Tax Prep by Deb

I had no problem creating the e-file for three clients paying back the 500. I updated this morning and have had no problem except with one return that has the form for casualty loss included, but ATX says it will be released later this week. Deb!

I agree with you Tom, I'm hoping for a smooth transmission, however past experiences has told me to wait and see. So far this year e-file has been flawless for me, but with the weekly deadline coming up fast I would hate to have my clients returns stuck in limbo because of some sorf of melt down. Please, for you brave fokes that have sent, please keep us skeptics in the know! Deb!

I'm not with TRX but I do have to say that with ATX this has been my smoothest year so far. I have had no issues e-filing at all. My Acks come back timely and nothing has gotten lost. The real test I feel will be next week when we are able to send the held returns. I expect a melt down from both ATX and IRS. Hopefully this will not be the case, but only time will tell. ATX is due to release the needed updated forms after the 11:00 a.m. drain on Monday. Deb!

Just enter it as coded, it has no effect on your clients return but it was necessary for the employer to put it there because they have indicated that this person qualified them (the business owner) for special employment tax credits because of hiring someone who had been un-employed for a while and they intend to keep them for the qualified period of time. This is new to 2010 W-2's and it is not an error on the part of whoever prepared the W-2. Hope this helps, Deb! P.S. On box 12 where you enter a code it has CC as an option.

I'm not a TRX user, however if you will look down on the opening page for this Community, (just scroll down on the first web page) you will see a section devoted to TRX software. Several have posted there and perhaps your problems can be addressed by someone using that portion of this site. I know some have had technical problems and someone from TRX is monitoring that part of this board. Hope this helps, Deb!

I believe the reference to several years was to indicate that it had been rented in the past, this is the first time it was not rented for the entire year. I could be wrong, but that is how I would interpret the original post. Deb!

I have a client coming in tomarrow that has a residential rental property that she recently moved into and is now her personal residence. I know ATX has a function in the Asset manager to change it to personal use, My question though has to do with recapture of depreciation. Does this happen when it is converted to personal use, or is it when she disposses (sells) the property? I've never had one of these before, so I'm not quite sure of the timing. Thanks in advance, Deb!

If you create an e-file and for some reason get an error message, you correct the return and re-create the e-file you will be assigned a different number, thus resulting in skipped numbers. (it's been this way for at least two years with ATX software especially when creating the state file. As for IRS questioning the missing numbers, well we can modifiy the DCN controller at any time within the software, allowing for other computer's to create and transmit the returns, so I do not believe it is an issue as long as you keep a current printout of the DCN assigned to each return. After all this is out of our control. Just my two cents worth, Deb!

All of my clients have been very understanding. I complete the returns as usual, give them an approximate time they will be filed, approximate time to expect the refund (with a warning not to spend the money till they actually see it in their account) and tell them that if anything changes or that if we get the ok to send earlier I would inform them. They are ok with that. As for loosing business, this year I am already 48% ahead of last year at this time, with several new clients coming in today. I have never been this busy so early. I just hope it keeps up and I am able to keep up with it. :spaz:

I hadn't thought about that. Here in CA if you buy a vehicle from a private party you have 10 days, however if you purchase from a dealer, it is included in the contract and paid at the time you take delivery. Thanks for the lesson! Deb!

And the new motor vehicle taxes has to be for a vehicle purchased prior to January 1, 2010. So how in the world does that work, unless it's referring perhaps to a lease where the sales tax is paid through each payment? Deb!

Just had similar situation come in today. In this case the student was given a grant that way exceeded the educational costs. It will completely cancel out any credit and then there will be about 4000.00 left over. I can't site a source but in my mind this is the logic. The student will claim the income, and because it wipes out the credit, the parents claim nothing except the exemption for the student. Even if the situation was exactly the same as yours I would do as suggested. Student claims the income, parents claim the dependent and any educational credit. The income follows the social security number on the document, the credit follows whoever claims the dependent. Just my two cents worth! Deb!

I just updated again this morning, tried to create a file containing schedle A and also received the red warning. Some I'm curious with the other posters that say the report shows approved for e-file. Have you tried to create one yet? Deb!

Thanks to all who replied. I was pretty sure I had. This client was actually audited a couple of years ago and it turned out to be a no change audit. This was my first I had been through and was extremely nervous, but all turned out well. I just wanted to double check. Like I said, when things change for a client I get to second guessing myself. Deb!

Tom, I just did a quick google and it appears the delay was relating to the last minute returns filed in October for 2009. I didn't see any updated info regarding tax year 2010 either by google or direct on the FTB web site. Has anyone gotten an CA e-file acks yet? Mine have all been accepted by FTB by ATX is still showing them waiting for ACKS. This is both on the e-file tracking page and on my return manager. Deb!

