raven1818 Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 I just finished talking to my ATX representative and was stunned to learn that because of a new Illinois law prohibiting ancillary bank fees on tax returns (fee collect,submission fees, etc.) that the old fee of $ 15.00 for fee collect is about to be raised for clients that use it and also per ATX the same amount will be applied to those cash paying clients the moment I E-file their returns. Because my practice has both "fee collect" clients and "cash paying" clients, I am caught having to charge both these increased fees. I think it is just a "money grab" by ATX. In the past, we purchased the MAX program so that we would not have to pay the nickel and dime fees especially for "E-filing" returns. Now all that is changed and beside getting over $1500 per year for software ATX wants to charge an extra $7.50 (which by the way they are calling a supportive charge) for each of my customers. I do roughly 300 clients per year and this extra charge would be $2250 out of my bottom line. Of course, ATX says to just pass it on as increase in fees without customer disclosure. That pretty tough to do with my clients right now--everyone is looking to SAVE money--not SPEND more. Please let me know if anyone else is having this issue. Also, after testing all other software--what is the best you can recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINGCHUCK1971 Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 I just finished talking to my ATX representative and was stunned to learn that because of a new Illinois law prohibiting ancillary bank fees on tax returns (fee collect,submission fees, etc.) that the old fee of $ 15.00 for fee collect is about to be raised for clients that use it and also per ATX the same amount will be applied to those cash paying clients the moment I E-file their returns. Because my practice has both "fee collect" clients and "cash paying" clients, I am caught having to charge both these increased fees. I think it is just a "money grab" by ATX. In the past, we purchased the MAX program so that we would not have to pay the nickel and dime fees especially for "E-filing" returns. Now all that is changed and beside getting over $1500 per year for software ATX wants to charge an extra $7.50 (which by the way they are calling a supportive charge) for each of my customers. I do roughly 300 clients per year and this extra charge would be $2250 out of my bottom line. Of course, ATX says to just pass it on as increase in fees without customer disclosure. That pretty tough to do with my clients right now--everyone is looking to SAVE money--not SPEND more. Please let me know if anyone else is having this issue. Also, after testing all other software--what is the best you can recommend. Hey Raven, I used to live in Chicago so I'm not surprised at all on what's going on. You might want to check out this company called Community Income Tax. They don't charge upfront for your software, banking products, transmission fees, etc. You will be using Tax Act Enterprise Bundle which includes all of federal, all states, all business federal & states, unlimited e-filing, online backup of your returns and more! You will only have to pay $15 per return which will be deducted out of your clients return. If you don't want the $15 fee to come out of your clients return. Then they'll get the fee from you via checking/savings account or credit card. That's the only ongoing fee that has to be paid. Your software and banking fees are all included in that fee. Your bank will be Republic Bank Tax Refund Solutions. They are very reputable and have been around for awhile. I've already signed up. Let me know if you need anymore information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxmannEA Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Our office has a small group of clients who use the bank product. That same Illinois law caused the service fees to be automatically added to all of the client bills, regardless of their using the bank product or not. (We use Drake at that location.) We give a credit on each cash client's bill equal to the added fee. I've talked to our Representative about this, but can't get any great interest. I'm still amazed by the logic that gave birth to that law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Is this specific to Illinois? Tom Hollister (soon to be Newark), CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklcpa Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Is this specific to Illinois? Tom Hollister (soon to be Newark), CA I think there are other states that already had laws prohibiting preparers from adding fees for bank products and fee collect. New York comes to mind, but I don't know the details since I keep things simple by not handling these kinds of transactions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Jani Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 I am in NY and I was told the same thing. It has something to do with state law. I never use any bank product but sign up with Fee Collect. Never used it but now for 2015, if I sign up for fee collect and do not use it still responsible for $15 per efile as per ATX. So I decline it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Just say no on the returns where the client does not want any bank products. I think everyone is getting two different things confused. There never has been a "per e-file" charge if you purchase MAX. No indication that there will be for 2014. Bank products are a different matter. I master form mark the decline box in the e-file information page. Problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret CPA in OH Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Right about MAX. I was confused about this as I have never paid a fee. But I have also never used Fee Collect or any bank products. Earlier today I called and it was confirmed that there are no efile charges with MAX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raven1818 Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 The three states that this effects are: New York, Maine and Illinois per ATX. This problem is finally being presented by ATX with its latest E-mail advertisement for 2015 renewals today. "We have determined that we WONT offer "fee collect" this year to our customers as we strictly believe that if we were to agree to this "supportive" fee we would have to disclose to all customers this fee." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HV Ken Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 I just spoke to my sales rep about this as I am in NY which is impacted by the law. The solution for NY is to "socialize" the expense. For example, in 2013 I had 400 clients and 40 took advantage of Fee Collect. This would be $600 in fees going to the bank (40 fee collect clients x $15/fee collect client). In 2015, I would be charged $1.50/client (calculated by taking my $600 fee collect expense / 400 clients). I would be billed weekly at $1.50 per e-file, with that money going from ATX to the partner bank. So if I file 400 e-files for ATX 2014, ATX collects $600 from me (weekly from start of season to end of season at the rate of $1.50/efile) and sends that to the bank. The net result is a wash to me as the $600 was coming out of my pocket anyway. I actually like this, as I can steer my refund clients to this option instead of credit cards and not have to pay credit card processing charges. I think this is better for the clients as well. p.s. I can choose to tuck this new cost to my business, or include it in my ACA charge per client! HA HA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelmars Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Ken, what is your ACA fee going to be, at recent seminars I have heard of fees from 100-200 for people that go to the exchange and had life events! Also the new capitalization charges are going to add 50% to most of my real estate clients and 25% to all others with depreciation. I discussed this with my major business clients and they say they understand, once I showed them a sample of the forms and calculations involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raven1818 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Ken,,,,,,my problem with the whole thing is "FULL DISCLOSURE" to all clients. Per the explanation I received every client, even the up-front cash paying clients, would have to pay the agreed fee which for me would have been $7,50 per return. I don't believe many of my clients would stay with me if they found out that I was charging them monies for something they are not using. DISCLOSURE, DISCLOSURE is always a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HV Ken Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Ken,,,,,,my problem with the whole thing is "FULL DISCLOSURE" to all clients. Per the explanation I received every client, even the up-front cash paying clients, would have to pay the agreed fee which for me would have been $7,50 per return. I don't believe many of my clients would stay with me if they found out that I was charging them monies for something they are not using. DISCLOSURE, DISCLOSURE is always a problem. How do you disclose your entire fee to your clients now? I would assume in full disclosure model you must be using charge per form and then give them an itemized list for each form and the price for each form on your invoice? While we do use a charge per form hybrid approach, I do not show those charges to my clients, just the final bill and possibly explain any anomalies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HV Ken Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Ken, what is your ACA fee going to be, at recent seminars I have heard of fees from 100-200 for people that go to the exchange and had life events! Also the new capitalization charges are going to add 50% to most of my real estate clients and 25% to all others with depreciation. I discussed this with my major business clients and they say they understand, once I showed them a sample of the forms and calculations involved. Since this is a new topic, I created a new thread for this. Let's move the discussion over there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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