking. Especially since I won't have to be spending all that extra money and wasted time on virus protection.