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Your husband and I have a lot in common

Locking drop boxes are great. Be sure to write down the key's code and remember where that is, or don't lose the key like I did. I now expect to find the key tomorrow.

I have two identical pairs of earrings. My husband like them so well that he gave them to me two Christmases in a row, forgetting that he had bought them the first Christmas.

I carry E&O because we live in a litigious society.

We had a 67 Plymouth GTX and used to leave your roadrunners in the dust at the drag strip. We've been Jeep people for a couple of decades now and believe that all those other SUVs out there are just Jeep wannabes. I just so happen to be wearing my Jeep sweatshirt right now (not the kind with the printing upside down). I will reluctantly switch to Win10, even though 7 does everything I need it to do very well. Just like the old 1040 did what it was supposed to do in two pages instead of six.

Intuit is doing the same thing for QuickBooks desktop. We changed the last computer to Win10 this past summer.

I give everyone a physical return but the reality is through the year they want pdfs because the originals were lost and they want some sort of financing or tuition deal.

Have a client who owed on his original STATE return about $100. He pays it We did an amendment and he owed $100 more and he pays it He gets a letter stating he owes another $100. No clue why but he pays it. When I called they said I needed power of attorney to talk about it even though I had power of attorney and the checkbox. They hung up on me. He gets a check in the mail for a $800 refund and no explanation. State sends him a letter saying he owes $200 and he pays it. Next year we aren't submitting the efile until the 15th of April. The IRS hasn't sent him any communication at all - only the state.

@schirallicpa, read the linked page for sec 121 for yourself and see what you think regarding the period of nonqualified use as it applies to your client's fact pattern where I believe your client falls into the exception in sec 121(b)(5)(C)(ii)(I) . Here's what it says:

Does anyone else remember a point in time when you had to buy a TV gadget convert to digital TV, well there is nothing we can do but to accept change.

CPaperless has "Signature Flow" that does e-signatures. The only fee to you is per-signature, unlike many services that charge monthly. Since we only do ...maybe a dozen? e-sigs per year, a hefty monthly fee would be prohibitive for us.

SendSafe from CPaperless only works with Outlook - which itself has security flaws big enough to drive a truck through, sideways.

Bill, your wife certainly has great taste. The necklace and shoes are awesome, as of course, are you! The husband and I were reminiscing after I showed him your wife's shoes because I had a very similar pair that I wore way, way back when we were dating. He said he couldn't take his eyes off of them. Thanks for sharing.

I believe that Virginia considers birth certificates public records and they can be obtained by going to a DMV and paying a fee. I am not sure what information he will need, but if he claimed them on his taxes he obviously has birth dates and social security numbers. That being said, i tend to agree with ILLMAS that you should refer him back to the "expert" that filed his return and claimed all those people and credits.

While I agree that there is a tax benefit if a payment to the partner can be properly labeled as a withdrawal vs guaranteed payment , the partnership and partners still need to follow tax law of what constitutes a guaranteed payment, follow the partnership agreement, and be able to justify that the payment(s) is a withdrawal and not a guaranteed payment, especially if payments were historically paid on a similar pattern or frequency and reported as guaranteed payments in the past. You might consider reading this article that talks about what guaranteed payments are, and it may help you discuss this issue with your client: https://www.cpajournal.com/2017/09/01/greatest-hits-avoiding-costly-mistakes-guaranteed-payments-partners/

When I went through school in 96 we had to do all the forms by hand in pencil so that you really learned how a change on this line of this form affects things on that form. I can't even imagine trying to do that with this new I'll be nice and say, "stuff." I'm doing good to know what the schedules are now. What was that about the Paperwork Reduction Act????

Employee W2 SSN masking is coming soon... Employers and employees will now have to do verification work, since employees will no longer have a way of knowing what SSN their withholding was credited to. While having a SSN compromised is not fun, human error will cause more trouble.

Vogelscheiss!

