Posts by Carol Price4

See how easily I can get you talking? 🤣

I knew exactly how to get you fired up enough to drop some wisdom, 😁

🤣

Henry Edwards33 said:Whoops, looks like we’ve got a new mod 👋

good luck devilgirl 👋

Richard Howard55 said:Seriously, though!!!
Good luck, Carol Price4!! 😘

Jessica Grant56 said:Go ahead and show her some support—honestly, who knows if she even realizes the kind of mess she’s stepped into?

Thanks everyone... I'll try my best to fill your shoes, Henry, so you can finally get some rest—and hey, maybe after that, you'll feel like switching things up again! 🙂

wanderingseal14 said:What’s the deal with them changing the sequence numbers on the tax filing forms?
I can't even hit submit because it keeps telling me the sequence number doesn't match.

If you're running Synapse, just grab the latest update...

The sequence numbers on Page B have to go 1, 2, 3...

It used to be that the last line was the highest number, but they changed it.

Jessica Grant56 said:I just had a sudden thought, so I figured I’d jot this down... Honestly, Devilgirl is an absolute lifesaver. Whenever I run into a snag, I just shoot her an email, and she gets right back to me...

It really makes me wonder: where on earth were you all those years when I was struggling through this? Back when I'd write ten-page essays just to get ten different, confusing responses...

Thanks so much—you've truly made my life a whole lot easier.

Gosh, now I'm blushing...

Don't even worry about it! I love helping out whenever I can—and honestly, what can I say? I guess I just can't help that Southern hospitality side of me. 😁

🙂

I finished processing all the sales tax for January today—but my balances aren't lining up with what I'm seeing on the ETA system. Specifically, the debit/credit amounts are totally off from the actual balance... anyone else running into this? Hehehe... clearly something is wonky over there.

Nicole Lee6 said:Look, what the IRS told me was that there are two certificates on the USB token because one is used for accessing the IRS portal (logging in), while the second allows for signing (acting as your official seal and signature). Even I wasn't clear on why they were charging me a subscription for two certificates until they explained it... So, I end up paying $390.00 + sales tax every year.

So you didn't buy a certificate through the IRS directly, but rather through your bank (it looks like JP Morgan Chase started offering this around September 2013; I just found out today)? $73 Do you have to pay every single year? And do you have any idea how much they'll charge you to renew it once those 2 years are up?

Now, here is what is really bothering me; I just got a notification on my online banking that my certificate is expiring soon. It said if I have a certificate issued for the IRS after March 11, 2013, I can use the IRS USB token to log into online banking. But since mine was issued before March 11, 2013 (unfortunately), I have two options:

- Take my existing USB token—which I currently use for IRS filings and doesn't expire until January 29, 2015—back to the IRS early so I can use that same stick for both the IRS portal and JP Morgan Chase online banking. Renewing it early costs $80.00 + sales tax now, followed by a $390.00 + sales tax annual subscription, though there wouldn't be an additional renewal fee every 2 years.

- I’m seriously considering canceling my digital tax certificate through the IRS and just asking JP Morgan Chase to issue both certificates at once—one for the IRS portal and one for the online banking on the card I actually use. That would set me back about $150.00 a year including tax. 😲 These certificates are valid for two years, but the folks at JP Morgan Chase can't tell me a damn thing about what the renewal fee will look like after those two years are up. They basically just know there *will* be a charge, but they haven't actually figured out the amount yet . Meanwhile, the IRS warned me that I should double-check exactly how much the bank plans to charge for the renewal down the road. Their logic is that since they don't charge anything themselves, if I move everything to the bank, I might end up paying way more in the long run than I originally thought! 🤔

So now I'm sitting here thinking: if I go ahead and cancel the IRS certificate (which carries a cancellation fee of $27 plus tax) and just order an IRS-compatible certificate from JP Morgan Chase instead , will I still have seamless access to the IRS portal as well as my online banking? Or is there some technical glitch waiting to screw me over?! The price gap is honestly pretty massive (JP Morgan Chase is $150.00 annually, while the IRS option is $487.50 annually) .

To make matters even more frustrating, the bank staff told me that you only need one single certificate for everything—but maybe we had a massive misunderstanding there. Because the IRS is insisting that the card needs two separate certificates: one specifically for logging in and a second one used for digital signatures.

