Staples - So Elementary

[zeros]

Stapler from Staples

I see Staples has a Swingline stapler with a capacity of 125. Never tried it though.

[FEDUKE404]

About those "large" returns...

I was also intrigued by the comment about "large" returns. While I've had some classics in my day, those 90-150 page returns seem totally in left field.

Are you saying the tax return, i.e. what you prepare for a paper copy you would submit to the IRS for processing, is that large? (Also along the lines of what you provide to a client whose mortgage company wants a "copy" of the tax return.) Wow!!

Many of today's software programs generate a worksheet/summary for just about every entry on a tax return. Some are useful, such as calculation of taxable Social Security benefits or determination of tax when a Schedule D gain is involved. Others are just clutter, i.e. "reproductions" of Form 1099 information.

Several years ago I made the decision to cut back on supplying the fluff to my clients, essentially to save paper/ink/postage costs. The vast majority of my clients were happy with the decision. Some even made the comment they were worried to think how much I had been charging them in the first place for all those pages they never even looked at!

Now that everything is efiled, and the world of PDF files is here, I find myself providing less extra stuff each year. Sadly, the IRS keeps coming up with new forms so that sometimes I think I am perhaps going backwards!

FE

[Lion]

Schedules

I think the biggest source of paper in the client's copy is depreciation schedules for Schedules C and Schedule E. Throw in a few worksheets for phaseouts for itemized deductions or personal exemptions or...and you have a fat return. And, those energy K-1s that have separate activities that have to be reported separately and not netted together as on the K-1 page 1. And, the passive loss worksheets. And, NY and MA and CT returns. You get the idea.

[JohnH]

Plus, the invoice for doing all that work ought to run 2 or 3 pages itself...

[Nashville]

Case in Point

I think the biggest source of paper in the client's copy is depreciation schedules for Schedules C and Schedule E. Throw in a few worksheets for phaseouts for itemized deductions or personal exemptions or...and you have a fat return. And, those energy K-1s that have separate activities that have to be reported separately and not netted together as on the K-1 page 1. And, the passive loss worksheets. And, NY and MA and CT returns. You get the idea.

Lion, you have just confirmed my point.

How much of this abovementioned stuff has to be in the tax package? I'm thinking about 25% of it at best. Is the rest of the stuff important? Yes, but in a separate package and for shore keep it available. Depreciation deliverable at a different time. State returns stapled separately, etc.

"She never cried when Old Yeller died,
She wasn't warshed in the Blood of the Lamb
She never stood up for the Star Spangled Banner
And she wasn't a John Wayne fan." - Confederate Railroad

[FEDUKE404]

More on tree-saving efforts

I think the biggest source of paper in the client's copy is depreciation schedules for Schedules C and Schedule E. Throw in a few worksheets for phaseouts for itemized deductions or personal exemptions or...and you have a fat return. And, those energy K-1s that have separate activities that have to be reported separately and not netted together as on the K-1 page 1. And, the passive loss worksheets. And, NY and MA and CT returns. You get the idea.

I understand completely, Lion.

Sometimes you get boxed in by the complexity of the return and just have to go with the flow.

OTOH, there is nothing wrong with keeping some of the background depreciation information and/or referenced worksheets in the electronic file and having such available whenever requested or actually needed. Most clients could care less about some types of number-crunching statements....they pay YOU to understand such!

And if you prepare a lot of returns of that type, I don't know whether to congratulate you or to send you an economy size bottle of Tylenol!!

FE

[Lion]

Tylenol

I'll take the large bottle of Tylenol. Yes, some of my invoices run to two pages. Haven't had a three-pager, yet. Do want to make the client copy fat enough to justify the two-page invoice!

[AuditorTurnedGood]

Big returns

The largest I've seen so far is 103 pages. This did include a few supplementary schedules, but only those which were required to be filed with the IRS (the client has 25+ pass throughs, so a supplementary Sch E is required, for instance) Throw on all the double work for AMT and 3 state returns and their associated AMTs, you have yourself a doosie of a return. Nobody prints this thing, it exists in PDF form only.

ATG

[S T]

All Good Suggestions

Thanks everyone for participating and providing good suggestions.

Sandy

[Skeemo]

Duplex printing

One problem with some duplex printers... They do not usually print as low to the bottom of the page when printing in duplex as single-side printing does. Make sure the duplex printer you consider does not cut off some of your information.

[FEDUKE404]

Two-sided printing

One problem with some duplex printers... They do not usually print as low to the bottom of the page when printing in duplex as single-side printing does. Make sure the duplex printer you consider does not cut off some of your information.

Usually there is a "fit to page" printing option that should cure that problem.

Plan B is to reduce size to 95% or to 90%.

FE