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Same as Jack. No errors from accuwage in all the years I've filed w-2s except for my own because my name is the same as the firm name with some letters that follow.

Yes. Support isn't taken into consideration for determining whether a person is a qualifying child for the EIC. It's the residency, relationship, age, and joint tests that are used for the EIC. In your client's case, the child is under 24 yrs of age at the end of the tax year and is considered a full-time student for that year if he or she was a full-time student for at least 5 months of the tax year. The child also meets the residency test because that requires the child live in the home more than 1/2 the tax year.

DBerg, yes, that notation at the bottom is the standard wording that's appeared on the Form 1100 for many years now. I'll be mailing the payment in with a letter.

Ron, thank you for checking.

Would someone who has DE loaded in ATX 2015 or another vendor's software please tell me what voucher is listed as the form for remitting a balance due on a Form 1100 C corp DE return being e-filed? TIA My confusion - The DE DOR website lists 200-EF for 2013 and 1100-V for 2014 as the forms to use. My program printed out a 2015 Form 200-V for remitting, but that is the form used for personal returns (personal returns are the Form 200 series). A rep in the corp dept told me to mail in with a letter, and the MeF handbook for these returns looks like a cut-and-paste from the individual handbook for the payment methods, and that isn't accurate for corp returns or pass-through entities.

For those that don't click on the links, that footnote reads as follows (bold is mine): 3 A worksheet for determining support is included later in this section. If a child receives social security benefits and uses them toward his or her own support, those benefits are considered as provided by the child. Benefits provided by the state to a needy person (welfare, food stamps, housing, SSI) are generally considered support provided by the state.

Other benefits of e-filing are that it eliminate the need for red forms for the 1099s, the printer alignment issues, and both the W-2s and 1099 series have an additional month tacked on to the filing date with the e-file due date of March 31st. That due date gives more flexibility for us and can be useful if there is something typed in wrong on the form. We know that some clients don't look at the year-end forms that are mailed to them, so if their tax preparer finds something wrong, we have the extra time to correct the original filing it if it hasn't been submitted, rather than filing more forms as corrected ones.

From the linked article entitled "IRS Kicks Off Tax Season", specifically addressing security: Security Improvements The IRS has also boosted security this tax season in an effort to combat identity theft, partnering with state tax authorities, tax software vendors and major tax preparation chains. More than 20 shared data elements will help the software industry and the IRS stop fraudulent returns at the door, the IRS said in an email Tuesday. For example, the IRS will receive information from software providers about the duration of time it took to create the return. This will help identify the computer-generated tax returns that are fraudulent and filed in bulk. The IRS, states and tax industry will also share details of any fraudulent schemes they see on a frequent basis so everyone will have the same information and adjust accordingly to provide increased protection to taxpayers. The IRS said the most publicly visible aspect of these partnership efforts will be for those taxpayers who prepare their own tax returns using tax software or online products. There will be new procedures that will help prevent fraudsters from taking over the accounts of taxpayers. These include: • New password standards to access tax software will require a minimum of 8 characters with upper case, lower case, alpha, numerical and special characters. • A new timed lockout feature and limited unsuccessful log-in attempts. • The addition of three security questions. There will also be “out-of-band verification” for email addresses, which is sending an email or text to the customer with a PIN—a common practice used throughout the financial sector.

Catherine's link is safe. It is to a website that she follows called "Fellowship of the Minds". Below are the contents of the page she linked to: Do not open email from Interfax! – it contains a virus Posted on January 19, 2016 by Dr. Eowyn | 11 Comments Interfax is a Russian non-governmental news agency based in Moscow, founded in 1989 by officials from Moscow Radio. It is part of the Interfax Information Service Group, a group of approximately 30 companies that consist of national, regional and branch information agencies under the Interfax name. It employs around 1,000 journalists and produces over 1,500 stories daily. Here’s an alert posted on Interfax’s website: Virus Emails coming from InterFAX – DO NOT OPEN Please DO NOT OPEN virus emails appearing to arrive from Interfax [email protected]. It has come to our attention that an unknown third party is sending malicious emails which contain a javascript virus. The email is spoofed to look as though it was sent from the email address [email protected]. This is NOT an email sent by InterFAX, and you should NOT open the attached file. If you get any email posing as being sent by Interfax, DO NOT OPEN IT. Delete it. If you open the attachment, you will need to reinstall your operating system to eliminate the virus, or maybe worse, as the virus may get embedded into your files. H/t Will S. ~Eowyn

Yes! That is what I did when I was with ATX, and use the similar pages provided by my current software. Most of the clients don't want to go over the returns, or maybe a specific item's handling if it is a one-time reportable event. Most of them appreciate having an overview of the return using only the summary and comparison pages. I do go over the 2 pages of the DE returns since many of my clients are seniors with the extra deductions and credits that my state allows them.