They started this business from ground zero. It has been about a ten year process to get it to the point that they could actually sell off some of the contracts. I have to admit that when I first posted this question my gut feeling was sale of business asset. I'm appreciative of the confirmation. This leads me to one more question. I know where the money from the sale should be reported, thanks to all of you, but I'm second guessing myself now on how I originally reported the income received from the monitoring. I've always included it as income on the schedule C and took a deduction for the outside monitoring costs on the schedulce C. Was this correct? Should this have been reported somewhere else? It's of particular concern for me because if I had been doing this wrong then they have been paying Self-employment tax on this money. If I'm wrong I would like to be able to correct my mistake. It's just that when I get a situation that I've not handled before I get a little up-tight because I want to do the best I can for my clients. Thanks for your input! Deb!

To clarify, It's more than just a customer list. They actually have contracts with these individuals. So I believe it's the contracts that they have sold. I will clarify this with my client. But if this is the case, does it change the reporting? Deb!

I have a client coming in that I have done their taxes for several years. They installed security alarms and also offer monitoring. Because of economic hardships they had to sell part of their monitoring service. Basically from what I understand is that they have clients who are charged monthly for monitoring their security system. My client then hires out to a secondary firm who does the monitoring. Recently they sold a block of their monitoring clients for a set dollar figures. How does this get reported? Anyone with any thought? I was hoping that this year they would go to a CPA but they want me to do the preliminary work and then they are going to have it reviewed by a CPA that they know. The reason they want to stick with me is because they trust me and do not want to take any work away from me, but frankly I don't know where to start with this one. I have done sales of business assets before, but I'm not sure which direction to go. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Deb!

Last year when I modified my federal letter to include the state letter I believe it automatically printed that the return would be e-filed. When I try to modify my master letter this year I did exactly the same thing. I had one that printed correct but the others have been paper file. I was going to modify my state letter and check that box, but it gives a warning about something new and not to do that, so I didn't. It said the program would automatically select it for me. What about the DCN number not showing up on the worksheet? It shows in the e-file manager but does not show on the e-file info sheet for the state even though it does show on the federal. Thanks, Deb!

I have just completed my first two California returns and created the e-file. I notice this year that when I created the e-file the term legacy shows up for the California return. This is totally different than in the past. I have also noticed that my DCN does not show up on the CA E-file Worksheet like it has always done in the past and still does for the federal. Also the client letter shows that the return is to be paper filed. Granted I have customized my master for the federal letter to show e-file and also to combine my state letter. So I would assume that they both would show e-file. I went to customize the state letter to show that the return will be e-filed but it gives a warning not to select anything that the program will do it automatically. Anyone else run into this problem? Should I be concerned? What about the DCN number not showing on the worksheet? It allowed me to create the file and the DCN shows up on my e-file manager. Hopefully someone will have an answer for me. Thanks, Deb!

Rarely does the mortgage company list all social security numbers for the loan. The fact that her name is on the mortgage (she's responsible to make the payments) then you better believe her social securty number is associated with that loan. Usually the loan company only uses the primary borrower's social security number. I have had instances were three people were listed on the loan docs, all three made the mortgage payments, but only one was listed on the 1098. Again, if she is legally obligated, actually does make the payments, she would have a claim on the interest deduction. Deb!

Tom, I had a client some years ago who's company that they worked for was not holding out enough even though client had correct info on the W-4. This happened two years in a row so I looked deeply at what their company was doing and they were totally messed up and seemed not to want to fix it. I contacted IRS in behalf of my client to see what could be done and I was informed that basically IRS wouldn't get involved because when it comes to withholding the employee can go in and make changes at any time. Finally enought employees complained and the problem was corrected. So I too would recommend leaving this alone. It has been my understanding that when it comes to bonuses, whatever you currently have on file for withholding is what you would use. I even have some clients that will claim exempt on the bonus to retain the maximum amount, and then go back to the normal way of withholding. I don't advocate this, but it just goes to show that there are many variables. Just my two cents worth, Deb!

I've had mine for several weeks. Deb!

Had one open here last year. I've already have an appointment with one of their unhappy clients. This is two so far but I expect to see several throughout the year. Deb!

Old Jack, This is something new for this year. In the past we deducted what we paid for self-employed health insurance on page 1 of the 1040, however this year we are suppose to be able to deduct it from self-employment taxes as well. Anyhow that has been my understanding. I was hoping someone would ask this question as I have looked and even ran some dummy figures to see if the worksheet flows over to the schedule SE but I don't see how this works either. If anyone knows please let the rest of us know! Thanks, Deb!