ETax847

I see the error in my ways. Sure glad you guys were able to answer my questions. That's why I love this forum. No one is quick to criticize and everyone is extremely helpful. Thanks to all who responded.

Just read this article and was completely blown away. Being a CPA, in a big market city, I think I set my fees way to low based on the following. http://taxes.about.com/od/findataxpreparer/a/prices.htm Average Prices for Tax Preparation Fees The National Society of Accountants in their 2013 fee study reports the following average prices charged by their members: Average for 1040 with Schedule A and state return: $261 Average for 1040 with state return with no itemized deductions: $152 Average Prices at Franchised Tax Offices H&R Block: $198 per return (average, 2013 data) Liberty Tax Service: $180 per return (average, 2013 data)

I came across this (client is a real estate agent that is 1099'd from her employer and owns 2 rental properties) Based on the following, Im led to believe client would qualify However, if you are in a real estate activity type profession, such as a real estate agent, then you will qualify as long as you own 5% or more of the business that is paying you. Don't let this confuse you if you are a real estate agent. You are most likely paid as an independent contractor. That independent contractor income IS your business. However, if you are paid as an employee of a real estate agency and do not own a minimum of 5% of the company, then you will not qualify under this provision. First, you will need to understand what real estate activities actually are. A qualified real estate activity is any thing in which you "develop, redevelop, construct, reconstruct, acquire, convert, rent, operate, manage, lease, or sell" real estate. Remember that the key is that you perform personal services in these activities, but you don't necessarily have to be the one performing the work. You can be supervising, meeting, planning--all of the activities that go into truly running a business. Read more: http://www.creonline.com/irs-definitions-real-estate-investors-part-1.html#ixzz2oKbYVKzF

Does a real estate broker count as a real estate professional for deducting rental income losses?

Making the tax organizers was a very manual process. I found the customer support line to be of no help as well.

Wow, I always thought my fees were low and this confirms it. Thanks for sharing

Very skeptical myself as this should have been addressed prior to them working on the 2013 software. As noted in a different post, some people still use the tax organizers and to not have them ready this close to tax season is extremely disappointing to say the least.

3) Also, the appointment date and time does not roll into the letter Extremely disappointed ATX didnt resolve these issues before moving on to the 2013 software. For current users this is a major inconvenience.

Do any ATX users have any fixes for the following: 1) Organizer Letter does not pull in the year, but instead shows the hyperlinks [Federal Next Year or Return) 2) Engagement Letter still reads 2012 NOT 2013, not sure what the fix is. Thanks

Just curious as to whether fellow tax preparers send out their Tax Organizers to clients in December or January of next year?

Thanks Joel! That did the trick

Does anyone know how to import their 2012 billing rates in the 2013 software? I assumed they would have rolled over, but that does not seem to be the case.

I'm sticking with ATX. They had one bad year, and from everything I have read and heard, they will be much improved.

Just received my renewal notice for the ATX 2013 software, and I was wondering if people who experienced problems like myself for the 2012 tax season were receiving some type of discount? I would not feel right paying full price after all of the problems I endured this past tax season and problems I continue to experience in trying to amend returns. Thoughts?

