IE 9.....anyone using it?

[AZ-Tax]

I am completely lost with this. IE 8 had tabs that allowed one to have more then one website open at a time but now I dont see that with IE 9 or is it there and I cannot locate it?

[outwest]

it's there

but at the very tip top of the frame.

[Lion]

Tabs

I'm on IE 9 right now with five tabs open and a sixth blank and ready to go where ever I tell it.

[taxea]

I am completely lost with this. IE 8 had tabs that allowed one to have more then one website open at a time but now I dont see that with IE 9 or is it there and I cannot locate it?

And how does this relate to tax prep?

[Lion]

Taxes

When I transmit efiles, my software opens IE. When I open my tax research (IntelliConnect) it's opened in IE. When I go on my favorite tax message boards, I do so via IE. My own website is accessed by IE, as are the web sites of my clients. I connect to the internet via IE every morning to update my tax prep software before I work on any returns. I usually have about five tabs open in IE all day long for research and communication and ... to prepare tax returns efficiently.

[FEDUKE404]

Why worry?

When I transmit efiles, my software opens IE. When I open my tax research (IntelliConnect) it's opened in IE. When I go on my favorite tax message boards, I do so via IE. My own website is accessed by IE, as are the web sites of my clients. I connect to the internet via IE every morning to update my tax prep software before I work on any returns. I usually have about five tabs open in IE all day long for research and communication and ... to prepare tax returns efficiently.

Not picking any sides here, but the reason everything "automatically" opens in IE for you is likely because you have it set as the default web browser on your computer. (Well, it also could be the only web browser currently on your computer..... )

For all kinds of reasons (security and/or simplicity being common ones!), many folks choose to use, instead of IE, another web browser such as Mozilla's Firefox or Google's Chrome. Along a similar line of personal preference, I have all of my own email running through Mozilla's Thunderbird instead of the IE companion Outlook Express.

Most web pages will now run in any of the "major" browsers. You can always keep IE on your computer for those rare instances when something will not run in one of the others. After that, I see things pretty much as a personal preference issue no more different from how some folks like vanilla and others prefer chocolate.

FE

[newbie]

When I transmit efiles, my software opens IE. When I open my tax research (IntelliConnect) it's opened in IE. When I go on my favorite tax message boards, I do so via IE. My own website is accessed by IE, as are the web sites of my clients. I connect to the internet via IE every morning to update my tax prep software before I work on any returns. I usually have about five tabs open in IE all day long for research and communication and ... to prepare tax returns efficiently.

Plenty to do with tax prep!

[FEDUKE404]

Well, yes.....

Plenty to do with tax prep!

But, of course!

However, please see my prior post of 10:23 am this date.......

FE

[dtlee]

I long for the days when all I needed to know about was taxes, having enough pencil lead, and knowing who made the best staplers (and staple removers) and erasers.

Now, in addition to taxes and the stuff above, I need to know about (no particular order):

• Computer Systems and Upgrades
• Operating Systems (Including migration from one version to another))
• Hard Drives, Thumb Drives, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, NAS Devices
• Encryption of Drives and documents for security
• Computer Networking (Ethernet and Wireless), Modems, and Routers
• File sharing (sneakernet, file shares, Dropbox, etc)
• Malware Prevention and removal
• Postal and non-US Mail Tax Return Addresses
• Mailing addresses by return type (prepared/self-prepared, balance due/refund, separate payment addresses)
• E-filing Rules and Rejection Codes
• Computer Backups (full/partial, local drives/external drives, onsite/offsite)
• §7216 Consent to Use or Disclose
• EIC Due Diligence
• Cordless Phones, Skype, Vonage and other VOIP Phone services
• Cellular Phones and Bluetooth Technology
• Voicemail and Voicemail Transcription Services
• Email, Texting and Instant Messaging
• Creation of Portable Document Format files
• E-filing Mandates
• Word Processing and Spreadsheets
• Font Embedding
• Credit Card Processing
• Bank Products
• Printers, Paper, Ink and Toner
• Registration and PTINs
• e-Services and the Transcript Delivery System
• Direct Deposit and Direct Debit Information
• Faxing and Fax Services
• Document Scanners and Optical Character Recognition software
• Barcode Scanners
• Surge Suprressors and Uninterruptible Power Supplies

[Lion]

For all kinds of reasons (security and/or simplicity being common ones!), many folks choose to use, instead of IE, another web browser such as Mozilla's Firefox or Google's Chrome. Along a similar line of personal preference, I have all of my own email running through Mozilla's Thunderbird instead of the IE companion Outlook Express.

Most web pages will now run in any of the "major" browsers. You can always keep IE on your computer for those rare instances when something will not run in one of the others. After that, I see things pretty much as a personal preference issue no more different from how some folks like vanilla and others prefer chocolate.

FE[/QUOTE]

But, the question was what IE had to do with taxes. And, my answer was that it can have a lot to do with taxes. I used Firefox for years, but still had the stubborn few sites that demanded IE to work right. When I got a new computer, I just went with the bundled IE and haven't installed Firefox yet. Just as all of us on this board use a variety of tax prep software, we use different browsers. But, it's hard to get down to the technical aspects of our job without talking about our browsers from time to time. It's NOT non tax. It's one part of our tax prep job, and whether tabs are open or not in a particular browser is an important question to the OP.

[S T]

Postings

While some postings to some TMI viewers seem not to have anything "to do" with taxes, I believe that most of us view that most all of the positings on this Board, will have some reference to Taxes and our interaction with Preparing Taxes and relating to Clients, and how our computer systems are working, as well as experiences and some humor, etc.

Matter of personal choice when we view the postings and responses whether or not it applies to "our own personal application" If a viewer feels it does not apply to their "personal application" then they don't have to read it and are not required or obligated to post.

