Some here know I'm a tax pro, I just got an email about this. Everybody knows the basic numbers of the stimulus payments that will be going out in a few weeks. What we didn't know is this: If you've not filed a tax return for years for whatever reason but a big one is you're on Social Security and your income is low enough that you've not needed to file, you must file a return in order to get the stimulus money. See this link:
Filing a tax return is the big thing but there is other good info as well. Also, one thing not mentioned is if you've moved recently and/or you've changed banks. If they have your current direct deposit info, no problem but if they don't and you've moved they'll send a check to your last known address and if the Post Office doesn't forward it to you it gets returned to the IRS. File now so they have your current address and bank info.
Thank you kind sir. I hope your doing well through this mess.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB 2025, Realband, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 9 32c , Melodyne 5 editor, Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, Presonus control app.
I see in Treasury Department announced that Social Security recipients will not have to file a not have to file a tax return in order to receive the economic stimulus payments.
The Treasury Department, clearing up confusion, has announced Social Security recipients will not have to file a tax return in order to receive the economic stimulus payments the government is preparing to send out amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It was unclear in guidance posted earlier this week whether Social Security recipients who don't normally file taxes would have to in order to receive the money. But the Treasury Department said Wednesday that those beneficiaries will automatically receive the money. The IRS will use the information that the Social Security Administration has on file.
Social Security recipients won't have to take any action.
This is, of course, good news.
Hopefully someone with actual expertise in handling taxes - Bob perhaps - could verify if I'm reading this correctly.
We're self-employed and filed our income tax. We'll send it out on time too.
We filed on-line for unemployment. Congress passed the compromise bill that gives some relief for gig workers.
The system is overloaded and crashed a lot. Between Leilani and myself, we must have spent 20 hours on it. The system crashes, you have to start all over, and the delay between page loads can be as much as 3 minutes.
To be fair, there is no way the government could have prepared for a zillion people needing help at the same time.
Whatever we get will be welcome.
This too will pass and when COVID is under control, we'll have to work out a new normal.
I plan on playing for free at the restaurant that has hired us once a week for 12 years until the business picks back up. They've been good to us, and it'll be time to help them get back on their feet.
When I can, I also plan to spend as much money as I can afford at local mom-and-pop type businesses.
I just checked on this and the IRS issued this statement in a tweet last night. I haven't received an email yet either from IRS or my tax software company but I'm sure I will any time now. I think it's a good move but it probably doesn't change for other low income people not on SS who haven't filed in years but we'll have to see. Things are moving so fast on many fronts it's hard to keep up when I'm fighting the internet to get some tax work done remotely.
I feel your pain Notes, and then just wait until tomorrow when the Small Business Loan program starts. That program is you get a loan and if you use it to pay your employees for 8 weeks the loan is forgiven. 350 billion is going to go like "poof" at every bank in the country and of course that's all online as well. It's first come first served so it will be another online madhouse.
Here it is, just got this from Drake and note these big software companies are in direct contact with the IRS:
Update:
Stimulus Payments and Social Security Recipients.
The IRS has announced that Social Security recipients will automatically receive economic impact payments.
Those receiving Social Security benefits who don’t typically file a tax return will not need to file an abbreviated (simple) tax return to receive their stimulus payment. The IRS will use information from Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099 to generate payments for these individuals. The payment will be sent as a direct deposit or check, however they normally receive their benefits. From the news release: “We want to ensure that our senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, and low-income Americans receive Economic Impact Payments quickly and without undue burden,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “Social Security recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return need to take no action.”
IMPORTANT: By design, direct deposit information keyed on the DD screen in Drake Tax does not get transmitted with a tax return that does not have a refund (A NOTE is produced). Based on the latest information we have, the IRS still plans to offer an online portal for the purpose of collecting deposit information from taxpayers who haven’t provided it on their 2018 or 2019 tax return. Providing account information is not required to receive a stimulus payment. Checks will be mailed if deposit information is not available.
At this time, we haven’t received guidance regarding low-income taxpayers who are not required to file a return and don’t receive Social Security benefits. Our best advice at this time is to wait for further information.
Note the detail concerning Direct Deposit info and non SS recipients.
<...snip...>then just wait until tomorrow when the Small Business Loan program starts. That program is you get a loan and if you use it to pay your employees for 8 weeks the loan is forgiven. 350 billion is going to go like "poof" at every bank in the country and of course that's all online as well. It's first come first served so it will be another online madhouse.
Bob
Thanks, Bob.
The problem is I have no employees. I am a self-employed businessman. Leilani and the sub-contractors I use or that sell things on my site are all subcontractors and get 1099 forms instead of paychecks.
The 1099s for this year have already been filed to the IRS.
So I don't think I can use it to pay employees if I don't actually have employees.
Leilani and I have already filed for Florida state unemployment (reeployment in newspeak) and supposedly that will automatically enroll us in the $600/week for so many weeks from the Fed.
Since the mortgage is paid, and we have no debts other than my car payments, we should be OK.
Fortunately we have done what no government has done, we live below our means. We don't buy things on credit except for our cars (which we drive until they become unreliable) and we have a savings plan for emergencies.
We think that as self-employed people, with no guarantee of future work, it's important to have that savings buffer.
