Medlin Software, Dennis

So good to hear. It is sometimes hard not to fall into the trap of not focusing on the good.

Good in principle, maybe bad in real life. If you are not earning enough to complete the task well, timely, and without too much physical harm, then it may be a disservice to your customers. I have clients who do work for others who tell me they cannot afford to keep their computer current, and get upset at a sub $100 annual license fee for software which enables their income stream, say they cannot afford a good backup solution, do not have a spare computer at the ready, etc. Could be just moaning, but if the truth, they are giving away their time. "I actually had a lady crying on the phone because nobody would take her" Could be a reason, maybe they are a PITA, and have washed through many other providers. As someone long ago said here (not me), new customers at the last moment get the top of the line fee, and if an easy client, maybe a discount to the normal rate over time.

There are cases where there is not enough pay, sans tips, to cover all withholding. SS could have been what the employer elected to “short”.

In many cases, or most, an employer paid disability coverage is taxable. If it was employee paid, then not taxable. It is something to consider if there is a choice, remembering the employer paid bene will be considered income.

Daily, I get a complaint that a new employee has no FWH. The employer usually even says they claim no allowances. I have to try to revisit the W4 change, there is no provision for allowances, and those who used to claim 0 or 1 allowance need to add additional withholding. Usually still my “fault” even when I go over Pub15T with them. Daily I am also getting complaints that my calculations are wrong because an employee is griping they had to pay for the first time ever. I too look forward to the filing deadline, and while bothersome for tax preparers, still firmly believe tax preparers should be charging for and helping with W4 forms rather that giving unusable advice such as withhold 10%, or no advice at all such as “submit a new W4”. Of course, clients don’t want to pay for services, so I get the push back, but having an amount withheld above the penalty level and right about the amount owed would benefit the client who is wise, versus clients who rate preparers on the size of their refund (tell them to use the higher withholding option and add several hundred additional <smile>). Grand toddler always puts things in perspective for me. Limiting all support to written form has changed my attitude the most. Prevents misunderstanding (or at least shows the proper information was given) and not as many go on written tirades.

Employer has no obligation to handle domicile, only nexus. Maybe the NY liability is more than NJ, and if a credit towards NJ is allowed, then there is no NJ liability. It could be if the 125 is salary reduction, it may need to be included in NJ taxable.

There is a way to exclude 125 in NJ. If the employer sets it up a certain way.

The expectation seems to be the person they are seeking help from is a mind reader, with full access to their thoughts and boas'. They also seem to believe we know all, and have been monitoring their bank accounts, charge cards, computers, and can print, access, or remember all of their activity. Ties into the shift away from self-responsibility of any sort.

The W2 was due out by the end of January. It should not be something manipulated. Also points out the person is an employee (receives a W2) and should be receiving proper timely paychecks, not something manipulated after EOY. OTOH, I hear it far too often - "we have always done it that way", such as issue one "paycheck" per year, and manipulating after the fact... Same with not bothering to handle >2% S Corp owner insurance until the year is done, or only on the last paycheck.

No experience with this. The information in the image may help you get started, if just to narrow your search.

Sounds like maybe the software uses a barcode font, which the software and/or the OS cannot find. The clue is the leading and trailing characters and the plain numbers in the middle. If this is the actual problem, reinstalling the software - which should also reinstall the font - should resolve the issue.

Likely only the mileage from the pickup to the delivery is allowable, unless there are back to back gigs before going home. Maybe during times when there may be multiple gigs, advise to park somewhere along the way for some amount of time, waiting for another gig, instead of always going home? Since rural, there may be enough miles to make the waiting time worth it?

Tom makes great points. I have been 'round and 'round this one for years when I was training amateur game (but paid) umpires. Most were going to their gigs from their day job and wanting to claim home office and travel. I was able to (for instance) swing by my main work before going to my games, even on weekends or for weekend tournaments. I also had a separate desk for the computer, which I was only using for game scheduling, training prep, etc. A tiny fraction of one room, but it was still exclusive use. My main work was less than half a mile from home... The main person who was spouting the other scenario, where he was claiming mileage to and from home, was another trainer, and since he has never been audited, believes he is in the right. He would always tell the newbies if they were not showing at least a 3x loss every year (because of expenses) they were doing something wrong.

