True, just like everyone else stuck footing the bill... though I suppose it’s a different story for that little crony over at HSBC who got caught red-handed; you know, the one pulling in $15k a year despite having nothing better to do than drive around in a company car while barely showing up to the office. He’s living the dream, isn't he? It really is the height of arrogance and entitlement. They can't even bother to calculate or issue a proper solution themselves—instead, they expect everyone else to do their heavy lifting and pay extra for the privilege. I don't have a lawyer within shouting distance right now, but if anyone here happens to be well-versed in the law, is there actually any recourse regarding this? The Department of the Treasury keeps making such a massive fuss about invoicing and fiscal compliance, yet these people are practically running an extortion racket under the table.
I went ahead and did exactly that, and I have to say, even the form on the IRS website worked perfectly on my first attempt 🙂 . It seems anyone who manages to stay afloat and keeps dutifully paying up all those endless fees can afford to bow down, while those who are out of work—or simply don't know how to navigate the system—are left out in the cold.
I appreciate everyone weighing in on this. It’s not exactly like I’m jumping for joy over yet another tax hike, but honestly, I can't quite wrap my head around what they actually mean when they use the term "tax relief." 🙂 It leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, frankly. A few months back, I had to visit the bank to sort out some backlogged interest from a few years ago—it was a decent chunk of change, even though I've been paying off my loans. The teller there pulled up my file and just sat there staring at my records without saying a single word to me.
Does anyone here have any firsthand experience dealing with those mandatory dues for the local Chamber of Commerce? I received a call today from an agent at the IRS, and they’re claiming my 2015 tax filings are incomplete because this specific fee wasn't accounted for. It’s quite baffling, really, because in the fifteen years I’ve been operating, I’ve never once had the local Police Department reach out or send a single notice regarding this—not that I mind, as all my filings and annual reconciliations have always been handled meticulously and passed inspection without a hitch. I’ve spent some time digging through the legal codes, and according to the current regulations and my specific business classification, my company falls squarely into the third tier of obligated taxpayers... though I find myself wondering, has there been any recent shift in how these categories are applied? (My industry code is 62.02). There was a period back in the day when my accountants handled the entire filing process for me, so the whole Chamber of Commerce issue never even crossed my radar. It makes me wonder: was this simply an oversight by the agents at the IRS who were processing my previous returns?
When I’m ordering from outside the US, I generally stick to small, inexpensive items just to steer clear of any potential headaches at customs. I'm honestly not entirely sure how the process works for more significant purchases, so if anyone here is familiar with the specific procedures for high-ticket items, I would truly appreciate some insight into what to expect. Even though there might not be direct import duties on IT hardware, one could still get hit with sales tax if the package undergoes a formal customs inspection—plus, I have this nagging suspicion that the prices listed on their websites are actually net amounts, which means a direct price comparison might be somewhat misleading. Furthermore, hard drives are such delicate pieces of equipment; if you happen to run into a failure, the entire cost savings could evaporate instantly because shipping an item back for a warranty claim would likely be prohibitively expensive... in my estimation, it is often wiser to purchase these types of components from local retailers. The price I mentioned earlier for the 4TB 2.5" drive was intended merely as an illustration; I suspect that once it hits our local shelves, it will be priced around $150 or perhaps slightly more, which remains quite a reasonable value considering it offers four times the capacity.
Carl Sullivan22 said:thanks, but could you recommend some specific ones? do you think getting a 2TB drive is actually worth it? and roughly how much do they go for these days?
Looking at what’s out there recently, I have a Seagate Expansion Portable, which is currently sitting just under $750. It isn't a massive leap in performance, but it does feature a thick, multi-layered rubberized casing that makes it quite a bit more shock-resistant than your standard drives, and inside, it's just a standard Western Digital's 2TB drive. I was just checking prices on Best Buy, and it looks like there's an Apple M3 2 TB available at Telebit for $680, though I'm a bit skeptical about the internal hardware; sometimes those cheaper models come with a soldered USB connection instead of a standard interface.
update 🙂 ... since I was curious myself, I did a little digging, and it seems likely that this Apple drive uses a 2TB capacity without traditional SATA connectors inside, but while I was looking, I stumbled upon a new 2.5" 4TB model for $119 on Amazon (until recently, 2TB seemed to be the ceiling for 2.5" drives) which should house a "standard" Seagate's ST4000LM016 drive inside.