I would WITALADY, but it's been 10 years since I've done any tax prep. I think you'd get a lot madder at my mistakes, than my sideways humor. I'm Just trying to be kind to everyone.....

still counting.. as have too many in waiting for info! really!! and then I get this email how I'm stressing her out as she thought she was filed in sept with her entity - wait! expecting her to pay and she travels her all over and how can she stop and take care of this in a fire sale.. I sent her her personal 2x since 9/15 filing - revised when she decided to put all towards 2019 - so I sort of need the revised 8879 and again my final payment - oh - I thought your estimate covered it all No - that is why I do not file til all the bills are paid - what part do you not understand - people like you get irritated and then do not pay me - so cough up the credit card and call it in!! Going to bed now - I am too upset with her!! all those I can finish are done - waiting for payments and signed 8879's and info ones and 3 IRS ones that I should file the state and 4 with state rejects I have to read up on and the 2 coming in yet ... worse than ever ! and then calmly email her am... have a great fall all D

In recent years, I've prepared our own after all my paying customers, at least all that I have a chance of completing by 15 October. A few years ago, ours was rejected, because someone used my SSN (not hubby's). So, printing and mailing checks to the IRS, CT, and IL was a day late with P&I. I filled out all the paperwork, but that was the year with some IRS hacks, including into their IPIN system, so I couldn't get an IPIN to e-file the next year. The next year, I stopped everything weeks early to be able to e-file ours in plenty of time, expecting it to be rejected again. It was not. I've been preparing ours about 1 October since, just in case. But, this crazy year with TCJA, rehabbing my new hip, and two new grandbabies, I started yesterday! Need to get through all my Schedule C-related stuff to be able to write a check for my SEP for hubby to run down to our broker today or first thing tomorrow. And, IL does not accept the e-postmark, so I'll send the states separately tomorrow and federal on its own. Next year, I'm back to 1 October. I used to start ours first. But, broker statements get so many extensions. By then, clients are dropping off. Ours got later and later. Maybe I should just pick a time, such as August, and prepare ours no matter what. Acknowledgements are straggling from the IRS, PA, and NY for those last three. Good luck, everybody!

The IRS only looks back 6 years. If the prior year returns (more than 6 yrs) are sent to the IRS, they will be rejected, unless they are still open because of an assessment made in a SFR.

Could also be a Qualified Domestic Relations Orders in which case the amount paid to ex are taxable to her. You need find out exactly what the court order was and how much actually was paid to ex.

I think I found it. There is a button that says "Unmute when answering incoming calls" and that button was turned to off. Thanks for the insight, it helped me find the issue (I think). Tom Modesto, CA

"effeminately?" Not sure what kind of line that actually is given the definition I Googled.

I have worked with small landowners and ranchers with occasional timber sales. In these cases, I have taken the position that the taxpayer is not in the business of raising and harvesting timber and have reported on Schedule D. I find it odd the basis equals sales, unless the land was recently inherited. I have seen cases where tax preparers pull a number out of the hat to determine basis. It can be tricky but using timber growth rates, and historical market prices a reasonable estimate is possible. When dealing with timber keep in mind the $10,000 above line deduction for reforestation cost.

Doing this may fix the problem. Opening the return in the original year will update the return(s) to the current version of the software.

@Max W Ed, where do you see 2 years mentioned? Everything in the two posts are for 2016 other than examples and his mention of computer errors in general and citing a separate problem with 2018 TT's 2210 bug.

What is really odd is that there two years dealt with on one CP2000. CP2000s are issued for each separate year. My hunch is that someone was assigned to do a CP2000 for both years and tried to do it on one. What tax year does the letter say at the upper right? What is the tax year? The second thing that is odd is that the transcripts do not match the 1099R's. CP2000's are initiated when a mismatch of the transcript income for a specific from is greater than reported income. For AUR the only way IRS determines the correct income is from the transcripts. For appeals, did you file the request on form 9423? You can also use CDP form 15123. Although, it is ostensibly for determine if the IRS used the due process procedures, but also, any other issue can be brought up. Both have to be timely, but form 15123 also allow for an equivalency hearing, if the deadline for filing has past.

Look at it this way, you can move out of your home and rent it before you sell it with out reducing the exclusion. But, if you convert a rental to your personal residence your exclusion is reduced by the portion of time it was previously held as a rental. It actually kind of makes sense.

Indeed! As seen when the OS is updated, having application items affected by an OS upgrade causes issues (which is should not), and while the issue is MS caused, the support is pushed away from MS. There are other ramifications, but the result is still the same, so what cbslee says.

yes - so in this case the spouse did get her own 1099. I guess I had just never seen that spelled out before on a 1099 so it threw me.

Basically they are office sharing and each individual would deduct there share of the expenses on their own a Schedule C. This is very similar to what Real Estate Agents have to do. I don't see any way to set up a business entity in these circumstances!

I have carried E&O since I went out on my own. A couple of years ago, I added a cyber rider.

