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TECHNICAL CHANGE NOTICE TCTP0302

for 2003 Edition of HowardSoft's Tax Preparer®

SUBJECT: Problems with Form 4562 Listed Property worksheets and printouts


Problem. A variety of problems may arise, all relating to page 2 of Form 4562 and its Listed Property worksheets. You may experience some of the following problems depending on the particulars of the return:

    • Totals at lines 26, 27, and 28 do not reflect the actual totals from the worksheets. This problem arises once you view one of the worksheets to make a change or update its calculations. When you return to Form 4562, the totals may reflect your current results plus the prior results, so it will look like a doubling of amounts if the depreciation is unchanged from last year.
    • The printout of page 2 of Form 4562 shows duplicate entries. The same worksheet may be printed two or three times rather than once.
    • Printout freezes while printing page 2 of Form 4562. This error may arise if the software attempts to print the damaged worksheets directly on the form. You will not be able to exit the program normally, but will have to close the window by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the Tax Preparer window.
    • Printout freezes while printing supporting statements for Form 4562. This error may arise if the software decides that the worksheet data will not fit directly on the form. Again, you will not be able to exit the program normally, but will have to close the window by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the Tax Preparer window.
    • For California Supplement: ER 6/LN 30980 may arise while printing supporting statements for the return. (California Supplement has no problem. Rather, this error is a result of translating a federal return damaged by the problem described here.)

Perspective. The problem is caused by the translation function, and exists only if you translated the return from a prior-year return with Listed Property Worksheets that you created with a release prior to 2002.03, and you never viewed those worksheets with release 2002.03 or later. (2002.03 was a special end-of-season release, of which all customers were notified, which was required because of an end-of-season change in Form 4562 by the IRS to reflect the retroactive change in the tax laws in response to the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks.)

Workaround. There are two valid workarounds, but which one involves the least effort depends on the particular return:

    • Remove all Listed Property Worksheets then enter data anew. You must remove ALL of these worksheets before you reenter ANY new data. The quickest way to do this is to, without itemizing to any worksheets, press the Remove Key (ctrl-R or shift-F3) while the cursor lies on the supported line. Then answer Yes when asked "OK to remove ALL supp’g pages?" (The supported line is the one with an "i" to the right of the entry, either line 26, line 27, or both.) Once all supporting pages are gone, you can itemize the appropriate line and reenter the data anew. CAUTION: Be sure to reflect all past depreciation in the line below line e of the worksheet. The proper entry will be the amount on that line from the prior-year worksheet PLUS the sum of the amounts on lines h and i of the prior-year worksheet.
    • Update your prior-year software, view all worksheets, exit, and then retranslate anew. By using the latest release of the prior-year (2002 Edition) software then viewing the Listed Property Worksheets, the worksheets are changed to the new format, which can be properly translated by the early releases of our 2003 edition software. (If you already use release 2002.03a you can view the affected prior-year worksheets without updating your software. Otherwise you should click "Check Web for Updates" and click, at the bottom of the screen, "Click Here If you need to update a 2002 Edition" to access the prior-year updates.)

Solution. The problem is averted when you translate a return using release 2003.01f (or ef2003.01o) or later. The newer release automatically recognizes the pre-2002.03 format and adjusts its translation accordingly. CAUTION: The new release cannot repair previously-created translations because some of the prior-year information is missing from those returns. You must either translate anew using the new release, or repair the previously translated return as described in the first workaround detailed above.