Exactly—I didn't go through FIFA; instead, I just got a security key from the Federal Reserve for my online banking that comes with a built-in certificate. Paid $73 the whole thing upfront, and I use it for both my banking and the IRS—it’s all one PIN and works perfectly fine.
Yeah, there are technically two certificates on there—that's what the folks at FIFA say—but honestly, bank tellers don't know the first thing about those technical details; to them, it's just one single certificate, 😁

I'm going to try using it for the Social Security Administration sites soon to see if it works—not totally sure, but since it's an electronic signature, it should be fine.

No clue what the renewal fee will be in two years... and who knows what they'll change by then, so I'm not losing any sleep over it right now. 🤣
I bet the price difference is just because banks get bulk discounts on those certificates—they probably pass some of those savings along to us customers...

Richard Howard55 said:Not a single soul in sight! 🙂
Goodnight! 🙂

I'm still here, 🙂

Just finished up my sales tax filing—figured I'd pop in for a bit! 🙂)

Jessica Grant56, here’s the breakdown in plain English:

1) You can clock in for anywhere from 1 to 4 hours a day—whatever works for you.

2) Here’s how the minimum pay scales out— $503 gross1 (which is half the $3,017 minimum if you're doing 4 hours a day)...$251 if you go with 2 hours...$126 or if it's just 1 hour...

3) Taxes and contributions—they're handled just like any other employee's.

4) Income tax—it's calculated based on the base amount (gross1 minus 20% for social security) after taking your standard deduction into account $0.00 !

So I was just thinking—I can't quite wrap my head around this... if my pension is around $0.67, does that mean the standard deduction applies right away to my paycheck? Like, does the difference up to $3,400 get applied immediately, making an extra $0.47 tax-free or something???

Henry Edwards33 said:Springtime is finally coming to an unknown town 👋

Satan, if you weren't around, I'd have to make you up myself 👋

🤣
Dubo, send those workers on vacation immediately and get back to business!

You're putting in 20 hours a week—basically half the work—while the employees just lounge around. 😂

Jessica Grant56 said:Oh, is Shim back?? Welcome back! Hope you're doing well. But hey, could you walk me through that part again? What do you mean by "frozen"—how does that even work, and where is that actually stated?

4. Can someone collect retirement benefits while working?
If a retiree takes a job or starts a business subject to Social Security taxes, their benefit payments are paused. However, there are exceptions where the benefits keep coming:
for an old-age retiree who reached retirement age and immediately continues working part-time under a modified employment contract,
for an old-age retiree who reaches retirement age and then picks up part-time work,
for those receiving disability benefits due to total occupational incapacity under previous versions of the Social Security Act,
for those receiving disability benefits due to partial loss of work capacity,
for anyone performing seasonal agricultural work under specific labor incentive laws that explicitly state benefits won't be cut,
or for anyone earning additional income through other business activities (per Section 17).

Richard Howard55 said:What's the catch? Why won't it work?

I'm not sure, Richard, 😢

Every time I hit "upload file," Java pops up—I click "later" and it just dumps me right back at the file selection and upload buttons, but they're both totally grayed out and unclickable... I've tried Chrome and even IE, but it's the exact same thing—nothing works.

The IT guys at the Police department suggested removing the tax site from my trusted sites list since that might be interfering, so I tried that, but still no luck...

I have no clue if it's some weird setting or something, but it's so bizarre because everything else—like the income tax and sales tax uploads—works perfectly fine.

And honestly, it feels like I'm the only one dealing with this mess, 😢

Man, oh man—it feels like everyone’s losing their minds over this new IRS software... everyone seems to be dealing with some different headache. For me, it isn't even about passwords or anything—it's just that the damn file upload won't trigger automatically, even though manual works fine... looks like I'm stuck typing everything in by hand until further notice.

😵 My eyes are actually going to pop out from staring at tax forms all day; honestly, I'd rather be ☕ than wasting my life away like this... and for nothing! Hopefully, things turn around for me soon...

Jessica Grant56 said:Since we have the absolute "cream of the crop" of American accountants gathered here—and I mean that, because navigating this jungle of tax laws feels like trekking through a literal rainforest!—I figured I’d try my luck here. Nobody else seems to have given me a straight answer on my previous accounting questions, so here goes.

