rfassett

Not sure I understand your question. Or maybe something happened in this arena that was unnoticed by me. What does an increased P & L have to do with the issuance of 1099's? And I have heard nothing different about landlords being required to issue 1099s. If the renting activity does not raise to the level of being a business, there is no requirement for the landlord to issue 1099s. If something in that area has changed and I missed it, by all means please correct me.

Almost the same here. The book is on my desk and the disk has been filed. I downloaded the program last week and installed it. The packaging of the disk is getting cheaper and cheaper every year - but that does not bother me. I have yet to be able to prepare a return with the packaging.

Woo hoo!!!! One would almost think that sanity was settling into Washington. I said "almost". But this certainly is a great move!

Just finished the install via the download center on server first and workstation second. Installed without a hitch. Opened on the workstation without a hitch. Rolled over my personal return without a hitch - except it is way, way too early for any of the forms to be available - so I thought. Turns out quite a few forms ARE available - at least in draft mode. I have not had a chance to do anything in the program other than set it up. But so far so good. Not sure I have the same level of confidence in the payroll compliance module. I installed it on the server and attempted a netsetup on a workstation and got a message that a file could not be found. I installed the program directly on the workstation hoping that would install the requisite file. Tried the netsetup again and got a run time error. Tried to update forms first on the server and then on the workstation and it hangs at 51%on both of them. I guess I will have to call tech support next week. Let me re-emphasize, this has to do with the payroll compliance software. The tax software installed and updated without a hitch. Wait - taking Jack's advice, I let the forms update on the payroll compliance software hang at 51% instead of closing it out and it has now gone to over 70%. Patience is a good thing. None of us like it when it applies to us - but it IS a good thing. Happy Thanksgiving!

I can not remember the year that I did not increase fees. Akin to that - there has never been a year that my costs of doing business have not increased. The trick sometimes, has been making sure the increased fees surpassed the increased costs. How else could I get the raise that I so justly deserve every year? I have no interest in earning the same amount of money every year - or even two years in a row. If it came to that, I would close the doors on this practice.

Welcome back. I left after the 2012 fiasco and returned last year. How many returns are we talking about for you? I do north of 500 and conversion was not available for me. So it was roll over each return to 2013, open the return, and save the return. And then roll over to 2014. Then I could start working on the 2014 return. Very time consuming process. Conversion has its own set of issues. Rolling over you will need to be very conscious of any changes to client information in the intervening years.

I communicate via email extensively with my client base. I charge them the same way I would charge a telephone call. With all due respect to JohnH, I do not, and will not, communicate with my clients via text message. A very select few folks have my cell phone number. So when I receive a text or a call on my cell, I know it is non-business related and is probably something that commands my immediate attention. When I say "select few", I mean like maybe 12 people. And all of them know that giving out my cell phone number, to anyone, ranks among the gravest of sins. I have office hours with phones that have multiple lines and voice mail to capture any call that is missed because the lines are busy and/or the call comes in after hours. If I texted with clients, I have a sense that I am also giving them license to call my cell phone as well as text to it. And that ain't happening, I don't care how old school that may be. And if that attitude means I will soon be forced into retirement, bring it on. But for the record, that attitude has not hampered the growth of my practice one iota. We all have differently structured practices. That's what keeps life interesting.

We keep time sheets and bill monthly. Our time is kept in 10ths of hours.

Glad to see MBjunket took jm's advice and has already received two responses on reddit. Nice response jmdaviscpa.

Well - for us that have chosen this industry it only messes with our sleep once a year. The other clock change (the Spring one) we are all either not sleeping anyway or in a total sleep deprived condition anyway that we don't notice any affect of the change. At least as far as sleep is concerned. But most of us do grumble about losing an hour of work time.

Properly worded we could probably get a grant in sufficient amount to allow most of to retire to study the impact of such a simple and elegant implantation suggestion. Anyone on board?

Do the right thing. You set the alarm and put it on her side of the bed. That way you have done your part. OR -------- as you are well aware by now, marriage is all about compromise and sharing. Both of you get up and split the chore equally. Here is a perfect example of that. Today my wife went out and picked up all of the limbs that have fallen on our property due to the recent heavy winds. And I watched football.

I do about the same as Mike and Lion. We pick and choose but let the client make the ultimate decision after explaining the client's exposure if ignoring to file. I have that little small voice in the back of my head with everyone of these though with the "what if this client had other income in that state that he conveniently forgot to tell me about?". The exposure lottery just took a bad turn. As an example, I did a client's return for several years before I learned he did business in another state. The type of business was in the veterinary area. Who would have thought that this Vet, who had an office in PA, would fly out to North Dakota once a month to do work there? No office in North Dakota. Just set up at one of the local farms and take care of every one in the area from there. You just do not ever know for sure. I guess I made too many assumptions and did not ask the correct questions. My point is, be very careful with the filing threshold issue. The rest of the story? I started asking the right questions and now we are filing in five states for this guy. Clients do funny things that defy logic. But that is what keeps this business interesting.

If my home phone rings at 4:20 AM it is an emergency. It was either an emergency when the caller dialed or it is going to be an emergency after I answer. Either way, it will be an emergency. You have shown great restraint. I expected to read a story involving a gun.

