Catherine

Those are now termed "spoiler alerts" Tom.

We knew what you maetn or meant. Or whatever! Best way to find errors and typos is to hit "Send" (or "Enter"). Works every bleeping time!

I have the clients send me copies of checks (with issue date) plus copy of statement showing the deposit (dated) when the rollover happens, and save it. That way when the CP2000 shows up in 6-18 months, the client isn't scrambling to find documentation that, at that time, is at least one year and sometimes more than two years in the past.

Many of these will say "AMENDED" rather than corrected, at the top of the form. That way you know there have been changes (some of them marked!) but as far as the IRS is concerned, it's original.

Less than $3,000. MA personal exemption is over $4,000. No payment to either feds or state.

Especially when considering the trouble with getting postal deliveries to many countries, having friends or family in the US who will accept your mail and pass along any important items by email it should be completely acceptable. I do know it's fine to use a paid service for this purpose (a client who used to live in the Philippines used a Florida-based service for just this purpose) - but why should one be forced to pay, when there are friends and family available? Another client, who is outside the US, uses her grandmother in the midwest as a mail-drop address. But we don't file a state return for her; under the filing threshold and it's a state that is less obnoxious than MA.

And that's the question. Ex is domiciled in MA and works there. She, since the divorce, basically lives in Argentina. But she uses his MA house as her US address (very amicable divorce; friendliest one I've ever seen and it's a bit unnerving frankly) and yes we don't want potential complications. That's why I was thinking of filing the MA return.

Just don't hold your breath!

Client lived outside the US for 2022 but is currently in the US. Almost no taxable income (divorced, still getting funds from assets held jointly with ex-spouse as they get on well and haven't gotten around to untangling a number of the financial accounts yet). The concern is that even though client was not resident in the state in 2022, she is using a MA address for federal return. I don't want her getting a nastygram from the state a year down the road demanding "where's the return for 2022?!" Any down-sides anyone can tell me about if we do, or do not, file a state return for her for 2022?

I'd put it in Word and then copy and paste from there into the 1040X. Does ATX allow that? Good luck! At least you don't have to deal with three completely separate issues with thorny explanations each.

Considering how much other prices have hiked up, it's not fun but hardly a deal breaker. I looked at UltraTax a few years ago, and Drake price for next year is still like half of what UltraTax's price was from 4-5 years ago.

I gave up on reporting directly to the SSA a year or two back after many login issues; just wasn't worth the bother. I use EFileMyForms for the few W2s I file, and let them worry about it. To heck with 'em.

I looked it up, and the summary blurby said this: "Section 897 Dividends refers to any distributions made to the extent attributable to a Section 897 capital gain. This capital gain is defined as US Real Property Interests (USRPI) and is recognized by the recipient from the disposition of a USRPI." Good thing they added the bit about USRPI gain, because the first sentence all by itself is as useless as as a glass of water against a blast furnace's fire.

You're way ahead of me, @jasdlm because I haven't a clue what a Section 897 Dividend is and would have to look it up if I ever saw one. Thirty years of doing tax returns and not something I have ever run into.

I filed some papers, paid my electric bill and the personal payroll taxes, and downloaded a couple of personal bank statements while I was online paying the electric bill. Outside of that, I puttered, and poked around a little looking a kitchen rugs online to put in our new kitchen. Didn't have time to look before the season started up. Didn't see anything I liked. And I sat and enjoyed a truly lovely cup of tea and drank it hot without having to microwave it even once. I may celebrate such success by going to bed early.

Had a client some years ago with a truly lazy (and incompetent) bookkeeper. Could not be bothered to enter the credit card purchases, and "reconciled" the statement monthly by posting everything to "Reconciliation Discrepancies." Yep, you read that right. First year I looked at had over $76,000 in "reconciliation discrepancies!" That one was truly spectacular. It was a vet clinic, and those "discrepancies" were all the exam room supplies, all the office supplies, all the in-house meds, all the gloves and absorbent pads and disposables and sutures and syringes and everything else. Toner and paper and postage and coffee for the coffee room and waiting room supplies. It was epic.

Had a client years ago, business in operation for years. Had not reconciled (multiple) checking accounts in over four years. First thing I did was get those caught up. Another consulting client called me in to troubleshoot reports not giving good information. Two issues: COA had location coding but the codes were jumbled, and they had not closed monthly books in three years. That software only pulls report data from closed months.... You gotta wonder sometimes. First company I almost understand; they downloaded all bank info directly to QB, thinking that meant they had it all (nope!). But with the other the guy who called me in was CFO with a Master's in Accounting. I've never taken an accounting course (taught it in a junior college for a couple of semesters, but never took a class myself), and I saw the key problems as soon as I saw the COA. He never thought to look at it. Never looked at the help files for the tres-fancy and tres-expensive accounting system. Huh?

They've changed it hugely since I tried it back in 2004-ish, then. At that time it was the clunkiest and least-intuitive program I had ever tried to use. Hated it from the first and stuck it through for a couple of years helping a friend at his tax office with a couple of nasty returns that were beyond his ken.

For those who won't click links, it's cute but not the best ever.

Congratulations, friends and colleagues - we all lived to tell the tales and file another day. Take it easy today. I set up some payroll taxes and will dig out a couple of bills that probably need to be paid in the next week or so, and then I'm gonna play hookey for the rest of the day. Here's a congratulations gif that I couldn't figure out how to embed. Hooray!

Have a wonderful, wonderful visit with her!

My welcome letter, sent in January, states that every return not ready to be filed (i.e., just waiting for signature pages) will be put on extension as of April (I forget; something early, like the 3rd or the 8th). I'm still getting people emailing and calling asking if they are on extension. Each of their bills just went up for being nincompoops. Oh, and an early-season inquiry who now wants me to look at her self-done return. They owe a bundle, so it can't be right. I won't even answer her for a week. If then. One of the reasons I put in extensions early is it means I don't get cranked up about all the ninnies calling and emailing with lame, stupid, and wrong-time questions in the last few days as they all start to panic. If I was desperate to finish returns and extensions they'd annoy me far more. I expect to get a lot of returns finalized in this next week, because the interruptions will slow way down and I can chase down final details and do final reviews without undergoing constant interruption.

In Drake, you put "INHERIT" in the acquired field and it forces long term treatment.

Mail in the 7004 with a check. There could be any one of a number of errors floating around in the computers at the IRS, some of which may go away when they finally process other information sent to them. But it won't be done today or tomorrow.

If I have one of those and no debit payment, I send the coupon showing amount due to the client (securely, duh) and let them send it in with, or without, a check. I just ask them to let me know how much they paid.