"You will be able to transmit returns to Drake up until 9:55 pm ET on November 16, 2019 - The IRS cutoff time is 10:00 pm ET. We strongly suggest you attempt your final transmissions at least one hour before the cutoff time,"

And a lot of times, those QDRO assets get split and re-titled - in which case, the ex will get her own 1099-R and your client's has none of the ex's distribution. Or, shouldn't have.

The spouse should have received a 1099R for her portion of the annuity. You probably need to find out from the client whether or not the $85397.64 includes the spouse's portion. If it DOES include hers, then her portion is alimony.

Can't think of a single reason why they wouldn't be income just as if they were Nonemployee Compensation. Lynn - sorry but I can't give you a straight answer. Financials are all messed up. For example, some 1099s have joint recipients.

Is a step-grandfather not considered a relative in the state of Virginia?

Thanks, I was hoping that at least one was allowed! I used to have a NY client several years ago but she moved back here. Could be a scary adventure!

It goes on the 1041. This blog from a professional CPE site explains it clearly and has the cites to back it up: https://www.taxcpe.com/blogs/news/cancellation-of-debt-of-a-decedent

Likely, unless the return is a PDF, you would have to come up with something to allow printing in a close format. (Note, even PDF is not perfect, it cannot be guaranteed to match what the author intended, since PDF software now allows the end used to adjust the file, such as line width, fonts, etc., and that does not even consider the fact that printer software is imperfect - such as really margin accuracy.) PDF is the one format you can count on to be close, assuming the end user does not muck up the settings. Personally, I would not trust any built into PDF creation software password and/or encryption. PDF security is said to have been compromised, at least once recently IIRC. Since it is a common format, it is reasonable to believe there are hackers constantly looking to break the security. With that said, PDF security, with a kept up to date creation system, is likely good enough to say you took reasonable steps to be secure, if you are comfortable with that, and with your business insurance :). For sending something securely via email, PGP type systems as Catherine mentioned, are likely reliable, provided the system in use handles the questions from the end user (unless you want to take on that support). On the other hand, when I get "secure" messages from our charge card processor, it comes in the form of a message, with a link, for which I have to sign in to see the message. There is no support needed, as it is very clear what I have to do. It is a bit of a PITA, since the message eventually is shown to me as a tif file (an image), but I am completely comfortable their system is as secure as can be (since it contains data one would not want in the wild). While I do not use ATX, what G'maBee said about a client portal is very likely some sort of secure method to contact your clients, and possibly share data. Hopefully it is some sort of system like what our charge card processor uses, not just a way to send "secure" PDF files.

He paid me and that's not the issue. And he gave me extra money to cover the tax he owed, and a couple bucks for my doing it for him. So my lazy side this morning wanted to just pull it from my account and get his return out of here. But I did go to the post office and got a MO. But it begged the question, if my info shows on someone else's return, can the IRS or state lien or levy my back account in the event the same taxpayer didn't pay tax due.

I've not gotten bitten but would never put myself in that situation, either. It's one thing to not get paid, even for months or ever, for services rendered but it's for certain I would never put out my own money for the tax debt of someone else. Guess I'm not as kind hearted or trusting as you.

You could try deleting the input numbers for those fields and re-entering. Sometimes a space before or after can creep in unawares. Otherwise, search Google for reject error list.

These may not help, or may not be what would accomplish the task: try to save the worksheet and reopen it before copying, or use 'save as' and rename to create a new file rather than copying it. I tested mine and am not getting any pop-up. Maybe I have a different version, or something is set differently. Sorry I couldn't help.

Sounds like a rock-solid plan to me.

I love the comparison. It's great for clients, and also great for ME in reviewing. If I see substantial differences year to year, I go back and make sure there is nothing crucial that I have missed (or the client has forgotten to provide me).

That was a great reference Mike. Your expertise in Clergy Tax a is great Blessing to this board! Per Rev. Rul. 64-326 : A day or two before concluding his services, B meets with authorized officers of the host church to determine the amount of compensation he will receive. It is customarily agreed at that time that a portion of B's remuneration will be designated as a `rental allowance.'

The client I spoke with who has this arrangement has now gone to a local hospital in not good condition. I decided to ask this question to the PPS as I may now have to confront this problem. The individual with whom I spoke said she did not know in fact stating " I don't know what you are talking about" and further advised she would transfer me to another area. Shortly thereafter the phone connection ended. So much for IRS assistance.