lbbwest

I was worried about he SE issue, (increased by gross income attributable to interest.) Every day I make mistakes, on the good days I catch them before anyone else. On the moderate days someone else catches them before they go out, on the bad days, that's right, you already know about them. stay sane. lbb

Hi Linda & Buddy, long tax season, no time to post....lbb here, NO, this issue was debated ad nauseaum for several tax seasons, IRS said (don't remember, but I think Rev. Ruling) MUST be in the name of the business which precluded self-employed from taking spouses employed insurance co-pay or premium. That was the last I read on it, haven't reasearched it this year, sorry, no more specific, but you get what you pay for. Stay sane. lbb

The correct answer in Accounting & Tax is always....it depends. Taxpayer is active military stationed in LA (community property state) Michigan resident; military has right to declare home state, taxpayer owns primary residence in MI, his only income was military pay, (Michigan doesn't tax military pay) future ex-wifes income all from Michigan, she is currently a Alabama resident. (NO Louisiana income involved) THE COMPUTER simply refused to allow him to file mfs without her income on the return, please note NO Louisiana return filed or needs to be filed. Simply required by the programmer due to taxpayer's MAILING ADDRESS. I "fixed it." This is a good example of why if we rely too much on the programmers and not enough on tax law we can inadvertently create unneccessary issus. Have great tax season. lbb

Hey OldJack, how are you doing? Did you know you can read Pub 17 online now? Or even download it? (BEFORE you explode, it's lbb, I'm just joshing you.) See what happens when you ask questions? My first year posting on the old ATX board I asked a question about how to input a partnership return; it was an input question only. One famous poster gave me an indepth answer regarding patnerships being a flow-thru entity and how K-1's work. Unortunatley not one of the several postings giving me a K-1 (Class 101)lesson asnwered the question about how to input the *.X VERY BAD WORD, thing. I still find partnerships in ATX a challenge but can't handle posting the question. It would be great if we would all read the questions and all the answers before we post, but we don't. Including me. My favorit...(remember Roland Suggs?) that guy has forgotten more about tax law than I'll ever know, but he answered a question incorrectly & I caught it. Several lines down the thread he posted EUREKA, and agreed with my post. Sixteen posts after that agreed with his original error. "I think Roland is right.) Take what want, leave the rest. Have a great tax season! lbb

I'm not following the logic, the social security (which comes from tax dollars) is taxed only when there is taxable income beyond a certain limit; so these children must have income beyond the limt. If their dad had lived, his military pay would have been taxed. Dad unfortunately died defending his country. The country then paid his future potential earnings (which would have been taxed) to his surviving children; irregardless of their current financial situation. The government uses tax dollars to make these payments. It's my understanding that survivor's benefits are to help retain the survivor's current financial situation; not to better it. Please clarify my thinking. lbb

Gee, I thought that there was supposed to be partnership agreement to refer to when allocating, income expense etc. Maybe they should think about having one drawn up? lbb

I talked to a very pleasant and knowledgeable gentleman from ATX (who was from Georgia, honey) who explained that I had to create a separate return (federal) for the spouse with VA income. I thought I would post back in case anybody else has this situation. lbb

The input sheet for the VA K-1 info in ATX doesn't match the VA Schedule VK-1. Neither can I directly input it on a form. There are NO VA adjustments or credits for this partner. HOW do I get the numbers from the VAK-1 issued by the Partnership to the VA nonresident return? (I don't know nothin bout birthin no babies Miss Scartlett) lbb

I usually agree with anything tax related 100% with the ever prickly jainen; and I do agree with the retainer up front, but my strategy would differ somewhat. I would prepare the return myself based upon documentation available requesting additional time if necessary; (the most time I have ever had to request was thirty days, and I have never been denied; it takes them longer than that to answer.) However if what you looked at does not appear to be redeemable perhaps my learned collegue's advice is better. Not my first rodeo, but not an "expert" lbb

I was reading these postings and I think the advice is basically good but somewhat jumbled. There is a difference between you choosing an entity for the FUTURE and being stuck with what happened in 2008. #1 go to your partnership agreement, it will address what is or is not a dissolution. KC was of course correct you must file a 1065 for the period that there was a partnership entity. HOWEVER, just because a partners "leaves" it doesn't necessarily constitute a dissolution. This is the problem with all small businesses; they conduct themselves exactly how they want to; disregarding entity rules. Your posting has not convinced there WAS a dissolution. #2 If the partnership WAS dissolved, your buddy was a sole proprietor whether he wanted to be or not, for the balance of 2008. He did NOT file a change in entity; (an LLC declares type of entity upon registration), and as he did not file as another entity the business defaults to a sole prop. #3 Please note we are more than halfway through 2009 you should sit down with him and go through the options for 2009 and get this issue resolved for this filing year. Good Luck lbb

I don't think I used the term "career change." We are missing a lot of trees in this forest. #1 is wanna be surgeon EMPLOYED by the same EMPLOYER? or is wannabe SELF-EMPLOYED? If Dr. wannabe is an employee for Mayo in Minneapolis and does a surgical residency for Mayo someplace else, looking to return to Minn after the "less than one year" he May have a case for unreimbursed employee expenses whether he returns or not. IF he is self employed and owns a home in Fun City or anywhere else and works as a surgical resident on a self-employed basis in Not Fun City keeping the home in Fun City he may make a case for "temporary work" if he is planning on returning to Fun City. IF he is an employee of Mayo in Minneapolis and then becomes a surgical intern at Johns Hopkins as an employee HOW can you justify unreimbursed employee expenses? Which employer requires these expenses; the one he quit, or the one he started with? IF he is self-employed, rents an apartment in Fun City, gives up the lease and then moves to Unfun City to practice as a self-employed surgical resident?????? not planning on returning to Fun, WHY is this temporary living expenses? I think there are not enough facts submitted to assess the correct answer. lbb always humble, often wrong.

I am not as knowledgeable as the more learned members of this board, however at first blush it appears to me that if he is on an "inturnship" sic so that he can BECOME an orthopedic surgeon, the IRS may make a case that his "temporary location" is attributable to educational purposes rather than necessitated by employment REQUIREMENTS. Additionally, if he has an apartment there, I would be REALLY hesitant about taking groceries AND dining out..... but then I don't know nuthin bout birthin no babies Miss Scarlett. lbb

Go to the Ireland Tax Website, that last time I looked (a couple of years ago) it was quite thorough, the tax rates are unbelievably high!! My gut feeling is that if they didn't withhold in Ireland he's probably free there, how is he filing in the US? Resident alien? Partial year???? it all makes a difference. lbb

I disagree, if it's wages it would be erroneous on the preparer's part to list it as "non-employee compensation" aka self-employment income on one part of the return, and state that the SAME income is employee income on another part of the return, hello???? to "prevent (sic) a mis-match letter" Once in a while I am on the side of truth, justice, and light, and you can bet your sweet bippy I am screaming as loudly as I can (which not to be immodest is quite loud) Bring on the letters Oh Baby! lbb

They do NOT self-destruct after a few years. Did you by any chance get a new computer? Sometimes when I get a new computer the old stuff is stored in another drive e.g. f drive, so the icon will be saying go to ATX2004 C: and now it's in F:, am I making ANY sense??? lbb