lesson learned.....

Don't have time to be posting, but I am so angry that need to vent it out, so thank you in advance for your patience in reading this post.

I prepared a tax return on Monday afternoon for a client who has been with been quite a few years. Works for the local public school system with 2 college age children. Doesn't even crack $20K of income.

In looking over the closing statement from the house she sold in February 2008, I see she paid the closing costs for the buyer, which is unusual, especially since this market has not been too heavily effected as other parts of the country. In discussion, come to find out that she had a real bad real estate agent, and it cost her money.

During the conversation, it is mentioned that she even had to move from the house, and let the buyers stay there until they were ready to close. She says that at least she collected some rent. Rent? That was never told to me. She then bemoans the fact that the apartment she had to rent until she found a place was more money then what she was collecting.

So with all that in my mind, we discuss the rent and how she should have told me about it because it should have been reported on her 2007 return. She is not happy about that, and wishes she did not say anything. So I tell her let's just worry about 2008. She tells me she rented the house for two months, as the closing was February 29th.

I put down the gross rent, and don't worry about anything else. Normally you would deduct homeowner insurance (mortgage interest & r/e taxes were already on the return on another schedule), homeowner association dues, etc., but for the two months I tell her that we won't worry about it, and just leave as is, and ignore amending 2007.

Yes, this was not correct on my part. She should have picked up the income for 2007, and I should have amended the returns. If I did that, she would have been paying me a fee for amending the returns, and she would have owed taxes on the amended returns, and if the income was high enough, her $4000 refund, would have turned into her owing money (because of the Earned Income Credit). Even if lesser income, she was looking at about a $400 tax payment plus my fees.

After hearing her story, I thought this was a good idea.

Bad idea.

Seems the increase in her income for 2008 because of the rental income, has played with her FAFSA application, and does not make her eligible for as much financial aid. So now she is ranting about me rushing through her returns, giving her no guidance, and looking to screw over her numbers.

I explained to her that I would correct 2008 to reflect certain expenses and change the rental income figure, but in doing so, I feel obligated to also correct 2007, because I know of that unreported income. Can you say "not happy"?

So, I have a client that does not report income to me. When she does, and I tell her it is income (she says she did not know this would be income), she tells me she wishes she did not say anything. I skip the amended return, lose a fee, place the rental on as "gross only", don't charge extra fee for rental schedule, and also save the client about $400 tax dollars, which could go as high as $4000. And, she is not happy.

This has been my back and forth in emails for the past two days.

Lesson learned:
Do it by the book, even if it is for $1. Charge the client for everything. Stop worrying about the client and there "back story". Sometimes it takes me 23 tax seasons before I learn certain lessons.

Until the next time.....

and the nominees are.....

Work has me really backed up, so this will be short as I have been at this desk for almost 13 hours. So far 28 returns completed, 12 in the "pile of shame" (means they are missing information), another 12 have appointments set, and 27 are in the pile on my desk waiting to be worked on. And it is only February 11th. I can't remember ever having so many returns already in the office this early into tax season. This is a good thing, and I feel blessed that I am busy, but I also feel a bit overwhelmed because this is busier then normal.

Combine the large number this early with still wrapping up corporate work from 2008, and the January work that needs to be done for corporate clients (payroll and sales taxes), and I keep leaving here each night thinking nothing is getting done.

I will say that I am much calmer then I have been in prior years, and that is a good thing. I normally would be in "sweat mode" and not sleeping at night thinking of that large pile, but I know it will all get done.

OK, enough about me. On to my lovely wife. Once again, she and her morning show partners have been nominated for a ACM Award (scroll down to find Morgan). This is the 4th consecutive year that they have been nominated (ACM or CMA), and the 8th time in her career that Morgan has been nominated (CMAs and ACMs). I am extremely proud of her.

If you can, please visit Chris' page. He writes about some tests his baby daughter will be going through on Thursday (2/12). Thoughts and prayers to him and his family from all of us would be appreciated.

The Hurricanes have been playing better, but can't separate from the rest of the group fighting for those last playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. A nice 4 or 5 game winning streak would be the medicine to take some pressure off the guys.

And then there is the Stimulus Bill. You know I finally came around (thanks, Chris) and didn't want the Bailout. We see now how well that worked out. Doom and gloom if we didn't do it (guess these last 4 months have been roses and honey). Well, I hate this garbage even more. God save us, because these clowns in Washington are doing their best to ruin us.

OK, done. Off to the DVR to watch Lost with my ACM Nominated wife (But she can't get too close because she is fighting a cold. Don't want germs. :-0 ).

Until the next time.....

unkind cuts.....

