Jump to content
ATX Community

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation since 02/29/2024 in all areas

  1. My daughter gave me a placard for my desk that reads, "I can explain it to you, but I cannot understand it for you."
    13 points
  2. In case anyone here needs a laugh today besides me, it is so corny that I couldn't resist sharing.
    10 points
  3. Just received an email from "Karen" that says "I have uploaded my 2023 tax documents in the workdrive below secure link, please look through it, and let me know if you need any additional information. Also will it cost the same as the last." I'm small enough that I know all my clients and didn't fall for it. Those that deal in volume returns or have staff beware!
    9 points
  4. Almost every client I have, has "some" Social Security included in taxable income. When I started in this business, only the "pretty well-off" did.
    9 points
  5. You probably need to ask a lawyer for a proper answer, but what is his recourse if you ignore him? If you need to respond to him, be short, be to the point, be stone cold, do not be emotional. I'd suggest something like: "You requested 5/18. I originally agreed to that. Your request to move that to April, and now March, is not feasible. I will let you know on 5/1 if 5/18 is still feasible for me or if I need more time." Do not go into detail. Do not state reasons for your decision. Reasons are something to be refuted; do not give him that option. When he responds, most likely angrily, do not answer his questions and again, do not go into detail or give reasons for your decisions. Remain stone cold and keep your reply short. Reply with something like: I have stated numerous times that your request is unattainable. I will update you on 5/1. If he responds, reply with: "I'm sorry, I cannot do that. As I do not have time for your temper tantrums, I will block your email and phone number until 5/1 and contact you with an update at that time." You have the right to walk away from an abusive situation. Exercise that right.
    8 points
  6. Cigarette smoke and couldn't wait to get them out of my office. The firm I worked for early in my career had a seafood market, and the stench from its papers was nauseating. The owners knew it too because they and the kids would shower and change clothes after work. AIr out as best you can, keep the docs sealed up and in a separate area until ready to work on them, and get the work done sooner than later. Maybe you could put a box of baking soda or some odor absorber/neutralizer in a bag with the papers.
    7 points
  7. yes, just had a client with modest income who took $15k out of her IRA with 20% withholding--she still owed because of the additional Social Security income being taxed. It's been $25,000 and $32,000 since...the 90's?
    7 points
  8. $3,000 net capital loss allowable per year. I have clients who won't live long enough to use all their capital losses!
    7 points
  9. The program doesn't allow you to create two. We always just add the two together and let the stone land where it falls. IMO, the 8962 is one of the most difficult forms to understand. At least, they gave us more leeway this year.
    7 points
  10. that was able to use a passive loss carryforward - in full! I have been waiting for a very long time.
    7 points
  11. I'm glad I'm winding down.
    7 points
  12. I used to teach taxes (first for Tax-Aide, then for HRB and local chapter of FSEA) but somewhere along the way I apparently lost the ability to explain taxes to anyone.
    7 points
  13. Detail pages for dividends - the crucial bits, that show the foreign amount (for foreign tax credit), the federal percentage of dividends, the state breakdowns for tax-exempt interest or dividends, etc. No, I don't need or want the "preliminary" or "summary" statement that's 6 pages. I want the 28-page extravaganza that looks like boilerplate mixed with gobbledygook to the client. And the 5498s. Not exactly a form, but the bursar's office printout for all college costs.
    7 points
  14. I'm as confused as everyone else by this. This sounds more like a partnership with one partner selling to the other, and that this was incorrectly handled as two proprietorships. If not, how does your client explain the shared checking account?
    6 points
  15. Simply viewing an email will not infect your computer. However, clicking on links or opening attachments can. Even when I get an email from a a company I do business with, I don't click on the links. I go to their website and login.
    6 points
  16. Prior year returns get my current-year rates, adjusted as always for complexity of the return in question. Won't even look until after 4/15 or they can go elsewhere. Have a new one this year, two amended returns, sent by his brother who is handling their now just-passed mother's final return. He's fine with waiting until May, after discovering an error for 2021 & 2022 (thanks, TTx - the gift that keeps on giving).
    6 points
  17. I feel the same as Bulldog, but I do not take any new clients that are behind in tax returns until after April 15th, they have to go on extension. If they are not willing to do that then they are not the client for me. I feel like the clients that keep up on their returns in a timely manner deserve to be taken care during the regular tax season. For the most part that has worked out well for me, however there is ALWAYS exceptions.
    6 points
  18. I would say even if they were gifts, she takes the giftor's basis (is that a word?) in the gift, so basically, if she sold them for more than what the 'basis' was, gain, and if not, personal loss not deductible. My 2 cents, and I'm ready to stand corrected.
    6 points
  19. It's based on this quote by Upton Sinclair: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
    6 points
  20. I've had a lot less of forgetting all the dividend pages since I've had my portal and more clients are getting their 1099s in PDF form. They just upload the PDF and voila! I've got it all.
    6 points
  21. My favorite is "Why is my 401(K) distribution included on my return? I already paid the tax (pointing to the withholding box). It shouldn't be on my return." Some people are convinced they are "paying" the tax twice and can't grasp the concept that the withholding is just a prepayment of the tax that is going to be due, not the tax itself.
    6 points
  22. 1095-A. Whether they have a subsidy on their insurance or not, I have got to have that form or the return will not go through on e-file. Year after year, they "forget".
    6 points
  23. Actually winning anything at gambling would also be fictitious if JohnH is involved. Don’t ask me how I know…
    5 points
  24. I don't know what I did, but it works now. Hubby fiddled around with windows updates, but they were all up to date. But then it all updated and the efiles filed.
    5 points
  25. I charge no less for prior years than current year. When I'm running late, I charge the same. When the client was late, I charge a bite more, making sure I take into account my time dealing with past info/forms/etc. (and, of course, more for additional forms/issues/etc. in those prior years). A new client with multiple years, probably the same price, but based on what's in each year. But I'm not taking new clients except good referrals! Schirallicpa charge them royally for your brain power and angst to go all the way back to the beginning of Covid.
    5 points
  26. LOTS of these! But I just hover over the email address or compare the email address with the Reply to address and invariably they're not remotely related.
    5 points
  27. I think the "collapse" in housing has little to do with taxes and everything to do with interest rates. No one wants to give up a 3-4% mortgage unless they have to. On the other hand, those complaining about 7% rates must not remember the 80's when rates were 13% or more. As for tax items not adjusted for inflation, we have the $300/$600 election for the foreign tax credit.
    5 points
  28. Personally I think the dependent care credit, and most other credits, should be eliminated and tax rates lowered, but adjusted for inflation, the items mentioned above are: $3000 dependent care credit initiated 1976. Adjusted for inflation, $16,551 $3000 capital loss limit initiated 1978. Adjusted for inflation, $14,723 25K/32K social security thresholds initiated 1984. Adjusted for inflation, $75,256 / $96,328 I'm sure there's a ton more, but the few other items I can think of that haven't been adjusted for inflation: $25 Gift limit initiated 1962. Adjusted for inflation, $255 $25K passive loss limit initiated 1987. Adjusted for inflation, $68,962 $150K passive income threshold initiated 1987. Adjusted for inflation, $413,776 $10K SALT deduction limit initiated 2018. Adjusted for inflation, $12,375 $10K FBAR threshold initiated 1970. Adjusted for inflation, $82,096
    5 points
  29. The 25/32 income figures go back to the 1983 change to make 50% of social security possibly taxable.
    5 points
  30. I am starting to get millennials in the 16 to 18 year old range, mostly kids of my clients, who are filing their first tax returns. I have to make a conscious effort not to laugh when I watch them try to sign their names in cursive. They get a pained expression on their faces and it takes forever. Many just give up and print or make an illegible mark. I'm afraid that within a another generation cursive writing will be lost art.
    5 points
  31. I have an open bookcase in my office just for the convenience of my clients. They are free to browse and take a book or two. They often leave books as well. The readers in my clientele love it.
    5 points
  32. I love real books. We felt it was one of our missions to keep small independent book stores alive during Covid, so we bought lots of books. Still do. Give books to grandkids for every occasion and any reason. (Another mission was to keep our favorite restaurants alive by doing take-out every Sunday; we're still doing that.) However, we both have Nooks, and hubby has the Nook app on his tablet also. Sometimes the Nook is lighter, plus it doesn't require an external booklight to read at night. And, I don't have to wear my reading glasses in bed, because I can adjust the font. (I've bent and broken a few reading glasses by laying in bed reading.) I just got a cover that has an elastic hand-hold-thing, because I usually drop my Nook on the floor when I fall asleep in bed. As well as preferring the Nook for reading in bed to unwind so I can fall asleep after working late (unless I'm reading a lightweight book that holds my booklight without flopping), I prefer it for travel to take lots and lots of books with me in one compact, lightweight package. Right now, I have one hard-cover book and my Nook on my nightstand; hubby has a tall stack of books and his Nook on his nightstand and his tablet in the living room.
    5 points
  33. If truly gifts, the rules for basis of gifted property should be used: sold at a gain, the basis in the hands of the donee would be donor's basis sold at a loss, donee's basis is the lesser of FMV at the date of gift or donor's basis I am willing to bet that this basis information does not exist. Was this activity a multitude of generic mass-produced toys accumulated since childhood that were sold off, or more valuable pieces considered collectibles that either held their values or possibly increased (true antique pieces, or something like the original handmade cloth Cabbage Patch dolls, etc)? I'd say that the schedule or form where to report these depends on the client's intention. Did the client view these toys as an investment, or is client talking about this as a business where more toys may be obtained as inventory with the intention of flipping for profit?