Actually, you don't need employees. Keith pointed that out on the virus thread and I checked into it further. This is great news.
There are now several vids on YT about this and here's one done by a CPA:
Right now the application process has been delayed for a week. This is brand new and note near the end he says it's not clear if this is based on the gross or net. I have not had the time to dig into this myself so I'm not saying this is absolutely correct but as far as the basic question, yes Sch C people can get this with no employees. And since I am one of those for my tax business I'll be looking into this as well.
I just watched two more of his vids. He is more credible than I thought because he is one of the major CPE presenters nationwide. His course may be one that I'll wind up taking for part of my CPE credits this year. He said his course will be ready May 1.
This is very deep and I'm not going to even try to get into it on this forum but I'll say this about one vid I just finished. There is a big difference between initially getting a loan then later on qualifying for the forgiveness part. They are two different things and the forgiveness is not based on what happened in the past, it's based on what happened between Feb 15 and June 30, 2020. This means we won't exactly know how much will be forgiven and some of it or all of it may need to be paid back, there's a lot of detail in the new law.
If anybody here wants to look into this consult a local tax professional about it.
The latest email I got from the IRS E Alert system:
1. Economic Impact Payments: More information; graphics available to share with clients, others
The Treasury Department and the IRS announced this week that distribution of Economic Impact Payments will begin in the next three weeks and will be distributed automatically, with no action required for most people. More information on these payments, as well as other relief pertaining to COVID-19, will be posted to IRS.gov/coronavirus as it becomes available.
Share information: In addition, the IRS is creating special informational graphics about the Economic Impact Payments that can be shared with your clients or posted on your website. These graphics include details about who qualifies for the $1,200 payments. The first graphic is available at IRS.gov/coronavirus and additional ones will be available soon. Please share these to help taxpayers understand important details about these payments.
2. Scam alert: Schemes related to coronavirus and Economic Impact Payments
The IRS is urging everyone to be on the lookout for calls and email phishing attempts about the coronavirus, or COVID-19. These contacts can lead to tax-related fraud and identity theft. Taxpayers should watch not only for emails but text messages, websites and social media attempts that request money or personal information.
"History has shown that criminals take every opportunity to perpetrate a fraud on unsuspecting victims, especially when a group of people is vulnerable or in a state of need," said IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Don Fort. "While you are waiting to hear about your Economic Impact Payment, criminals are working hard to trick you into getting their hands on it. The IRS Criminal Investigation Division is working hard to find these scammers and shut them down, but in the meantime, we ask people to remain vigilant."
For some reason when I copy/paste from these emails the links don't show as active but you should be able to copy them into your browser if you want to see more info. The last thing concerning scammers is very important, those **(%^#! never stop.
Now, here's a really important point about the $1,200 stimulus payments we're all going to get (most of us anyway} I just realized this yesterday as I was about to pull the trigger on a client's return and get it efiled. Remember, the IRS will take your 2018 return and give you the payment off of that if your 2019 return isn't filed yet and now we all have until July 15 to file it! That means if your situation changed enough between 2018 and 2019 you may screw yourself out of $1,200 if you file 2019 right now and if you're married it could be $2,400. Example, I almost pulled the trigger on a client yesterday and efiled his return but I suddenly realized he got divorced in 2019 and is now filing single. I checked his AGI for 18 and it was 138K. For 2019 as single his AGI is 114K. Married joint filers can make up to 150K and single filers up to 75K so guess what? DO NOT file 2019, let the IRS pay him the stimulus based on 18! Damn, I was right on the efile page in my tax program and all I had to do was check a box and hit enter when I realized this.
There a lot of different scenarios here. If you have dependent children you get $500 for each child. Maybe the kid turned 17 last year and didn't enroll in college so you can no longer claim him for 19 but you did for 18. That's $500 and another reason to hold off on filing 19.
Make sure you check those differences from 18 to 19 to make sure you're not about to make the same mistake I almost did. I would really hate to explain that to my client if he caught that after it was filed and called me to ask about it. DUH!! Sorry, I'm a dummy! Not a great phone call.
A quick update to my post yesterday concerning not filing 2019. Those 75K and 150K income numbers are not a brick wall cut off. If you're over those numbers the stimulus payments are reduced on a sliding scale so you wouldn't lose it all unless you went over the final maximum which is 99K and 198K.
Here's the latest video from JJ the CPA this morning concerning the PPP, self employed, SBA, federal unemployment and other info. Note the problem with some banks concerning these loans, I already got a call on that from a client. When he shows the links to forms on the IRS and SBA's websites, notice the fields on the forms are highlighted in light blue. Those are active fields you can fill in on screen using your computer keyboard, just put your mouse cursor on a blue field and start typing. You then save the file as a pdf and print it out.
Even though I'm not in any of the groups mentioned in the video I still appreciate you posting the video link for those that are in a group that is mentioned.
As an aside, the still screen shot used in the video link is funny. Judging from the pose, my first thought is this CPA fella might have a second life as a used car or snake oil salesman!
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
Playable RealTracks Set 4
RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Windows!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
- could verify if I'm reading this correctly.
Norton Music
I kept thinking, how does that affect me? Until I added the periods. All good now. 
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean