JohnH

How much are you willing to pay me for a password? --- Gov Blago

Maybe this will help: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/COLA/QC.html

The HRB ads are so-so. Sometimes they're irritating, other are cute. But what really gets my attention is the "Lady Liberty" standing on the side of the road in her green nightgown & crown waving at cars as they go by. Now that's high class advertising for ya.

He isn't obligated to deduct mortgage interest or any other itemized deductions. IRS won't care if there's a 1098 in their system for someone claiming the standard deduction.

I vote for #3 for two reasons: 1) I'm an EIC agnostic 2) I believe Pedro senses there's something wrong. Aside from the flaky nature of the situation & information, his intuition is running up red flags based on the client's demeanor & behavior. That's why he posted this question in the first place.

The free version of pdf factory doesn't offer it, but the purchased version allows you to use the security feature. Clicking on it will allow you to enter a security code necessary to open the file. I usually use the last 4 digits of the client's SocSec#. This enables me to tell them in the email how to open the attachment without compromising anything.

Looks like a job for Jackson Hewitt or HRB to me. At least that's what would happen if she walked into my office.

I agreee with jainen. If you're not paying a small estimated tax penalty to fed and state, then you're not setting up your withholding or estimated tax payments properly. California has shed new light on this theory and is making it even more worthwhile.

I don't consider a client who happened to run out of 8109 forms to be a PIA - I consider that to be an opprtunity to help a client who has a need. It's called "client service", and at a cost of 42 cents for 25 of these opportunities, I think that's probably the most cost-efficient investment in goodwill I can make. So cheap in fact that I'll do it for anybody's client, not just my own. Now if the client is callng me every month or two with the same problem, then he's crossed over to being a PIA and I'll deal with that in a more appropriate manner.

I like pdf factory from FinePrint. http://www.fineprint.com/ Cost is about $50

Maybe this would be a good place to post a note when the program version changes. (I sometimes forget to update and need a reminder). Today's update required a program restart - I now show Version 2008.6.0.134

-->>> I try to accommodate my clients, but their last minute emergency due to negligence is not my problem. <--- I like your attitude & support it completely. A couple of my clients tell me their former accountant followed that same philosophy.

You could contact other accountants in your area to ask if they have any spares. If your client doesn't obtain an 8109-B today and it's a payroll tax deposit, he should definitely try to get it paid within 5 days in order to limit the penalty to 2%. This might also be a good time for you to order some 8109-B's for future client service purposes. You can order 25 at a time on you letterhead. I always like to keep a few on hand for my clients and for other tax pros in my area. Once time I gained a new client because I could accommodate someone, and it cost me nothing but a stamp. (Of course, that meant that his former accountant lost a client)

I think Schedule R was the result of legislation not actually designed to do anything significant, but which enabled a few politicians to brag about how they were looking out for the senior citizens by sponsoring a huge tax break for them.

Charlie Rangel said not to worry about this minor little misunderstanding. Things like this can happen to anybody.

You make a great point. Anyone who doesn't know their way around a balance sheet & double-entry accounting probably should not be preparing a corp tax return to begin with. But there is still a difference between having the information in your work papers and actually submitting it to the IRS. That's the distinction I make.

I also respectfully disagree with the proposition that completing the L and M-1 when not required has anything whatsoever to do with reducing audit probability. We are speculating here, right? If the form is filled out incorrectly (whether required or not), then it certainly can flag the return for more scrutiny. But a properly filled-in L and M-1 when not required does nothing to decrease audit probability, and it could increase the probability slightly. I say this because even if the return is properly prepared, it's possible the data could be entered incorrectly when it reaches the service center. A data input error on their part could cause the return to be pulled for examination even though the preparer did everything correctly. As I said, there's absolutely no reason to give them any info they don't require.

I don't advocate not DOING the balance sheets, but as stated before I don't FURNISH the info to IRS unless they have a right to it.

I don't. Giving them unrequired info is nothing but an invitation to ask more questions. If they want anything not required on a form, they have the client's address and plenty of postage stamps. (I apply this reasoning to all tax forms)

The should be no problem if they qualify. I've seen this done a couple of times over the years. The Employment Security Commission people might ask a few more questions or raise the bar a little in terms of having them prove there is no work available, but they must allow the claimant to receive benefits if they deserve them. And in the current environment, I suspect there will be even less questions asked.

I leave it blank when total assets & total receipts are under $250K. No need to provide any information that isn't required.

Thanks Taxbilly. Certainly a good idea to put it in your favorites. Maybe it could also be pinned on this site under "Important Topics" for future reference.

They probably wouldn't do anything with the pitchforks in Washington. They never did anything with the bricks we sent them to help build the wall a year ago.

The Blago situation simply flushed out into public view the sort of shenanigans that regularly take place in politics. Blago simply stripped the veneer off the process with his to-the-point comments and the prosecutor had to go public with what he had because too many people already knew about the recordings. Seems odd to me that they pulled the plug before he actually accepted any money, or at least had made a deal. Usually when law enforcement detects someone planning to commit a non-violent crime they sting them in the act or immediately afterward so they can roll up all the parties involved. Could it be that some important people were on the verge of being caught in the act and some big names needed to be protected? This looks more like high-level political damage control than effective law enforcement.

The Uni-Form prints the entire W-2 on the front side, including the boilerplate info that is supposed to be on the back side of each year's W-2 form. It's specially aligned and perforated to accommodate the info, and has 3 copies of the W-2 plus a large-sized copy C with the boilerplate incorporated. By using the Uni-Form, you can buy several year's worth of W-2 form blanks and it doesn't matter what year you use them in. Most large companies and payroll services use the Uni-Form layout. Here's what it looks like: http://www.nelcosolutions.com/Products/pro...p;products2=yes QB does allow you to preview the info before printing - in fact they encourage you to do that.