Frank, I am fairly new to the forum and haven't asked too many questions. However, I just started reviewing some tax questions/answers between you and others and wondered why I haven't seen any suggestions to use ATBS (American Truck Business Services). Do you have any issues with them? They are "suppose" to be the experts in the trucking industry.
American Truck Business Services for tax purposes
- Thread starter Caldonna
- Start date
RE: American Truck Business Services for tax purpo
Frank, I am fairly new to the forum and haven't asked too many questions. However, I just started reviewing some tax questions/answers between you and others and wondered why I haven't seen any suggestions to use ATBS (American Truck Business Services). Do you have any issues with them? They are "suppose" to be the experts in the trucking industry.
Calvin and Donna
Morning Calvin and Donna,
According industry ethics, I am not allowed to give you any derogatory information due to they are one of my competitors even though they are in CO. and I am in NC.
In my own Tax Association consisting of Approx 22,000 members with credentials of CPA's EA's ATP's and othe tax professionals only about 10-20% know the trucking industry. Everyone says they know the industry, but they do not, and over the last 10 years I have amended returns made out by all of the above that do hold creditials coming in at approx. 100 returns.
I do have approximately 20 cleints who were with them and have switched due to there disatisfaction with there promises of what they were going to provide.
There are only a couple of items that I can tell you and ask you
1. Do you want a one on one relationship (you would speak with me directly or my Associate, as your accountant/bookkeeper or just your tax preparer when you call or e-mail
2. Or do you want to call and get someone different everytime who is not the person who actually does the work on your account. and have to wait until they converse with them and get back to you, Maybe in a week or so and that is a ??????.
Frank
Frank, I am fairly new to the forum and haven't asked too many questions. However, I just started reviewing some tax questions/answers between you and others and wondered why I haven't seen any suggestions to use ATBS (American Truck Business Services). Do you have any issues with them? They are "suppose" to be the experts in the trucking industry.
Calvin and Donna
Morning Calvin and Donna,
According industry ethics, I am not allowed to give you any derogatory information due to they are one of my competitors even though they are in CO. and I am in NC.
In my own Tax Association consisting of Approx 22,000 members with credentials of CPA's EA's ATP's and othe tax professionals only about 10-20% know the trucking industry. Everyone says they know the industry, but they do not, and over the last 10 years I have amended returns made out by all of the above that do hold creditials coming in at approx. 100 returns.
I do have approximately 20 cleints who were with them and have switched due to there disatisfaction with there promises of what they were going to provide.
There are only a couple of items that I can tell you and ask you
1. Do you want a one on one relationship (you would speak with me directly or my Associate, as your accountant/bookkeeper or just your tax preparer when you call or e-mail
2. Or do you want to call and get someone different everytime who is not the person who actually does the work on your account. and have to wait until they converse with them and get back to you, Maybe in a week or so and that is a ??????.
Frank
Several EO Open Forum members use ATBS. ATBS specializes in serving owner-operators and they know the industry well. Depending on the kind of help you need, support staff ranging from consultants, to Enrolled Agents, to CPA's, to people who specialize in incorporation issues are available. Kevin Rutherford of XM radio fame is one of many trucking industry experts that works with ATBS. They are indeed experts in the trucking industry.
Being called an expert in an industry and being an expert in an industry are two different things. Commercial sponsorship and praise for an organization has to be taken with a grain of salt as that praise is being paid for. That tells me to not totally believe anything I hear from a professional mouthpiece related to a sponsor. I prefer unsolicited appraisals and recommendations from individuals who have no vested interest other than passing on their personal experience. My personal experience is John Turner is very good. His only flaw is being very busy and therefore sometimes being challenging to reach and taking longer to complete work than might be preferred. I've heard reports from a few people that ATBS is too unpredictable, varying from amazingly great to unacceptable. I've never worked with Frank but I only hear good reports about him, just like John. John's office is about 15 miles from my home so he won the coin toss due to proximity. If you're using ATBS and satisfied good for you and hopefully it will always be so. If you aren't set up with anyone I can highly recommend John from personal experience and Frank from unsolicited comments.
We are one example of someone who started with ATBS and after one year moved on what a mess. Just as with Expedite Companies some fit your business and others do not. ATBS did not fit our needs and we moved on to John Turner due to a great recommendation of a good friend. One of the things we like about John is he will work with you the way you want to do your business. I keep very good records and I do NOT want to send my receipts anywhere I want to be able to enter them in my program and run my one P & L and I will send my results to our business consultant. John is fine with this after seeing my records. Others scan their receipts in and send them to John that way and are done with their record keeping. We have also like Leo said heard great things about Frank. If you attend the Expo you can also meet Frank in person and talk about how he can help you.