A few things to post about, but this is going to be short and crisp as I am battling a slight head cold that has made me fuzzy (or fuzzier then usual).

The economy / job loss situation has finally hit close to home as my buddy, Casey, was let go from his job. He has been pretty upfront about it, and wrote about it yesterday. Just Sunday he and his family were at our house for some eats and football. We knew it could happen on Monday, but we had a good time and did not discuss it. Hopefully, it was a distraction for him / them.

His company, Caterpillar, has really been hit hard by the slowdown. Also, they like many others with these massive layoffs, are not letting go people, as much as they are just slashing divisions or departments. Have a hard time believing that all the employees not let go were better at their jobs then Casey was at his.

And it is not only companies with problems adding to this mess. Starbucks is laying off 6700 people because profits are down 39%. They did not lose money. They made money, but not as much as prior years, so they are laying off people to help their bottom line. Remember that next time you get that double latte.

Tax season has officially started for me, and let me know that in a 48 hour period. When I left my desk on Saturday afternoon, I was "empty". By Monday evening, I had 17 returns on my desk. Good problem to have, but it was a little surprising.

The start of February is such a mess for because there is normal monthly work, income tax clients, and then those business clients who just could not get me everything in January to complete the prior year. Those are the clients that put the "monkey wrench" in things, as I need to get their backlogged work done, so they are caught up, and we can get their 2009 work up to date.

Otherwise, things are going well. Supposed to hit the high 60s around here this weekend (after snow showers last night, and a low of 18 degrees tonight). Hopefully, I will be able to get a short ride on the motorcycle. I also hope this head cold will be gone by then. Don't want to sneeze in a closed helmet. :-)

And with that, I'm done.

Until the next time.....

you look like.....

Have nothing on my desk from clients that needs to be processed at this time. For late January that is a good thing, as this will certainly not be the case in two weeks as there will be about a dozen or two income tax folders piled on my desk.

Now, it probably would not be empty if all my business clients got me the information they owe me to finish processing their 2008 year end numbers. I have less then 10 that owe me information, and it is just a piece or two for most of them, but I would like to get those business returns "off my plate" before all the personal clients start filling my office.

Last Sunday morning, we visited another new church in our search for a church here in NC. We attended Triangle Community Church, which was not far from our old home, and where one of Cassie's friends has attended in the past.

When we get there, Morgan takes Cassie to Promiseland for the kids, and I am standing in the hallway. A woman passes me in the hall, takes a few steps and starts looking at me, while at the same time I start looking at her because I get that "I know you from....." thought in my head.

As she comes back towards me, we start asking each other, "are you "Sal / Laura?". Turns out, we were who we thought the other was, and how we know each other is because we used to do our exercising along the same roads.

When I ran along a long country road near the house, a woman on a bicycle used to always pass by. After about a year or so of this, she was coming beside me, and decided to slow down and we chatted for a while. This went on for a few years. She knew about Morgan and Cassie, while I knew about her husband and kids. All the while getting in these conversations for maybe a mile or so, on the one or two days a week we would see each other. So we became friendly, and it was nice for us to see a friendly face while on those roads.

She is also "part" of the reason I blew out my knee. One day in January 2006, we caught up to each other towards the end of my run. Well, as I turned to head down my block, we were still having a conversation. Because my head was turned as I was saying goodbye to her, I never saw what was in front of me and "caught" my leg, and damaged my knee. She felt bad about it, but it was probably going to happen sooner or later with these knees of mine.

Anyways, she is in charge of the children's' part of the church and Promiseland. She took care of Cassie, and helped Morgan and I feel very comfortable at the church. We are looking forward to more "catching up", and some more time at the church. It was a nice and friendly church, and felt comfortable to us.

Off to do a Podcast with the guys from GeezerGamers for Geezer Radio. Yes, we are truly geeks.

Until the next time.....

weekend playing.....

Worked to "play catch up" most of Saturday, but I did not worry about what got finished. When Morgan called me for dinner, I had all but one "project" that started on my desk completed, so I am in good shape for Monday morning.

Saturday night I got to play "Left 4 Dead" with the guys (including Casey), and had a blast. The game is basically a bad zombie movie (with cheesy dialog) made into a game. Good fun.

Morgan has really been enjoying her time with Facebook. She has really enjoyed "talking" with old friends from high school, and playing with the other features (including mocking her husband).

I have only scratched the surface with it, and just post "what I am doing" notes right now. Will get more into it after tax season.

