Doing Past Year Returns?

[Virtual Managed Solutions]

On average, how many clients in a years time come in and have not filed for the past several years and want you to do that for them? Once you have established that commitment to them, how do you go about doing all those returns? Do you just go back to previous years tax programs and do that, and keep rolling over to the next year, or do some tax programs have the feature to allow you to do past returns?

I'm pretty sure that no software out there allows that feature - to create (let's say) amended returns for the previous 10 years by inputting tax payer info on one screen and then it flowing to each relating year. How many of you would like to see that feature implemented?

Thanks in advance for reading this and I'm anxious to see your responses!

[Janitor Bob]

I have had several in the past three years....I start with opening the ATX program for the first...complete that year, then roll over to the next...and so on...This is the easiest way for me because I have used ATX since 2000, If I had used varioes programs, it may not be so easy

[Virtual Managed Solutions]

If I had used varioes programs, it may not be so easy

What if you had 1 program that allowed you to do returns for the previous 10 years? No switching from program to program, no rollover, no reentry of data. What if you could fill out one input screen, then all the information flows over to the appropriate year(s) you are doing? How much easier would that make your life and would you switch to that program knowing it has that capability?

[taxxcpa]

What if you had 1 program that allowed you to do returns for the previous 10 years? No switching from program to program, no rollover, no reentry of data. What if you could fill out one input screen, then all the information flows over to the appropriate year(s) you are doing? How much easier would that make your life and would you switch to that program knowing it has that capability?

Unless a person had a large volume of prior year returns on an ongoing basis, it would be a minor, not a major, enhancement. There are a lot of other features that would be more likely to make me want to change software.

[Janitor Bob]

Unless a person had a large volume of prior year returns on an ongoing basis, it would be a minor, not a major, enhancement. There are a lot of other features that would be more likely to make me want to change software.

It would be nice, but I would not pay extra for it...nor would I switch to another software just because it had that feature.

[imjulier]

I would not find this feature very beneficial either. I generally find that taxpayers who haven't filed in past years didn't do it because they didn't have the information. And guess what. They still don't have the information so I still can't do their return.

Julie R

[BulldogTom]

It is pretty simple to roll the returns, so I don't think that would be a premium feature. Besides, trying to keep all the information for each year in a single file is hard enough. Imagine if you had 10 years of 1099's for a client and had to make sure you put them all in the correct years in one input setting.

Sorry Kyle, I think I would prefer one year at a time.

Tom

Lodi, CA

[zeke]

What all above said, plus I think programming different years all in one would be a nightmare!

z

[TAXBILLY]

I don't think the average preparer does enough of them to warrant a separate program.

taxbilly

[mcb39]

It actually could be detrimental in some ways. Often addresses change, spouses' names change, children are added or subtracted. It is much easier to catch these things from year to year.

As to your first question. I make sure that the returns are done that are still covered by the statute (ie: the last three years) in case there is a refund so it doesn't get lost. I will go back 3 years and work forward. Then, I will go to the beginning and work forward, because if there would have been refunds, the taxpayer will not get them prior to the 3 year limit.

[Lion EA]

It would be a minor feature for me, good in a few instances. Just starting with the oldest (or with the earliest open year), completing one, then rolling forward to the next year, and on and on, saves a lot of typing of unchanged info and carries forward things like LTCG carryforwards.

I get two or three a year who haven't filed for two years or more. Usually businesses, including Schedules C, and people with a lot of trades might wait for two or three years until they receive an IRS letter saying they didn't file for 200X. Less frequently, I get the taxpayer who hasn't filed for ten years or so. Now that I'm on my own and take new customers only from referrals, I don't get those non-filers who used to walk into H&R Block.

Last year was my first year with ProSystem fx, so I might've misunderstood what was happening, but I swear it carried client information BACKWARD for someone who had more than one year to file. Nothing like an NOL, just name/address type stuff. Maybe I'm mis-remembering.

[kcjenkins]

We get a number of these every year, but I don't think that the 'one input sheet' would actually work that well, for the reasons several have already mentioned. And remember, most often these involve at least some SE income, and those often include capital assets. And since the rules changed so often on depreciation, I think you would find programing an input sheet to deal with all the different rules from year to year would be horrendous.

While doing them year by year is not at all difficult, given the inclusion of the 'Amend this return' feature. You enter the data for the original return, if it was filed, select 'Amend this return' and make any changes. If never filed, going year by year tends to allow you to make related changes, like new dependents or dependents dropping off, etc. And frankly, when there are multiple years involved, it is often the case that they want to pay for them one or two years at a time, in which case I don't want to put in the time on the later ones until I'm paid for the first one or ones.