I downloaded the latest update thinking it would solve my printing issues. Instead, I am not able to open the software again and have the following error: Session Summary Information: Date/Time: 03/28/13 9:12:43 AM ApplicationVersion: 12.12.319.1 CommandLine: "C:Program Files (x86)CCH Small Firm ServicesATX2012ATX2012.Loader.exe" CurrentCultureName: en-US CurrentUICultureName: en-US DnsDomainName: Duration: 00:00:55.8684870 HostName: Business-PC MemoryMB: 8124 OSArchitecture: Amd64 OSCultureName: en-US OSFullNameWithServicePack: Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 OSVersion: 6.1.7601 ProcessorCores: 8 OSVersion: 6.1.7601 RuntimeVersion: 4.0.30319.296 OSVersion: 6.1.7601 TerminalServer: False System.AggregateException: A Task's exception(s) were not observed either by Waiting on the Task or accessing its Exception property. As a result, the unobserved exception was rethrown by the finalizer thread. ---> System.InvalidOperationException: Sequence contains no matching element at System.Linq.Enumerable.First[TSource](IEnumerable`1 source, Func`2 predicate) at lambda_method(Closure ) at System.Linq.EnumerableExecutor`1.Execute() at System.Linq.EnumerableQuery`1.System.Linq.IQueryProvider.Execute(Expression expression) at System.Linq.Queryable.First[TSource](IQueryable`1 source, Expression`1 predicate) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.AppManifestUpdater.IsNewerManifestAvailable(String year, String type) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.PerformFormInformation(AppManifestUpdater appUpdater, IServerInfo serverInfo, IStoredItemDescriptor manifestInfo, DirectoryInfo manifestsFolder, IProgress`1 progress, UpdateResult& formsManifestUpdResult) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.PerformFormsNeedingUpdate(AppManifestUpdater appUpdater, IServerInfo serverInfo, IStoredItemDescriptor manifestInfo, DirectoryInfo manifestsFolder, IProgress`1 progress, IEnumerable`1& forms, CsvFormMasterMetadataRepository& formsManifest) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.AutomaticUpdateI(IProgress`1 updateProgress, CancellationToken cancellationToken, UpdateTypes types, Boolean checkOnly) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.<>c__DisplayClass8.<AutomaticUpdate>b__7() at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.InvokeFuture(Object futureAsObj) at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke() at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute() --- End of inner exception stack trace --- ---> (Inner Exception #0) System.InvalidOperationException: Sequence contains no matching element at System.Linq.Enumerable.First[TSource](IEnumerable`1 source, Func`2 predicate) at lambda_method(Closure ) at System.Linq.EnumerableExecutor`1.Execute() at System.Linq.EnumerableQuery`1.System.Linq.IQueryProvider.Execute(Expression expression) at System.Linq.Queryable.First[TSource](IQueryable`1 source, Expression`1 predicate) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.AppManifestUpdater.IsNewerManifestAvailable(String year, String type) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.PerformFormInformation(AppManifestUpdater appUpdater, IServerInfo serverInfo, IStoredItemDescriptor manifestInfo, DirectoryInfo manifestsFolder, IProgress`1 progress, UpdateResult& formsManifestUpdResult) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.PerformFormsNeedingUpdate(AppManifestUpdater appUpdater, IServerInfo serverInfo, IStoredItemDescriptor manifestInfo, DirectoryInfo manifestsFolder, IProgress`1 progress, IEnumerable`1& forms, CsvFormMasterMetadataRepository& formsManifest) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.AutomaticUpdateI(IProgress`1 updateProgress, CancellationToken cancellationToken, UpdateTypes types, Boolean checkOnly) at Sfs.Runtime.Updating.UpdateFacilitator.<>c__DisplayClass8.<AutomaticUpdate>b__7() at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.InvokeFuture(Object futureAsObj) at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.InnerInvoke() at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Execute()<--- Any advice?

When you have amounts in box 2 and box 5 on at 1098T, should these amounts be netted together? Or do you just consider the amount in box 2 (amounts billed for qualified tuition and related expenses)

Has anyone ever prepared a return with an amount filled in on line 25 of the Federal 1040? I am just wondering in what situations it is used.

Here is what I found in that pub: 　 Used as a home and rented 15 days or more. If you use a dwelling unit as a home and rent it 15 days or more during the year, include all your rental income in your income. Since you used the dwelling unit for personal purposes, you must divide your expenses between the rental use and the personal use as described earlier in this chapter under Dividing Expenses. The expenses for personal use ARE NOT DEDUCTIBLE as rental expenses. If you had a net profit

Just talked to the IRS, and you must count the days that the person lived in it, even it if it was before it was considered a rental.

client rented an apt in state x.

Client lived in state x for 6 months while in school, earned no income. Moved to state y and started working. Is there a need to file a multi state return as no income was earned in state x?

Client lived in residence for first 4 months of the year, then converted it to a rental property. On Sch E for personal use days, do I count the days she lived in it as personal use, or do personal use days start as of when she started renting it out, thus making it 0?

I have assigned it to Sch E:01 but how is it supposed to get assigned to the correct property on the Sch E?

The depreciation is not calculating at all for either property and I am wondering if there is something special that needs to be done on the Fixed Asset schedule to link it. This is the first time I have encountered this issue as I have never had more than one rental property.

Are the following line items deducitble on an SCorp Return: Employee FICA Employer FICA Federal Taxes Health and Dental Insurance Life Insurance