I was referring to their sponsorship on the radio program mentioned previously, not EO since as you mention they aren't a sponsor here. My thoughts would be no different if they were though. Each bypass oil filter system is "the best" based on which radio program you listen to on which radio service. That's not because they all are the best. That's because brand A pays Mr. X to say so, brand B pays Mr. Y to say so and Brand C pays Mr. Z to say so. It just depends on what day and time you listen to the radio.
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It is more than a sponsoring relationship. Kevin Rutherford is an industry professional. He used to own and operate The Alliance, which was a financial services company dedicated to truck owner-operators. He is not sponsored by ATBS. He merged his company with ATBS and is now serving clients there.
It seams that there are many answers to the same question, How does this company rate against that company, I myself have been where all of you are, Company Driver and O/O for Carretta Trucking, Paramus, NJ (Out of Business), and KLLM Transport, Company Driver, and O/O leased on to CTX, and Chawanna Hot Shots, Charlotte, NC, So by being out there I know what, how, and why of what can and cannot be deducted.
You do not have to pay a fortune to firms with large overheads, and charge around $400.00 for a basic Return for a Truck Driver who is not a partnership or Corporation.
and then pay between $500 to $800 for those.
Your talking about the following forms involved:
1040 long form, with/without dependents, Sch C, Sch SE, and Depreication on the items that you put into business service in the tax year. This is what consist of a Sole propreitor's base return.
Company Drivers are around $300 charged by these firms. they consist of your w-2, form 2106 employee business expenses (where the Per Diem is entered, plus other expense) Sch A Itemized deductions, where the form 2106 carries to. but you have to have more in deductions than the standard allowed by the IRS, Married filing jointly for 2008 is $10,700
It does not include, itemized deductions rental property, stock transfers, second businesss, etc, that is due to how your tax return fee is based, (per form used)
Right now I have about 20 cleints that used to be with ATBS, they have promised a number of tihings but have not lived up ot there promises. Other items, If you need a reciept that is under warrentee, and the receipt is in there hands, Getting that receipt might be a problem immediately, but in the long run you will get it. might be a week or 2 later. then its too late.
I do have to have receipts or you can scan them into a pdf file, copy ot disk, and send the disk or the receipts to me, I inturn copy them into a pdf file on my computer, and all information is kept confidential. Everything is backed up and saved on a external disk, with off premises save feature, We have access to your files if you need them for an audit,
In the 10 years that I have been doing tax returns for truck drivers I have only had 3 audits. the reason was that the taxpayers had waited for 2-3years before they filed the retun for the tax years inquestion. Once the audits were completed, all taxpayers did not have any additional tax owed. and the audits were signed off on.
As far as questions that you ask, I might not have all of the answers, when you would need them, if I can not give you an immediate answer. I will research them, and get back to you as soon as I find it. but I have the experience to handle Trucking cleints on a 1 on 1 basis,
In my office I do all the truck driver returns, no one else has access to them, this way i know they are correct,
Thanks for listening
Franklin Katz, ATP,PA, CPB
Frank’s Tax and Business Service
120 York Rd
Kings Mountain, NC 28086-3151
(704) 739-4039
Fax: (704) 739-3934
Circular 230 Ruling: Compliance
This email (including any attachments) contains PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION protected by federal and/or state law and is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(is) designated as recipient(s). The information contained within this email should not be construed as tax advice. If you are not an intended recipient of the email, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or action taken in reliance on the contents of this email is strictly prohibited. Disclosure to anyone other than the intended recipient does not constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify us by phone at (704) 739-4039 or by email at [email protected] and then permanently delete the original and any copy of this email (including any attachments) and destroy any printout thereof.
You do not have to pay a fortune to firms with large overheads, and charge around $400.00 for a basic Return for a Truck Driver who is not a partnership or Corporation.
and then pay between $500 to $800 for those.
Your talking about the following forms involved:
1040 long form, with/without dependents, Sch C, Sch SE, and Depreication on the items that you put into business service in the tax year. This is what consist of a Sole propreitor's base return.
Company Drivers are around $300 charged by these firms. they consist of your w-2, form 2106 employee business expenses (where the Per Diem is entered, plus other expense) Sch A Itemized deductions, where the form 2106 carries to. but you have to have more in deductions than the standard allowed by the IRS, Married filing jointly for 2008 is $10,700
It does not include, itemized deductions rental property, stock transfers, second businesss, etc, that is due to how your tax return fee is based, (per form used)
Right now I have about 20 cleints that used to be with ATBS, they have promised a number of tihings but have not lived up ot there promises. Other items, If you need a reciept that is under warrentee, and the receipt is in there hands, Getting that receipt might be a problem immediately, but in the long run you will get it. might be a week or 2 later. then its too late.