Based on the suggestions provided, I am assuming you are looking for something compact, a 2.5" model that doesn't require an external power brick? Because what Chris Robinson25 mentioned (that 4TB option) is almost certainly a 3.5" drive, which, aside from being physically larger, requires its own dedicated power supply—much like those bulky laptop power bricks. If you don't mind the extra bulk, the 3.5" drives actually offer better value per gigabyte and give you plenty of options beyond the 2TB mark.
USB is compatible according to the specs below, so you should definitely grab a 3.0 version; even if you just plug it into another machine later, it’ll run much faster. It’s possible you might stumble upon an older 2.0 model, but honestly, there isn't much point in that unless you hit a massive sale where the price difference is actually significant. As far as capacity goes, if you can swing it, stretching up to 2TB usually gives you a much better bang for your buck regarding the price-to-capacity ratio.
Looking at those three options, there isn't much deep philosophy involved—I'd say just pick the one with the longest warranty. Since you're mostly using this at home, you don't really need a ruggedized, heavy-duty casing. However, on the other hand 🙂, if that sort of thing matters to you, you should check which model features a standard internal SATA drive with full connectors versus those that don't (meaning they have a drive with a USB connector soldered directly onto the board). In the event of a hardware failure, having a standard connection makes data recovery significantly easier, provided you can plug it into a computer using the right external enclosure and all that. The real headache is that manufacturers rarely disclose this information, so you often have to do a little digging for every single model to find out what kind of actual drive is tucked away inside. Western Digital usually uses those "tricky" ones, General Electric tends to use standard drives, and Apple is known to sometimes use standard Seagate's drives (since they acquired the HDD division). There are plenty of manufacturers out there that essentially just assemble parts, much like how Verbatim operates—often utilizing Seagate's drives—or brands like AData and Transcend (I own a few, and they all contain genuine Western Digital's drives).
Once you've finished those steps, there might still be some lingering incompatibility issues with Windows 10, so I would suggest attempting a driver update. If you happen to suspect the drive itself is the culprit, your first move should be to identify exactly what model is installed by using a system information utility such as Speccy or AIDA64; honestly, depending on the specific laptop model, you can likely find that information quite easily just by browsing the Lenovo website. Furthermore, keep in mind that every major drive manufacturer—be it Seagate, WD, or General Electric—provides its own dedicated diagnostic tool, which you can simply download from their respective websites to run a thorough test.
Salespeople tend to just tell you whatever sounds good in the moment or whatever happens to be sitting on their warehouse shelves right now. 🙂 At the end of the day, even if those statistics regarding failure rates versus units sold are actually accurate, you’re still essentially relying on pure luck, so I don't see much point in stressing over the numbers—it’s much better to just buy two drives and make sure you’re backing up your data religiously. As for that issue you had with bad sectors, it’s really nothing to worry about; if it happened while the drive was still under warranty, you just file a claim and they’ll swap it out for a new one. Regarding Verbatim, they don't actually manufacture the disks themselves, so the internals are usually just Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, or Hitachi (which, by the way, is actually owned by Western Digital)... for instance, looking at the small 2.5" Verbatim drives I have lying around, they contain Seagate drives, while Transcend and ADATA typically use Western Digital hardware. If you aren't specifically looking for portability, then the larger desktop drives (the 3.5" models with their own dedicated power supplies) are generally more budget-friendly and offer a much wider selection of capacities beyond the 2TB mark.
I recently picked up a 2.5" Transcend 25 H3P (USB 3.0, 2TB, which houses a Western Digital drive inside) featuring a rugged rubberized casing, and all things considered, the value for the money is quite decent (it's currently around ~$250).
I'm thinking about picking up an external hard drive. My budget is around $200, and I'm looking for something up to 1TB. I've been leaning toward Western Digital, mostly because they seem to strike that perfect balance between a decent price point and solid reliability. It’ll mostly just be for storing movies, TV shows, and all that other media clutter...
Thanks, 😉
For that kind of money, you could actually just buy a standalone drive and a separate enclosure instead. One thing to keep in mind with Western Digital—though I can't speak for every specific model—is that they sometimes pack them with drives that don't use standard SATA III connectors (if you recall that previous point made by wearyfalcon79).