So, here’s the situation: my company bought some gift vouchers for a kid's present. We got a discount, paid the offered amount, and received the vouchers.

Now, I’m struggling with the entry—as usual—and I asked my auntie how to record this, mainly because she didn't give me an actual invoice or a receipt. Instead, she handed me a document titled:

"accession treaty debt" no... Regardless of the linguistic nonsense in the title—"accessioning a debt"? I mean, who "accessions" a debt? I assume it just means assuming a debt, though even that's a bit fuzzy to me.

To make matters worse, my aunt says I should just book it as a four-way split. That makes zero sense to me, so I started questioning her: what about the 220 account, or this other one, or that? Nothing! Not a single helpful answer. But then again, if that's the case, maybe I don't even need that "Agreement" document at all? Was it just a quote? She doesn't seem to know, which is a bit funny considering she runs a pretty decent-sized firm.

So, what does the esteemed collective of minds here think about this mess??

Alright, let me give this a shot...

The decision regarding the gift payout—it's finally official.
Second foundation 4615/2303.
Just a quick heads-up—that third installment comes out to $2,303.00. Simple as that!

I’d say let's hold off on that accession treaty debt for now—just a thought!

Let everyone else say whatever they want...

Hey everyone—wishing you all the absolute best this New Year! Thanks so much for all the kind wishes, 🙂

coastalwalker13 said:I'm looking at ordering 100 tablets at $40 each. That’s $4,000 upfront. Once I factor in taxes and customs duties—roughly $1,000 for tax and $400 for duties—the total cost to land this shipment in the US hits $5,400. That brings my per-unit cost to $54. Is there anything else I'm missing? Can anyone tell me what other fees might pop up?
If there are additional hidden costs, it might actually be smarter to import them from Germany instead. For instance, if I brought in 100 tablets at €50 each...
LP

Does that $4,000 include shipping?
Sales tax gets applied to the purchase value + customs + shipping...

So, that 0.25 x 4,400 (assuming shipping is included—but check your invoice for that!)—also, you'll definitely need an EIN. And you should probably ask a freight forwarder if there are any special rules since you're dealing with electronics...

George Kern9 said:Yeah, so you have to pay for a digital certificate, which they can load onto a credit card or a specialized USB token from the payment processor or your bank. Honestly, though, I don't think most major banks even offer that kind of setup for individual consumers... they usually just leave it to the big fintech companies.
Devilgirl, which specific bank are you talking about, and would you actually recommend them? Is their service any good or just a total headache?

RBA, yeah—I'm happy with them.

Jeremy Anderson63 said:Honestly, I wouldn't bet my life on what a random clerk says, especially if they haven't even bothered to study the new law...

The bottom line is this: the fundamental rule for taxing services under the VAT Act is the "place of taxation." But that "place" isn't where the actual work happens... it's the taxable location defined by sections 16 through 26 of the Law.

Here's a piece by a tax consultant who's definitely more qualified than any desk clerk. You'll see that the European Union doesn't really care about "small" businesses...

Thx Jeremy Anderson63—I thought the same thing at first, but then that clerk totally threw me off by saying it wasn't necessary. Though, I don't trust them much either... what this article is saying makes total sense.

George Kern9 said:No matter how you slice it, using the IRS site isn't free... though I don't think it's quite $17 + tax per month.

On the Fidelity website, it says right here:
If you don't want to use Fidelity's online services and instead decide to just use digital certificates on a Fidelity e-card or a USB token solely for electronic signatures, the fees are as follows:

Business digital certificates on a Fidelity e-card or USB token

Issuance of two digital certificates
$130 / annually

Business entity registration*
$27 / one-time fee

Card reader
$30 / one-time fee

Now, if an electronic signature is all you need to file forms through the IRS service, then the price is $130 + tax per year. But then why on earth are they listing the price for two digital certificates? If one certificate is enough, shouldn't the price be $93 + tax per year, according to what's listed here at

Can someone please make sense of this mess for me...
Thanks

I use a Fidelity certificate on a USB stick from my bank for both this and my online banking. I paid $73 and it's good for 2 years, 🤷