I do have to have receipts or you can scan them into a pdf file, copy ot disk, and send the disk or the receipts to me, I inturn copy them into a pdf file on my computer, and all information is kept confidential. Everything is backed up and saved on a external disk, with off premises save feature, We have access to your files if you need them for an audit,
In the 10 years that I have been doing tax returns for truck drivers I have only had 3 audits. the reason was that the taxpayers had waited for 2-3years before they filed the retun for the tax years inquestion. Once the audits were completed, all taxpayers did not have any additional tax owed. and the audits were signed off on.
As far as questions that you ask, I might not have all of the answers, when you would need them, if I can not give you an immediate answer. I will research them, and get back to you as soon as I find it. but I have the experience to handle Trucking cleints on a 1 on 1 basis,
In my office I do all the truck driver returns, no one else has access to them, this way i know they are correct,
Thanks for listening
Franklin Katz, ATP,PA, CPB
Frank’s Tax and Business Service
120 York Rd
Kings Mountain, NC 28086-3151
(704) 739-4039
Fax: (704) 739-3934
Circular 230 Ruling: Compliance
This email (including any attachments) contains PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION protected by federal and/or state law and is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(is) designated as recipient(s). The information contained within this email should not be construed as tax advice. If you are not an intended recipient of the email, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or action taken in reliance on the contents of this email is strictly prohibited. Disclosure to anyone other than the intended recipient does not constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify us by phone at (704) 739-4039 or by email at [email protected] and then permanently delete the original and any copy of this email (including any attachments) and destroy any printout thereof.
moose
Veteran Expediter
NO he is not !!!
Kevin have more failed business in his record then most of us.
he have file for bankruptcy , Big time .
and just last month sold his Fedex NE PA dedicated line on a great loss , after not being able to retain drivers for those 3 trucks , or to keep up with maintenance costs , and business operation , Ext...
Any Fleet owner lease to FedEx on this site will gain more pride and will be consider more "industry Professional" in my book .
he was smart enough to go on air and on his web site , declaring how lucky his costumer where to move on with him to ATBS , and how better of a service they can expect from now on (@the time).
and how close his FL operation was to shot down do to management issue (his words) ...
Ext...
Like to know more ?
maybe someone can contact Kevin , and show him the way here so he can defend himself , until then ,it will not be fair to say more.
he is an "industry celebrity' at best, and as one , he is open for us to second questions his "Professionalism:"
Kevin however had a very tough year do to Personal Tragedy .and my heart goes for him and his family.
Moose.
kevinonxm
Seasoned Expediter
Ok, feel free to have your opinion of me or any of the companies I am associated with, but get your facts straight.
1) I have never filed for bankruptcy, never (easy enough to check for yourself)
2) I have not sold my Fedex contract. (and it was never in NE PA, it's in Orlando FL, Started in 1990 in Akron OH) I had it up for sale and turned down an offer of $500,000. If I had sold for that price, how would that be a loss? I paid nothing for it and it has produced income for 18 years.
3) Driver retention?? I haven't turned over a driver in 3 years, and I have only turned over 3 drivers in the last 10 years
4) Costs? I have some of the lowest in the industry and manage my costs well. I have stated recently that because of the move to Denver and the demands of running a Radio show, teaching seminars and running a website hat I haven't been hands on enough with my trucks. That is why I put it up for sale. I am looking at ways to keep the business and be more hands on but it is still running fine and very profitable. I have even posted my numbers for all to see.
Opinions are one thing, and everybody has them, many people are threatened by the things I talk about on the radio. Facts are another thing, theses are the facts all of them are easily verifiable.
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moose
Veteran Expediter
you Welcome Kevin.
