kcjenkins

No idea, that is a local issue, JB. BUT, I will say, YOU should not be the one paying, SHE should be. And if you ask nicely, the Judge should be willing to let her pay it out over time, or perhaps by doing some community service. But it is IMPORTANT that she learn now that she is going to have to live with the consequences of her decisions. She did not mean to cause the accident, that's why it's called an accident. But she DID contribute to the cause, by not maintaining a safe distance, which is a very common event, especially with young people. They all think that their 'quick reflexes' will take care of any problems. Let her face her consequences now, and she will learn a good lesson. Fix it for her, by you paying her fine, and she learns little, except to look to others to take care of her when she messes up. Go with her, support her with your presence, but let her grow through this learning experience. She's not a child, when she is behind the wheel. Lives depend on her ability to follow the rules of safe driving. A little pain now may save her life another time. Just my 2¢.

I did email the editor.

:bday:

They can take the excess actual expenses, if they keep the records to do so. And yes, they take depreciation on the same basis as any other t/p.

Yeah, that is the problem. Even with an inexpensive program, the users [us] want all the basics plus lots of bells and whistles. And so much is really mandatory, now days, like the efile, that doing a start-up takes a lot of cash up front. And even if you did, lots of users would not switch, unless you could also provide a smooth and comprehensive conversion program as well.

No, he did not have the money in 06, so no need to amend. Just use the lumpsum distribution worksheet this year, it does not change the prior years. It's just taxed as if received over the prior periods, but it does not change the prior periods at all.

I have known a few businesses over the years, apparently run by jackasses, who insisted that the employee could only file one new W4 a year, in Jan. Of course that is nonsense, because you are supposed to file a new one, for example, when you add a dependent. And clearly not all new babies are born in Dec or Jan. But all the employee can do is to fill out a new W4 and give it to them. It's pretty hard to MAKE them do anything, when raising a stink could lead to getting fired. I think some payroll departments are just full of lazy people who don't want to be bothered with making changes. I have one client who moved 4 years ago, and her W2 still has her old address. They pass out the W2s with the checks, at work, so they just can't be bothered to make that change, I guess.

Depends on the age of the child.

Yep, that is a common scam some bogus preparers use. But I always wonder why the client falls for it. But then, many of them do not really read their returns, just look at 'how much am I getting back?'. That Mariner thing has come up almost every year, on here and on the old board, and someone always defends it, and sends a link to a website, etc. I'm glad to see it finally officially listed as the scam it is.

Well, I think we will be fine for this year, especially if we help each other here. Next year.....?

The four new frivolous claims pertain to the following: *Misinterpretation of the 9th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution regarding objections to military spending. *Erroneous claims that taxes are owed only by persons with a fiduciary relationship to the United States or the IRS. *A nonexistent “Mariner’s Tax Deduction” (or the like) related to invalid deductions for meals. *Certain instances of misuse or excessive use of the section 6421 fuels credit.

Back to the original question. Yes, the program needs all those files. It's not the number of the files, but the size of the files, that determines how much space the backups take, anyway.

Like both of you, I don't like the way Drake works nearly as well as I like ATX. But I do like what I hear about the support, and I will be looking at it again this summer. Hey, maybe CCH will come to their senses and realize what a great program they own, and keep it going. But it does not look good, based on the moves they are making now. I'm not as hopeful as I'd like to be, but if I do move, I will certainly let everyone know where and why. No software has a 'lock' on it's customers. The programs are 'tools', and if the tool no longer does what you need it to do, or the cost of the tool increases beyond it's value, then you shop for a new tool, right? It will be sad if ATX goes under, after improving so much in the last few years, while keeping the price increases small. We all wish the Willets had stayed in the business. They had not only a great program, they had the right idea about listening to their customers and responding to our needs. That was what built the customer base. CCH seems to have a VERY DIFFERENT IDEA about how to treat customers. It is not an improvement.

I think [suspect?] that what they are planning to do is try to push us to move to TaxWise. Problem is, the Power package, closest match to TTO, costs $2295 base price, as compared to TTO at $1595. And actually, TTO has quite a bit more which that TaxWise package does not include, even tho it costs $700 more. Like the built in research and the Trial balance, for which you would have to move up to the Power Accounting package that costs $2954. So even if the program was just as good, it would cost a lot more. And frankly, I don't think it is just as good, either. So I very much doubt that I will be moving that way, not after the way they have handled this situation. I can see that they don't want to maintain two "small-firm" programs. And of course, they would rather the more profitable of the two be the one they continue with. But I'm more likely to go to a different company, if they cheat us with bad service, after keeping us with false promises that nothing significant was going to change. The drop in support is already a violation of that promise, IMHO. I will continue to hope it improves. But I'm suspicious now.

Well, it's not just ATX. TaxWise does not have a message board, and now the CCH message board has been taken down too. http://tax.cchgroup.com/Community/default

Eric, any idea what three hour period that would most likely be?

:bday:

You are right, Jack. It was the competence, and even more, the level of CARING shown by tech support that made the big impression on me, my first year with ATX. That led to organizing the Party, and got me labeled Cheerleader. But it was such a change from the companies I had done business with, that it really got me hooked. Now that the new owners have thrown that attitude out the window, it's a new ballgame. I'm still with them, but that is all. I HOPE that service improves, and the season goes well. It is starting out with the IRS as the problem, which is hardly new. But how they respond to that is going to be critical. I know that all the software companies will have those problems. It will be interesting to see how CCH deals with us. In the mean time, I hope on this board we can all drop the generalized griping soon, and just help each other as much as possible. That is what will make this a valuable resource. I intend to concentrate on what I can do, and not spend any time on 'the company' and what stupid things they do that I can not influence. I'll send 'suggestions' to the suggestion box as appropriate, of course. It will be interesting to see if they actually respond to us when we use that. I hope all of you WILL use it whenever you find a problem that you think you know how to improve. Maybe we can influence them at least somewhat, that way.

Glad to have you with us again.

Actually, you and I don't disagree on that, Slappy. What I should have made clear was "Unless the thief also forged [the client's] signature and did a real good job of the forgery....." I agree with you, on the "failed to compare the signatures or was sloppy in its comparison" point.

If the IRS is not accepting them yet, they can not be acked yet. It is pretty simple, Eli. The IRS is just screwed up by the late changes. But they said clearly that they are not going to take them until the 14th, which I take to mean that they will not take them until the 14th. ATX [and other software] can only take them, validate that they are OK to go when the IRS is ready for them, and then hold them till then.

Thanks for that reminder, Terry.

Why would you not want to cover all bases by preparing a 1099 for this interest? It just takes a few seconds, and it is what they are supposed to do. And it reduces the chances of a mismatch of interest reported, which can lead to your client getting a letter from the IRS and getting upset. And then you have to answer the letter, etc. Do the 1099.

But it almost certainly will be Vanguard's problem, not the client's. Because unless the OWNER of the IRA authorized the transfer, their responsibility is to protect the client's funds. They can NOT just transfer funds because someone else tells them to. They needed to have THE CLIENT'S SIGNATURE on the request, not just a phone call from someone, no matter who that person claimed to be. They have a fiduciary responsibility, and unless the thief also forged her signature, Vanguard is liable for putting the money back, and correcting the 1099-R.

Make sure you have ATX listed in your Contacts, so that it does not get blocked by your spam filter. Also, a call might get it for you over the phone. And remember, if you have trouble with your password, to read the posts already on here about getting that corrected. There are lots of great tips already posted on that subject.