rfassett

I know you tried to relay some of the info but the real issue is how much work was involved. Some Corps (and I do about 90 - 80 of which are S's) are literally just drop thier numbers onto the return (and of course review for pertinent elections et al,) and I will charge $750 to $1,000 (my state requires two separate returns - so for each S-Corp, I do three returns). Others I have to do all of the accounting before I can even think about putting together a return and those run to as much as $5,000. If the $1,500 included the two shareholder returns, back out what you would charge for the 1040's and you will have an idea what the other guy charged for the corp. That might be what is reasonable in your area. I would love to get more for the corporate returns, but living in Podunk USA does not permit it. By the way, I did one just yesterday, took me an hour and a half and I charged the $750 - and the client is happy to pay it. It is not what you do when it comes to corp returns, it is what you know. Charge accordingly.

Ooooohhhhhh - I miss the tiger. And the parrott. And the wizard. Those were good times. :)

I feel ya - but lick your wounds and move on to something more meaningful and productive. None of us like to work for nothing, but occasionally it just gets forced upon us. I had a similiar episode a few years back and I let it ruin not just my day, but about a week of my life. I swore then I would NEVER allow that type of person to ruin even a second of my life anymore. Call the police? I would have handed him the phone after I got done talking to the police about sending someone to arrest an idiot that was threatening me. My situation I referred to: the wife actually called me later that day and apologized for her husband's behaviour and asked if I was still willing to do the work. I was angry and irrational. I said "when your husband comes and apologizes to me and my staff, I will consider your offer." I am still waiting............................................. :)

Are you using an ATX approved printer, operating system, et al? It sounds like you (your computer / printer - not "you" you) have a memory issue. The ATX print files can suck up alot of memory. I am on a network and printing to a digital file cabinet and a Canon Imagerunner network printer/scanner/copier at the same time and some of the bigger returns take a while to spool and print, but they are not timing out. I did a federal, 4 state, and local return (69 pages) yesterday and it took about a minute to create the print file and send it and another couple of minutes to print it.

I use a server environment with seven workstations. We can access ATX at any of the workstations and the server as long as it is installed on the server and the workstations have run the net setup. Our restriction is to three users at a time because that is all ATX allows without upgrading - and we have never needed more than three users at a time. I remember thinking, when we went to this setup several years ago, - "this is BETTER than sliced bread"

I thought the system truncated the long names. I have had a couple like that - truncate and efile. Have had no problem doing it that way for several years.

Holy Smokes - no, no problems here. I would absolutely flip out right now if I were in your shoes. I have 72 returns staring me in the face and they are coming in the door at the pace of about 9 per day and will stay at that pace for another 45 days. I hope it works out for you soon!

Just put the gross amount in the state 1 distribution box, assuming it is subject to state tax - which I think is a valid assumption if there was that much state tax withheld.

Rounding errors are so common in the 94X series that the IRS has put a line for the adjustment right on the return. The instructions for line 8 say to "adjust for rounding of fractions of cents". 6 cents falls into that category. Depending on the size of the payroll and number of checks and deposits, I have seen much bigger adjustments on this line.

You might want to ask for the final paystub if you do not trust the W-2. There are other things that could be impacting the taxable income other than just the 401K like auto allowance and the such.

Someone on another list serve was having trouble logging is last week. Another poster said she had had the same issue and called support and they said to delete your cookies and history and make sure you are using internet explorer. Chrome should not be used. After saying that, the poster said that fix did not work and ATX had to remote into her computer and go to the security tab and add all the site for atx etc to the list.

Always! For the reasons jainen mentions. And it serves notice to the IRS.

One of us have an issue (unless of course you finger hit the zero by mistake), I updated this morning about 6:30 and my version is showing 2011.1.19 (updated from web: 01/29/2012).

Thanks for confiming my thoughts! I think I have just won a lifetime client. They think I am a hero. They had a $7600 liability that they could not pay and were on an installment agreement. So with amending this return the installment agreement goes away and they will put a couple grand in their pocket. As I said, I knew I knew the answer, but every once in awhile, when you are in the right frame of mind, something like this that is so obviously wrong makes you take pause. Thanks again and have a Great Weekend!

This is one of those deals where you start questioning yourself that you might have missed something. Facts: New client - I am reviewing the 2009 and 2010 tax returns per client's request before proceeding with the 2011. Tax year 2009: Wages $90717; Dividends $38; Schedule C loss (his - construction) <$17,948>; Schedule C loss (hers - investment advisor start up 2009) <$38,990>; net capital loss <$2,344>; IRA distributions (hers - early) $48,958; Pensions (hers - early) $36,339; Royalty income (net) $2,577 for an AGI of $119,347. Schedule A $27,571 consisting of mortgate expense, minor constribution, income and real estate tax. After exemptions, taxable income $73,526. Tax = $10,750. Now here is where I blinked. The return shows $9,442 AMT for total tax of $20,192. The Form 6251 has a $48,958 "other adjustments" add back to the AMT taxable income. That number is the exact number of the early distribution IRA money. My question - why would that be added? My research has indicated that IRA distributions can be an adjustment if there is investment interest expense in the equation, but there is none. All comments are appreciated.

