JohnH

I'm not sure that will ever be a function that accountants or tax preparers will perform profitably. I think an entire separate specialty may spring up which focuses in applying for the subsidy. It would be more insurance-oriented than tax-oriented, but would combine those specialties with and in-depth understanding of how government programs work. The closest parallel would be attorneys who specialize in pursuing Social Security Disability claims. There are already companies which perform similar services in a different context - I suspect that they are gearing up to add this service.

It may be that many of us will come to regard tax returns with health insurance penalties with the same disdain as EITC returns - not worth the trouble given all the headaches. At least we will have that attitude until IRS makes it a circular 230 Violation to turn clients away in either of those groups. I strongly suspect that is coming at some point as the camel's head steadily moves farther into the tent.

I thought we had to be careful and cut & paste posts because of potential copyright infringements when we do that. But maybe that's just another internet rumor.

So far I haven't found a way to override anything. But most of the time that forced me to find a way to make the entry properly.

Just abandon all this "Forms-Based Input" obsession that some people cling to. Then with Drake you'll find out what real speed is all about. I discovered this as I would prepare 2012 returns in Drake while keeping the 2011 return open in ATX on the other monitor. I developed the habit of opening whatever I needed in ATX first in order to give it a chance to catch up with Drake. Well, I wouldn't say "catch up", but at least the delay was slower. Your greatest speed-enhancer in Drake is to learn efficient use of the "Selector Field" at the bottom of the screen. This field is the "Pivot Point" for virtually all your data entry in Drake. For example, "A" takes you to Schedule A, and B, C, D, E, etc take you directly to those schedules. K1S takes you to the K-1 input screen for the 1120s K1. EXT or 4868 will take you to the extension form. And so on... Learn to use the Macros for repetitive tasks. They are easy to write and test, and they greatly speed up your data entry when you need to enter the same info in different returns. For example, the name and address of various charities for the 8283. And if you want to REALLY test Drake's efficiency, switch from one client to another and back again. Then try that with ATX.

Anyone who has ever visited the beaches in South Carolina knows about the Piggly Wiggly supermarkets. So as a public service, I just want to let you know that if you're ever in the Piggly Wiggly at Hilton Head Island, SC, you can find bread (and other essentials) on Aisle 10.

I like your NT posts. I like my NT posts. And I like most other people's NT posts. If I see one I don't like, I just don't look at it anymore. It just isn't that complicated. As far as renaming the Forum is concerned, it might be worthwhile to modify the name. It is an unofficial forum for any vendor of any product. That is by far its greatest strength. It had its genesis with ATX users, yet we've always welcomed non-ATX'ers as well. Next year I think there will be MANY more of them, assuming ATX is still on the market. So maybe we should call it the Unofficial ATX (and other vendors) Forum - or someting more descriptive.

The penalty relief is only for the FTP penalty (0.5% per month) not the FTF penalty (5.0% per month). So an extension request must have been filed even if the FTP penalty relief for those particular forms applies. Otherwise the huge FTF penalty will still be assessed.

Part of the extension awareness problem is the IRS's artful way of explaining the penalties. By failing to accurately distinguish between the FTF and FTP penalty in their explanations, they confuse the taxpayer about the implications of not paying in full. I think this is because they don't mind the taxpayer extending, but they want to do everything thay can to get the taxpayer to pay in full. At the same time, they know that getting the taxpayer into the system is ultimately more important than getting the money on Apr 15. So they walk a fine line. They have crafted the instructions in such a way that they even fool many tax preparers, who really don't understand how extensions (with or without payments) work. I see evidence of this constantly on all the tax forums in which I participate.

Good perspective. Let me add my sincere blanket apologies as well.

Maybe some will return to ATX, but I doubt I will. After experiencing Drake's lighting speed this seaon, I quickly concluded that ATX is just too slow and clumsy for me.

NC has a quirky rule that allows a credit for contributions above a certain threshhold even for non-itemizers. So if they clearly are claimimng the standard deduction but gave me a contribution statement, I still enter the contributions figure just so it can flow through to the NC return if applicable. But I don't charge the non-itemizers for making that entry.

Extension - just to be safe. One never knows what can crop up, and no need for you to be on the hook if it does.

Well, it is goodbye to the tax season. But many of us will be around here throughout the year. First of all, there's the matter of extensions - sometimes the most interesting questions arise after Apr 15. Secondly, there's the ongoing technical discussion about how ATX progresses in developing the program. Thirdly, there's the interesting marketing issue of how they manage their damage control. Lastly, there may be a discussion looming about the name & direction of this forum in the future. Many of us are unlikely to be ATX users in the future, but we still appreciate the tremendous benefits of having an independent forum regardless of our choice of vendor. We should have a conversation about how best to keep it active and relevant to both ATX users and non-ATX'ers.

Sounds like he's shown a little contrition. I would appreciate his honesty - many people are too proud & stubborn to do what he did. I'd assume he came to his senses after he calmed down. It happens.

I bundle them if there's little or no anticipated tax liabilty. But those with large payments and/or large balances due each get their own envelope, complete with Certified Mail and Return Receipt. That's about $6 per envelope, but the client's paying for it so I really don't care. Pretty cheap insurance IMO. Now if I were doing the volume some of you are doing, I MIGHT have to reconsider the cutoff point for the bundled ones. I'm sure that those paying in the range of $3-5Kor more would probably still warrant their own separate envelope.

This is another place that email is so valuable as a business tool. You can answer all their follow up questions at your leisure, plus there's a record. Just print off the conversation and stick it in the client file.

Glad to help out, and thanks to you for bringing it up again. It's been a few weeks since I played it.

So they might owe a maximum of $1,200 when the k1 figures are entered. Probably less than that since you said they have a refund as things are. The FTP penalty and interest will be about $12 per month. Hardly worth the trouble to do anything. You could paper file with the new info and a check. Even if IRS gets confused about the whole thing, the tax has been paid and you can probably get any erroneous penalty removed. However, if it were me I'd tell the client it will cost them more than $12 of my time to straighten out any potential problems. So their best bet would be to leave it as it is.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding". That sound you're hearing is the scam alert alarm

Same here. This is a great group of people.

Happy Birthday KC.

There are a couple of mule routes at the Grand Canyon. One begins early in the morning and takes about 5 hours down, an overnight stay at Phantom Ranch, and 6 hours back up the next day. If you're in more of a hurry, the other one begins at the same time, but it only takes 20 seconds and two bounces to get down to the ranch.

Very risky policy, unless you're extending them all.

Too late. Sorry...