While a lot of postings have been related to supplies, computer equipment, other tax vendors, computer issues, etc, I have gleaned a lot of information that I have been able to use for my "own" practice - doesn't mean that I read every post or respond to it.

In this case IE - no matter what version - or operating system - does alert the rest of us viewers to either positive or negatives - or what we have to watch for as we continue to upgrade our systems and move forward with technology.

There have been times that my IE was not working, so yes it is an integral part of my preparing Taxes, no access to TMI, Electronic Services for payroll for my clients , no access to IRS E-Services, can not retrieve Federal or State Publication information on questions relating to filing, can not sign online to register at IRS or a State for one of my licenses, I would not be able to complete my CPE online for my licensing, and the list goes on as Lion and several others pointed out.

On regular basis, I find this "board/forum" to be friendly - sharing ideas and alerting us to some issues we might not have even thought about. I hope that will not change!



Sandy

[taxxcpa]

What does IE have to do with taxes

Slince it is almost impossible to do tax work without internet access, then questions related to browsers, Excel, and a lot of other computer-related subjects are relevant to tax return preparaton.

Of course, if you are only concerned with taxes per se, and not the preparation of the returns, then all you need to know is the tax law. You could then calculate a capital gain without even knowing what a Schedule D was.

[Black Bart]

Impressive (and daunting) list, dt

I long for the days when all I needed to know about was taxes, having enough pencil lead, and knowing who made the best staplers (and staple removers) and erasers.

Now, in addition to taxes and the stuff above, I need to know about (no particular order):

• Computer Systems and Upgrades
• Operating Systems (Including migration from one version to another))
• Hard Drives, Thumb Drives, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, NAS Devices
• Encryption of Drives and documents for security
• Computer Networking (Ethernet and Wireless), Modems, and Routers
• File sharing (sneakernet, file shares, Dropbox, etc)
• Malware Prevention and removal
• Postal and non-US Mail Tax Return Addresses
• Mailing addresses by return type (prepared/self-prepared, balance due/refund, separate payment addresses)
• E-filing Rules and Rejection Codes
• Computer Backups (full/partial, local drives/external drives, onsite/offsite)
• §7216 Consent to Use or Disclose
• EIC Due Diligence
• Cordless Phones, Skype, Vonage and other VOIP Phone services
• Cellular Phones and Bluetooth Technology
• Voicemail and Voicemail Transcription Services
• Email, Texting and Instant Messaging
• Creation of Portable Document Format files
• E-filing Mandates
• Word Processing and Spreadsheets
• Font Embedding
• Credit Card Processing
• Bank Products
• Printers, Paper, Ink and Toner
• Registration and PTINs
• e-Services and the Transcript Delivery System
• Direct Deposit and Direct Debit Information
• Faxing and Fax Services
• Document Scanners and Optical Character Recognition software
• Barcode Scanners
• Surge Suprressors and Uninterruptible Power Supplies

Say FE...Not that I want to return to days of yore and lead (love my computer!), but do you think maybe these side items are a bit much? I know (as you previously explained to me ) that EF's lots easier and all than dropping a stamped letter in the mail but I was just wondering if you as the...ahem...board's foremost and preeminent electronista (well, MAJ too, of course), would care to comment on Doug's list ? Regards, BB.

[FEDUKE404]

Explanation Black Bart requested

Say FE...Not that I want to return to days of yore and lead (love my computer!), but do you think these side items are a bit much? I know EF's lots easier and all (as you previously explained to me), but I was just wondering if you as the...ahem...board's foremost and preeminent electronista, would care to comment on dtlee's list ?

Thanks for the compliment, but much/most of the stuff in the inclusive list is WAY "above my pay grade."

I still think a cell phone is something that is nice to talk on. Mine stays off most of the time. I do send short texts to prevent phone tag, and every now and then a picture. But that's about it.

As for the computer stuff, out of necessity I feel we all DO have to get on the train for at least being reasonably current with technology. Anyone who does not runs the risk of being left behind. BUT my learning curve for 'puters crashes quickly: You should see me butting my head against the wall trying to figure out how to run my old PFS First Choice (DOS) software/numerous data files with my Win XP. I now think that is likely a battle that cannot be won.

Many of my clients are way ahead of me on technology, to include zero paperwork from several of them ever crossing my desk with all documents/information sent to me via scanned documents and encrypted emails. I no longer see any reason to have a fax. On the opposite end, many of my clients are well along in their years and likely have minimal knowledge of/use for "fancy" stuff. But I need to be able to deal with the entire spectrum of clients.

So far I have drawn the line at NOT accepting credit cards or offering any "bank products." I had to put up with enough of that mess when I worked part-time for a friend who was an owner of a local office for a well known (but now bankrupt!) national tax firm. Preparing taxes was almost a side line there - the EITC mill was in full operation, and the "instant" money/come back tomorrow for your check stuff took much of one's time. And let's not forget the inevitable "someone has already claimed your darling as a dependent" encounters. Unlike the comments of General Patton - I do NOT miss it!!

As a general summary, let me say that the proverbial "School of Hard Knocks" leads me to my very, very limited knowledge of several of the topics you mentioned. I'm far from an expert (and ofttimes wrong) about some things, but I at least give it the old college try to resolve problems whenever they arise and especially if such poses a roadblock to accurate/appropriate/timely tax preparation for my clients.

The days of the paper returns, blue pencils, check tapes/checkers, ammonia(!), big ole rubber erasers, etc are now just a distant memory. More or less good times - and I do think the GENERAL underlying knowledge of a tax preparer then was of a much stronger base - but nevertheless time now moves onward.

Have a pleasant Monday (or is that an oxymoron??).

FE