Lion EA

Probably everything except life insurance, right? Partnership reporting can get so creative!

I have a couple that jump out. And, at least one that has no interest in increasing his withholding.

Now he tells me they had a baby in 2015 and gives me the details. But, his wife still has negative earned income, so still no child care credit. Helps with another exemption, though. And, he's really cute!

Your clients will be glad to have those MD losses when they sell the property.

Oh, like "taken or takeable" much better! I think I'll use that phrase with my clients now. I know it's the phrase that will be in my head. Thank you, Pacun.

No expense for fertilizer, that's why you have a profit.

He had $5,000 in box 10 which I entered. He spent over $12,000 for a full-time preschool program while both parents worked. But, one spouse was self-employed and had a loss for 2015 (profit in 2014, so it hadn't come up last year). Add back the $5,000 to wages, computer does that for me. Just hoping there was some help for the SE spouse with no taxable income -- but, I hadn't found any myself. Thank you all for confirming.

I keep moving when I'm filing extensions later and later due to preparing one more return, often to get a complainer off my back (I know I shouldn't reward them, but trying to reduce MY stress). Have a chiropractor's appointment today which I really need, being hunched over a computer for way too many hours each day. Tomorrow I'm at a biz client's site all day and one of our orientation/training sessions for Appalachia Service Project for three hours, plus driving to another town and back, at night. (Kentucky this year, won't know the county and town until early June.) And, one sign/pick-up in person on Friday. Uploading a lot to FileShare on my web site, and retired hubby's delivering returns and getting signatures and schmoozing with most of my local clients so I can keep working. Everyone seems to have a new wrinkle this year, plus a few minutes (or more!) on Obamacare re each return. I'm not going to complete the one I thought, the ones I promised. I hate ending the season with unhappy clients. So, overall, more extensions that I'd planned for.

Happy Birthday, KC.

Do I understand this correctly? Taxpayer with W-2 job and dependent care benefits. Spouse self-employed and a LOSS for 2015. Cannot take DCB, right? (I know they get added back in to wages, was just hoping there was some deemed employment amount such as for student or disabled.)

Once in a while I get a stray code or a tiny character like an ' hanging out in a field that I think is blank. Try deleting, or does ATX still have a Restore Field button, or backspacing, or whatever to see if that clears the lines that are supposed to be blank.

Yeah, I agree with Jack. It's April and I don't need new clients and I don't even have any time to talk with them to see if they might want to file correctly. Don't throw good time after bad. If they came to my office. Good Riddance. (I might try to be polite if they were referrals.)

Thank you, FDNY, I'm keeping this. In NY's defense, I did reach a great gal re a biz return who waived a first-time penalty!

Had to get help for a NJ PY (and NY PY which I think is OK, but need to check it now that NJ works, can be efiled) and my support person said they get a lot of calls re NJ PY and MA PY. Mine took way longer than 45 minutes; can't charge enough for this stuff !! I'm still arguing over a MA return we filed to get back w/h erroneously w/h for MA when the gal worked and lived in CT only; luckily she caught it by the second paycheck, but company only fixed it going forward. Do not like MA and do not like NJ. I'm getting more used to NY, but don't like dealing with them -- they never answer their phones.

But you know you're good and your clients know you're good and now people just asking around know you're good at tax preparation, so they will pay more than they would pay the not as good preparer, whether HRB or anyone not as good as you, with or without letters after their name or with or without possum movie dates. You're not in competition with anyone else any longer. You've already won. You can raise your prices, which would allow you to fire some PITAs and still make as much. Do less work for the same money for college tuition. Or take new, nice clients and do the same work for more money to buy popcorn at the movies.

Ask if they got their medical expenses added up. Make an appointment. When they come in, do the rest face to face. Either you'll convert them or return their paperwork. You can include an invoice if you want. But, good riddance to them if they are not honest.

I'm going to look at it again, Joan. I think I have it your way now, working it around to what I was pretty sure it had to be. But the presentation was so different from what I've seen before, that I posted here. Thanx.

