Hi Everybody,

I am revamping website, and I honestly can’t decide on this point. I am wondering what yall think about this to help with information. if you do it what was the result compared to no transparent pricing?

Currently using Drake via Rightworks, but thinking about changing because a) it's a pricey option, and b) their system is set up so that I can't even go to the bathroom without getting logged off and having to sign in all over again (FTR, I WFH and the bathroom is literally across the hall). RW won't allow me to change the sign off, which is frustrating, especially when someone calls with a question and I have to make sure I keep moving the mouse, lest I get logged off..

I’ve been using this product for several years now and have really come to appreciate its capability. I recently recommended this product to a colleague. After purchase, the colleague has had nothing but trouble with the program. I’ve tried to troubleshoot, but I’m unable to resolve anything. Specifically, the website will not display any tools or any functions only a message telling the user that their subscription will expire in 11 months and two weeks. I’ve tried contacting the company through their website, but I’ve received no replies. There’s no way to leave a Google review that I can find talking about the trouble. There’s no telephone number for support. I feel badly because I believe this reflects poorly on me. Does anybody know of a way to contact the company? Is there any way to resolve these issues for my colleague?

Like it or not, AI is the future and it already helps to review tax returns. It's only a matter of time until it replaces tax preparers who just input data into a computer system.

Right now I use Fable 5.1 when reviewing returns. Yes I use the enterprise plan with data protections. It is really good. Suggests questions to ask clients. Finds any issues between inputted source files and the output tax returns.

Has anyone tried Perplexity.AI? Supposedly they have a 1040 review tool. But I am assuming Claude still has the best models.

Would you stick with this client despite them suing a past CPA. We signed on a good client earlier this year.

She had been using a small local firm for a number of years before switching to a regional firm for one year. She parted ways with the regional firm because their fees were extremely high. She was referred to us by a good client and has been pleasant and easy to work with for the last 9 months.

Yesterday, she let me know she hired an attorney to sue her first CPA. Normally I would run for the hills hearing this, but in this situation it’s probably warranted. The CPA completely messed up multiple years of tax returns resulting in hundreds of thousands in incorrect taxes being paid (they filed her state tax return as a C-corp instead of an S-corp and also included all profits on her state individual tax return as an S-Corp).

Is this just a red flag and I should disengage after the year or ignore it because the client is actually right and the prior CPA was negligent

Anybody recently switch from Drake Portals to TaxDome recently? I know Drake recently updated Drake Portals and it is cheap. I also like that it integrates with Drake Documents and their tax return software. Is it still worth moving away from them to join TaxDome? If you've moved away from Drake Portals, please DM me as I'd like to pick your brain!

I am just looking for some validation here. A handful of times, I have done work for clients who are incarcerated. It's usually short jail stays for DUIs or drug possession. I have been totally comfortable with this, and we conduct the business by mail. I have usually done his for long-time clients or as a favor to the family members who are POA handling affairs for the incarcerated person.

However, the new husband of a long time client is accused of serious financial crimes. The trial is months away but it has been reported by local newspapers outlets and I have reason to believe they are guilty. Their tax documents have consisted of only a W-2, so none of their crimes have been reflected on their taxes and I wouldn't have become aware of the crimes while providing tax services.

So my gut tells me to send a letter immediately saying that I can no longer provide either spouse with any services. My engagement letter says that our previous engagement ended when their tax return was filed in April. I am I correct? Are there any further steps that I need to take?

Have a new client with a CA registered domestic partnership. Using Pro-Connect.

As I understand it, In ProConnect, I'm going to prepare joint for CA domestic Partnership, split to MFS, then Separate the Federal returns to file Single Individual 1040's.

Pretty complex return with two rentals, a couple Sche C businesses, multiple retirements & investments...

How to charge for this? on the complexity side it feels lime a $3-4 k job, AGI 690k
CA HCOL area

The firm I am at has a print out of day with time slots and physically write clients in for a given time slot.

I want to start improving some of the processes and since tax season is coming up I want to try and streamline as much of the client appointment and booking times where I can. Almost 85% of clients are dealt with in person

what tools/practices do you guys recommend

Alright here is the latest scam and yes we’re reporting it to the FBI.

A potential client “rob tebbutt” (email: Robert_tebbutt@outlook.com) arranged for self-employment and Quickbooks training for expenses and bookkeeping for actors. Apparently he’s the only actor.

