SUGGESTED DEFAULT TEMPLATES FOR TWO 2009 January 10, 2010

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1 For the latest defaults, check the AARP Tax-Aide Extranet at This document contains many suggestions; local practices should prevail. There are actually very few have to settings. TaxWise Online uses the expression Templates in place of Defaults which we have used for years with the Desktop program. The return templates may be set up or changed by any user that has been assigned this role. You may want to restrict this role to the Administrator and LC only. One may start from scratch or start with the Master presets, which were assigned by IRS/CCH. You will first start by logging in to the admin user of TWO and selecting the Return Templates icon. Select the New icon, fill in a short name, check the Make Default button, and select the 2009 Master Template entry from the drop down arrow. Click on the edit icon for the new template. This provides a good starting point, and the below changes are based on using the Master Template as a starting point. The resulting forms tree will then be shown. One moves around by clicking on the desired form, which will then open for editing. When finished with a form just select the next desired form. Data is saved on the CCH servers as it is entered. In the following section dealing with adding or changing specific defaults on a form the following convention will be used: Make Red means to press the Ctrl-spacebar while on an entry. It will insert a red underline for that entry, making it a required field in the selected form. (Same as using the F-3 key in the desktop version. Undo Red means to press the Ctrl-spacebar to delete a red underline (it toggles the red underline). Link means to click on an entry which will then show a small page icon with a green arrow. By clicking on that icon a new window will open. Select NEW from the bar at the bottom of the window and wait until a new form appears in the top of the window. You may have to select New a second time to display the form. Selecting this new form will allow placing defaults in it. Note that one may add a new form by clicking the Add sign at the top. Forms can be deleted by highlighting the form with your cursor, then clicking the small x at the right portion of the entry. The process of setting up the defaults is similar to that of the desktop version, and the defaults are almost identical. It is beneficial to select F11 to provide a full screen. Selecting F11 a second time will return the Internet Explorer headers. National Technical Committee Page 1 of 7

2 Note: It is a good idea to click the Save icon at the top frequently as you go through the defaults. Setting Up Templates Part 1 National Level Main Information Sheet Make Red the Present home address, Zip code, and Daytime Telephone number. (Reminder: While on each field press the Ctrl-Spacebar keys.) State Information Make no changes at this level. Requires user input later. Self-Select and Practitioner PIN(s) Leave the Taxpayer s PIN field empty and red. Make Red the Date field red on the line with the Taxpayer s PIN. Put an X in the I authorize box for the Taxpayer. Put an X in the I authorize box for the Spouse. Preparer Information Leave the PTIN field empty and red. Non-paid preparer indicator: Leave this field blank. Preparer s Use Fields These fields are used for various purposes. Reports can be prepared using the information in these fields. The following are suggested uses for these Preparer s Use Fields: Field 1 Make Red for use by the Preparing Volunteer s Initials Field 3 - This field was used through TY2008 for sites to record the taxpayers permission to retain taxpayer data. This field is no longer used in TY2009. If you have more preparer fields that you want to track, repeat the above. Preparer s Use Fields 11 and 12 contain two new questions regarding a language other than English spoken in the home and a person in the household with disabilities. Asking these questions is optional for the AARP Tax-Aide program. If you are logged in as admin (not just with admin privileges) you can make these questions optional. Unlock them by clicking unlock on the blue entries at the top right portion of the form. Should this not work, try Ctrl+L. Then: o Field 11: Undo Red in the answer field. o Field 12: Undo Red in the answer field. For information, Fields 1 & 2 are 8 digit alpha-numerical, Field 3 is 20 digit alphanumerical, Fields 4, 5 & 6 are 10 digit numerical, Field 7 is 3 digit alpha-numerical and Fields 8, 9,& 10 are 15 digit alpha-numerical. Last lines on form: (Optional) Any text may be entered on the last lines of the form. You may want to use these lines to indicate your usage of the Preparer s National Technical Committee Page 2 of 7