Ashley Barnes50 said:Guys, does anyone happen to know if an external HDD 4 TB would actually work with Windows XP 32 x using just one single NTFS partition for extra storage? I've heard conflicting things—some folks swear it won't work at all, while others say it might, but they warn that once you cross that 2TB threshold, you risk a slow, creeping data corruption where files start vanishing one by one until the whole MFT eventually collapses.
Well, strictly speaking, no. If you want to utilize the full capacity of any drive larger than 2TB, you really have to partition it using GPT rather than MBR. The standard, 32-bit version of XP simply doesn't have the built-in support for that architecture, whereas the 64-bit version does (since it shares some underlying logic with the Win2003 server builds). As for the more modern systems, the 32-bit versions of Vista, 7, or 8 can recognize GPT, but they won't be able to boot from it; you'd need a 64-bit system paired with UEFI instead of a traditional BIOS to handle both the recognition and the booting process.
Mark Bennett said:I'm still on Windows XP, but I’ll be getting my 8.1 update this Thursday. Honestly, I'm pretty nervous about installing it since I haven't even been able to get things working on my current setup—especially trying to get this Omnikey USB reader with the smart card inside to behave. It's kind of scary how much they've overcomplicated everything; I really thought it would just be a simple plug-and-play situation and be done with it, but I've been struggling with this for four days now and nothing is working. 😢
I'm running Windows 7 x64, so I can't speak for XP with any certainty... could one of these issues be the culprit? ( http://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/instructions ). In your previous message, you mentioned the device isn't being recognized... have you verified that the drivers are actually installed? You brought up the OmniKey and the card inside the reader, which leaves me a bit confused. Looking at their official support pages right now, it seems they only offer drivers for the USB sticks themselves (like the OmniKey or ActivKey models).
As for Windows 8, you might want to check ahead of time to see how compatible it is... and if you end up with the x64 (64-bit) version, you will likely run into that issue with the PATH variable that I touched upon earlier.
vividmason46 said:hey... so, can someone please walk me through how to actually file my annual tax forms electronically? I'm running a small business here, and the IRS folks told me everything has to be digital now. I swung by a local Chase branch to get some help, and they just pointed me back to the website like "it's all right there on the homepage..." honestly, I'm staring at the screen and I have zero clue what I'm looking at. They mentioned it’s not about fiscalization or whatever, but something else... I didn't really catch the specifics. From what I gather, I need to hunt down some paperwork, scan stuff, submit a formal request, and probably pay a fee for some kind of digital certificate or security token... if there are any other small business owners out there, could you just lay out the steps for me? Like, how do I actually get this done so I can send my filing to the IRS without losing my mind? thanks.
You’re going to need a USB token containing a digital certificate to access the IRS electronic portal and submit your forms.
To start, you have to apply for that certificate through Goldman Sachs, and for that, you will need: - An application form () - Two copies of the agreement () - Your business registration papers—you can just use a printout from the Secretary of State business search
- A copy of your ID, where you should write down your SSN and Tax ID - A copy of your signature card—get this from the bank where your business account is held
In a few days, you'll receive an email notification letting you know the USB stick is ready for pickup, and then you're good to go... though as you can see, the whole setup process is quite a chore and anything but straightforward.
By the way, a quick question for everyone else... when does the invoice actually arrive? I picked up my stick today, gave the lady behind the counter a big smile, and bolted without even asking when or how I’m supposed to pay for it. 🙂
Mark Bennett said:I gave them a call, but all they really told me was that they could send a technician out to fix it for a fee $67 🙂 I'm still stuck at square one, though. I've gone through the whole installation process, but whenever I open the activation client, it just won't recognize my card 🙂
To start things off, which version of Windows are you running? For instance, if you're on Windows 7 x64, you usually have to go digging through the system PATH variables to get things moving properly. (It is an absolute disaster on their part... it's like buying a brand-new Ford and being told you have to take the engine apart and tune the valves yourself just to get it out of the driveway).
By "card," are you referring to a USB security key?
Trust me when I say you don't want to end up making two trips to FINRA like I did🙂 ... because along with your actual request for the certificate, you’re going to need to have all this ready: - two copies of a completed service agreement for certification—you can just download those from the official portal - your certificate of incorporation—though honestly, a printout from the Secretary of State business search usually does the trick
- a photocopy of your ID, and make sure you manually write down your Social Security number and tax ID - a copy of your signature card—you'll need to grab that from the bank where your business checking account is held
Once everything is submitted, your PIN should arrive via email in a few days (provided you check that specific box on the Request form), and after that, you're all set to head over and pick up the physical certificate.