    5 points
  34. That reminds me when I went to elementary school we had phonics. As a result I am a good speller. When my wife went thru elementary school they dumped phonics for "sight reading". As a result my wife struggles to spell, even though she was a good student.
    5 points
  35. I'm such a dunder brain. Client withdrew $250,000 from an IRA and had no withholding, but there is no way he can possibly owe taxes because he withdrew it over several months and not all at one time. Absolutely no way. After a 30 minute conversation (30 minutes that I'll never get back) and haranguing my staff for another 30 minutes, unfortunately, we still do not understand. I wish I were better at my job. Do you think if I recommend one of the big box preparers they might have someone who could understand more easily? I would say Rita hugs all the way around, but I'm in no mood to be that close to him or his offspring, who came to join the 'this has to be wrong' chorus. Happy Wednesday.
    5 points
  36. I always take the word of the client, unless there is a suspicious reason not to. It is the job of the IRS to audit them, not mine. One concern is that these assets were purchased prior to the formation of the partnership, and were contributed as capital investment - i.e. "hot" assets. They will have to be tracked if that is the case for five years. Also, my experience is that the partnership will not last long, unless they are bound together like family members. I don't know how many of these partners love each other to start with, and after six months they are ready to go their separate ways. Running a business is not the same as painting.
    5 points
  37. That's why we need to move to Colorado. Our son DIL are there to help us. My step-daughter came over today and cleaned and dusted since I don't have a robot that can dust or clean bathrooms yet. This was a first in 34 years and I was super grateful. I highly recommend RoboRocks! I had a Roomba and a separate mop before, but they are not nearly as advanced as the RoboRock. Hubby came home yesterday with 24-7 oxygen so now I have 50 feet of tubing running through the house. I have to find a way to get it off of the floor. This is a new phase for us, but we will figure it out.
    5 points
  38. Oh....I love that. Is that your own or is it a quote from someone else. I am stealing that line. Tom Longview, TX
    5 points
  39. First question I have is how much money are you talking about? A couple thousand bucks of ladders and drop cloths and stirring blades? Or tens of thousands including scaffolding and compressors and sprayers? If the latter, and they honestly don't have invoices, send them to get you (1) a detailed & annotated list including item, who purchased from, for how much and when, and then (2) prices for new same-type items from Lowes or Harbor Freight or specialty suppliers, showing prices. If comparing those two shows a reasonable price paid for used - as opposed to new - equipment, then I would accept it. After reading them the riot act (in print - and get them to sign & date that, give them a copy and you keep the original) that they are never, ever, to buy substantial equipment again without at least a sales receipt showing date, amount, what, and from whom purchased. If the former, I'd still do the letter riot act, and have them bring price sheets for similar ladders etc., but not necessarily require as strict an itemized list. If that means they go on extension while they dredge this all up, that is not your problem, but theirs. Of course, if you think they're cheating, or that they stole the equipment, hand 'em back their docs and wave bye-bye.
    5 points
  40. It's very difficult for a person to understand something when they recognize that understanding it is going to cost them money.
    5 points
  41. Except for fuel cells, the 25D credit is not just for the main home. The solar credit is for any "property which uses solar energy to generate electricity for use in a dwelling unit located in the United States and used as a residence by the taxpayer." So vacation homes, etc. qualify. Only for fuel cells does it say "principal residence". The Form 5695 instructions say:
    5 points
  42. I'd smile like this if my Robbie Robot could prepare the one I just finished and meet with the client too.
    5 points
  43. Only until the notices come in!
    5 points
  44. Clients always think they're doing me a 'favor' by only giving me the 'important pages'. ***SIgh***
    5 points
  45. Reminds me of an article I read many years ago about a pregnant woman who was ticketed for driving in the car pool lane and went to court. The judge dismissed the ticket because he did not want to rule on when a child in the womb reached the status of a person under the law. Pregnant women should be able to drive in carpool lanes now in Georgia. Tom Longview, TX
    5 points
  46. I'd love to hear their arguments / thought process. Have a client who inherited about $5m from her brother and had NO CLUE it was coming (he was much younger, they didn't really talk, died unexpectedly and had no one else in his life). Every time I talk with her she's royally ticked off that she owes taxes on the income. Um, you retired expecting to live on $40k, now live on $200k per year and you are upset?
    5 points
  47. Hey, Frog, don't you love it when the statement shows custodial fees of $7,500 but the client whines about your $750 fee?!
    5 points
×
×
  • Create New...