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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

IRS Gives Advice on Tax Breaks

Posted By: Snow Bunny on 2006-12-30
In Reply to:

Published: 12/22/06, 5:25 PM EDT
By JIM ABRAMS




























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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Internal Revenue Service on Friday advised taxpayers on how to file for deductions passed by Congress too late to be included in 2006 forms.


Nearly 1 million taxpayers may not have their returns processed until early February, the agency warned.


The instructions involve three deductions renewed by Congress just before it adjourned two weeks ago and signed into law by President Bush this week: for state and local sales taxes in states that don't have income taxes, for higher tuition costs and for educator expenses.


The tax agency urged taxpayers seeking the three deductions to file electronically. Software will be updated to include the three tax provisions and taxpayers "will get their refunds faster through e-file," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "Even more importantly, e-file will greatly reduce the chances of making an error compared to claiming the deductions on the paper 1040."


The IRS said that some 6 million taxpayers in states without state income taxes who receive Form 1040 will by mid-January get a special mailing of Publication 600, which will include tables and instructions for claiming the sales tax deduction.


Publication 600 was also posted Friday to the IRS web site, http://www.irs.gov/.


Form 1040 will not be updated and the higher education and educator expense deductions cannot be claimed on Form 1040A.


The IRS said the deduction for tuition and fees can be claimed on Form 1040, line 35, "Domestic production activities deduction," by entering "T on the dotted line to the left of that line. Similarly, the educator expense adjustment can be claimed on line 23, "Archer MSA Deduction," by entering "E" on the dotted line to the left of that line entry.


The sales tax deduction was claimed on about 11.2 million tax returns filed for tax year 2005. It applies to nine states: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.


The higher education provision, which allows deductions for up to $4,000 of tuition and fee costs, was claimed on about 4.7 million returns.


The educator expense provision, allowing teachers to deduct up to $250 for personal expenditures on school supplies, was claimed on 3.5 million returns.


The tax agency said it will not be able to process tax returns claiming these deductions until early February. It said that based on filings earlier this year, about 930,000 tax returns claimed any of the three provisions by Feb. 1. This year, the IRS expects to receive about 136 million tax returns.


The three tax breaks expired on Jan. 1 this year, and thus were no longer part of tax law when the main IRS forms went to print in early November.




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She's get BIG tax breaks by doing that, not...sm
so much here. She can be a cheerleader for everybody else to be helping US citizens, especially during the hurricane, but MOST of her donations go overseas. I'm sick of her high-falooting ways and uppity attitude! I liked her at first, but now she just reeks of "I'm bigger and better." Not allowed on my TV anymore! JUST MY OPINION!!!!!
yes of course I do, I eat, drink, take breaks
40k a year now.  Work your shifts guys.
oh my heart breaks for these
families -- to be told they are alive and now that they are not -- please pray for these families, as only God can provide them any level of comfort now.
are working 24/7/365 and no breaks...sm

All these people, if they were making the BIG BUCKS that they claim to be making, would have absolutely NO TIME WHATSOEVER to be on forum boards posting 24/7.


Most posters embellish and most are full of it!!!


So, yep, I agree totally with your post. 


Kenmore - never breaks
nm
breaks and lunch

I think the way it goes is that you must be allowed to take breaks and lunch.  I was an employee for a company that did not care when you worked, as long as you met turnaround time. 


frequent breaks? nm
x
page breaks
I just press "control" enter and this gives me a good page break.
If you are FT employee, must take two 15 min breaks and 30 min lunch
But, I am sure, many MTs do not do this and say they do.
Working 40 hrs. with lunches/breaks..how do you sm
I have to set up my schedule with my company.  I have to work 35-40/week to be considered full time.  When I log off the system during my workday to eat or take a quick break, I don't believe that it is considered part of my 35-40 hrs; I have to be logged in and at the computer for the hours to count.  Just wondering if you schedule yourselves a lunch or always work through an 8-hr shift, or schedule yourself a 9-hr shift minus your lunch, or how you do things....I can't see how I can work 40/week (35 maybe) without scheduling myself for 9-hr days unless I don't plan to stop and refuel somehow!  thanks
Take breaks, though! You'll regret it if you don't!
NM
I have to take lots of breaks. I work a little then

cook breakfast and load the dishwasher.  I work some more and then do some more chores.  Sometimes I do a hobby for about 15 minutes, or I prep dinner, work in the yard if the weather is nice.  It seems like I'm working 12 hours/day that way, but I'm not and I'm getting housework done too, which tended to pile up when I tried working in 4 hour stretches. 