Went to DMV on Friday afternoon to register the cars and motorcycle, only to find out that because of a mix-up between California and NC when we registered the cars in San Diego, NC wanted to charge us an extra $100 because we did not get our plates returned to them in time. DMV just needs a copy of the insurance certificate showing we had insurance in SD by a certain date in 2007, and we did, but it was just a waste of time.

On top of that, it seems California did not request a title change (to CA from NC) for my truck (still have a few payments left), but there is no positive way to tell that except for getting a title copy from Ford. Seems CA did ignore changing the title to their state, but NC will not do anything for me until they see the title as "NC". Ugh!

I believe in "50 individual states", but when it comes to information like this, DMVs should be "tied together". It would save people lots of time. and I think save DMVs money in the long run. These return trips by people like us cost them time and money.

OK, off to watch the NHL All-Star Game. Hey, it's hockey. :-)

- Did the people of Illinois really elect this guy?
- So the next Treasury Secretary has tax return problems?
- "A-Fraud". Now that's funny. Joe Torre writes Yankee tell-all.

Until the next time.....

too many distractions.....

It always seem the "distractions" happen between January 1st and April 15th in my life. They can be big ones like my diverticulitis in 2003, moving to San Diego in 2004, or my knee surgery and uncle dying in 2006, or they are just the little "time killers" like repairmen in the house, registering cars at the DMV, doctor/dentist appointments, etc.

I try to make sure none of those "little" ones take place prior to April 15th, but it is impossible to do. Before, I would get completely annoyed and agitated over those "time killers", but now I handle them quite a bit better, which is a good thing.

This year had been all the small ones because of the move and new house. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and should have complete days in front of me by early next week, right after we get all the cars registered.

Did a little more on Facebook, but I have no idea what I am doing there right now, so please bear with me as I get that going. I like using it, but it is a little confusing for "newbs".

Morgan set up accounts there also, and is enjoying seeing all her high school friends that are part of it.

She also was able to get her work blog to be recognized by Blogger, so that her updates will "update" on the right side of this page. Hopefully you are reading her after you read this one (geesh, or before this one).

Off to relax for the evening.

Until the next time.....

more social.....

All that snow I mentioned yesterday is almost all gone from roads and rooftops. Should stay another day on the grass, but by tomorrow night, it will probably all be gone. For me, that's enough snow for this winter. Cassie has been off for two days, and they are even delaying school for two hours tomorrow morning. Not sure if the two hour delay is all that necessary as the roads seem to be dry as people were driving and the sun was out all day today.

Received a Facebook "friend request" from Linda Howell, who along with her husband, Randy, are the leaders of the Eternal Riders, CRB's motorcycle small group. I've ignored the few others I received, but decided to accept Linda's, as I know many Geezers participate on Facebook.

I made sure I got into the groups for my high school and college graduating classes, as well as the GeezerGamers group, but that will be about it for now. It was fun to see some of the people I went to high school, and what they are up to now. Our 25th reunion is this year, so maybe this will give me a "push" in case they have some sort of gathering.

Morgan and Cassie both went for eye examinations today, and both needed to upgrade their glasses. Morgan still only needs them for reading, but poor Cassie seems to be getting my eyesight. It's not as bad as mine was when I was young, but she does need to use her glasses for all classroom activities.

Morgan's station, KSON, has upgraded their website. That means updated pages for Morgan's blog posts. Still have not been able to link them to the sidebar on this page for when she updates, but I am hoping they make that available soon.

The Hurricanes have won two in a row, on the road, and on back to back nights. Great play from Cam Ward as he allowed only one goal in two nights to the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-0 shutout), and then the Penguins in Pittsburgh (2-1 win). Hopefully they can keep this train rolling after the All-Star Game break.

Time to leave and get ready for the new season of Lost.

- People love iTunes, so Apple is making some money.
- The game industry also doing OK.
- Some "big game" going on next Sunday.

Until the next time.....

snow in North Carolina.....

So, we are back one month, and we have a significant (well, for the area) snow here in central NC. Probably about 4 or so inches here at the house. With the 20 degree weather tonight, they have already canceled school for tomorrow, so Cassie will end up with a long 5 day weekend.

Hopefully it will melt off the roads tomorrow so we can get back to normal driving, while staying on the grass and trees for a few more days.

Until the next time.....

you don't live there.....

Let me tell you that there are good things and bad things about being the first house on a street. Some of the good things are having the street to yourself, and the quiet that comes with it. Off of that, some of the bad is the noise when houses start going up near you (so far, that is not a problem). The other "bad", that I did not realize until this move is that nobody knows where you are, and unless you wave a flag telling services (post office, garbage service, UPS, FedEx, etc.) that you are occupying the house, you get completely skipped over.