I use a better grade paper for my letterhead and had been until very recently using the cheapest available for everything else. Well, I have a somewhat higher end fax machine that decided mid-summer that it did not like that cheap paper any more. So now I buy jam proof paper for the obstinate one and every thing else (except the letterhead) is on the cheapest. The letterhead I use very sparingly - probably less than a ream every couple of years.

Start by (with the return open in the program) click on the e-file drop down menu and select display rejection errors and/or display action required. You can also access that from the e-file manager.

We give them a paper copy of their federal, state, and local returns and return all source data after we scan it to our File Cabinet. We print our copy of the return directly to the File Cabinet. The workpapers are scanned to that same drawer. Each drawer is separated out per year. I have one client that requests the return on a CD. The invoice is attached to the outside and is paid when the return is picked up. For those that want the return mailed, we call them and tell them to send us a check which includes our fee and postage. We send the return when we have been paid. I do not give them a tax summary sheet nor do a give them a comparison.

Also you should be tuning into www.atxinctv.com on a daily basis. They do a live broadcast at 9:00 and archive it until the next morning if you missed it. They provide great info and the dcn thing was explained a day or two ago. Check it out. It's a great help! As I understand it, dcn's are a thing of the past unless for some strang reason you have to create a "legacy" efile (as opposed to the new MeF format).

PA source income gets reported in PA. Maryland is a reciprocating state with PA but that only applies to compensation. I am not familiar enough with Maryland rules to comment on whether it needs to be reported there also.

You need to change your mindset. Your client's are not giving YOU the 1099 to tell YOU what they paid you. The 1099 is being prepared to tell the government what you were paid. Now that said, I assume you are talking about businesses issuing you 1099's. Individuals are under no compulsion to issue 1099s. Part of your approach is to tell your clients that, simply put, it is the law. And there are serious penalties for violating the law. Ignoring the law is the same as violating the law. You should have no problem encouraging your clients to abide by the law. In fact, that is part of your job - to keep them compliant.

I agree with MAS. But I think your only hope would be getting a letter from the employer stating that this taxpayer is such a good employee that the employer is willing to pay the employee full time for 2 days of work per week. That might be problematic. It might be misleading to state that it is black and white if you have a job. It might be black and white if you have a FULL TIME job. But as is always the case, the devil is in the details.

First of all, stop beating yourself up over this. You did what you did based on your firm professional belief that your understanding of the rules is accurate. Secondly, the tax, in my opinion, is ALWAYS the responsibilty of the taxpayer. Third, I am not certain I understand the facts. If you are saying he had a full time job, where did he get the 750 hours. Are you suggesting he used the same hours for his job AND the real estate activity? If so, there is your fly in the ointment. The IRS (and Congress) do not condone double dipping in any of the rules as far as I know. Well, at least the rules that apply to us and our clients. I suppose you could be sued for damages (not the tax) for lost opportunity, ie, things the taxpayer might have done differently had he been operating under the correct understanding of the rules. So yes, I would suggest seeking legal counsel and be prepared to settle for something close to the tax amount - that may be your least expensive avenue of pursuit. If my understanding of the facts is incorrect, my answer might be different.

IRC-HIST, CODE-VOL, History Notes - SEC. 6041(h), [stricken.] History Notes - SEC. 6041(h), [stricken.] l 2011, Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-9) P.L. 112-9, §3(a): Amended Code Sec. 6041 by striking subsection (h). Effective for payments made after 12-31-2010. Prior to being stricken, Code Sec. 6041(h) read as follows: SEC. 6041(h) Treatment of Rental Property Expense Payments. — 6041(h)(1) In general . —Solely for purposes of subsection (a) and except as provided in paragraph (2), a person receiving rental income from real estate shall be considered to be engaged in a trade or business of renting property. 6041(h)(2) Exceptions . —Paragraph (1) shall not apply to — 6041(h)(2)(A) any individual, including any individual who is an active member of the uniformed services or an employee of the intelligence community (as defined in section 121(d)(9)©(iv)), if substantially all rental income is derived from renting the principal residence (within the meaning of section 121) of such individual on a temporary basis, 6041(h)(2)( any individual who receives rental income of not more than the minimal amount, as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, and 6041(h)(2)© any other individual for whom the requirements of this section would cause hardship, as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

Technically no - but no harm in getting one. The State, however, might require a POA.