I also try to make a game out of it sometimes.  I reward myself for working 2 hours straight - maybe read, work on hobby, something just for me, not something that needs doing. 


 


I do the exact same thing... take breaks often..nm
''
...and then we'd be on a clock, taking breaks and lunches just like SM
we were sitting in an office slashing throats over the thermostat.
Do you work an actual 8 hrs a day if hired for such or is it more like 7 with your breaks, etc. nm
s
Feeling too guilty to work after son breaks down.
My son is 9 years old and I love him very much.  The very reason I started doing transcription was to be home with him.  Where we live we have no family nearby so it is just me, my husband and my son.  I recently lost the account I had been on for 6 years and was moved to a new account that is 3 times bigger with 3 times more doctors and all new way of doing transcription.  Needless to say, this has slowed me down work wise a lot.  I am slowly learning the new account but now I just don't have the get up and go to work.  My son just broke down in tears before going to bed, telling me he feels like all I do is work anymore and don't have time for him.  The sad part is that I feel the same way but I am having to work more hours to keep full time on new account.  I love my son more than anything.  He is my life.  I really need to find a better balance between work and home but this seems impossible.  All I can do now is sit and cry myself, knowing my son feels this sad and upset.  If anyone has had similar situation and has any advice, I'll take it.
Completely addicted, do them on breaks from work and before bed.nm
x
Just be thankful that you don't actually see the person, I did. Your heart breaks for them. Goo
nm
Look, I am as tired of everything as everyone. My heart breaks for MTs who cannot buy present for t
and it breaks my heart for people not helping other people. I don't know what your point is. I just don't want to be attacked and it seems we get off the subject and take one line from a post and use it against the person.

I have given people money that came to me door saying they couldn't pay their rent when I didn't really have it, not the whole rent but what I could give. It wasn't important that I knew if they were telling the truth or not, it was important to me I could help. I took 2 cats to help a woman who was evicted from her apartment or she was going to leave them there. I already had 2 cats. I am not religious but it seems strange I was taking my trash out and commented to her about moving when she told me she had been evicted, and about the 2 cats. She was not able to get them back and now I have 4 cats. I gave her money during this time and I did not even have a car. I gave her money on several occasions and I did not put retrictions on where it went. I gave her what I could without going hungry or my cats going hungry and I know she appreciated it. My new neighbors borrowed over 100.00 from me and 2 months later I asked them when they could repay it and it made them mad. They didn't speak to me the rest of the time I lived in that apartment. So what I am saying about that is don't loan money you cannot afford to get back, I already knew that but I was going through a bad time with a company I was working for and needed it. Some people are users but I would rather believe and do, if I help someone it helps me more. The woman with the cats stayed in that apartment for 3 nights with no electricity because she had nowhere to go. The people who borrowed the money from me had a little girl and they said they needed it for a drug prescription. I could have said no I didn't have it, and no I didn't have so much money I could throw it away but even though it made them mad at me, I know that little girl got her medicine. Maybe it was all a lie, I don't really know, but in my mind she got the medicine.

I don't know why it offended you that I said don't attack me, you don't know my situation and I don't know yours. I have no family, just my pets and if someone showed up at my door I would give them what I could, I am just built that way. If I said no, I would shut the door, and then probably run down the street to find them. I have a roof over my head, doesn't mean I will in 2 months, but so many people don't. I am sorry but I really hurt over this.
Tax breaks to companies that outsource overseas... tic tic tic
Apparently, the President has vowed to stop giving tax breaks to companies that outsource jobs overseas.  That is a GREAT thing for MT's!  Woohoo!  Can't happen soon enough. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/15/obama.taxes/?iref=mpstoryview
That makes sense, taking frequent breaks,
plus you would only have to work 3 days a week to be full-time. Wow! I seldom get OPs, think the editors cherry-pick them off system because OPs are very repetitive and easy to expand. Thanks for input, will leave you alone now so you can stay busy. I need to stay off this board during working hours. Would definitely help my line count.
I use the same - Love oil of Olay! Mary Kay breaks my face out. nm
x
I had 439 for an hour yesterday, 1800+ if I don't take breaks in 7 to 9 hours.nm
nm
I think is called preferred vendor? Facility gets certain monetary breaks to only use one

:+


Advice to YOU..1st learn to spell before insulting poster and trying to give advice...sm

yeah tough crowd. makes or breaks a comedian. don't quit your day job andromeda
no one is bent out of shape. it is what it is and the people bent out of shape are those who want everyone to laugh generically without any thought to the content.
Sound advice from a fellow MT if you want advice or support (sm)

I have been an MT for over 10 years.  I also am getting burnt out, tired of my job, day in day.  However, I do love transcription and make excellent money at it, have grossed over $50,000 per year the last 5 years.  I decided to go back to nursing school and am very happy with my choice.  However, over these 10 years of transcription I have had my ups and downs.  My biggest issue with being at home working is lack of socialization, being home day in and day out with just the kids and the animals really gets to a person, sure hubby is home at night and thinks working from home is the easy life, thus the return to school and boy has my overall enjoyment of life changed once I realized I was the problem, not everyone else and I needed to find myself again.