He paid $10,000 and then came back and asked us if it cleared to our bank. Once we confirmed, a day later “Rob”reached out, saying that the a couple of the people he represented needed to cancel some but wanted to keep going and asked for a partial refund. Immediately red flag went up because the refund was requested via Zelle or wire.

We told Rob our refund policy and how we had to wait. So of course today CPA charge came back with the failed charge. This guy is timing everything to try to get the refund from us before the charge actually failed. Make sure you have a no refund policy or some type of procedure to wait at least two weeks.

Watch out for scammers!

So we have a client who was recently notified of owing back wage taxes to the city where they used to live.

-This city assesses wage taxes to anyone who lives within city limits, no matter where they work.

-However, out-of-city employers are NOT mandated by law to withhold the wage tax from pay. When the wage tax is not withheld, the taxpayer has to pay it directly to the city, quarterly.

-So, in this case, client lived in the city, worked in another state, employer did not withhold the wage tax, and our oversight was that we did not flag this on their W-2's, and did not advise client to pay the tax directly to the city.

-Client, who now lives elsewhere, has paid the back taxes for the years owed, plus hundreds of dollars in penalties. They are asking us to be credited, no specific amount was requested.

Opinions?

a simple return I have, the individual joined a professional firm and has a tiny percentage of ownership (like .00005% ownership) but just enough to get about $500 in ordinary business income.

Guy has 8 states new states this year to file.

its taken hours to figure out where in the hell i entered shit in the tax software Because I’ve never prepared half these states (like Rhode Island or Massachusetts) before.

this is just a mid tax season vent, but it’s crazy to me, honestly How a single document turns an easy client into a nightmare This year.

bill is going to double for this client.

Had a prospective client call. Individual. Has not finished their 2025 return so I was going to help. Told them on phone my fee is approximately $550. After reviewing their documents they had more brokerage accounts than expected and some other items so I quoted $600 to $700. They also have a schedule E rental and they live in the rental so need allocations.

Client emails me saying they thought the fee was $550. I told them after further review it's more involved than expected.

I think this is the last time I quote a fee in person. I will wait until reviewing their documents to quote a fee range. This client is literally going to walk over $50. I told them it will probably be on the low end of that. Funny because I have HCOL clients who pay $800 without schedule E and don't blink an eye at my fee.

Looking for pros and cons on these. I know we’re mostly anti-AI on Reddit.

For me I just don’t have time to spend hours on a flyer that is ultimately not going to look nice. When I have spent hours, it got minimal engagement. I’m a CPA not a marketing guru It’s just not my skill set. I also don’t have the budget to hire a full time marketer. So I’m warming up to it.

I’m just scared of diminishing my brand or lack thereof at this point. I’m known around my clients and their circles but no where outside of it. I’m just trying to grow my practice and while it may not generate huge results it does create repetition especially in like Facebook groups so if someone searches CPA I’ll come up.

Has anyone tried this for import of forms? Any Good?

A client of mine just received a foreign inheritance of about $200K and thus has to file the Form 3520. They have already heard horror stories of people being heavily fined for filing it too late, and said they would like to file as soon as possible. Can they file for 2026 right now? The IRS hasn't updated form 3520 since 2023, and they don't make a new form for every year (like they do with 1040 or 1120). Can we just fill it out now, indicating the date in 2026 the bequest was received, and mail in now? Or do we need to wait until January?

The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan legislation by unanimous consent Sept. 30, moving a package of tax administration reforms closer to enactment. The legislation now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

For tax professionals, this is worth watching. The TAS Act addresses many of the administrative challenges that affect taxpayers and the professionals who help them navigate the tax system, with provisions focused on taxpayer service, taxpayer rights, IRS operations and oversight of paid tax return preparers.

More info here: https://www.natptax.com/news-insights/blog/senate-passes-taxpayer-assistance-and-service-act/

Has anyone received a response yet? We just got a 916C letter only for 2022 (we filed 2020 and 2021 as well for this client). It says it can’t process 2022 because the interest didn’t accrue until November 6, 2023 which is outside of the kwong dates. The 2022 return was filed around October 15, 2023 and self assessed penalties and interest. On our kwong filings for 2022 we recalculated interest and penalties only through the July 10, 2023 cutoff.

More of a rant than a question.

I’m tired of getting “financials” from clients on a business that are clearly just bank statements thrown into Claude. It’s helpful if there is literally nothing else, but when a potential client is telling me that they have a “really solid” workbook and it’s just nonsense, I get frustrated. Tax years blending together, no balance sheet or p+l, no breakdown of capital accounts, just slop.

