GeneInAlabama

If he doesn't use it for personal use for more than 14 days a year, I don't see any reason why he can't depreciate it.

Everything doesn't always flow to the Alabama form as well as it does to the federal. Sometimes I have to do some head scratching trying to figure out why the state doesn't match out to the federal.

If he had taxable income on his federal, I can't imagine any scenario that would allow him to have a negative income on the state since the Alabama income is a percentage of the federal return and the same percentage is used for the deductions.

I don't believe I have ever efiled a part year Alabama return but it is filed on the same form as a full year resident which is AL 40. If you file more than 50 Alabama returns, you HAVE to efile it. I don't see anything that makes a difference between a part year and a full year return as far as efiling goes. Almost all my clients have been with me for years, therefore all are full year residents.

Everything always happens during tax season. Almost all of my grandchildren were born during tax season. My kids don't seem to want to cooperate after all that I have done for them.

Thank you Linda. You gave me the information I needed. I also found that if the beneficiary waits till the end of the five years to withdraw the earnings, he doesn't have to pay tax. Also, he can withdraw the original amount converted immediately without paying tax if he leaves the earnings in the IRA for the 5 years. I appreciate your help. This client is one that has referred a good bit of business to me in the past.

I for one really appreciate KC's responses. She is very knowledgeable and I trust her opinions. This board would not be the same without her. She puts a lot of time in helping the rest of us.

Income is the same whether it is cash, check, credit card, or barter. The same applies for expenses.

Thanks Linda, I'll check on the less than 5 year part. It does sound a little more reasonable about owing tax if it is less than 5 years.

That is why I encourage extensions. I would rather spread my work over 9 months instead of 3 months.

2006 is gone, 2007 is almost gone. So, looks like you would be paying full price for 2008!!!

I have a client that is a financial advisor. This morning he told me that a CPA told him that if a person converts a regular IRA to a Roth IRA and pays the tax at the time he converts it, and if he dies and passes the IRA to his beneficiary, the beneficiary has to pay tax the IRA earned from the time it was converted from a regular IRA. This just doesn't sound right to me. Do any of you know anything about this, or is this one of those things that gets twisted. He says that he was told this by a respected CPA that has been in business for a long time. Any comment on this will be appreciated.

Signing someone's name is FRAUD. If she files MFS, it will rusult in an automatic audit and he will be in trouble for signing her name. Let the IRS straighten it out.

If you were not a PAID preparer, I don't think it makes any difference whether or not you gave him a copy of the returns.

I never ask the client about the $3 campaign fund and always leave it blank. I started doing tax returns in 1979 and have never had a problem with that. During that time I have only had one client mention that he wanted to check the box for the campaign fund. I found that whenever I ask a client about it, I wind up spending 5 or 10 minutes trying to explain that to them. Just a small thing but thought I'd throw it in for whatever it may be worth.

I advertise free efiling with tax preparation. It is good advertising and it is quicker and easier than assembling returns to be mailed. People like things that are free and it doesn't cost anything to offer it. This plus all the things listed above just make sense (also dollars).

Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Of course I worked for the government for more than 15 years, so what do I know?

You're right. That's what I paid also. I just glanced at the renewal price they quoted me for renewing Max and I didn't notice they included the document manager at $305 and trial balance at $210. They included those free in my package last year and I never used them and had not requested them. I guess they were trying to slip those in this year (maybe they thought I wouldn't notice). The renewal price they quoted me for next year is $1,531.50 after discount which is almost 50% more than I paid for this year. Without the document manager and trial balance, the renewal price would be just a slight increase from last year. I apologize for jumping at conclusions. But, I still don't intend to renew. ATX is a very good program, but I do not like doing business with someone I can't trust.

I don't understand. Why do reps have to get permission to call out to a customer? Isn't the reps job to help the customers? Do CCH employees have to get permission to go to the bahroom?

My price increase for the 2008 program is $504.00 for Max. That is almost a 50% increase. It looks like CCH doesn't want my business next year. I like the ATX software but I'm just a small business and can't afford a 50% increase in cost. This is the final straw for me. If Mel doesn't have his software ready in time, I guess I'll be looking for something else or quit. I had already decided to quit doing partnerships and corporations. I don't have many of those anyway. At 71 years of age, I'm ready to slow down a little anyway.

Charge him/her another $25 and give him/her a $25 discount. I try to make everyone happy.

When a marriage is annulled, it is as though the marriage never exixted. My guess is that if a return had been filed MFJ or MFS before the annullment, an amended return would have to be filed.

I just printed out a return and the "Client Copy" printed like it is supposed to. I don't know what happened before, but it is working fine now. Computers are funny critters.

I do, but lately it has been barely readable. It was that way last yer, but this year started off looking like it should, but then almost disappeared.

That might be worth looking into. My idea of a perfect vacation is to rent a cabin way back in the woods and do nothing for a week, but my wife doesn't see it that way. I guess that shows my age. Gene