Anyway, my biggest advice to you three-fold:


1.  Get into counseling for yourself, find out who you are and what your needs are, whether or not you think you need to, I sense you are feeling overwhelmed and need someone other than your family to talk to that can be nonjudgmental to your feelings and needs.


2.  If you're only making $100 after you pay preschool you can either keep doing it and be miserable, or quit because you are lucky enough to have a husband who can support the family without your income. (See how fast his mind changes just by losing the income you do have as to whether your job means anything.)  Or look for a different company or office that you like more and are more productive if you really want to do transcription (lots of fish in the sea as far as companies).


3.  Find a local "mom's" group where you can get out and socialize.  MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) is an excellent one that is nationwide, they have a website.  Also Mom2Mom is in a lot of areas.  They provide a once a week time for moms with kids the same age to get together, socialize, (some offer spirtual guidance some don't) and each week a different mom takes a turn watching everyone else's children at the facility that hosts it so the other moms can talk about things they have in common.  Every stay-at-home and work-from-home mom needs to socialize with adults, without their kids, or they will have a nervous breakdown eventually no matter how much they love their kids.


Sorry so long but it does get better but you have to take the first step at making yourself happy.


Stretch .. stretch before you work, during breaks,
after you work. Get the circulation up and keep flexible and limber. It will help.

Yes, your position will make a LOT of difference.

I type at my desk for probably 70-75% of my work. Have to adjust my chair so my legs are neither pushing back to keep me in the chair nor dangling. I use the pull-out keyboard tray but put a huge Stedman's Medical Dictionary under my keyboard so it is up high enough that it is not pulling down on my shoulders to type. Keep my monitor up so I don't find myself with my chin on my chest trying to "look down" into it.

When I've taken my 1st break, I move into the living room and work on my laptop. I can sit either in my recliner or on the couch and have an adjustable laptop table with a wireless keyboard and mouse. It is very comfortable sitting and helps the legs, back, bottom and feet. Change of scenery helps too. However, I do NOT even turn on the TV whatsoever or I'll watch it instead. No TV. No answering the phone (unless it is MQ or Spheris or son's school). At night I move back in here to my desk so that I can finish my lines and not be disturbed by the TV or XBox or PlayStation or company, etc.

You CAN increase your line count. Don't try to do it all at once.

Oh, and be careful what you eat before working and during breaks. Eat lightly, a split between protein and carbohydrates. For me, caffeine and sugar give me a sudden burst of energy but then drop me down as the blood sugar drops drastically so I try to eat fruit, tuna on wheat bread, raw veggies, etc. Keeps you from being in a mental fog and feeling all bloated up.

Good luck! Email me if you need some tips. I'll tell you all I can. It sometimes takes a bit of time for me to answer but I'll get to you.

I'm tired and going to bed. Good luck!

my advice
would be to get an MT job that pays by the hour until your experience and accuracy come together well.

I believe that MQ will pay by the hour until you reach "production" -- but i am not sure if there is a time limit on that. I believe i've seen where other companies do this also.

I admire your refusal to quit -- i believe that is one of the essential traits of a transcriptionist. Hang in there. Very little worth attaining comes easy, you'll make it.
Need some advice

I know this isn't MT-related, but it has gotten me so upset that I can't work, so maybe it is MT-related after all.  Anyway, if anyone has been in this situation, can you please tell me how you successfully handled it?  My son wanted to go away for the weekend and asked to use my credit card to secure a hotel room.  We went online to Hotels.com and found a nice place.  I put in my credit card number and was given a room confirmation.  I then received an e-mail from the hotel telling me there were no rooms available.  I called the hotel and they told me I would have to address it with Hotels.com since they were the ones with my credit card information.  I called Hotels.com and they told me that my card had been swept for the entire amount of the stay ($276.00!) but since there were no rooms available, the money would be credited back to my account.  I got my credit card statement yesterday and they only credited back $71.00 of my money, causing me to incur and over-the -limit fee of another $29.00.  I don't know where to turn to get this problem resolved.  Do I call Hotels.com and ask them to reimburse my over the limit fee?  Do I call my credit card company and tell them that it was Hotel.com's fault for hitting my account for the whole amount when they said they weren't going to?  If anyone has been through this kind of thing before, I would really appreciate your input.  Needless to say, I will NEVER use Hotels.com ever again!!  Thanks in advance for your help!


