taxtrio

What year is on the 1099R? If it is for 2007 (excess contribution from last year) then you need to ammend 2007. If it is an excess contribution for 2008, then the employer should have adjusted the 2008 W-2 yet to be received. I usually find that if it is code 8, that you usually get a message saying it must be included in the year the contribution was made. Taxtrio

Well, I spoke too soon.... blue screen of death is back! Taxtrio

H & R Block has used the 7216 routinely in the past to get the client's permission to have their mortgage company (now sold), and their stock brokers (now also sold) permission to contact them about other products and services that HRB wanted to sell them. They are continually pushing the Tax Pros to "Sell, Sell, Sell" other products and services instead of letting them do what they were trained to do.... Prepare Taxes!.... Now all they have left to "sell", are the "Emerald Card" thing, "Peace of Mind"!? , and Ral/Rac products...!!! Ugh! Glad I'm not there! Taxtrio

I used HSBC for the last five years, but they no longer offer RAL/RAC products for us little guys. So I signed up with Chase. The maine reason I'm signing with them this year is that here in SouthEastern Michigan there is a Chase Bank on every corner. Chase says they will cash RAL/RAC checks at no charge as long as they have proper I.D.... I know with my former bank (not located in Michigan); some clients had to go to Walmart's or Sears to get them cashed if they didn't have an account. The fees varied from year to year.... I'll let you know if Chase works out better. Taxtrio

Well thank you, and I want to add, it wasn't VMS that told me "it's not our problem" that was the ATX support people. They told me to contact Microsoft about the "blue screen of death". Everyone at VMS was very helpful. And I'm glad you're with us here in the community. Look forward to your postings. Taxtrio

So far so good! After working with me for a couple of hours he got rid of the SQL Server error that I kept getting, and is researching some other error messages related to the blue screen of death. So far .. no more blue screen of death! Thanks VMS has been a great help. ATX said "not our problem". even though the problem came up after I installed ATX 2008 from the CD. Taxtrio

Thanks!! I always love to learn new things. I'll try reinstalling from the web instead of the CD. I have all new Ram chips as of September, and everything else was fine until I loaded ATX. I'll post back in a couple of days with an update. Thanks again! Taxtrio

I loaded ATX from the CD on my Dell, Windows XP Machine. (4 gig of ram, 250 gig hard drive). Lots of room in hard drive left. After loading it on Black Friday, I kept having the "blue screen of death" as my techie friends call it keep coming up. It says to save damage to computer it is doing a physical memory dump and a shut down. HMMMM.... It also said when I ran through the troubleshooting that it may be an imcompatible driver that was recently installed with new software or hardware.... HMMMMM. It suggested I uninstall and reinstall whatever it was... So I uninstalled ATX and now no blue screen of death..... Anybody elses had this problem??? Taxtrio

Got my ATX 2008 today, Wed, Nov 26, 2008.... Haven't loaded it yet. Anybody else received their's and loaded it??? P.S.

I agree, look at the top of your input screen for the 1099R, make sure you didn't mark it as a RailRoad Tier I pension... if you did, then it won't calculate unless you do the pension worksheet. Also check your codes in box 7... did you accidentally put in the code for a rollover? ATX won't tax a rollover.. If you can't see anything.... you might try deleting that 1099R and input it again. Sometimes a fresh start is all you need. Be sure to let us know what happens. P.S.

I appreciate all your comments, I still need much more information from my client. He did ask her why she took the "medical reimbusement"... she said she needed the money to make the mortgage payment. At least that was the comment about the last check she wrote herself... the day after the divorce was final... when she was not employed by s-corp anymore. But as for the S-corp being accidentally converted to a C-Corp?? What circumstances would create that? I'm still learning the many particulars of corporate situations.. would appreciate the input on that one. As for the money being a payout for her share of the stock.. my understanding that's what the QDRO for 1/2 of his SEP to her is supposed to be for.. .. but then I haven't seen the final divorce decree papers yet.. I need more information.. at least it's not April!!! Thanks for all your comments and help. P.S.

