How Did Your Season Go?

[MsTabbyKats]

Like just about everyone here.....the season started off in chaos.

Luckily I decided to jump ship from TRX really early on......and went back to my prior software, TaxAct.

The bad:

1. TaxAct didn't support non-resident aliens...which had been a large part of my buisness

2. I had to re-enter all the "prior data" for everyone......rather time consuming

So, I decided early that I wouldn't accept new non-resident aliens (unless they were simple), that my fee for non-resident aliens I had done previously would have to go up, that I wouldn't accept new clients "with issues" and that I wouldn't do any "past headaches".

In other words....I wasn't up for "the challenge".

Maybe I lost 20 jobs...but my actual income didn't suffer.

The bottom line was that I had (a lot) less stress.

TaxAct is a great program, very user friendly.

When you have a problem with a plan....it forces you to find a solution. And...the solution can be better than the original plan.

Thank you TRX!

[Guest Taxed]

Non resident aliens! Do you practice in NYC or NJ? Honestly i have yet to do a non-resident alien. What are the main differences. i know they need form 1040NR. Are some of the deductions limited or higher tax rate?

I used to get a NYC resident who moved there from VT send me his return and it was a real pain to do the NYC return. What got me is that i was charging him VT rates and it would have cost him around $250 for Federal, NYC and NY return. No wonder he would FedEx the stuff to me.

[Guest Taxed]

This year the season started very very stressful not knowing if I would find a software in time to do the returns. But thankfully it worked out in the end though a little bit stressful. Next season I will try not to do so many weekend appointments that I can't even tell if it is day or night??

[MsTabbyKats]

Non resident aliens! Do you practice in NYC or NJ? Honestly i have yet to do a non-resident alien. What are the main differences. i know they need form 1040NR. Are some of the deductions limited or higher tax rate?

I used to get a NYC resident who moved there from VT send me his return and it was a real pain to do the NYC return. What got me is that i was charging him VT rates and it would have cost him around $250 for Federal, NYC and NY return. No wonder he would FedEx the stuff to me.

Yep...NYC!

But, my clients are from all over the world...and live all over the country.

There are two major differences...besides using a different form that has to go in on paper:

1. Every country has a different treaty...with different rules for different visas....and I like to get it right...so I was constantly calling the "advanced tax law" dept at IRS to go over and confirm every treaty...because some of them are kind of hazy (does 2 years mean 2 calendar years...or 2 years from date of arrival???etc.)

2. You have to itemize (except students on an F-1 from India)

So...you get a guy from Pakistan who hears his will make $35,000 with his PhD in advanced molecular physics...and thinks...wow...lots of money. Well, in NYC...even for a single person that's just a little over poverty. But, this guy has a wife and a child. So...he really has "no cash to spare". Then you ask him "What were your job expenses?"...and he has none. So, you start counting paper clips.

BTW...I charged something like $125 for this...which is a real joke (work out of my home...no overhead...and very sympathetic). HRB would probably be $300.

[Guest Taxed]

I guess you are doing social service charging $125 in NYC where even a cheap cup of coffee is $5??

Does IRS publish a chart for preparing non resident alien return? How is a non resident alien suppose to know about this treaty business, call the IRs as he is going the return.

Thanks for telling me. Next time i get a call from a new client with an accent I will ask this question. I am not doing returns where i have to call IRs each time to verify some treaty language.

[MsTabbyKats]

Oh...and did I mention every state has different rules also. Some go by the fed govt....some don't care about the treaty. And, some...have different criteria for each visa. So, I have to call every state (except for NY...because luckily we are a federally conformant state...which means everything the IRS allows...the state allows.)

The good news is that they become resident aliens.....so they can file regular 1040s.

Not everyone with an accent is a non-resident alien. (That's funny. Just about everyone here has an accent. I have an ethnic look...and in every neighborhood they speak to me in "the local language". Greek, Spanish, Russian...whatever). But not every "non-resident alien" needs a 1040-NR.

This is why my head used to spin. And this is why I had a stress free season this year.