Lion - hopefully your identity theft is of the "soft" variety. Meaning that someone used your ssn to apply for a governmental refund and that is where it stopped. We had two of these this year (clients, not mine) and ironically they were from the same neighborhood - almost next door neighbors. I had them check with their banks, credit card issuers and review their credit report and there was no further suspicious activity. So I had them file the Form 14039, which is pretty slam dunk and paper file the returns. One of them filed in late July, had a 7,000 refund coming and is still waiting for the money. You need to file the 14039, paper file your returns, and get out of dodge. Wait, did you hear that? I think I heard Avery say something.........gama????????????????????? Judy - I am sorry to hear about your puppy. These are very difficult times for you. I feel your pain! And finally, these pesky clients almost made me not get my own 1040 filed timely. I finally sent that at 4:20 yesterday afternoon. Fortunately I had already filed my six entity returns and it was just the 1040 remaining. I usually spend most of October 15th working on that. Anticipating a crazy 15th, I had it pretty well put together a couple of weeks ago. But still, who do those clients think they are that can tread on MY time?

I had the same thought today. Except mine did not involve a three day weekend. We will get started on the quarterly payroll reports tomorrow (actually about half are already done thanks to my great staff) and it is a race to the next deadline. Don't you just love this business? If there is one that makes you age faster, I do not want to know about it.

Got the 1120s and one of the 1040s done. Will get the other two 1040s done be 3:30 and the clients have been told to be here at 4:00 to sign the 8879s. If they are one minute late, game over and they lose.

The extended procrastinators are the worst. On the other hand, they are always the same folks. I actually put together my work schedule for the first two weeks of October based on who I "know" is going to show up between the 1st and the 15th - and when And I was spot on this year. Had four come in yesterday - an 1120S, and three 1040s. The 1040s all have multiple Es or C/Fs. I have learned over the years that I can not change these folks. So I have adapted. I accept the work, but tell them that I will neither put in extra time to get them done or feel guilty if they do not get done. Another rule, they do not get to dispute how the return comes out like, "oh, I forgot to tell you......" We will amend if necessary. What I can not deal with is computer issues in the 11th hour. Came in Monday morning and my server had a slight melt down over the weekend. Limped through most of Monday with the IT guy here from 11:30 to 4:30. By 3:30, I could no longer access ATX. Called support first thing Tuesday morning and they concluded I had a DNS issue but to get me up and running, they did a band aid fix with my approval. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the band aid holds through today. Then tomorrow we will attack the DNS issue with the tech guy. And me too - back to work. Four more to go!

I am about 2 hours due east of Cleveland but (due to the landscape of Lake Erie) am further inland and higher elevated. Sunday morning it was 33 when I got up and we had our first light frost of this season. But as Catherine points out, the Cleveland weather, because of the lake effect, will be more moderate while you are there. I would suggest bringing an umbrella. In the for what it is worth department, I was born and raised in a town 55 miles east of Cleveland and just as close to the lake as Cleveland. I remember snow as high as the power lines so make sure you get out of town before early-December.

I would say, since it is a C, your only other option is a "loan to shareholder". I do not often suggest this because it inflates the balance sheet and banks frown on this, but your choices are limited. I suppose a contra equity account would be better in that if does not inflate the balance sheet, but that is also a slippery slope. You need to have a talk with your client and tell him to stop using the Corp as his personal piggy bank. This does not work with a C. If you go the "loan to shareholder" route, have the loan documented, i.e, have an actual promissory note drawn up. Your other options would be things like contract labor and show it on his 1040 as other income. Or increase his salary, but it is a little late for that if this is a 2014 issue. Those are your options as I see them!

Personal expenses - no deduction. If there would be a deduction for those costs, then I would think the recipients would have to pick up those funds as taxable income. And even then, you might bump into the assignment of income issues (or some such thing). No site - just years and years of making an effort to try to make this stuff make sense. And further, all of these costs are for the living - therefore, they have nothing to do with the estate. There is no decedent's estate based upon your statement of facts. No one has, as of your posting, died. The three brothers need to be commended for stepping up. But I think that is where it stays. If they do get "reimbursed" I would leave it for what it is - a gift in an effort to say "thanks". You asked for opinions - those are mine.

And if you do a bunch, contact your sales rep and you can negotiate a lower fee.

We are well on our way to these scenes here. Monday morning temp was 39 when I started my day. Let me put that in perspective. That is just seven short degrees away from your second picture. The leaves are well on their way to the beauty shown in picture one.I love the four seasons - and all that they bring! True - some days are better than others; but all-in-all, I can not imagine living anywhere else! Thanks for sharing!

I am assuming that the cancellation of debt took place prior to husband's passing so that would show up on his final 1040. Your proposed use of 982 seems to be that you are building a case that he was insolvent at the time. The fact that he owed $17,000 and only had $2,000 of asset should prove that. The community state issue is very important to this set of facts. MFS would probably be the best way to go (again, assuming lack of community property rules). Be sure you have your facts documented. It sounds like their was a stripping of assets out of the husband's name for some reason. Be sure there were no joint bank accounts or other money accounts that might end up queering the insolvency issue. Talk is cheap. Ask the administrator for a copy of the estate or inheritance tax return is one exists. Those are my rambling thoughts on this beautiful Friday morning!

So let's review. The client gambles at a casino where his name is entered into a hat every time he makes the appropriate gamble. His name ends up being pulled out of the hat. Since the boat was not his intended winnings from gambling, I can not even fathom a write off of his gambling losses associated with this boat winning. Of course he could use his gambling losses on Schedule A against any other gambling winnings, but not the boat. That would be a very large leap. So now he sells the boat for $4,000 less than what it was purported to be worth. He sells it to a dealer who, as jmdaviscpa, points out, is only going to pay wholesale price for it. So should the client be permitted to write down his winnings to the $16,000 because he did not want to try to sell it himself at retail? I don't think that would be right. He might be able to find some information about what the exact same boats were selling for at retail at the time and if less than the $20,000, I believe he would have an argument there.