Margaret CPA in OH

Congratulations, JohnH, ATX Master at 1000 posts!

My network was secured by my computer guy who also makes my computers. Perhaps someone could actually crack it but I have a difficult time imagining that happening in the short random time window when my employee actually works on such things in my middle class neighborhood in my home office in a cul de sac. If someone is browsing for wireless access, there are 2 others that show up as unsecured. My computer is hardwired to the internet as is hers. There is wireless use only when she works on returns once or twice a month. No question that there are more perfect solutions but I don't stay awake worrying about this. Hmm, maybe now I will. I'll have to call Doug and ask him about a cable connection.

I didn't take your mention of Feed the Children to be picking on it. I understood it to be a question as to how it can use what seems to be targeted money and the donor get a deduction. It does seem to be at least a similar situation. You original post seemed to indicate by the sequence you described that the donor specifically wanted to target his donation to this needy family. That seemed supported by your statement that he wrote the family name on the check. It would seem he understood exactly what the result would be. His generosity is to be admired and his crown jewels will shine all the brighter now.

I have one part time person who mostly does the bookkeeping for my clients but helps with simple returns and the local returns for the business clients. I have her computer networked (wireless) so she works on the returns and I review on my computer with the same data she has. Generally this is from original documents, but I also have everything digitized by the time the returns go out. Her computer also has access to the folders on mine that have the client data. Her computer is also stand alone in the sense that the QB programs are independently on that one as well as mine. I can't afford to pay the cost for multiple users for QB. My computer is backed up daily to an external hard drive which I keep in my fireproof safe. This summer I will put into place the system to upload to my website for offsite storage, too.

Feed the Children or Children International or like organizations have full control over the funds and discretion as to the use. I have sponsored several children and even visited one in Ecuador. The amount of my contribution that actually trickled down to the child was just a percentage of the total. The organization uses the funds to further their charitable purpose which includes educating the children. I don't have a specific reference for these situations but am fairly certain they have met whatever criteria are established to make this support deductible. When churches want to sponsor a particular missionary, it has to in furtherance of the mission and only if the church or missions agency exercises full control over the funds and ensures that they are spent in furtherance of the church's mission. I think Feed the Children would be happy to provide the citation for their tax exempt purpose allowing deductibility of contributions. It could be that your friend's contribution would slip through but I wouldn't want to bet on it. And it clearly was not intended for just the mission of the church but for the benefit of the individual. If your friend gave this money primarily for the deduction, well, he only got the benefit of his tax bracket anyway. Worst case scenario is that his true gift to the family was a bit larger than he thought and he can feel blessed that he is in a position to be so generous.

My insurance is through Aon, through AICPA. The couple of times I've asked for quotes from other firms recommended, they have always come in higher or for less coverage. I'm sure others will provide names of firms they use. I was quite surprised to see the jump in my car insurance this year after steady declines due to aging cars. We've had no accidents or any claims. I am puzzled and fearful of what the premiums will be when we finally get a newer car or two.

Your take is correct, I believe. My reference is Church & Clergy Tax Guide. Gifts, to be deductible contributions, must have no strings attached or be specifically for an individual. The church committee must have full discretion as to the use of the funds. In this case, the donor could have made known his desire for the use of the money but could not make the gift contingent on it to be deductible. The chances of the money being used for another purpose are quite slim, but not zero. See Rev. Ruling 62-113.

:bday: and many more!

Wow! Cool! I just checked my LaserJet 1320 and discovered, under Effects, that there indeed is an option for Watermarks. My choices are the default None, Confidential, Draft and SAMPLE. I knew I could do lots of this in Adobe Pro and would still choose that for pdf's but this is great to know I can print it, too! Thanks, Jack from Ohio, for chiming in and to jasdim for the thread.

Thanks, John, for more completely and elegantly explaining what I was trying to tell jasdim! Maybe someone else will chime in with the way to mark as draft to educate us all.