3 Use Fields, as we have for Fields 1 and 2. This completes the Main Information Sheet. Select the next form Declaration for Electronic Filing Leave the EFIN field at the top of the form empty and red. Scroll to Electronic Return Originator (ERO) Information at the bottom. Click in SSN Field. Press F3 to remove the red. (No data to be entered) Leave the PTIN field empty and red. Make sure the Print Signature box is checked. This will print your site information on the Signature line. Leave the Firm s Name field empty and red. Leave the Firm s Address field empty and red. Leave the EIN field blank. Leave the Zip Code field empty and red. Leave the IRS Only box checked and locked. This completes the 8879 entries. W-2 Wages Undo Red Name Code (if possible) Make Red Block 2, Federal Tax Withheld Make Red Employer Name, address and zip. Make Red Block 17, State Tax Select the next form or worksheet. Schedule A (& Itemized Deduction Detail & Sales Tax Worksheets) Open 1040 PG 2 (Form 1040, page 2), and select the field for line 40 (Itemized deductions or Standard Deduction). Link, Select NEW, then Select Sch A - Itemized deductions to open it. Select item 1, the link to a new A Detail Itemized Deduction Detail Worksheet and open it. On the Itemized Deduction Detail Worksheet, select the name field for the first line under Other medical expenses and Make Red this field. (This adds the Itemized Deduction Detail Worksheet to the forms tree.) Save this form and select Schedule A. On Line 5b General sales tax, Undo Red from the field. Link to NEW Sales Tax worksheet and open it. Make Red in the new vehicle sales tax field on line 8a. Save this worksheet and reopen Schedule A. Under Taxes You Paid, Make Red line 6, Real Estate Taxes on your principal residence not listed above. On line 8, Other taxes (including personal property tax), type PERSONAL PROPERTY. This will turn this the amount field red when saved. Under Interest You Paid, National Technical Committee Page 3 of 7

4 Make Red line 10, Home Mortgage, interest expense and points, from Form 1098, not listed above. Select Schedule A, Page 2. Undo Red on Line 1. (The Sales Tax Worksheet is used to enter the values on lines 1, 2, and 3.) Select the next form or schedule. Schedule B (& Interest Stmt Interest Income and Dividend Stmt Dividend Income Forms) Select Schedule B. Undo Red in the Name field on line 1a. Select the next form or worksheet. Schedule C-EZ Select Schedule C-EZ. Select Gross Receipts (line 1). Link to a NEW Miscellaneous Income from 1099 MISC. Open the 1099 MISC. Undo Red on Box 2, Rent. Make Red Box 7, Nonemployee compensation. Select Schedule C-EZ Select the next form or worksheet. Schedule D and the Capital Gain/Loss Transaction Worksheet Open 1040 PG 1, and select the field for line 13 (Capital Gain {or Loss}). Link to a NEW Sch D pg 1 Capital Gains and Losses Pg 1, and open it. Make Red the first description field below the 1a Description of property column heading. Reselect this same first description field and link to a NEW Cap Gn Wkt - Capital Gain/Loss Transaction Worksheet. Make Red the first description field, and Select the next form or worksheet. [The steps above add Schedule D and Cap Gn Wkt Capital Gain/Loss Transaction Worksheet to the forms for the return. If entries are not made on these forms, they will not be printed.] Select the next form or worksheet R Distributions from Profit Sharing, Retirement Plans, etc. Make Red Box 1, Gross (RRB line 7). Make Red Box 4, Federal tax withheld. Make Red Block 10, "State Tax Select the next form or worksheet. Social Security. Select 1040 PG1. Select line 20a (Social Security). Link and select a NEW 1040 Wkt1 Social Security Other Income Worksheet. In the Taxpayer column, Make Red the field for Social security received this year. National Technical Committee Page 4 of 7

