ATX NC sales-tax form wrong, effective TOMORROW

[TaxCPANY]

North Carolina changed the makeup of its sales-tax, effective October 1, 2008 -- i.e., for the month whose returns (E-500) are due TOMORROW. My bad; I'd been relying on CCH Wolters Klutzier to update its forms in a timely manner.

The change shifts 0.25% from the NC counties rate to the overall state rate; so the total amount doesn't change, but the amounts entered on Lines 4 and 9 do -- as do the entries on Form E-536.

TaxCPANY

[JohnH]

I noticed that on Monday - too late to change the reports I'd already sent out to clients. I believe NC will accept the payments and reclassify in their computers, although it wouldn't surpise me if they send out correction notices. Since the penalty is based on total underpayment and there won't be one, I'm assuming they won't penalize anyone.

And if you have reports that aren't prepared yet, it's easy enough to override on the form, although I agree that ATX should have updated the form by now.

FOLLOW-UP: I called NCDOR to ask about this. The person I spoke with said they have had lots of calls about it and they are expecting errors. She said they will make corrections and no penalty notices will be issued, provided the form is timely filed with correct payment. I'm willing to believe that what she said is correct.

[kcjenkins]

I'm not defending CCH on this, as I agree that they should have updated the form in a timely manner. However, I will suggest that when any user becomes aware of a local or state change, especially one that comes at an unusual time, they would be wise to use the 'Contact Us' AND the 'Suggestion Box' to alert the company to the need for the update. You might even use the 'Request a Form' link which you get to by using the 'Find a Form' button. Remember, there are over a thousand forms provided with the software, and it's easy for someone to overlook a change on a low-usage form, especially one where the bottom line does not change, just the allocations above the net.

I do think that sometimes we forget a bit that we get the best outcomes when we consider ourselves a part of the total team that is made up of the software and the users. I know it was a lot easier when ATX was smaller, and the communication between the users and the company were treated as a valuable thing. I miss those days, myself. But I'm not going to let the poor attitude of the company stop me from communicating with the company, and I will always at least start from the assumption that they want to make the product as good and as useful as possible, because that is what will make the product more salable.