First of all welcome aboard one of the best rewarding and educating web forum For trucker and expediters alike . i hope you will fined it rewarding as i did.
if i got my facts wrong let me first apology for it , and for you personally .
my "opinions" stated above ,are a results mainly of 3 emails (privet ones !) you have send me in the past 6 months.
all have being forward after i have canceled my short (very short) visit to CDLofIT.
you have offered me to buy that fed ex operation in detailed .
unfortunately (as stated on this forum) 6 weeks ago my laptop have crashed (literally) as i brake my truck to avoid a 15 Y/O mustang driver that drove under my truck in M.S ,there for i cannot retrieve that emails .
i do not know you personally ,there for those so called opinions are based on the information you have freely provided on air and in those Emails...
i am aware of how easy it is to hide behind a screen name and make accusations on a person that have to later on show up in full name , yet , you are aware of it too ,as a price you have taken by choice , as a part of your lifestyle .it is you that talk to the trucking nation ,and you need to be accountable too for your own action.
once you get it off the air , it is not yours anymore.
believe it or not , i do respect you and the rule you have taken in trucking ,yet i cannot disagree more, on some (many!)of your statements on air,
one good thing : it made me (and probably many others) to think about the right way to run a truck.
amazingly ,we do not have the opportunity to listen to all of your shows ,or by a choice do not view your web site every day ,there for you can expect as all to get our fact to a limit ,base on what we can get, if there is nothing else to listen on XM ,or to read on the web at a time...
Feel free to P.M me with a phone # and a time to rich you ,i will be calling from a pay phone , (Learn my lesson ).
thank you for getting the "facts" strait ,hope you will do better the next time.(provide as all with the right information as to your business,)
Have a nice day , i may even tone to your show some time ,free country right ??
Moose.
You know I can say this for Kevin he has saved us a fortune; we have learned many many things by listening to him and to his show. We have attended his CMC seminar and we have sat through one of his seminars at MATS. He is out here helped us to better our business and also educating us what to expect in the future. He does not have pity parties you take the present situation and you learn to turn it so you can benefit yourself. We are a lot more confident in our future due to listening to Kevin.
We have recommended his show to everyone who is doing well in this business, who is struggling in this business, and those that are just starting. If you have not listened to him he is on XM channel 171 Weekends 4:00 to 7:00 and through the week at Midnight for one hour. All eastern times.
We have recommended his show to everyone who is doing well in this business, who is struggling in this business, and those that are just starting. If you have not listened to him he is on XM channel 171 Weekends 4:00 to 7:00 and through the week at Midnight for one hour. All eastern times.
It seems as though I remember someone telling me that there were certain tax advantages for buying a new commercial truck or van in 2008 as opposed to waiting until 2009. Does anyone know anything about that? Thanks for the help!
It has been the same for a couple of years due to the depreciation limits,
2005 $100,000
2006 $105,000
2007 $125,000
2008 $250,000
2009 25,000
But there is a problem with taking the complete cost of a Truck, When you take it in the year it is purchased you no longer have any deduction for the following 3 years. This deduction is one of the two largest besides repairs, the other is your Per diem. which should average around $10,000 to $13,000 by itself depending on the number of days on the road.
So if you are considering the total expense for the truck think about the conquenses in 2009, 2010, and 2011, 2012.
Franklin Katz, ATP,PA, CPB
Frank’s Tax and Business Service
120 York Rd
Kings Mountain, NC 28086-3151
(704) 739-4039
Fax: (704) 739-3934
Circular 230 Ruling: Compliance
This email (including any attachments) contains PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION protected by federal and/or state law and is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(is) designated as recipient(s). The information contained within this email should not be construed as tax advice. If you are not an intended recipient of the email, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or action taken in reliance on the contents of this email is strictly prohibited. Disclosure to anyone other than the intended recipient does not constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify us by phone at (704) 739-4039 or by email at [email protected] and then permanently delete the original and any copy of this email (including any attachments) and destroy any printout thereof.
If you take
It has been the same for a couple of years due to the depreciation limits,
2005 $100,000
2006 $105,000
2007 $125,000
2008 $250,000
2009 25,000
But there is a problem with taking the complete cost of a Truck, When you take it in the year it is purchased you no longer have any deduction for the following 3 years. This deduction is one of the two largest besides repairs, the other is your Per diem. which should average around $10,000 to $13,000 by itself depending on the number of days on the road.
So if you are considering the total expense for the truck think about the conquenses in 2009, 2010, and 2011, 2012.
Franklin Katz, ATP,PA, CPB
Frank’s Tax and Business Service
120 York Rd
Kings Mountain, NC 28086-3151
(704) 739-4039
Fax: (704) 739-3934
Circular 230 Ruling: Compliance
This email (including any attachments) contains PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION protected by federal and/or state law and is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(is) designated as recipient(s). The information contained within this email should not be construed as tax advice. If you are not an intended recipient of the email, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or action taken in reliance on the contents of this email is strictly prohibited. Disclosure to anyone other than the intended recipient does not constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify us by phone at (704) 739-4039 or by email at [email protected] and then permanently delete the original and any copy of this email (including any attachments) and destroy any printout thereof.
If you take