bill@utastro.UUCP (William H. Jefferys) (03/03/88)
According to the latest MacWEEK, there is a bug in the 1040EZ form released with this year's MacInTax. No matter how large the income, the form will compute a tax due of zero! The error affects _only_ form 1040EZ. It does not affect Form 1040 or Form 1040A. Registered owners can call SoftView with their serial number for a corrected version. MacWEEK remarks, "...we still don't understand why Softview didn't take the initiative to warn as many users as possible via the electronic bulletin boards, AppleLink and MacWEEK as soon as it learned of the flaw." I agree. Bill Jefferys -- Glend. I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hot. Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? -- Henry IV Pt. I, III, i, 53
wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu (Pierce T. Wetter) (03/04/88)
In article <2492@utastro.UUCP> bill@utastro.UUCP (William H. Jefferys) writes: >According to the latest MacWEEK, there is a bug in the >1040EZ form released with this year's MacInTax. No matter >how large the income, the form will compute a tax due of >zero! The error affects _only_ form 1040EZ. It does not >affect Form 1040 or Form 1040A. > >Registered owners can call SoftView with their serial number >for a corrected version. That's funny. My version works ok. Probably some weird set of conditions makes it do that. Pierce Wetter `:x I am the mother of all things, and all things should wear a sweater. -------------------------------------------- wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu --------------------------------------------
curry@nsc.nsc.com (Ray Curry) (03/05/88)
I encountered the bug in the 1040 EZ when doing my son's taxes. Since he shows as a dependent on my return, he no longer gets to declare himself as a dependent. That's one of those "loop holes" that got closed in the reform. Anyway the tax computation showed zero tax. I had to use the 1040A form instead. At this point I'm not sure its worth the cost of a phone call to get that fixed unless I call to check on my California version. Last year it arrived about the first week in April so I haven't started worrying yet. Anyway I don't know all the combinations that cause the problem but would guess that the zero dependent caused the problem.
wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu (Pierce T. Wetter) (03/05/88)
In article <4998@nsc.nsc.com> curry@nsc.UUCP (Ray Curry) writes: >I encountered the bug in the 1040 EZ when doing my son's taxes. Since he >shows as a dependent on my return, he no longer gets to declare himself as >a dependent. That's one of those "loop holes" that got closed in the reform. MacInTax includes a 'worksheet' cribbed from the back of the 1040EZ called 'Persons claimed as a dependent on...' (Obviously a name thought up by the IRS). Make sure that you filled this out correctly. Incidentally, he does kindof get to declare himself a dependent, according to the worksheet. Pierce Wetter P.S. above info gleaned from the manual. (Yep, I actually read it. After I did my taxes.) Your lucky color has faded. -------------------------------------------- wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu --------------------------------------------
richard@claris.UUCP (Richard Scorer) (03/05/88)
In article <4998@nsc.nsc.com> curry@nsc.UUCP (Ray Curry) writes: >I encountered the bug in the 1040 EZ when doing my son's taxes. Since he >shows as a dependent on my return, he no longer gets to declare himself as >a dependent. That's one of those "loop holes" that got closed in the reform. >Anyway the tax computation showed zero tax. I had to use the 1040A form >instead. At this point I'm not sure its worth the cost of a phone call to >get that fixed unless I call to check on my California version. Last year >it arrived about the first week in April so I haven't started worrying yet. >Anyway I don't know all the combinations that cause the problem but would >guess that the zero dependent caused the problem. Actually, it's a known bug in MacInTax which they are sending fixes out to all _registered_ owners of MacInTax. The problem is not related to zero dependents, but in fact it just does not calculate tax on a 1040EZ at all. As to the CA schedule, I got mine two days ago, but I ordered mine in Nov '87. -- Richard Scorer * UUCP: {ames,apple,portal,sun,voder}!claris!richard Claris Corporation * AppleLink: Scorer1 * CompuServe: 74017,344 "These are my opinions, and you can't hold me responsible for them"