Janitor Bob

Same here! I never doubted my tax abilities, but I suffered through the test anxiety and expense to get that RTRP designation. I hope Congress either grants the authority to IRS...or at least that IRS keeps the RTRP program as voluntary

different reasons here, but same result...overwhelmed.

you would think that RitaB would have this one covered

One of the options in the print menu is to send to Portalsafe. It is possible that you checked that by mistake and now it thinks you want that as a default...check the print preferences.

LOL Joanmcq....My cat did the same thing a few days after your post while I was in the middle of a return (fortunately, no ill affects). Why Dell would put the main power button on the top of the case, I'll never know...surely they understand that my cat uses that area as a step to get to my keyboard/lap. I now have it pushed back where helper kitty will not step on it.

This woman is 52 and her daughter went to the same private school as mine...the only difference being that hers was free through church grants and I had to work nights as a janitor to pay for my daughter's...she was entitled then and still is today....I had hoped that moving out-of-state with a guy she met on-line, in a surprisingly unsuccessful relationship and moving back to Ohio would have changed her....nope. I was not polite to her. I charged her full price plus an adder for making me angry. We'll see if she comes back and pays and signs...or if she wants her papers back to go elsewhere...either way, she is not welcomed in my office....Lila the Giant Dog does not like her.

I know it is not my place to judge or preach to clients, but sometimes it makes me soooo angry. Single mom client quit her cleaning job in June because they made her work nights...which, in her words, "did not allow for any fun time". She had income of approx. $10,000 for the year. Started her own "business" making jewelry....although admittedly, she did not advertise or actually try to sell any of the jewelry that she made. Nonetheless, she proceeded to tell me her utilities and other household expenses. She only paid in $460 in Fed tax for the year....and with her education credit for her kid's college and EIC, her hand-out...I mean refund is approx. $4600.....not bad, I thought. AND SHE WAS UPSET! She feels that that is just not enough....."How am I supposed to live on that?" she screams. I attempted to politely inform her that tax refunds are not a social safety net such as food stamps and welfare..and that a refund is not targeted to her social situation. However, then she started on a rant about why I would not let her deduct all of her "business expenses"...such as repairs to her car so she could go to the wal-mart to buy jewelry-making supplies. She also tells me she got offered a job at Burger King, but turned it down because it was too degrading...yes she said that. I did not just make up my ATX screen name...I earned the "Janitor" designation over several years proudly working one of those "degrading" jobs at night to make ends meet. I did not even try to explain that even if her expenses were deductible, they could not further lower her taxable income which was already zero. I can tolerate tax-ignorance....after all....that is why people pay us...just like I am car-ignorant and pay to have my oil changed. but I am so sick of these people who think they know taxes and feel that society "owes them" more despite the fact that they are already living off of my tax dollars because they just do not want to work hard or do something yucky like clean out a deep fryer....or, God forbid, work inconvenient hours. I don't mind the occasional struggling parent who works hard and get a nice EIC...yes...some do deserve it....but that is the exception...the above seems to be the rule. OK..rant over...I'll climb down off of my soap box now.

Thanks everyone....That is what I thought....many of the donations were in excess of $250.00...so no relief there. I will direct the client as such.

Am I correct that the statement from client's church that shows their donations for the year must include wording to the effect that no goods or services were received in exchange for these donations? $5,500.00 donations, but this is the first time I have seen a statement that did NOT have that wording.....Wondering if I should advise client to obtain a new statement from church.

I'm pretty sure that the credit is only concerned with what was PAID in 2013...so there really is no need for two entries on the worksheet....and you cannot totally rely on the 1098-T to tell you that....in many cases the boxes on the 1098 do not correlate exactly to the amount paid. Some schools put the amount that was actually paid in box 1...but many others (such as my daughter's school) lump everything into box 2...nothing in box 1....I paid almost the entire amount of box 2, but not all...some of it was billed in 2013, but I did not actually pay it until last month....so that portion will be for next tax year. Alternatively, there were amounts that I paid in January 2013 that were actually billed in 2012...so those amounts do not appear in box 2 this year. So in the end, you need to rely on the client to know how much they actually PAID in 2013 and deduct from that the amount of scholarship& grants listed on the 1098 to come up with the amount to enter on the worksheet. The parent or student should be able to support that with school account statements or something.

Crazy Mary is in rehab....got hooked on the bath salts & whiskey. Oddly enough, it actually made her behave a little more normal...for a while, she even quit bathing in the fountains around the court square and was quite a pleasant little old bingo-playing lady....but when she started mixing the Jack with the drugs, it went downhill fast.

Agreed....waiver is for IRA only...not 401k...does not seem fair, but that's the way it is.

I hear what you are saying Jack and I totally respect your position, but I don't think in this case, I would have enough evidence to report. One can "suspect" that the other preparer was fraudulent, but we really have no idea what went on between the client and that preparer. The client might be innocent...or maybe not

Chaz (the guy on the corner by Woody's market that drinks warm Corona) is just hangin out with Lenny the Pirate. They assist me with my more complicated tax issues. Lenny the Pirate vomited on my cat, so he is not allowed to hang out at my place as often.

Now that you are aware of the 2012 issues, are you not obligated to at least inform the client (in writing preferably) that she should amend 2012?

Unicorn farts are awesome

Do not confuse this guy with Chaz, the guy on the corner by Woody's Market that drinks warm Corona. Chaz is the man!

I point them to the web site in advance...but then when the web site does not work (like now)...they call me thinking I have some crystal ball.

Also make sure the W-2s are not checked as "Spouse's"...as there is no longer a spouse on the return.

The person that is deceased should no longer appear on the return anywhere. The surviving spouse/client should now be listed as the taxpayer, spouse will be blank.

Make sure your dates of birth are correct and that you have the mom/client as the taxpayer and not Spouse as she was last year (not just on the page 1, but also in the taxpayer info section. Then, make sure ATX is seeing the son as a dependent.

Yes...assuming the son qualifies as a dependent.

guy calls me: Smart Guy: "Hey, JB..you can do my taxes." Me: "Are you asking me or telling me?" silence Me: "Yes, I can do your taxes" Smart Guy: "how much?" Me: "Well, that's hard to say...I would need to see what you have." Smart Guy: Well all I have is one W-2 because I aint going to pick up the other two from where I used to work because Karl told me that If I did not get the W-4s, I don't need to claim those jobs." silence...as I feel the vein in my head throb Smart Guy: to pay ya, I can plow your drive cuz I gots a big plow on my truck and I live in West Liberty can I deduct that I can't keep it in the yard no more cause I knocked down the corner of the porch and Jody got pissed." Me: "Ok...we need to find a time for us to sit down and see what you have" Smart Guy: "Smackin!" Smart Guy: "So how much is it gonna cost and how much do you think I'll get back cuz I wanna get a new grill ill cook ya up some ribs I make the best damn ribs the secret is I use that fancy mustard." Me: "That's great...do you want to get together this weekend?" Smart Guy: "Naaaa...not this weekend, man....Me and Karl are going down to the gun show I like guns" Me: "OK" Smart Guy: "BANG!!!!" "Did I scare you?" I hung up....and then I blocked the number. Perhaps that was wrong...it was definately not polite, but in my defense, I had just been shot. I just can not take any more stupidity in my life. Where do they grow these people and why do they find me?

maybe they should get their on-line "where's My Refund" working first.

Topics such as this are what I love about taxes....these ideas/situations that are so interesting to think about and get views from different perspectives from other preparers....Love it.