Calm down everyone. My response was in answer to Rita who said even the CPAs don't charge as much as HRB (which does sound backwards but wasn't my point). Just that tax preparers who concentrate on taxes, no matter what license they might have or not have, probably are worth more at tax time than anyone else, with or without a credential, who doesn't spend as much time on taxes as Rita does. I have clients that tell me a CPA told them they could do something on their return, but when I ask questions find out the CPA works in a corporation preparing reports for the CFO and prepares no personal returns at all, not even his own (he typically pays the CFO to do it; the CFO often has a biz degree, by the way, not accounting). So, you can't rely on the letters to know what someone is good at. CPA can, but does not have to, equal personal taxes. EA should, but doesn't always, equal personal and small biz taxes. And, either of those without real world experience is probably not yet the equal to Rita or anyone who works hard for their clients, keeping up with tax law. I have an MBA in finance. My advisor wanted me to take the one more accounting course that would give me an MBA in accounting instead. The majority of my courses were accounting (only one less accounting class than accounting majors), but I liked taking the finance courses and statistics and a mix of business classes and writing a thesis, so that's what I did. And, I did spend years in a corporate environment (COO, controller, etc.) before taking tax courses. During those years, I prepared my own return and the trust we set up for my son's college with the divorce and my father's estate in IL and then married a school teacher and had to learn all about unreimbursed employee expenses. I knew it was time to learn a lot more about taxes. I never would've tried to prepare taxes for pay during those years, because at least I knew that I didn't know what I didn't know. None of the accounting courses prepared me to deal with the practicality of filing personal tax returns for real people with all their quirks, and none of my work in companies along side CPAs had anything to do with personal income taxes.

My specialty is taxes, unlike CPAs who must train in auditing, accounting, etc., as well as taxes. I aim to charge more. Still running about 20% less, but getting there. Also, I aim to charge more than HRB. Came from a premium HRB office and held prices constant for three years for continuing clients, but higher for new clients. That was years ago, so all prices increase now. In pricey Fairfield County, people think you're not good if you're not expensive.

Yeah, getting all the We're-going-on-Spring-break-so-I'm-ready-to-sign-my-returns-before-we-leave calls now. I get a lot more work done after the phone stops ringing (even though I let it go to voice mail, the flashing light won't let me forget) and after my husband goes to bed. I still haven't trained him to stop coming in and sitting down in my office, not to talk to me when I'm in my office. I close the door, ignore him, think aloud so I keep my train of thought when he interrupts, bluntly explain what I need; maybe he's un-trainable. I go to bed when I'm too tired to work. Then, I sleep late, letting all the calls and emails collect in my inbox, hopefully answering all the questions I sent late the night before. It's usually faster than talking to clients who jump right into politics or their upcoming trip! I have to sleep four hours per night in my CPAP (97% compliant) or Medicare won't pay for the machine and supplies. Six hours is enough to work, usually. Now, I have my alarm off except when I have morning appointments, and have been sleeping seven. But, I look forward to eight or nine for a couple months to fully unwind after the 18th.

Move your biz back home. Don't tell the PITAs where you are. Or, even the nice clients, if they have returns you don't enjoy preparing, boring, complex, out-of-state, biz, whatever you like the least. By invitation only. You'll scale back your biz but also have lower overhead. Of course, you'll be here with us no matter what you do with your biz!

That may do it. Close enough for government work, and April. She's trying to find documentation of what they have. I told her to save documentation for all the years in Singapore, 2013-2016. Thank you, Judy and everyone, for your research skills.

I quote high on the phone. It never ends up being high when I get into their stuff, but at least I'm closer. And, I weed out the price shoppers who would go somewhere else after a year anyway. If they sound really complex, I tell them I'd be glad to quote them a price after they drop off last year's return for me to look at. Hardly anyone does that. Plus, I'm taking NO new clients now unless they go on extension. Hardly anyone calling now does that, either.

Heard from wife. Definitely not meeting substantial presence test; too many trips to the US for aging parent emergencies. No US-based healthcare during 2015. They all have been on a National University of Singapore plan since husband started working there in August 2013. (They were going to be there for two years, but continuing job until summer 2016.) Does that let me say Yes on their return?