GeneInAlabama

Thanks Lion. I'll have her mail a 1099 with a W-9 to the last known address and hope he left a forwarding address with the post office.

Does anyone know where we can find a list of states that require out-of-state preparers to register with their state? I do very few out-of-state returns but don't want to step out of bounds. Surely there must be a list somewhere.

Thanks ACHMID. Looks like I have no other choice. I'll tell the client to be prepared to pay the penalty if it comes up. As you say, the chances are slim that it will be noticed and the worker will probably report the income anyway for the EITC.

I have a client that is a tomato farmer and gives 1099s for the pickers. Contract labor usually runs over 100K. She has one individual that she has lost the SSN for. She states that she originally had a copy of his SSN card and driver's license but now can't find the copy of his SSN card. The worker earned over $10,000.00. Is there a way that the 1099 can be filed without the SSN or is there a way of getting the SSN. She has already tried getting the SSN through the state with the driver's license number with no luck (her sister-in-law works for the state). The worker moved to Florida and then to Texas, and now she doesn't know where he is or how to contact him. Any help will be appreciated.

I got the same e-mail also. They must have gotten my e-mail address from the IRS or the software company. Seems they have the e-mail address of a lot of preparers.

I have found over the years that a large sign in front of your business is the best advertising next to word of mouth, depending of course on where your business is. I have moved my office back to my home (I built a small office next to my house) in a rural area and have my sign next to the road which is still effective even in the rural area. Of course word of mouth is the best source of new clients, but takes time to get established. For me, yellow page advertising is a waste of money. The only result I have gotten from yellow page advertising is people calling for free advice.

Kea, I had all completed returns locked at the time I rolled them over. I just now went back and tried printing using the 20 labels to a sheet and changed the font to 12 point and it still printed all files. I sure am glad you brought this to our attention because I probably would not have noticed that all the file didn't print and some of my clients would not have received letters. I hope this works for you.

I tried printing labels from my 2010 program and it printed most but not all the clients. I then went to the 2011 program (I had rolled all clients over to the 2011 program) and tried printing from it, and they all printed. On the 2010 program I had previously changed it to print 20 labels to the page and on the 2011 program I accepted the default 30 labels to the page. I don't know if that made a difference or not.

I received mine yesterday by FedEx. I haven't been able to check it out yet because my CD drive quit working. I have a call in to my computer tech.

>>And you cant beat the price and the guarantee of $299 for all that you get.<< I think the $299 lifetime guarantee is only for the Tax Works program. I haven't seen anything that says that it applies to TRX in general. This year both programs are the same price, but I haven't seen anything that says the lifetime guarantee applies to both programs. I hope I am wrong.

I used ATX for 17 years and saw a lot of improvement during that time. The first year I used it, I had to have an Excel program for ATX to work off of and printed the data on plain paper and used templates to copy the data to the respective forms on my copier. There have been a lot of improvements since that time and the price has gone up with the improvements. ATX was the only program I had used until last year when I went with Tax Works because of the difference in price. It was a big adjustment for me and I'm not ready to go through that again (you know, teaching an old dog new tricks), I'll stick with Tax Works for now. I like a lot of the features in Tax Works but I like ATX better, but not enough to pay the higher price.

Thanks Mike. I had been wondering about that.

In Alabama, all LLCs including a single member LLC has to file a business privledge return. I'm sure all states have a similar requirement. On the federal, there is no difference between a sole proprietor and a disregarded entity. I don't know about a LLC that moves to another state. I have never had one. I assume the LLC would be taxed in the state it was formed.

If someone in the Anniston/Gadsden, Alabama area were interested in buying my small practice, I would probably sell and pursue another interest. As I mentioned earlier, I only know of one other person on this board in the entire state of Alabama and I don't know his location.

SMALL CLAIMS COURT??? What is the penalty for several million dollars of unreported income? :scratch_head:

As K.C. has mentioned numerous times, it would be very beneficial if each one would list the state they are in. It would be even better if we listed the state and the city.

>>Most of the clients don't stick around with the new company<< Depends on how it is handled. I bought a tax practice years ago and kept most of the clients of the preparer I bought the business from. She worked with me for the first year as an employee and it worked fine. As for having a separate forum, I don't know if it would be beneficial or not since we are scattered all over the country. It would be unusual to find a preparer that is close enough to matter that would be willing to sell their practice. I know of only one other member of this forum that is in the entire state of Alabama. I see nothing wrong with advertising on this forum to buy or sell a tax practice.

Thanks Don. That is VERY good to know.

If they are employees with the state and contractors with the federal, how would you handle future payroll?

Has anyone ever actually seen or known of anyone who kept a log of their internet or cell phone usage?

80% sounds very generious to me. I think it would be extremely hard to find someone that actually uses their cell phone 80% of the time for business. Seems like I read recently that the IRS said they would allow 50% but I don't think that would be automatic.

Am I missing something? Doesn't he have 3 years from the time it was filed if it was filed late? The original post says it was just filed. Sometimes I find that I am wrong even when I THINK I am sure that I am right.

One other point. People who work at home are the envy of a lot of people. I have been trying to convince by wife that I need a golf cart to commute to work in but she has had no sympthy (it's at least 50 feet from my front door to the door of my office). Maybe now that she has retired from the hospital as a nurse, and is now working with me, she will be more willing to consider a golf cart.

I think Lion is referring to Murphy's Law. Fire seems to be following Bonnie around wherever she goes. ;)

I started out in my home, then moved to an office in town. After a few years, I moved back to my home and used a spare bedroom for my office. Later I built an office next to my house (not attached). Working at home definately has its advantages, especially the commute, but it has its disadvantages too. You are too convenient when family members need something. Also, neighbors think that since you are home, you are available for visiting. I do not have a waiting room, therefore, I work by appointment only. Since most of my work is drop offs, I usally schedule only one appointment in the morning and one in the afternoon. That way there are no overlaps in clients coming in and I have plenty of work to do in between. If someone comes by to drop off their papers while I am with a client, I stop long enough to take the work and tell them that if I have any questions (which I usually do), I will call them. This works fine for me. As for a drop box, a mail slot in the front door works fine. Unless you have a very elite clientele, I don't think they will be concerned about your office being in your home or the furnishigs. A lot of professional people work from their homes. When I moved my office from town back to my home, I didn't tell some of my clients that I was trying to get rid of, but some of them found me anyway. Good luck with your new move. I think you will like working at home.