 


Well said! I will take that advice.

Here's some advice from another old MT
Give Medquist a try. I know there's a lot of controversy surrounding MQ, but there is a lot positive about the company, too. The transcription platform is very, very easy to learn and quite MT friendly. Set your boundaries about the number of accounts you are willing to do right from the beginning.

You will never have to worry about not getting paid on time. If you need no benefits, go with the statutory employee status. There's flexibility with that.

There are apparently many MQ haters on this board, but there are many more who are happy with MQ. They just don't happen to spend a lot of time posting here.

Whereever you land next, may it be a great fit for you. :)
Need advice, please --
My 15-year-old niece has confided that she has met a boy through an over 21 chat room and has been emailing him (supposedly, he is 18). He has been to her house, and her parents have met him and they think he is a nice boy, but they have no idea how they really met.  I have serious reservations about this and feel I should tell her parents, because even if this one is very nice, he is still too old for her, and what about the next one? 
Advice
Learning a secondary account can be challenging but it also makes you a more well-rounded transcriptionist. The more accounts, the more doctors you work on, the better off you are in the long run. If its hard at first, work that much harder to learn it. You can't have to much experience!
Need advice

I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice to give.....I have been debating changing jobs.  I currently make $15 an hour doing transcription in office.  The delima I am having is that the whole reason I started doing transcription was so that I could work from home.  I have been doing transcription for 4 years and my job is really easy and I am happy with the money, there are however other down falls with the company and I am not able to have the flexability of working at home, therefore dealing with the stress of not being able to always be there for "home" things.  I have three school age kids, and they are all very active.  My question is....Do I have a chance of finding anything else working at home or do I just try and suck it up where I am at???   I really have not started looking, so I am not sure what is actually out there.  I hate changing jobs, but I also don't want to settle. 


Just need some outside help and opinions! Thanks, KL


RE: Need advice
Don't forget your taxes. You can really wind up in a mess if you don't get on top of that right away.
Need Advice! What would you do?

Want opinions about something which has come up at work and need some advice. I am the lead Transcriptionist in a department with three other people.

Last year, one of our physicians in the practice was fired and rejoined another practice in town. He currently has a lawsuit against the company about the firing.

Today, I saw letters typed by one of the girls in the my department for this particular doctor. (because this patient switched physician groups). Apparently she has been working for him on the side since October of 2004. I am not sure if she is still typing for him or not.

My question is this, would this be something you would bring to the manager's attention, talk to my coworker, or just let it go.

On one hand I feel she is being dishonest and not loyal to our current company. I do not know if she is saying anything about our practice to the other doctor or not. Also at looking at the letters, she set them up exactly the same way we do. Isn't this considered a conflict of interest?

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!


Re: Advice - sm
My question - is she using YOUR company's equipment to do this typing? Is she doing it on YOUR company's time? THAT would be a NO-NO to me, along with the other points you mentioned, it doesn't seem quite the kosher thing to do.
Thanks for the advice!!! nm
nm
Thanks for the advice!
That does sound reasonable. Anything to get my foot in the door would be helpful.
need advice

I worked for a multispecialty medical center for 6 years that shut down and sent all transcription out to a service.  I got a job with spheris.  I love the company itself, they are great.  But the problem is money. This is my first experience with production pay. To make what I made by the hour, I would have to produce 1500 lines a day. I am now producing about 1000 a day more or less, depending on how much research I need to do, if my cable or power goes out or if their server goes down or is slow.-- I do ER, consults, admit and discharge summaries,  no operative reports. Cant really use a lot of expansions, only for simple phrases or individual words,  no macros, mostly straight typing. I figured once I got used to their system and compiled all my provider samples and got my Expander glossaries pretty much built  I would improve, which I have, but I really cant see myself ever doing much more than 1200 a day, and that would be with no "P" breaks. I am still having to stop multiple times during the day to enter drug names in my drug glossary so I dont have to look them up all the time to see if they are generic or brand names-their spell-check doesnt have automatic caps, which is another problem for me because I am having a hard time training myself to hit that shift key, I am constantly entering text into my expander.  The terminology is not a problem for me.


I am reading that a lot of you guys are doing 400 lines an hour.!!!  My previous job didnt have a word expander, so I know I need to utilize that better. How do you do it, what am I doing wrong, what can I do to improve, do I need to just forget it and apply at Home Depot? I LOVE transcription!!!!


