BulldogTom

Hey, I had not seen that yet. Cool Tom Lodi, CA

Back to my original post, it appears that the invoice was updated or corrected. When I ran my first RAL last night, the invoice total matched on the RAL application. I am still not happy about the fee, but at least they are not stealing it from me. Tom Lodi, CA

Perhaps it was a coding error and fixed, but when I ran my first RAL last night, the $10 fee was no longer being deducted from my fees. It is now very clear on the invoice and the RAL application who is taking the $10 "Transmitter Fee". Not sure if they are reading these posts in ATX programming, or if someone called and told them what the invoice was doing, but it is working the way I expected it to. I am still mad as hell about the $10 charge at the last minute, and I still wish great pain and suffering on the person in management who pulled support out of Maine. Tom Lodi, CA

Its not paranoia if they really are after you. Tom Lodi, CA

This seems so basic, and I am clueless. If you have a rental agreement with a company that is a corporation, but you pay the Management Company, LLC the monthly lease payments, do you have to issue the 1099 to the management co? Any help appreciated. Tom Lodi, CA

JB - Didn't you just get a new lady friend? Are you sure she isn't seeing HRB on the side? Some women have an affinity for green. ;o) Inquiring minds want to know. Tom Lodi, CA

After the first year of letting the client select their pin (come on people - this should not take forever!), I went to the above method and have done it the same ever since. No questions from the IRS or state of CA. Tom Lodi, CA

I use a small amount of 1040EZ, but only as a marketing ploy. I price them cheap and put them in my advertisements. If the taxpayer qualifies, I knock it out in 10 minutes and they are happy and I have a new client that will probably need a 1040 in the future. I do not use 1040A. Everything else is 1040. Tom Lodi, CA

I want to be the first Beta tester (well, after KC of course). Will we be up and running to ship in December 2008? Its not like I am itching to dump ATX or anything, but I really am itching to dump ATX. Tom Lodi, CA

Unless he is an employer, he does not need an EIN. Use SSN on 1099's. Bigger question is how the admin people are not employees. I don't know the details, but that raises a red flag for me. I would ask some questions and advise the client on the difference between and employee and a contractor. Tom Lodi, CA

Well, that is different than what was posted. Better than I thought, but I still wish them pain. Tom Lodi, CA

If you are in contact with her, tell her to stop by the board and say hi. Tom Lodi, CA

Good Luck on that interview. We are pulling for you. You still have my contact info? If not I will get it to you. Tom Lodi, CA

Hey Eli, I was wondering if you have heard from our friend up north? I cannot remember her name right now, but she was hispanic and had a big practice up around Chicago I think? Wasn't her name Rachel? Have you heard from her at all? Tom Lodi, CA

I think the license allows you to use the software on 3 computers, but not with different EIN's. Each license is for 1 practice. If they allowed you to use 3 EIN's, you could run 3 separate tax practices on one license, and I don't think that is what they have in mind when they say 3 users. At least that is how I interpreted the license agreement. Tom Lodi, CA

Maybe he did. I took "He donated a building" to mean he transferred title in a completed gift. You seem to believe he did not. Who is right? Only the poster knows, but I think that is the crux of the question. If he transferred title, I stand by my answer above. If no transfer, I will side with you. Tom Lodi, CA

I am with OldJack too. He donated a building. The fact that it was consumed is irrelevant. I am not sure about the cleanup, because he did not give that to the fire department. He merely cleaned up his Investment(?) property after it was used by someone burning a house (with his permission). On an aggressive day I might take that position, but I think I would be more conservative on the clean up costs and add them to basis. Not sure about the cleanup, but confident about the building. But if the fire dept used it for 2 years, the deduction should have been taken when title transfered. I don't know that you can get the deduction this year? Tom Lodi, CA

Spouse needs to immediately get a general power of attorney for everything. Hopefully he can consent and sign on one of his good days. If you can do this, spouse signs and you attach power of attorney to return. If he can't sign, or even if he can, she should follow up with courts and have herself appointed over all his affairs (not just tax). Just my 2 cents. Tom Lodi, CA

Can you say "annual shareholder meeting"? Aloha Tom Lodi, CA

That is funny, now lets clog his message board and overwhelm his servers. Maybe we can get some other press about how the ATX user base is revolting against CCH? I just added my comment. Only took a minute. Tom Lodi, CA

So, if I were only to renew for MAX next year, since I did not upgrade, I could not use the $4. That sounds like the CCH I am expecting. It is not a $4 rebate for us, and we cannot use it except to purchase more software from them. They can take their $4 and shove it up there server! They are theives. I wish nothing but pain on CCH this year. Tom Lodi, CA

I got the same e-mail. Tom Lodi, Ca

OK, here is my fuzzy math thinking about this last night. Form a corp. Authorize 1,000,000 common shares. Highly speculative risk capital. Issue 200,000 shares first time out @ $5. 1 Million for start up and infrastructure costs. That should buy servers, phone systems, operating software, and programming help. When the software is ready to roll into BETA, do a stock split 2 for 1. Then offer another 200,000 at $5 for 1 million for advertising and support start up cost. Sell 5,000 copies first year at average of $500 (assuming a 3 level platform: basic 1040 1 state @$299 + efile fees extra, complete 1040 all states with ulimited efile @ $699 and Business + 1040 + efile @ $999.) That gets you another 2.5 million to get through the 15 weeks of tax season. Hire us for beta and overflow support (we will work very cheap the first year). If you are successful (and you will know by the end of the first year), split the stock again 2 for 1 and issue another 200K shares for $5 for another 1 million of infrastructure upgrades and advertising. Get 2000 repeat customers on early renewal for another 1 million of operating cash. 18 months from now you have a corp with 4 million shares authorized, 1.4 million issued, a client base of 5K users, and hopefully you are on your way. Investors on the early issues got stock dividends so they are happy and well positioned for future dividends and returns. No one has to invest more than they are comfortable with investing, and those on the cutting edge get the bigger reward. We can all help out a little on beta testing and support, and the Corp can pay us a little bit for that help (can you say web chat support, any of us can log on as support techs to make that work). Simple, huh? What a business plan! (OK, rip me if you want - I am just musing on possibilities) Mel, I am sure you could whip this out just like I layed out for you. You are all ready to go now. Tom Lodi, CA

The real question is not how much it would cost to produce, but how many customers it would take to sustain it. There is one truth that all businesses must remember - CASH IS KING!. The question comes down to how much cash it takes to run the company, what sacrafices have to be made when cash is lean, and what the priorities for cash are when it starts coming in (for example advertising to attract more customers versus programming to enhance the product for the current customer base). Figuring out how much it would cost to program and engineer the product is the easy part. Determining how much it would cost to support is the harder part, because it requires the knowledge of how many customers will purchase and then need support on the product. If you don't put enough resources in the right place (remember the server problem a few years ago when they took on e-file?, or how about the lack of phone line capacity in GA right now?) you could have the best product in the world and no one would want it because the perception is that you can't support it. I am sure Mel could put a program together for us in no time, but he is asking the right question - Can he put the infrastructure together to make it successful? My 2 Cents. Tom Lodi, CA

Off the top of my head, I would say on the NOL worksheet, in the area where business expenses are calculated, there is a problem. I don't have the form or program in front of me, but I remember going through all the business versus non-business deductions for an NOL a couple of times before. If you don't do it correctly, you end up with a funny number. Sorry I can't be of more help. Tom Lodi, CA