Christian

I usually reup about now. As you may well imagine I am going to hold off for the time being.

It is 8:45 here and I just transmitted two efiles . What is my greatest concern in all of this? What if these criminals successfully penetrated WK's security and stole actual returns as the group who broke into the Office of Personnel Management did a couple of years back? Good Lord !!!

Something must be askew as I am unable to efile returns.

Taxman I am not that familiar with escheat law but maybe three years. This particular client is a dilly dallyer but advised she did not have great difficulty in getting the matter resolved.

I plan on discussing security with Centurylink before making any change. Of course, I run Microsoft Security Essentials all the time and run Malwarebytes two or three times a week as well as regular quick scans. I am as stated on a dsl line on a regular router and my current isp has there own security in place as well. I very rarely ever have any problem. I would assume Centurylink has security in place as well. Generally I use eight character passwords which use mixed caps numbers and such. I do not use the computer to link with any clients. The phone and now text messages are already more than I can handle.

In reviewing a video giving directions for setting up the modem router they suggest connecting the computer by Ethernet cable for set up but I am sure there would be no problem leaving it connected. The new machine will be a desktop pc and will not be moved around. On the other hand I might just bump up to 8.1 and use old Bessie here if a USB adapter can connect me.

When you say wired system I do not understand. My Wi-Fi modem router would be connected to a dsl line. Is that what you are referring to? I keep my old landline basically for security. I plan on using the connection to service my smart tv as well.

I am so glad to find a fellow Virginian with the same sale. Yes, Gail that is what I meant. Add the value of the BAT shares they received to the cash they received and deduct their basis. The info supplied by BAT is totally confusing. They seem to show a sale of some BAT shares and report a short term gain and a long term gain for it. The client got $29.44 a share in cash and .503 or so BAT shares for their RAI shares. The monetary value of the BAT shares was given so it seemed a pretty simple straight forward computation. I quite simply could not make heads or tails of the other material they sent.

Some tax clients try spoofing each year.

Thanks ever so much. As it happens they did not receive the funds until 2018. I will print this and place it in their file.

In 2017 British American Tobacco acquired Reynolds American Tobacco in a stock and cash deal. The owners of Reynolds received cash and British American stock for the Reynolds stock. The form provided by British American for the sale is confusing to say the least although this is indicated as a taxable exchange. To my thinking all that is needed is the basis of the acquired shares which would then be subtracted from the COMBINED cash and fair market value of the British American stock received. Any input on this would be much appreciated.

I have more or less worked out most of the kinks in what I need to do in no small part with help from our forum members. I have a windows 7 professional 64bit machine. I use it off and on but not for tax work. In checking tech support I am told a simple USB Wi-Fi adapter is available which will make it Wi-Fi accessible. Someone on the forum mentioned that Microsoft is continuing support for the professional version for three additional years but I have been unable to confirm that.

As noted in an entry last year a client somehow let a large amount of property become escheat to the state of Virginia who sold it. They subsequently recovered the cash received which prompted my forum entry. I advised a family member to have the money reinvested in the security which was sold by the state and no tax consequences would result until such time as the stock was sold. True to form they did nothing. The state sent them a form but it is anything but definitive as to how the money is to be treated for tax purposes. They did advise how many shares were sold and the date. My thought was to treat the sale as if the owner sold the stock. I called the priority line but no help there. It would likely pass muster but should any of you have encountered a similar situation I would appreciate any info you may be able to share.

With no financial penalty what are they going to do wag their finger ?

I'll reconsider the HDD SDD matter. The machine I was looking at was upgradable to an i 7 CPU at not great expense. I back up all client returns and rarely if ever have ram memory problems even on this 4GB machine. After years of hemming and hawing I am going to a wi-fi setup. My local Centurylink provider uses a single modem router combination. I will still have a Windows7 Pro machine which will have no wi-fi capability but was told I could connect it to the router modem (what by a ethernet cable connect?) and use it as well. Since I am about as technically proficient as this chair I am sitting in I have doubts that that info is correct. Do any of you know if that would work?

I have not done this in years. Somewhere along the line I read of a software you could get that would migrate needed files through a USB connection between your computers. Is there such software?

I keep a computer up to eight years. I doubt the SSD drive would last. Speed is not that important to me as I do a fixed number of returns and if this season is any indication I will be doing less. Nowadays I take clients in the afternoon only as my days for getting up at 6AM to hit the returns is now a fading memory. Thanks for all the info. This business is still a pleasure to me and occupies the colder months and helps keep the old grey cells active.

Someone correct me if I am wrong please. The individual mandate under the ACA is abolished and the shared responsibility payment (penalty tax) as well beginning with TY 2019.

Like not a few I am looking to upgrade my old pc. I am looking at one with 8GB of ram, 1TB of memory and an Intel two core processor (whatever that is ?). My current machine is 64bit which I like quite a lot so I am going to opt for that as well. What do you tech knowledgeable folks think ?

CCH bought out a software provider which was based in Maine so that's how long I have been with them. I enter my info from each form and have had a few problems over the years but I plan to stick with CCH until Gabriel blows his trumpet. I have a 64 bit machine and now must upgrade to Windows 10. Y'all say a prayer for me.

A client couple has now divorced and requested that their refunds be evenly divided and deposited into their individual bank accounts. They filed MFJ for 2018 and I can do this by using federal Form 8888 but I find no Virginia form to accomplish this. Is this correct or is there a state form for this ?

Additionally, Virginia has an additional deduction of $12,000 available to folks over 65 yoa within certain income limitations. I believe it fazes out if you file separately and your combined marital income exceeds $75,000.

I have begun adding the two year comparison form to returns which I formally rarely did but find there is no form for the state. Am I missing something ?

That is a point well made. It was clear to me this man had become "hooked" on short term trading which he knew little or anything about. He got hooked for over eleven grand in profits and says it's all over. Who wants to place a bet on his coming back next year ?

As my return has the attached Schedule C and my business info at the bottom of the 1040 I simply sign it and let them figure it out.