5 In the Taxpayer column Make Red the field for Medicare to Schedule A In the Taxpayer column, Make Red the field for Federal tax withheld. Select the next form or worksheet Paid Preparer's Earned Income Credit Checklist Place an X the box at the top of form to indicate that AARP Tax-Aide preparers do not have to fill out this form. Select the next form or worksheet. Schedule EIC Worksheet Click the Add notation at the top of the forms tree and type in EIC. From the resulting list select Sch EIC Wkt to add it to the tree. Open the Sch EIC Worksheet. X the No boxes for questions 18, 19 and 20. Select the next form or worksheet. F/S Tax PD Federal/State Taxes Paid Select line 62 of 1040 pg 2, and link to a NEW F/S Tax pd In the Date of Payment column, for payment 1, enter 04/15/2009; for payment 2, enter 06/15/2009; for payment 3, enter 09/15/2009; for payment 4, enter 01/15/2010 Select the next form or worksheet Code Section 7216 Compliance Forms: Click on the Gen Use form that is on the forms tree. Remove this form by clicking on the small x that will be visible just to the right of the form name and select OK to remove the form. Select and remove the Gen Disclosure form in a similar manner. Select the next form or worksheet. Price Click on Price form in the forms tree. Remove this form in a similar manner as above. IMPORTANT: When finished click on the Save icon in the top row, and finally click the Close icon when finished. At this point, we have configured the TWO Templates to the National-level settings suggested by the NTC. Proceed to Part 2 in order to enter state and/or site-specific information. National Technical Committee Page 5 of 7

6 Part II-Completing Template for Site Specific Entries The Part I Instruction suggested a list of defaults that were applicable to TWO EFINs nationwide. This Part II instruction identifies the additional Site-Specific fields that need to be filled in to complete the new Site Template. These defaults cannot be pre-set since the information and numbers are unique for each site. You will need to be logged in as the admin user, and will go through the same steps as before to bring up your new Template. First click the Edit button next to your return template prepared with the NTC suggested settings (or your own). TaxWise Online automatically displays the Main Information Sheet. The yellow color of the form borders itself indicates that you are in Return Templates. If you were already editing your Template then just click on the "Main Information Sheet" on the forms tree. Remember that Ctrl+Spacebar marks a space red for required info or removes red. The short form for Ctrl+spacebar in this document is MakeRed. Main Information Sheet Telephone Numbers: If you prepare state returns and your state program picks up the Evening Telephone Number instead of the Daytime Number, MakeRed the Evening Telephone Number for the Taxpayer. You may want to select the Cell phone field and make it red also. State Information: If you prepare state returns then enter the two letter state abbreviation in the full year resident box. NOTE: You may now need to exit the template return activity in order for the state software to load into your template (click first the Save icon and then the Exit icon). After doing so you may again click the edit icon and continue with the default settings since the state forms should now be loaded. National Technical Committee Page 6 of 7

7 Preparer Information: Enter your site's unique eight-digit SIDN in the PTIN field. The IRS only box should have already been checked. If not, do so now. (This is the only information needed in this section.) 8879 Declaration for Electronic Filing Enter the EFIN for the site at the top of the form (VERY IMPORTANT!) Enter your SIDN in the PTIN field (Refresh to make the S appear) Check Print Signature box (This box will be defaulted in TaxWise this year.) This will automatically print the site s SIDN and name in the preparer signature field. Check to make sure this is the case or do it manually.) Check the IRS only box (if not already checked) Enter site name in Firm s name Enter site address in Firm s address Enter phone number for site (Optional) Enter Zip Code click the Save icon to populate the city and state Note: The ERO s ID, the SSN and the EIN fields are not required for Tax-Aide. Remove the red if it hasn t already been done. (Ctrl+spacbar) W-2 Block 15, State: If your state has an income tax enter your state code, and Block 17, Tax: MakeRed (ctrl+spacebar) 1099-R Block 11, State/State ID: Enter your state code if your state has a tax. State-use boxes (to the left of Block 10): If certain pensions are not taxes place a check mark in Box 1. (Otherwise UndoRed of Box 1 (ctrl+spacebar) Sales Tax Worksheet Box 1 (2 nd Section): Enter your State on Line 1. Then answer the remaining questions as they apply to the preponderance of taxpayers at your site. MakeRed those fields that will need to be verified or entered for each return based on where the taxpayer lives. Close out template preparation by clicking on the Save icon, followed by the Close icon. This completes the suggested Template changes that are site-specific, assuming one has already entered all of the NTC Suggested Template set-up, which provides only the national level defaults. Important: You must now assign the template to your users or they will be unable to use them. Select the Assign icon on the toolbar. From the pull-down arrow choices select the newly created return template. Select users, and check the select all button or assign individually. Click Assign, then click OK to confirm. Click Close, and then click Home on the toolbar. National Technical Committee Page 7 of 7