I don't believe that you can mark it draft unless you print to a pdf program which allows you to do that. What I do is print the Client Copy (so marked by selecting that on the print menu) to pdf but print the 8879 from the filing copy and send the pdf to the client with a password, usually the last 4 digits of their ssn. Since each page is marked in large letters Client Copy, I don't have much concern that it would be printed out and mailed. I could also restrict the pdf from being printed but choose not to do so as I tell the client to print the 8879 to sign and also that, if there are no changes, the client copy sent is, in fact, their copy to keep and print.

:bday: and many more!

I rather doubt they are that sophisticated but I also doubt they made a profit outside the depreciation. Heck, they may not have even been renting at FMV, maybe they were treating it as a second home. I really don't have all the details and would rather not know. I have to spend a couple of hours with the young couple tomorrow evening at the rehearsal dinner and then 6 hours at the wedding Saturday evening. The young woman is the sister of my son's fiance. I do have to watch my tongue and hope the copious quantities of wine I will imbibe do not get me going!

:bday: and many more!

The girlfriend bought the property from the boyfriend's parents. She is not related and is a first time buyer.

In my soon to be extended family I think the spirit of the law has been compromised and it annoys me. A couple has been living together since their baby was born last year (not married yet so that state covers child's health insurance). The father's parents bought the house and were renting it to couple both of whom have minimum wage jobs. The parents "sold" the house to these first time homebuyers who promptly went out and bought a 90" flat sceen TV. And I have to be really nice to these folks this Saturday at my son's wedding (the bride's sister is the new mother in this situation). I am somewhat gratified that he sees the issue here, too.

The resolution is actually at 800 x 600 so that my aged eyes can see without strain. It can be a bit of a pain having to scroll some things but I manage in order to see easily. And yes, I do split my programs as I described. I wouldn't like to take up the entire screen with one program. Thanks for the information. I think I will stick with what I have!

When you use a single 24 inch monitor, do you just split the screen? Now I have 2 x 17" and the prior year's program opens on the right screen, current on the left. I have IE always open on the right and my email client on the left, etc. Does a split screen work the same way? The might be the replacement option when one of these goes bye bye!

I have been monitoring frequently and am getting a tad bit anxious. I have $700 at stake having committed to TRX under the promise of receiving ATX TTO. I am now questioning that decision. When I last spoke to Braeden last week, he did not sound as convincing as I would like when he reiterated the promise of full refund if ATX was not delivered. Christie of CCH said, sort of unofficially, that TRX would be providing the "functionality" of ATX software but it would be the TaxWise program. She pointed out that the TRX advertising listed specific ATX and CCH products for Trial Balance, Document Manager, and research products and said they had a contract to resell those. TRX does not list ATX tax software as such, just the functionality. I, too, wish some voice from the wilderness would enlighten us!

:bday: and many more!

In your conversation, did he specify that the tax preparation software was, in fact, ATX? Their item code 076 ATX 699 may just mean that the extras are from ATX but not necessarily the tax prep software.

Christie of ATX just called me to discuss renewal. We had a long chat about this issue. While she said that she had to be careful about specific things spoken (legal stuff, I think), the bottom line is that the tax preparation software TRX will provide is TaxWise and the Trial Balance, Document Manager and research materials are ATX and CCH as advertised. When I relooked at Braeden's posting listing the components of the $699 package, I only then noticed that the Tax Software listing is just components and capabilities and does not state ATX. The other items specify ATX or CCH. So, for the moment, I feel, well, taken. And of course, my 72 hours are up, TRX has my money and I have to wait until they ship TaxWise software to get it back to buy ATX from CCH. At least I THINK that's the situation. Geez, what a mess! I hope it's going to be OK!

:bday: and many more!

:bday: and many more!

That happened to me for several weeks earlier this year. After discussion with CS, I created a new user and used that instead of admin. It works now. I just can't get there as admin. Makes no sense but 'tis what it is.