Jack from Ohio

I decided to get past all the "improvements" the IRS is making to insure paid preparers are qualified and go take the EA exam. Call me nuts, but I think it may be better with all the info swirling in my head during the middle of season to be able to pass it. Taking all 3 sections together. I will keep everyone posted!!

Not to mention the sidewalk leading to the front door, the area of the pathway across the living room to the Mary Kay room, the total cost of payments for her car because she has a Mary Kay Sticker on it...

I would have done the parent's return to best benefit them, then e-filed it. Gave the son back his info and let him run somewhere else and try to claim himself.... Notwithstanding, the parents in this situation have been enabling him for years, so nothing you say or do will change anything.

I am willing to share with your sister our firm's experiences in representing Mary Kay consultants at audit for returns prepared by these other "CPA" types that allow all the frivilous deductions. It wasn't pretty!! If those "gung ho" "I am woman hear me roar" types in Mary Kay are not careful, they will bring the wrath of the IRS in the same manner as AMWAY did in the past. Fire her as a client, even if she is your sister.

YES

Remove all of your "Intenet Security Suite" software. Uninstall Microsoft Security Essentials. Reinstall an Anti-Virus and an Anti-Spyware program only. INSTALL ONLY ONE! If you do not have a router, activate the Windows Firewall. You have more than one program protecting you. They are conflicting with each other. You need Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protection ONLY. The rest is unneeded junk. This from First Hand Experience on a new Quad Core Windows 7 Pro 64 bit machine that BLASTS through ATX now.

I have used FeeCollect for 4 years. Initial setup with the bank is a pain. This year a couple more steps for documentation of the taxpayer. Fee Collect charges me $15. I charge $20 for the process. No more bounced checks, no more "Oh I forgot to mail it." Have not been stiffed by FeeCollect ever. 2008 tax year, a client did not tell me her refund was being tagged for back child support. That was not a FeeCollect problem. That client is now Cash In Advance. FeeCollect for everyone that does not want to pay me when the return is completed.

My response is... HA HA HA HA

The Automatic button is there only for a placeholder. It has no real functioning value. 1) Turn on computer 2) Open tax program 3) Manual update 4) Download all forms 5) Restart the program if necessary. 6) Repeat steps 3 thru 5 at least every 4 hours thru the day. I started this the very first time the "Automatic" button showed up. Don't even get me started aboutn Net Framework and "Improvements" to the 2010 software!! See my previous posts...

Finally caved in and called tech support. Condensed version.... If you are using a network with a server and are running Server 2003 on the server, you will be having all the program issues I mention. ATX 2010 uses Net Framework 3.5. ATX 2009 used Net Framework 2.0. Server 2003 works well with Net Framework 2.0. Server 2003 does NOT WORK WELL with Net Framework 3.5. IF YOU ARE READING THIS CCH MANAGEMENT... IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE FOR YOUR TECHNICAL PEOPLE THAT DECIDED TO UPGRADE THE SOFTWARE TO INCLUDE A CHANGE THAT HAS KNOWN ISSUES WITH A VERY WIDELY USED SERVER SOFTWARE, COULD HAVE AT LEAST PUT SOMETHING ABOUT IT IN THE KNOWLEDGEBASE, INCLUDED A BLURB IN THE INSTALL PROGRAM, ETC. 2 HOURS TOTAL DOWN TIME FOR 7 PREPARERS WHILE I DELETED AND REINSTALLED THE PROGRAM TO "TRICK" THE SERVER INTO NOT NOTICING THE PROGRAM USES NET FRAMEWORK 3.5. MY CRYSTAL BALL IS BEING USED ENTIRELY FOR FINDING MISSING TAX INFORMATION FOR MY CLIENTS AND IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT TILL AT LEAST JUNE. If you are having issues listed above, contact me, I will save you the long hold times for tech support. CCH is nearly pushed me to the edge of jumping ship with this one.

I don't accept post-dated checks. I don't "wait till I get my refund to pay you." Tax preparation time comes the same time each year. I offer Fee-Collect at an additional charge. I have not ever been shorted by the Fee-Collect method and I make an additional $5 for all the hoops that have to be jumped through. I no longer have to worry about whether to take back a client that paid very late, or did not pay at all. If my services and knowledge are not worth a little responsibility on the part of my client, then I am not the preparer for them. My Electric company or phone company will not be so accomodating.... Neither will Wal-Mart or the Grocery store.

