Gail in Virginia

I have opened it a couple times, but it was just because the cursor was in the wrong place. I didn't mean to do it.

Jackie, I had a return that I had rolled over earlier that would not open. 12.5 was supposed to be the answer. When I first installed the update, I got a message "cannot open rolled over return." However, I deleted the previous roll over, rolled it over again, and Miracle of Miracles, IT OPENED! I don't know if this is your issue. Good luck!

You tried, Jack, but your post said "admin" not "Admin" and this year it matters!

If you will go to line 21, and bunny hop to the supporting page, Canceled debts is on the line 5 up from where you start entering your own language. This will get the income on the return. After 2011, no bunny hops.

I agree with all of the above. When you make a mess, you have to pay to clean it up.

We are networked, with Server 2011 and Windows 7 on workstations. I have only had one crash so far, while entering data on a sch. C. Lost everything on the C. Re-opened return, saved every couple of entries, had no problem. But we are mostly using the payroll program so far doing W2s and 1099s. Your mileage may vary.

We usually charge a minimum fee of $25, for up to 5 employees or contractors. Everyone over 5 is charged at $1.50 each. If we do payrolls we will do the 941 and Virginia Unemployment filing for $40, but if we don't do the payroll the quarterly reports are $75. The 940 is an additional $25. Other charges may apply if the data is not in good, usable format.

Our wild swing was last week too. On Sunday, the temperature was in the 70's - unusually warm for winter. By Thursday, it was snowing (and sticking!). This week it is very cold for our area, in the low 20's and upper teens. Should be a little warmer by the end of the week, but forecast is for a wintry mix by Friday. I will be inside anyway since it is that time of the year, so let's get this cold weather now and I will try to be ready to enjoy spring when it comes!

How would you know if they elected to be treated as an S-Corp? I think in most circumstances, I would err on the side of caution and send the 1099.

I am not yet ready to give up on ATX. Our problems have not been as severe as some, despite running on a network. I really don't like change. We used Drake a few years ago, and while their customer service was excellent I prefer the forms based software of ATX. I did get an interesting email offering $300 off this week only on Pro Series, But I really like ATX usually.

We usually only roll over when we are ready to do the return. So far, we have rolled over 7 returns - a test return, 3 very simple 1040's, 3 1120S returns, and 1 - 1120. Of those, only the 1120 is giving us problems and can't be opened. We are in a networked environment - in fact we just replaced our server this past summer. From the sound of things, we got lucky! But I don't know how much trouble we will have as we go forward, and the program is still incredibly slow!

From something that KC posted on another thread, ATX might not have had a choice on this. If the IRS tells them that they cannot let users edit the forms they don't have any choice in the matter if they want their software approved for e-filing. And how useless would tax software not approved for e-filing be?

So far, the only return that I have rolled over that I cannot open is an 1120. I get the same error message APF mentioned on that return and it will not open. I am waiting to see what happens, but I feel like I will be on line with tech support over that return. I have had that error message in previous years for an occasional return, but usually opening and closing it in the prior year program solves the issue. This time it did not. I have not printed any returns yet.

I would have thought that to qualify as step-children for any purpose there would have to be a legal relationship, such as marriage. But who knows? Anymore you can't even be sure of the definition of marriage....

Personally, I prefer doing payrolls and corporate/business returns. I feel like this is an area that challenges my knowledge and requires more of me than doing plain W-2/standard deduction tax returns. Just as a matter of principle, I don't think our tax code should be so complex that the average taxpayer needs to add insult to injury by having to pay someone to do their taxes. That being said, I do the plain tax returns if requested because some people find that their time is more valuable doing something else, or because anything that says IRS gives them the shakes, or they are illiterate (yes, occasionally) or they just don't want to do it. It is not my decision to make for them. But I hope that I bring some value to every client.

As far as the signature goes, if you don't have a stylus, use the pad of your finger (not your fingernail!) just like you would do anything else on a touch-screen device.

The rollover dog is gone also. I am sad.

I have not tried using it, but the 2012 program now has an option under Reports to allow you to print or export a client list. I don't rollover returns until I am ready to do them, so I really won't find this that helpful for a while. But it does seem to be there.

I got the 1040 Express Answers yesterday I think. I know it is here, and I think it was the last of the three to come. We go in for overkill and get QuickFinders, Tax Book and Express Answers. We also got our Master Tax Guide several weeks ago.

I have never had this problem to the extent that you are talking about, but I have occasionally had a return that acted this way. Because it was occasional, I always just opened the return and closed it in the prior year, and then attempted the rollover again. This is not unique to this year's program, so I don't know how easy it will be for ATX to fix it.

Personally, I think it is time for them all to grow up. None of them really seem interested in doing the job they were elected to do - lead and govern.

That is a bit further west than I am located. But if you come back to Virginia again, let me know and perhaps we can get together somehow!

Happy New Year!

I have not looked yet, but since there is now a separate module for payroll forms, could that have anything to do with your missing rollover items?

JohnH, I have a cousin in India doing a year-long service project teaching women to make a living sewing and working with textiles (or something like that). Not sure what part of India, though. Lion, I live in Virginia, near the Blue Ridge Mountains. Curious what part of Virginia you were in this summer.