No, the NOL incurred prior to death and reported on the individual's personal return is lost. From pub 559: "Carryover losses resulting from net operating losses or capital losses sustained by the decedent before death cannot be deducted on the estate's income tax return.

Jack, that response from ATX leaves me almost speechless. How many times have you said that the program is having this trouble WHILE you are working on a return, and the box pops up in the background that you can't even see?! To have this happen two, maybe three times, is too many in my book, and you've had this ongoing for years. Clearly, no one is listening and no one there cares. I think Michael is right when he said that as long as renewals are in a certain range, the company doesn't care. No one should be having this issue, whether they prepare 100 returns or 1000+. It's disgusting that they won't fix this issue. I guess that "thank you" with the 2 exclamation points makes it all better though. /s

Sounds like you are doing it correctly. Expense small items directly as small tools under the de minimis policy, capitalize and depreciate, or use sec 179, for the larger items such as the tool boxes that will last more than one year. These expenses are on line 21 of the Sch A subject to the 2% haircut unless there is some employer reimbursement involved that would cause them to be reported on the 2106 first, but ultimately they end up on Sch A either way.

A lot of experience. My husband is a retired auto tech, and he went to Mac Tools training but decided selling tools wasn't for him. I also did the accounting for many years for several Goodyear stores, a few gas stations with bays, a couple of local repair shops, and a car dealer for years at the firm I worked for.

Agree with Terry and Abby to take the expense or capitalize when the tools or tool box are put in service. Maybe you heard not to take the deduction until it's paid for because those tool boxes do get repossessed for nonpayment of account. There are a couple of reasons the mechanic might have multiple accounts he is paying on, and it isn't the fault of Snap On or the other tool companies. Many, or most, of those tool men own their own routes and aren't employees of the national company. They extend their own credit to the mechanics on a truck account with those minimum weekly payments. If the mechanic changes jobs and has a different Snap On rep at his new location, he will have another truck account to pay on if the new rep also extends him credit, but he still also owes the first salesman until that is paid off. Then, on the larger purchases like tool boxes, those might be financed through the Snap-On national company itself or some other credit company so that the salesman doesn't have to carry the mechanic for those larger balances. So you see, simply with a financed tool box purchase and a change of employment, that one mechanic could potentially end up with 3 separate payments to Snap On, plus the same with Matco or Mac Tools. Don't forget your de minimis policy for this Sch C business.

I agree with everything Catherine said. It isn't for every office, but that could be said of any software product. One size does not fit all. I have to say that there is no excuse for not knowing the refund policy of any product you are trying, and your not receiving a refund is not the fault of Drake Software. Drake would have given you the full copy of the prior year software for FREE for you to try out for as long as you wanted. The only thing lacking would have been the ability to e-file, but it would be the fully functional version that would have allowed you to test drive its functionality without any funds outlay on your part.

You're welcome.

One of the nice features is it is a closed group. Nonmember visitors can see the members' names but not any of the posts unless they join and are accepted into the fold. On our forum here, while you can have an anonymous screen name, all of the posts are visible with the exception of the Off-Topic members-only subforum.

Good question, but doesn't the character of income passed through to the beneficiary retain the character it has while in the estate? If that is the case, prior to final settling of the estate while the farm is still in the estate, I think that income would not be subject to the SE tax. Once the farm is transferred to the beneficiary, then the income becomes subject to the SE tax again.

No, if you file those on paper, they must be on the red forms. E-file those and you eliminate that headache. The recipient and payor copies can be printed on the black forms.

It will be fun getting to know you all better outside of the work-related questions.

I used this one for a business client that came in late with 1099s to file the year I'd switched from ATX and was shut off from their server at that point in the year. It was easy, and for a nominal fee, this site will even mail the payee or employee copies. I didn't have to file with the state, so be sure to check whether those are included in the filing, if you have that requirement. This site will also remember the payor and payee data for future years' filings. This is the one I used: https://www.efilemyforms.com/efile_only.asp Here are 2 others I have bookmarked but haven't used: http://www.bgtaxforms.com/e-file-s/7.htm https://efile4biz.efile1.com/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Hi everyone, I've set up a group for us on facebook, and RitaB has agreed to be a co-admin. It's our Facebook Water Cooler for us to post non-work related fun things, photos, share personal or otherwise important or frivolous stories. Anything but politics; we aren't going there. Vent if you need to, get away from the desk and relax for a while. For now I've used the picture of the desk piled high as the cover photo, but I am open to suggestions. I hope to see you there. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1688515908061571/

This does not surprise me.

It's another loss of a man with incredible talent, and a sad week so soon after the loss of David Bowie. Two of my favorite characters that AR played are Col Brandon in Sense and Sensibility and Dr Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest. GQ always makes me laugh.