Catherine

They will take forever to process a refund. I have also found that even when the 1310 is on TOP of the return, the IRS will claim they never got it, and you may have to send it again (ditto Form 56 - sometimes they'll lose first one and then the other, just to be extra special). Tell the PR to be glad it's a small refund; I had one family that had to wait nearly a year to get grandpa's $7k refund back in their hands. Good luck!

Thanks! I'll use that for crib notes when I write our "welcome to tax season" letter for our clients. That was on this afternoon's to-do list, too.

If the client wants proof of receipt, have them send a check with the return. Cashing the check means they opened it. Even if a refund is due... send 'em $5. But you probably already know.

I never said that! I said I could make snarky comments about it - but snark is not accusation. In some ways, it's all harder now. Yes, you take the exams one at a time, and not only once a year. But I know a couple of EA-wannabes yet to take all the exams because they can re-schedule. "I'm not ready" becomes either a respite, or an excuse to keep re-delaying in perpetuity. Having that once a year hard deadline lit a fire under your feet. Yes, I agree completely - the Part 3 entities and corporations is not a fun combo. When I took the exams (2003 - the year before the hurricane event that Lion and Sara dealt with) it wasn't held in an IRS office. There was a large conference center in Boston, above the Prudential Center shopping mall, rented out by the IRS - and staffed by IRS and MaSEA proctors. We got lockers for all our stuff, and could only bring in eyeglasses. There were (fortunately!) bathrooms *inside* the cordoned-off zone. No calculators. Pencils were on the tables, and scratch paper. Seating was in zig-zags on long tables, so you could not see what others did. No pencils or paper left the area, even to go potty - they checked. I remember getting a nasty headache after the first day from concentrating so hard; wandered the mall for an hour or more letting that fade before driving home. Bought myself a cute sweater at a store - that I still have and wear! It's held up really well. We got our exams, and scores, back by mail months later. I think I still have them tucked away somewhere. Passed all with good margins but I think it was the S-corps and partnerships section that had the lowest score. AAA and OAA, and inside/outside basis, are tricky enough without adding in the conditional triple negatives! I wish you the best of success! We need more EAs.

It is indeed!! I hope to download and install today.

Yes, I remember doing that when studying for the SEE, and when taking the *&^ tests, too. Passed all four sections first try, too. (Down to 3 sections now; could make snarky comments about tax preparers these days having it easy - but I won't because the IRS is crazier now than it was then.)

We had two Thanksgivings - one by ourselves and one with younger daughter & her family (older daughter was working on Friday and could not join us). First one featured ribeye steaks and homemade sweet potato fries, with blueberry cake for dessert. Second was smoked shoulder and green beans slow-cooked together, with cormbread and herbed baby potatoes, apple crisp for dessert. Yum. Hope all my friends here had a wonderful day (or days)!

Talk about prehistory, @Abby Normal!

You mean you don't like having to parse out vague conditional triple negatives? Where's your sense of adventure?

I took a more careful look; I have disks for 2014 and 2015, but nothing more recent. Probably too old for what you need/want. Sorry!

The call in problem with the IRS FAR pre-dates Call EnQ's product. Don't blame them for the IRS' chronic lack of staff. I'm hoping they come up with a limited-call fee; I'd happily pay a small monthly fee for a couple of calls a month. One colleague here has had excellent luck with the IRS' call-you-back service, too.

I have Quicken 2015 disk; would have to dig to see if I have 17 or 16. Will check tomorrow if you haven't found one on ebay by then.

I've had people tell me similar. I ask them if they have a bank - yes (of course). Well, guys, the IRS already knows about it. You're not telling them anything new. Had one client who did not trust computer systems; wanted to paper file for that reason. When I told client it cut down on transcription errors at the IRS - i.e., the info goes into the computer regardless - that "reason" went poof! like a soap bubble. My guess is the preparer is using personal software not licensed for e-filing more than a couple (all family) returns.

Excellent! Congratulations, dad.

Quick note to @BobH - have not heard back. They may be all set, or they may be swamped in "what do I do next" stuff. Will contact you when/if I hear from them.

Thanks, @BobH, and I will see if they're all set or if they still need assistance.

Depends on the clientele. If you're doing the books, then jumping right on those LLC returns can be a good use of January working hours. If you do more payroll, then the W2s and 941s will take your attention. If you have a bunch of Schedule C folks who send 1099s, that's another time sink. Even if you have lots of college-kid parents who need FAFSA info can grab a bunch of your January. We used to spend a gazillion hours on FAFSA forms in January, then for some years it was 1099s. Now it's more W2s (the kids grew up, the small businesses expanded to employees instead of temp workers). Examine your own client list and the snafus for the last year or so, and see what it makes most sense to jump on quickly - then warn the right client set that you want to jump!

I'm done with minimum required cpe but could use a few more to help with the 3-year required hours. Always too much to do!

A distant connection needs a referral to an estate attorney (and maybe a tax pro, too) in southern Colorado. Anyone have a name for me? Thanks!

to Eric!

Yes, I also got a renewal email last week, logged in, and renewed. Done for another year!

When in doubt, I tend strongly to file.

Go ahead, rub it in, see if we care! (I think all of mine, that are going to be done before the deadline, have been submitted. There are always the one or two who won't send me back sig docs - and in a couple of cases, outstanding data docs - for weeks yet. That's on them, not me.) Guess it's time to break out the work on the longtime nonfilers again. Whee!

I'd wait until I got an ack acceptance back on the 2019, and then e-file. The service will sort it out eventually.