New Client has just gone thru a divorce. He was awarded the s-corp in divorce settlement. His ex-wife had been the secretary treasurer. She had refused him access to the company records and checkbook for 3 months. (contrary to court order giving him access). Long story... but back to tax question. Now that we have the business checkbook and quickbooks records in hand; we can see that she has been writing herself checks from the s-corp checkbook for close to 10,000.00 over the last 3 months and categorizing the checks in quickbooks as "medical reimbursement"!! She has failed to do her job as secretary-treasurer (yes, she was getting a paycheck, W-2 issued each year). She was supposed to be paying the corporation bills. The phone bills and DSL and Blue Cross are 3 months behind. And the Quarterly taxes for July not paid. The corporation now has bounced check fees for checks she wrote we didn't know about until now. Embezzlement... is my call. "Misuse of Corporate Funds". At any rate I will have to issue her a 1099-Misc for 2008 for these checks. "medical reimbursement" is not a legitimate corporate expense. And non of this money showed up in the Personal Joint Checking account either. What a mess! What say you all?? Agree? Comments? P.S. :wacko:

The IRS will be sending out rebates through the end of 2008. So, yes --- file something. It will get processed and they will get their rebate. I would probably do an amendment and mark the top as a "stimulus rebate return".

I have had a couple of clients that took distributions while waiting for their Soc Sec Disability to be approved. They had 1099R's coded 1. We paid the 10 percent penalty and the tax (Michigan Tax also). After they received the disability determination from Social Security Administration we ammended returns showing the date of disability per Soc Sec-- The client received the retroactive lump sum payment from soc sec and began receiving the monthly payments from that time forward. In both cases we got the 10 percent penalty refunded, and the Michigan tax refunded due to the disability--- on the distributions made AFTER the date of disability per soc sec. I've never had a problem using this procedure. Hope it helps you some. P.S.

How much does the generator increase the value of the home? You must reduce the deduction by the amount it increases the value of the home. $1,000.00 seems a very low cost generator... We had one installed on our home last year it cost 5,800.00. I believe you also must have a "prescription" or a letter from the doctor stating generator is required for medical reasons. I had a client last year that wanted to deduct their generator as a medical expense--- because she has to take medications that must be kept refrigerated. But when we looked at the the increase in the value of home, and the medical reason seemed a little "thin"-- no doctors note, we decided against it. You'll have to make the call. And does it actually make it over the 7.5% of AGI? But I'm sure you've already considered that one. P.S.

I had QuickBooks Credit Card Services..... $14.95 per month fee, all done on Internet.. no credit card machine needed. But I had only a few clients use it, so I switched to a company that offers a special deal to Tax Professionals. You can get the information through the NATP website. $5.00 per month fee, plus reasonable fees. You do need a credit card machine. I bought on on ebay for $20.00 and switched over end of January. Big advantage with the NATP provider is that you can sign up for "seasonal" service. Jan thru April if you like. Then you only get charged the 5.00 per month for four months. But a word about QB... I warn you about the problems getting them to cancel the service once you have it. I contaced them in Feb to cancel, they referred me to a recording the instructed to write a letter and fax it to them. As of 5/31/2008 they are still debiting my bank account!! I have faxed them 3 times and they still say they didn't get the first two.... They have finally agreed to refund me "$29.00" to my account. What a hassle--- don't trust them. They said that it was my responsibility to follow up on their processing the cancellation... And that it ALWAYS takes a month or two to get it cancelled. I'm sour on QB!!

Taxworks = HR Block Taxwise = CCH. I've heard the same as an earlier post. The HRB folks that were using ATX at their premium offices (1120,1120s, 1041 etc). Hated the switch to Taxworks this year. But I suppose we all hate to deal with change. Still, ATX Max is the best deal for the money. IMHO> P.S.