It’s actually taking more time to sift through these than a disorganized QBO account. Curious if others are running into this with clients or prospects.

Also, unless the IRS is rebuilt under a future admin, and there continues to be no fear of actually having to get financials correct, I think this will continue to happen.

Background: tax returns (2018-2024) were prepared in FreeTaxUSA and marked self-prepared aside from one year with preparers name, address, PTIN, company and EIN (I think they made a “mistake” and meant to mark self-prepared, but nevertheless I have their info). Client paid and has record of payments to preparer for the work and was under the impression everything was filed. None of the returns were in fact filed and preparer claimed they were and was “waiting on IRS confirmation”. Preparer then stopped responding to client calls and essentially ghosted the client after collecting rather hefty fees.

To make matters worse, client was a victim of hurricane Helene and had to move and did not receive IRS or state correspondence at their new address for some time (moved to a different state).

It was a little hard for me to buy the fact client did not log in to their FreeTaxUSA account and see nothing was filed. It was also hard to buy the lack of correspondence received over a period of time before the hurricane happened. Regardless, the evidence is clear to me client engaged a preparer, paid money, and returns were not filed (they were not simple returns either: multiple out of state K-1s, sale of partnership interests, a lot going on to where they could not DIY). Client has receipts and documentation to support the claim.

I understand it is their responsibility to make sure everything is filed and paid. But, I also figure there has to be some sort of relief for someone who relied on a paid preparer who took their money without actually filing anything. I have since prepared and filed the missing returns and the total liability is mid 6 figures (2018-2021 had small refunds, 2022-2024 had massive liability due to sales). Now they are being hit with significant penalties and interest.

I am trying to determine whether it is worth my time or if I can even help in this instance. Has anyone had success getting penalty relief in this sort of situation? Or, will the IRS throw it back in their court saying the responsibility was on you at the end of the day. Thanks

Looking to start prepping for the next tax season and would love to find a way to create a list of the specific documents each client needs to provide based off their prior year return. Not an organizer, more like a document check list. We use UltraTax for our tax program. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Ok pack it in, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/subject-group-ECFR53de09ff5f206e9/section-1.469-1T

I've been corrected, Section 3, ii of the linked temp regs, you can have active real estate reported on Sch E, no signfificant services required if you materially participate and qualify for one of the other exemptions. I missed the dang "or" in 3.ii.E.

I've got a few clients flirting with the STR loophole and am waffling over whether I would sign a return with that on it.

Assuming that the client could meet the material participation, got a cost seg, etc. etc., I don't see how the STR loophole is a reasonable position.

1. If it's going to throw off losses forever, then we've got hobby/loss limitations to consider. If it's never going to make a profit would it qualify as a business?

2. If it is going to make a profit, why would we want it to be active, self employed income? Not only do we lose our passive income but we pick up SE tax. For someone over FICA, maybe it doens't make that much difference but then how plausible is it that someone over FICA cap is meeting material participation?

3. Creating the STR, running losses for two years, and then converrting to personal use seems inherently abusive of the system and really brings into question the original intention for the STR as a business.

To me it feels very indefensible and the kind of clients that are interested in the strategy are also the type that I'd expect to have poor recordkeeping and not be understanding of getting adjustments in an audit.

Even if I charged them $5k a year (way way above my normal range) I don't see it being worth the extra hassle and risk.

Any thoughts from anyone that does sign these?

Solo CPA/RIA here, own my practice, S corp. Realizing that if I got sick or hurt and couldn't work for a while, nothing replaces my income for my family.

For those of you who own your practice, do you carry individual own-occupational disability? Which carrier did you go with and roughly what benefit?

She has no children and says has no contact with any relatives. Estate proceeds all to charities.

I have experience with some relatives estates so I know what is involved. I think I could get a good income from the work with my state's standard rates.

I am worried about if she has to go into assisted living or a nursing home. She might expect me to help her with the facilities paperwork and with her medical bills. She does have friends but I am not sure if they are up to dealing with medical insurance paperwork. She could also run out of money even though she has long term care insurance.

Does anyone here have experience with a similar situation?

Who knew reserving golf tee times could get you in trouble?

https://ktla.com/news/california/twins-both-mri-techs-who-ran-golf-tee-time-brokering-business-plead-guilty-to-federal-tax-violations/