LOL...if you look at my roster...out of about 300 returns....maybe 30 are for people born here.

[CathysTaxes]

I guess it went OK. The stress and time wasted on TRX could have gone to obtaining new business. I also had a lower tolerance for the PITA clients who were 'needy' of my time and cheap when it came to my fees. One of them was 'fired' because I didn't feel like putting up with his crap this year.

[Terry D EA]

My season went better than I expected. The TRX sanfu was frustrating to say the very least. Once jumped ship and switch to TaxSlayer Pro, no problems and it was smooth sailing from there. If there is anything bad at TaxSlayer, that would be the lack of a good method of 1099 MISC input, missing forms with trust returns and some forms missing from NC. There were doable work arounds and these issues were minor at best. No e-filing problems, no delays and my last batch was accepted as normal last evening. With this said, I am still unsure of what package to use next year.

[JJStephens]

After the TRX/Taxworks (what a misnomer!) debacle last year, I switched back to ATX this year. Other than being slow I didn't have any major issues with ATX. I did notice that due to the sluggishness of the software I wasn't able to do as many returns in a day as I have in past years.

I added about 10 returns over last year. My average fee dropped a little (from $144 to $138) but I somehow still made more money. It's not from the extra returns. Even with 28 extensions I have still billed just a few dollars less this year than I all of last year--by the time I bill for the extensions, I'll be well ahead of last year's revenue.

I haven't looked at this aspect yet but it might be that I did fewer freebies. I average about 15-20 freebies each year for family members, people who experienced a disaster, retirees who are living on next to nothing, etc. I've received a lot of help in my life and feel this is a way I can pay back/forward.

[Roberts]

The TRX issue probably added an additional 75 hours to my work year entering assets and comparing old returns to new but it wasn't a massive problem. Considering I really prefer OLTPRO over Taxworks, I'm fine with it. Doug imploding may have been good in the longer term.

I have a few clients that have really kicked up the referrals so this year was great.

I used to do 1040NR returns for foreign doctors on fellowships at a local university hospital. Wow, pain in the rear. You need to raise your rates IMO. Those returns are as complicated as any you can do and here, HRBlock won't even touch them.

[Guest Taxed]

Oh...and did I mention every state has different rules also. Some go by the fed govt....some don't care about the treaty. And, some...have different criteria for each visa. So, I have to call every state (except for NY...because luckily we are a federally conformant state...which means everything the IRS allows...the state allows.)

The good news is that they become resident aliens.....so they can file regular 1040s.

Not everyone with an accent is a non-resident alien. (That's funny. Just about everyone here has an accent. I have an ethnic look...and in every neighborhood they speak to me in "the local language". Greek, Spanish, Russian...whatever). But not every "non-resident alien" needs a 1040-NR.

This is why my head used to spin. And this is why I had a stress free season this year.

LOL...if you look at my roster...out of about 300 returns....maybe 30 are for people born here.

I was just kidding about people with accent and non-resident aliens! For the service you are providing, perhaps you should pin your business card in every lobby of foreign consulates in NYC and UN!

BTW yesterday I was in your city for a few hours and i can see how different it is. Very interesting. My old client told me to NEVER make eye contact with a New Yorker in a subway! Here if i do not make eye contact and smile or say hi it is considered rude!

[Julie]

I had to raise my fees a bit to cover the cost of TaxAct on top of TRX. All in all, not too bad. For other (non-tax) reasons I've had a rather stressful season and I'm looking forward to things settling down. I'm actually up a few clients. although several have not yet paid. I don't do freebies, at least I try not to, but I do sometimes tell people they can pay in installments. Most come through. The others, well....

[Crank]

So...you get a guy from Pakistan who hears his will make $35,000 with his PhD in advanced molecular physics...and thinks...wow...lots of money. Well, in NYC...even for a single person that's just a little over poverty.

My first real job out of college was in NYC in 1984 working for a branch of the federal govt. Started at $17,144. Shared a 1 bedroom apt in NJ with an old college roommate and slept on the couch. Was up to almost 30k within two years. It helped that they covered commutting expenses.