After talking with the Apex Postmaster prior to the move, that we were the first ones moving to the street, and getting an "OK" from him that we were all set, I still had to go to the post office to get mail delivery started because the Postmaster failed to get the postman for the route my information.

After our town delivered our garbage and recycling cans, the drivers of those respective trucks skipped over us because they were not told anyone was living in the house. Ugh!

The worst of them all was UPS. Last week (Monday) I ordered some office supplies from two different vendors. The email with the tracking for one of the items had a scheduled delivery date of last Wednesday. I decided to "track" the package and see a notation about checking on address. OK, fair enough. Two hours later I recheck, and see that the package was delivered. I look all around the house, and I have no delivery. I call the vendor, and they contact UPS. Seems they delivered to wrong address. Really?

So I get the item the next day, and see our current address on a sticker, covering up other stickers. Seems that UPS was given our new address, but when they could not find address on a map, they decided to look up my business and use the old address (from 18 months ago!!!), and only when they were called and told tat we had indeed moved to our new address, did they finally use it to make the delivery.

All the while, a simple phone call to my office would have taken care of the situation.

Two days later, the same problem arose with our delivery of blinds by the freight company Roadway. They also decided the address we provided could not be correct, and decided to just hold our items.

Let me just state that I am can't wait for the day Mapquest and Google finally adds us to their mapping to clear up these hassles.

Work is going pretty well considering all the "new home" distractions Morgan and I have going on. Always seems like we have someone at the house for something, or we need to go out to take care of something for the house. Next week I need to get the cars inspected before NC will issue license plates, and after that, spend time at DMV.

January is a "bogged down" month for me. Between W-2 & 1099 preparations, firming up companies year-end numbers, getting corporate tax returns started, and just the questions that normally arrive because it is "tax season" (.... I know you are busy, but...), next to the two weeks in April, this is probably my busiest time. Always seems I go a step forward and backwards by the end of each day. A couple of good solid days in the office should help me get on top of the mess.

For my San Diego friends, yes, we have seen the heat wave you are going through this week. Here in NC, it will be a high of 25 degrees on Friday, and a low of 9 degrees Friday night.

Morgan, Cassie and I hung up some bird feeder houses and some bluebird houses (purchased through our bank, SECU)this afternoon. We've seen birds and squirrels around, but have not seen any rabbits, raccoons, opossum, or deer yet. I am sure they are around.

Last Saturday night, we attended Hope Community Church. It was nice, and had some of the same aspects about it as CRB, but we are/were spoiled by CRB, so it will need time and an open mind before we will say a "yes or no". It does have a Starbucks in the building, so you can tell that it is a large church.

Not even going to discuss my Hurricanes. Three game road losing skid says more then enough for me. Just not good hockey.

OK, time to relax a little.

Until the next time.....

getting back to normal.....

The boxes with all our important "stuff" have been emptied and put away, and Morgan and I have both been working regularly since Monday, as well as Cassie being back in school. So, we are pretty much "back to normal" (whatever that means).

I've got moving truck, our window blind order, and electrical stories from the past two weeks that I will fill in over the next few postings. As for now, with tax season here, I am usually tired after sitting in front of the computer all day, so updating this space, like last year at this time, will be a "hit and miss" effort.

Did find out that my mother-in-law is now also battling cancer. She also has breast cancer, like my mother. At 85, she is a tough lady, so are prayers and thoughts are with her to get through this tough time. Of course Morgan only found out about it a day before she was operated on, as her mom decided to tell nobody, except Morgan's brother, and that was only a few days before we found out.

On top of that, my step-father's throat cancer has possibly made a comeback. He has been having problems that might be related to the scar tissue or to a recurrence, and they went to the doctor today for more test. It has gotten so bad that he can only sleep by sitting up in a chair, and even that is not allowing him to sleep well, so he has been falling asleep at different times during the day. It is so bad, they don't allow him to drive until this is corrected. Needless to say, we have our thoughts and prayers with him also.

Otherwise, on a more upbeat note, I really feel comfortable being back here in North Carolina, and on the east coast. Now, I just need to get into a better flowing work routine (too many new house interruptions this week).

The Hurricanes had won four games in a row before losing 4-2 last night to the Panthers in Florida. They had been playing well, and I hope this was just a "blip" of a bad road performance. I also hope Tim Gleason is OK, as he was injured in an awkward looking play along the side boards.

This weekend also bring about the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Morgan and I have the DVR set, and look forward to a Saturday night and late Sunday afternoon/evening of football on the couch together.

Hope all is well with all of you that follow and read these posts.

Until the next time.....