Catherine

Yes, that is my phrase. I'm tickled pink that you recalled!

100% agree! I've heard this termed "the midwit problem" with people who are reasonably smart & competent in their own areas of expertise mistakenly thinking that makes them smart & competent in every area. When they do it with tax returns, we get huge messes to clean up, for clients who will question and nit-pick over every bleeping line on the return. Charge accordingly, with pre-payment required.

and yes, I have links to https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc611 and https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-5405

Former clients now doing their own returns sent an email about a potentially missed first time homebuyer credit from ages ago. Assuming they still have full documentation, and there were one or more payments missed, is it still Form 5405 and flowing from there into Schedule 2? Just pick up where they left off? Penalty abatement or waiver needed for this? Interesting that in all the years since (way more than 10) they received no letters at all about this. No idea how they found it, either. I told them I couldn't help them until next week. Today will be busy enough dealing with people who are paying me to help.

Ditto but it was $4 and on depreciation. Total difference on a long list of assets; he hand-calculated and I used software. Of course it made no change to tax. I later suggested he find someone closer to home and to my very great relief he did. Any engineer is a potential royal PITA client and treated (and priced) as such until such time (rare) as they prove otherwise. Engineers don't know the difference between precise and accurate. They are related but not identical. While I know the IRS truncates, I cannot stop myself from rounding "properly" - as rounding is different from truncating.

Where the Shadows lie.

From a CPE talk I gave back in 2023; (staged) me under my desk after fully reviewing the disaster I had inadvertently accepted as a new client. You may find amusement in this, @mcb39.

It can indeed be an excellent place to hide.

In the last couple of days, I have e-filed my last two 2022 returns. Ugh. Now to see if I might get the same people to finish up 2023... nah; one of them is still looking for a W-2! Perhaps the other can be finished.

The instant I think a client is not being truthful, they become an ex-client. That's a hard red line for me.

For reference, this home based business does use water, including a steamer table that uses quite a bit.

Your post did it!

you put your right foot in, you take your right foot out, you put your right foot in, and you shake it all about! good grief.

So what else is new?

I should do that, @jasdlm!