Uncommon items can be tricky. Especially in this case of the TP maybe receiving a W2, maybe a 1099, or more likely, nothing at all (other than their pay stubs). This is one of those legal double dips (not taxable income, but can be used to qualify for credits, or at least to show more income for loan applications). Considering the amount per hour is not a livable wage, and it helps the government not have to pay for assisted living in a facility, this double dip is not unreasonable at all. Now, if all states would allow direct family members to be the provider, it would get closer to making sense .

For documentation of the amount received, get a copy of the last pay stub for the year. For those who are following, even though the agency may not issue. W2 or 1099, there will still be pay stubs. The provider will likely already be keeping and using their stubs to show income for loans and other similar reasons, even though it is not taxable.

The examples I saw, showed a note on the line where the item is entered as non-taxable income. The note referenced the IRS bulletin. I just did a Google search for Medicare waiver payments and went through a few of the items returned by the search. It seems there are other software vendors to provide instructions, and I saw one which was some sort of IRS volunteer information which showed how to report The IRS not having a match of the amount does not seem to be an issue. There are many times when someone has income to report where there is no 1099 or other form. An example would be a landscaper who may not get a 1099 from every single client they have. They may not be using a credit card processor so they would not get a 1099 from the credit card processor either.

The IRS has already made it clear the amount can be included for income based items, such as EIC and ACTC, yet excluded from taxable income. Tom was, to me, asking how to make it happen in ATX. There are many search results showing how it is handled in other software, and many IRS references showing it is allowable (the TP can elect to show any amount from zero to full amount received, IIRC).

The agency (usually county) should have allowed the provider to self certify the amount is not taxable. This allows the agency not to send an unneeded 1099 or W2. Receiving a 1099 or W2 - when it is to be ignored - can cause headaches. I cannot help with ATX, since I do not use it. The software I use for my personal return asked if we had any such amount we wanted to report, and if it would have benefited, would have handled it appropriately. This treatment is not just a single tax case ruling, it is policy (or whatever the proper term is) for all similar situations. IRS Notice 2014-7.

I received one, for me. It was when they first went to those letters instead of the employer sending in W4 forms in certain conditions. In my case, I withhold 0 until Dec, and make large payments (WH and estimated) in Dec. Been doing it for many years, but their software kicked me a letter because they say the no early year WH, not looking at my actual history. A phone call cleared it up.

Likely in the same group that believes a calculation of zero withholding cannot be correct, and the employer must monitor the employee withholding to make sure the employee does not owe at the end of year.

Could it be - the number of ATX users in MN and/or the number of MN returns processed using ATX potentially using PTE, is not enough to cover the development and support costs of the form? I have to make such decisions, I suspect ATX does as well.

The tax agency may have a web site where you can see their reported form status, release dates, etc. Note, even when a form is shown as available by a tax agency, they may require third party printers (such as tax software) to go through an approval process. I know of no tax agency who shows status of their approval process. A perfect example is the SSA W2. SSA will release the form design early in the year, but those who print the black and white versions cannot even start to ask for approval until Q4. CA FTB 540 - the version one can view on the FTB site is still dated for 2020... IIRC, this topic has come up before. ATX seems to get the major forms in place a few days after they are available is what I remember.

What several states call their program to pay home care givers instead of having to pay for institutional type services. Could be similar to what you refer to as difficulty of care payments.

Likely has already been hacked or compromised, just not "used" nefariously. Small fish in a big pond is a reasonable expectation, at least not to cause undo worry. Hopefully, by now, those who have our data take even modest steps at security. But we all know that is not true, which makes the worry pointless. It is free to monitor your finances and credit reports, even instantly, and if it came down to it, there are ways to get a new SSN.

Still is both. The language is now such a small part, it is the compiler, debugger (essentially the IDE) which makes the difference. I may someday go back to one of the MS products (as it will make it easier for me to be replaced), old school still works fine, and has little to no overhead (such as runtime/DLL requirements.