Once e-filed, you are correct, it cannot be deleted. At this point you would need to rename the file and be very creative. If security is a real issue, keep your file on a separate computer.

Change the name that shows as the file name. It does not have to match the name that is actually on the return. Then password. Another option.... Password the file. Export the file to another location on the computer or your flash drive Delete the file from the program. to get access later.... Import the file make the changes etc. Follow the steps above again.

Your calculations are correct. Our Congress at its tax-law making finest hour!!!

Sell the car. Pay the tax. You can't fix stupid...

141 returns filed Feb 14 till now. Not a single ack. The IRS mandates e-file but does not have the infrastructure in place to handle it. Tell all the complaining clients to call 1-800-829-1040 and express their displeasure with the results. USA today headline... "Inmates steal $39 Million from the IRS in 2009. More checks could be in the mail this year..." Ya gotta love this career we have chosen!!!

Hello there fellow warriors.... Is anyone else having issues with the program duplicating forms, popping error messages, not being able to create e-files, etc? Dozens of instances just today. Server with 10-13 clients depending on the work load. I have updated regularly, and even did a complete repair of the database. Shut down all workstations, and rebooted server. The issue is NOT my network. Tax Year 2009, exact same network, operating systems etc., these problems did not exist. Am I losing it or is there a major internal infrastructure change in the program this year making it very unstable?? I do not want to spend 2 hours on the phone with tech services. Any suggestions? I/we have been using ATX since 2002, and I have become intimately familiar with the internal working and technical aspects of the program. This has me stumped. Any suggestions? Do the gurus(?) at ATX or CCH ever monitor this board? Perish the thought!!

Close the cleint file. Close the tax program. Reboot. I will send an invoice for a service call..... :rolleyes:

Setting the stage.... Feb. 2, 2011 - Darke, Mercer, Miami and Montgomery Counties in Ohio. Worst snow/ice/sleet/freezing rain storm in many years. 3+ inches of freezing rain/ice on everything. I live 26 miles from the firm. I believe in dealing with the weather instead of hiding. Main roads were passable, but no fun to drive. 1 hour to get to work. Only two of us (out of 7) make it in... Phone rings at about 11:00 AM... Me: "Tax Preparers & Associates" (Names changed to protect the innocent.... ) "Can I help you?" Her: "Are you open?" Me: "No. This is the interactive automated voice activated answering service." Her: CLICK!!!!

Client: "I need an explanation why my refund is lower this year." Me: "Let me get your file." Pause..... Me: "I see the situation. You had lower withholdings on your W-2 for 2010." Client: "I didn't change anything. Are you sure?" Me: "Look at box 2 of your W-2 and compare it to last year." Client: "I can't do that. I am driving to my friend's birthday party and just wanted an explanation. Are you sure?" Me: (scratching the phone receiver with my fingernails....) "I am having trouble hearing you..." (more scratching and thumping on the phone receiver...) "Can you call me from home tomorrow?" I push the receiver button in the center of the word tomorrow....

Did this person retire from the IRS?? <<<IRS Distribution Taxable??>>>

From the ATX Blog... E-file Volume Announcement The IRS has advised us that a formal announcement is scheduled to be released Tuesday mid-morning. You may have already noticed a short delay in the time your e-file is received at the EFC and the time it is sent to the IRS. The IRS Electronic Tax Administration (ETA) has reached out to the software developer community asking for us to help monitor the flow of e-File submissions to all processing centers in anticipation of the high volume of returns containing one or more of the Extender forms waiting to be filed. ETA has established a maximum daily volume for each software transmitter for e-files transmitted via MeF and legacy. The purpose of setting maximum volume controls is to ensure the taxpayer’s e-file is processed as quickly as possible without causing significant processing delays by the IRS Submission Processing Centers. SFS will be distributing the volume controls evenly over all five Service Centers.

EXCELLENT!!! First the long delay, now a "flow control" device to protect "THEIR" systems from crashing..... Gotta love the IRS and their Geeks..........

This thread is too hot for me....

Kea is correct. The only possible hitch if you use Form 8888 would be the policies of the receiving banks. Each bank has its own guidlines about such things.