Has anyone out there purchased the ATX Website with the Complete Tax (Online Tax Prep)? Opinions? Good? Bad? Cost Effective? Ease of Use? Productive/ or Not? What say you all. P.S.

The exception for the QDRO (qualifed domestic relations order) eliminates the 10 percent penalty. It doesn't matter if the receiver of the distribution rolls it over or keeps it or spends it.. whatever. Two separate issues. If recipient keeps money (no roll over) then tax to be paid. If rolled over then tax is deferred until withdrawn from IRA.. The 1099R will be issued in the name of the the recipient. For example: Husband has 401k, court orders that wife gets 1/2 of 401k in divorce. QDRO is sent to 401k plan, they distributed to the WIFE in WIFE's name, she has the tax consequences. He pays no tax. I've seen soon-to-be ex-husbands make a big mistake--- and go and take the w/d themselves and write a check to soon-to-be ex-wife---OOOPS--- He gets the 1099R and he pays the tax AND THE PENALTY!! OUCH! P.S.

Only allowed to subtract amount included in AGI, sorry you cannot "double dip" as they say. And ATX only subtracts pension that YOU mark as qualified... and this is not a qualified pension subtraction on the pension line. I commend you on noticing the subtraction for the education expenses as "misc subtractions" and imagine a lot of preparers miss that one. Good for you. P.S.

No, not correct. On the 2008 return there will be an additional "credit" that will be computed. After computing the special "stimulus rebate credit" then you will enter the amount of the Advance Credit they get this summer. This will reduce most people's credit next year to zero. If there circumstances change and they did not get the maximum "advance rebate" this summer--- then they might qualify for more next year as an addition to their 2008 refund. For example: My daughter is a college student, made +4,000.00 this year. and is over 25. As I cannot claim her, and she made over 3,000.00 -- she should qualify for the 300.00 advance rebate this summer. Next year, when we complete her 2008 return-- if she works more and has a larger tax liability; she should qualify to get some additional rebate as part of her 2008 refund (up to the maximum amount..) in other words -- she gets a second change at getting the rest of the rebate then. Hope this helps.. P.S.

works well, but you need windows xp with service pack 2 for it to connect properly. It comes with voice mail.... and the phone only works when your computer is on, otherwise it goes to voice mail... Plugs into your USB port .. it's about the size of the memory stick. Pretty neat for the price. I got two, one for me and one for my daughter.

Critters like racoons and skunks and possums don't like the smell of moth balls. If you fill an old nylon stocking with the mothballs (tie the ends) and hand them around in the attic they usually will leave on their own. You may be able to smell them in the house that's why the nylon stocking... easier to gather them up and remove them after the racoon leaves. They usually go out and prowl at night, and sleep in the daytime. We waited until after dark one year and then my husband closed up the "hole" where she came in. Later we found out we kept her out but all her babies were still trapped in the shed attic!! So watch out for babies at this time of the year.

I have been tossing around a question with a new client. He works as a chief butcher on a cruise ship that cruised around the Hawaiian Island Last year. He is from Michigan, has Michigan Drivers License and address, his Mother took care of the house while he was gone. But took a job on a cruise ship 2007. Was "away from home overnite" for 259 days last year working on cruise ship. He has worked on cruise ships for the past few years, this year more days away. He wants to claim per diem expenses for Meals and incidental expenses while away from home overnite. (subject to DOT rules, allowed 75 percent instead of 50 percent) Someone said there is a court case ruling concerning this and that he is only allowed the 3.50 per day for incidentals, not the meals of about 40.00 per day for Hawaii cities. What say you out there, and Mel in Hawaii, have any input on this? Note: It only makes a few hundred dollars difference on his refund as without this deduction he would be standard deduction anyway. But I would like to nail this down for sure. P.S.

You will either have to do just a Stimulus return with information allowed... and do the direct deposit, or do a complete return without direct deposit. Doesn't seem to be any way around the way the software is set up. Either way they should get their rebate... it just depends on whether they really want direct deposit or can wait for a paper check.