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>><we can be civil< This thread is interesting in more than one way. To my mind, the income and deductions are not the most important matters because we really have very little evidence about them anyway. But we often discuss professional issues in this forum, and agreement is not something I particularly look for. Client relations, audit strategies, and tax authority are all good topics for the kind of "banter" we have been having.

IMHO, Joan, you have plenty of knowledge to share (as we all do) and your 2 cents is worth as much as mine. In sharing that knowledge, we can be civil with one another or we can be down right ugly. I thought we had left behind those that blasted fellow members. Evidently, we didn't. Please think before your write. Thanks!

>>link takes you to a login page<< Sorry. You must have been online when I posted, so I didn't have time to check for and fix the smilies and broken links. Note that it wasn't tax court. I don't know why he paid to go to District Court, but they slammed him on everything. His disabled adult daughter lived with him, so he tried to deduct room rental expenses, elderly & disabled credit, EIC, CTC, as well as energy credits and SE business expenses. I guess he filed MFS late, and it covered several years. Talk about red flags--this guy looks like a matador! Along the way IRS lost some records but the court said record-keeping is the taxpayer's responsibility. Great read!

You are so far over your head you don't even know you're drowning. Your client needs knowledgable and qualified representation, and you aren't even attempting to educate yourself on the issues you are clueless about. Have you even reviewed the 19 pages of documents that were sent by your client? Have you read the tax treaty (if there is one with Columbia) to see if the dividends are taxable? It's a de minimus amount, but providing proof for your position on them could go a way towards convincing the auditor that you are competent, for which you'll need all the help you can get, because you certainly are not convincing me. Case law, facts & circumstances are what will prove or disprove the deduction.

I can see that you aren't listening....... No more comments from me.