JohnH

Retired taxpayer (age 74) in NJ with $12K of AGI (plus untaxed SocSec benefits) gave me their property tax reimbursement paperwork, expecting a property tax rebate. Property tax paid in 2004 was $4,031 and in 2005 was $4,387, so they recevied a rebate of $64. Their 2006 property tax paid was $4,329, so it appears to me that they are not due a property tax rebate because they did not have an increase in property tax between 2005 and 2006. Is this correct, or am I missing something?

Pacun: If you're trying to analyze the net result of the situation, you might want to add up the total he has paid out and then subtract from that the amount he would have paid in rent to live in the same neighborhood in a home roughly the size of the one he occupied. Depending upon the dollars involved, you may find that financially he has lost less than it first appears. He might also consider that if he made a bad decision at the outset in terms of overpaying for the house or committing to more than he can afford, the one-time financial hit to get out may be less than it would have cost him in the long term to hang on to a bad investment. (More or less like selling a losing stock. Sure you get the tax loss, but you're still out real money) As for the debt forgiveness, it depends. Did the circumstances that caused him to fall into foreclosure include the fact that he was insolvent? If so, the debt forgiveness won't cause him a tax problem.

Pacun: I think IRS will automatically give the client 4 months if he just calls & asks. I handled one a few months ago by calling IRS with the client on the line. Amount due was about $3K and they were expecting some money to be received to pay off the balance. IRS dated the file forward 120 days & said they could make payments toward the balance during that time if they wanted to, or they could wait until the end of the 120 days & pay it all. There was no fee for this extended collection period, other than the normal P&I which accrued. As it turned out, the expected windfall didn't materialize so they called back about two weeks before the end of the period & explained that the money still wasn't there. At that point the IRS just converted it to a monthly payment plan extending it out over a year, and at that time charged the fee for setting up the plan.

(Previous message deleted in light of new info just discovered) Never mind, I found it on an obscure Excel help site. Thanks for all the suggestions. Just in case anyone ever needs to do this, here's how: To copy the subtotals summary: 1. Add Subtotals to the List. 2. In the Subtotal levels, click level 2. 3. Select a cell in the List, and press Ctrl+Shift+* (in Excel 2003, press this or Ctrl+A). 4. To select visible cells, press Alt+;. OR Press F5, and in the Go To dialog box, click Special. In the Go To Special dialog box, select Visible cells only and click OK. OR Press Select Visible Cells Icon. 5. Copy and paste the summary of the subtotals into a different sheet. (I would never have figured this one out - the key is to "Select Visible Cells" while in subtotals Level 2) For anyone interested, here's where I found it. There are several other good Excel tips on this site. http://www.exceltip.com/excel_tips/Excel_Subtotals/29.html

Any Excel experts out there who can help me with this one? I have a spreadsheet with only about a half-dozen columns and about 4,000 rows of data. I have it sorted by entries in one of the relevant columns and sub-totaled. I can collapse the view so that I only see the sub-totals. There are about 350 sub-total amounts. Now for the problem. I need to manipulate the table in ascending or descending order according to the sub-total amounts. A "copy" of the collapsed view followed by a "paste special - values" doesn't work - that operation copies the entire set of data. Can anyone steer me in the direction of what is probably a very simple operation? Thanks...

Agree with Old Jack. Every situation is different and needs its own analysis. As a general rule, I think a single-owner S-Corp should do a SEP in most every case. It's simple, flexible, and it can be done at very low cost. The only decision that really needs to be made is where to put the money, but that decision will have to eventually be made no matter what type of retirement plan is set up. The client can either go directly to a no-load, low-expense-ratio mutual fund with their equity portion, or they can pay an investment advisor who will frequently steer them to something that will usually sap away a large part of their earnings in fees & charges. The situaiton is much more complicated when there are employees, especially if the client wants to fund their own plan to the max but doesn't want to do the same for the employees.

Definition of a Helicopter: "A form of transportation designed to beat the air into submission. Failing that task, it will perform the exact same function on its pilot." =========================================================== Best Helicopter Joke: A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communication equipment. Due to the clouds and haze the pilot could not determine his position or course to steer to the airport. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign and held it in the helicopter's window. The sign said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters. People in the tall building quickly drew a large sign which said "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER" and held it in a building window. The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map and determined the course to steer to SEATAC (Seattle/Tacoma) airport and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER" sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded, "I knew that had to be the Customer Service Department in the MICROSOFT building because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless reply.

Marilyn: Yes, we do. Sometimes I think there are really only 3 or 4 individual clients out there - they just dress up differently and wear various disguises when they visit our offices.

I'm not renewing early. Still holding out for the coffee maker, toaster oven, and microwave freebies...

There are a few things you can do to help your tax preparer: 1) Begin calling him or her in January to let them know you're getting your info together and will be calling back to make an actual appointment as soon as you have it all ready; 2) Make the same call as in #1 around the first of Feb, Mar, and Apr. Be sure to ask a few insignificant questions with each call; 3) Around Apr 10, call to explain that you know he/she might be pretty busy right now, but ask if it's too late to get it done by the due date anyhow. Whine & cry when you're told an extension will be necessary, but go ahead and make an appoinment; 4) Show up for the extension appointment with all your info organized, then proceed to give each piece of paper to the preparer on at a time, explaining that "this is my w-2, this is my home mortgage interest, etc". Do this with lots of fanfare as though you think he/she has never seen documentation of this type before, so naturally they need your help in deciperhing what it is. 5) After leaving the office, call back in about 2 hours & ask "How it coming?". It's also helpful to throw in that you're hoping they might be able to get to your return by the 15th anyhow. 6) Repeat #5 every other day until your return is ready; 7) Once you get the return back, complain about the fee and also go into a rant about how the government is stealing your money. 8) I think that about covers it.