Looking for advice
Hey, anyone in the Portland/Beaverton area I could speak to about the "real deal" in MT work in the current environment?   I'd really appreciate it.  Off line at moosefeather at msn  dot com  :)
My advice to you
You are doing just fine. Trust me, having kids makes it more difficult to get more work done, but you will soon find a good schedule that works for you. I work for Medquist as an SE and am able to work WHENEVER I want which makes it much easier for me, considering I have 3 kids, ages 7, 3, and 2. Your average of 500-700 lines a day is really good for just starting in July. Don't fret, this is one job that you only get better with in time because you become more used to the doctors and type faster, and don't forget to keep adding to your word expanders.

Another tip I can give is to only work when your child is sleeping, otherwise it becomes too much of a distraction to have your child awake and running around while you try to concentrate on your work. Not to mention, it could also be dangerous if you can't see or hear them like you should.
I appreciate your advice and will certainly
take it to heart.

Just wanted you to know though that I already know the information you posted. I had an MT business for 5 years. I've done MT work for 25 years.

I may be new with MQ but I'm no where near new with MT work. This isn't my first time to do IC/SE work either.

My rainy day money isn't going to the govt. It goes for what I want it to. I've been self-employed for a few years now. I know what I'm doing.

Thank you for your advice though!
Advice to MQ.

This advice is given too late, but for future reference...


 


When you have a new program, just send the information out.


 


Telling people a month in advance that you are going to send the information out is just upsetting.  Calling people on the phone to tell them they will get information next month but you cannot answer any questions just makes everyone more agitated.


 


If you think you were offering a teaser to get people excited, I am sorry to say that it backfired. As you can see from reading this board, everyone is just nervous and upset. Some people are out looking for other jobs because they think they are going to lose their SE position.


 


Big mistake......


advice
I quit over 3 years ago. I decided that I couldn't just slack off or use something to help me, I just set a date and totally stopped forever that day. You feel really bizarre for a few days and I still wanted one for probably a year or more, but that was the only way for me. Just stop. Also I chewed lots of gum all the time. I think I probably did gain weight but I got pregnant right after that so who knows what the weight is from.

But it really does make you feel better in the long run and I have a friend in her early 20s whose parents are both already dead because of lung CA (she still smokes, not a big lesson learner).

Anyway, good luck and just stop!! Just make your mind up right now!! Just buy your last pack and don't buy anymore!
Need some advice

Wanting to change from Hospital to working at home and a little confused about what some services are looking for as far as experience like what is basic 4 experience? 


My advice to you
HEY BUTT HEAD - SIT ON A POPSICLE STICK AND SPIN
Advice
I think the best plastic surgery that you could get would be to have your pie hole permanently sewn shut so that no one would EVER have to hear your disgusting voice again.  Also, as an added benefit to us, get your hands sawed off so we wouldn't have to read your posts!  Then you would be really attractive.  Kind of seen but not heard.  WOW that would be GREAT.
You need some advice yourself

What is so deranged about Barney?  You guys attacking right off the bat are making it less likely for people to post because of their fear of being attacked.  I don't get it.  Why don't you just let BARNEY alone and move on.  If people want to respond let them, because if you can pull up a post that Barney is attacking, being nasty, threatening, or being down right obscene, then please share it with us. 


 


If we all are going to be compared to Zipper and MQLOVER and so on, then you are going to see less and less responses from people and that will be thanks to you MQx4. 


Advice
If you want to work for a national, go to one of the major schools, Andrews or M-TEC. Don't go to a podunk internet course that is cheaper, but will make recruiters immediately toss your resume. We do that. We also tend to not get real excited about "hometown" courses, because we don't know the program and don't have time or interest to do the research.

You are selling yourself to the recruiter, so do whatever you can to catch their attention. Good school, good test scores, literate communication. Also--be professional, not cute. No cutesy backgrounds in your emails, etc. Put your experience and/or MT education at the top. I don't want to know that you worked at Gussie's Gas and Go, have experience in parenting, and own a rescue dog. I really don't. Just give me the absolute basics that will make me go "hmmmm!" and, even if you don't have a ton of experience, if you've gone to one of the top schools, I'll look at you.

OH! Also, don't use that silly line about "I have 2 years of experience" when all you really have is two years of schooling. Big difference. I'll toss MT's resumes from one particular internet school just because they dare to try to get that one by me. Don't know if the school promotes that angle or not, but it doesn't fly. Experience means that you're out on the job, without a net, making money--not that you're having every report scrutinized by a teacher and you're paying them to do it.

Wow, I guess I've gotten a little off course, haven't I? Would just like to see you head in the right direction (according to me, of course) right off the bat.

Best of luck, and enjoy the process!