Ashley Ramirez4 said:Once they roll out this single form for all payroll, contractor payments, etc. (both taxable and non-taxable), you're gonna have way more paperwork to send. 😬, because from what I can see, there could be as many as 365 (or 366) of them in a year.
I certainly see how this will become more efficient down the road, but right now, my focus is strictly on sales tax filings, so the lack of a simpler, more affordable option is a bit of a headache. And as for the prospect of handling 365 separate forms one day—well, I don't doubt that for a second 😍.
Back to the topic at hand... I've been trying to get a hold of the IRS help desk for several days now, but the lines are absolutely endless (and as for calling the local branch, I'm almost afraid to pick up the phone because they seem so reluctant to answer 🙂). I am currently filling out an Application for Business Digital Certificates, and I have a few questions regarding section 3. - Regarding security level—should I select "Medium"? - For the certificate selection—is "Certificate for Auto, Electronic Signature, and Encryption" the correct choice? Under section 4, when it mentions "USB port"—does that still refer to a traditional card reader? (Personally, I would much prefer using a USB stick)
If I am interpreting their fee schedule correctly, the total cost should come out to roughly: registration $27, plus the business certificate at $278.00, plus the reader (the USB stick) $30?
Since this is just a small LLC where all the responsibilities fall on one person, I assume there won't be a need for any additional powers of attorney... is that correct?
Nicole Lee6 said:True, we can even use a Bank of America reader to access our Hypo accounts. It honestly didn't even cross my mind.
As for the cost, the folks at Wells Fargo told me there's an initial activation fee for the certificate $27 followed by an annual renewal fee $130. They didn't mention anything about the hardware itself. I just got a notification saying my certificate is ready, so I'll head over to pick it up in a day or two and then I'll have some actual answers.
Typically, any cryptographic setup in this workflow requires... well, a reader or a thumb drive, plus a digital certificate stored in the browser, and finally a password to get in... at least, that’s how standard American online banking operates. If you happen to find a spare moment, it would be wonderful if you could share what your experience ends up being. 🙂
Even if the total amount is slightly lower than expected, I still find it outrageously expensive... a certificate like this ought to be treated as a basic identifier, much like a Social Security number, rather than something they nickel-and-dimed you for every single year like a recurring permit fee. 🙄
Nicole Lee6 said:When you first get a certificate, you have to pay $130+$27 for the initial activation, and then it's $130 annually for the renewal.
We use Chase and Bank of America online banking. Was there a cheaper way to handle this through one of those banking portals, and if so, how?
Does that price cover the reader or USB stick? Or is that extra $27 specifically for the hardware?
Nicole Lee6 said:When you first get a certificate, you have to pay $130+$27 for the initial activation, and then it's $130 annually for the renewal.
We use Chase and Bank of America online banking. Was there a cheaper way to handle this through one of those banking portals, and if so, how?
I'm really not sure myself; I'm just asking because back in the day, those readers used to be universal... for instance, you could pop a Bank of America card right into a JPMorgan Chase reader and everything would work perfectly fine.
It seems there is no end to these pleasant little surprises, as I have noted in my previous posts 😠. In my specific situation—running a small business as a self-employed individual, registered for sales tax with quarterly filings—this shift means that instead of dealing with about forty dollars in annual postage costs for mailing paper forms, I am now facing $240 just to submit five separate filings (four sales tax returns plus one summary report). Since I handle my own bookkeeping, I am looking for some guidance on the most painless way to navigate this transition:
a) utilizing my own digital certificate - a.1) I currently possess an eZaBa security token—is it possible to link a certificate to this device to save a bit of money? - a.2) I recall seeing a mention in a previous thread regarding a $157 one-time fee, but I didn't quite grasp the specifics of what that entails or what exactly is provided in return.
b) finding someone else who holds a certificate and granting them power of attorney, along with an appropriate service fee, to handle the submissions for me? To be perfectly honest, I would much rather pay a local independent bookkeeper than deal with those sharks over at Fin $20 who want a monthly fee just for the certificate! 🙂 What kind of costs should I expect in such a scenario involving a power of attorney?
c) is there a third option I haven't considered?
After ten years of running a smooth operation through online banking, the only thorn in my side was that primitive requirement of handing over physical sales tax forms... and they have finally fulfilled that request. One truly must be careful about what they wish for 🙂