Gene: Here's a link to a pretty detailed explanation about video cards & connectors. I like it because it has pictures. http://www.computerhope.com/help/video.htm#01

Gene: I think you can just look where your monitor is plugged into the back of your computer & see if there's another plug just like that one. Maybe someone else can give some more details because there are different types of plugs for different types of monitors.

Gene: The dual monitor setup is pretty easy with XP. You just need to have a video card installed which accommodates 2 monitors (if you don't already have one). Once the second one is hooked up, you go into the control panel, tell the system you have two monitors, and designate them #1 & #2. That's basically all there is to it. As for where to put the monitor, just balance it on that stack of books & magazines over on the left side of your dek. You might need to add a book or two to get everything at the correct height.

Good points - can't forget the tax angle. I think I'm OK with two monitors because I have two eyes. #3 & #4 could pobably be justified on the basis of "total redundancy". Beyond that, I'll have to think about it... On the other hand, this setup might require some explaining: http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/galle...ue&mon=desc

I like the idea of separate wallpapers & desktops (more place for pics of the grandkids). This also plays into one of the reasons I'm thinking of a third monitor - one with higher screen resolution when I need it. Thanks for the tip, which is one reason I started this string - I think I'm going to give it a try.

I'm curious about why you would need UltraMon (I'll get it if it somehow helps). All I did was have another video card installed & then went into the XP control panel & told it to recognize dual monitors. What features does UltraMon offer that you find useful?

I had one for the 2001 year back in 2003 - at that time they had streamlined the process a little and they called them something else, but the auditor told me at the time it was "TCMP Light". The wife had a schedule C, but other than that it was a fairly basic return (one W-2 for husband, mortgage interest, property taxes, contributions, etc). The auditor did look at such things as birth certificates, bank statements, 1098, 1099, etc. It all worked out, including the mileage claimed for charitable travel (clients are very active church members). I had the wife go along to the audit. I explained that of all my clients they would have been among the top 10 I'd have hoped would be audited - she didn't seem to appreciate my humor in that regard . We spent more time getting ready for it than the actual time spent in the audit. All things considered, it was less difficult than many I've heard about, but as I said it was a fairly easy case. I just took everything I thought we would need and only handed things over as they were asked for, one item at a time. I also waited for the auditor to hand each item back before I produced anything else. Pretty routine stuff for the most part. I think the client left the audit with a new appreciation for the job the IRS does, and for what accountants do for their clients as well.

Yes. Once you set everything up, the cursor moves seamlessly between the monitors based on how far you move your mouse. When I first saw people discussing dual monitors on the ATX forum, I thought it was more or less a geeky gimmick. But once I actually saw someone using the setup, the benefits were so obvious that I returned to my office that afternoon & set up the dual monitors. Aside form being able to display last year's tax return and the current year's info on separate monotors, the setup has many other uses. Spreadsheets can be pulled across the width of both monitors, for example, to display almost twice as many columns. I send & receive a large number of attached files, and it's very nice to be able to look at the attachment on one screen while composing or reading the email on the other screen. Another benefit is the simple ablity to display the desktop with one monitor and whatever you are working on with the other monitor. You find that opening another application is easier and faster because you don't need to minimize the "active" screen when switching. Just move over to the desktop & open the other application. It takes a small amount of time to get in the habit of looking for things on the second monitor ( for example, "Print" windows will often open on the other monitor unexpectedly), but once you've noticed what's taking place it just becomes a part of your normal work routine.

Back on the old Forum, we had several discussions about various techniques to improve productivity. I learned much from those discussions, and I believe the most important lesson by far for me was the encouragement to go to dual monitors last year. I thought it might be helpful to start a new discussion about them and to again thank everyone who influenced me to make that change. I can't imagine working at my desk without at least two monitors connected to the computer. I'm now considering adding a third monitor just for the purpose of keeping my email & internet connection in view at all times while actively working with the other two monitors. I would like to hear if anyone has any comments or suggestions about latest developments or how you use your multiple monitor setup effectively.

Pacun: ---> You are completely wrong and thinking like my clients... They think that if they donate $5000, the IRS will refund them $5,000. <---- So YOU'RE the one who's been stealing my clients. I was wondering where they went...

I think it's worth noting that the heading for this part of the Forum is "General Chit Chat", not "General Chit Chat Except Politics, Religion, or Something Else That Might Offend Someone "

KC: The process is a little tricky, but he could still make money on it by holding a "Calf Lottery". If he sells 50 tickets at $10 each, he will clear $490 after expenses.

Funny how our perspective changes based on whose ox is being gored. I'm not criticizing your attitude - we all have those reactions from time-to-time. I remember serving on a church board many years ago and explaining how the minister's parsonage allowance works. The wealthiest and most vocal member of the board spoke up with a negative comment about how he wished he could deduct his utilites and insinuating that it was "unfair". He was not a client, so I pointed out that he got extra exemptions for him and his wife being over 65 (this tells you how many years ago this happened), and that the "fair" thing for him to do would be to forego that benefit since all us younger people (including the pastor) were not entitled to it. That discussion didn't go any further, although I assumed that if he ever needed to change accountants I would probably not be in the running.

You might also want to think of this in the sense that you have ALREADY taken a tax deduction by not billing them. If you billed them $2,000 and then donated the money back to them after the bill was paid, you'd be in exactly the same position as you are by not billing them. (Except for the fact that you would have paid Self-Employment tax on the $2,000 of income as it passed through your hands). BTW, thanks very much for all the time you've donated to create this forum in the same spirit that you have been helping the hospital.

I still don't see anything improper (including the back seat of the Oldsmobile thing).