Leaderboard

Well, if it's "something that in some universe could possibly be a deduction", I would not, because I live in this universe, and as I said, I do not want them to go around telling their friends "my tax preparer said it was deductible". Which, by putting it on that Sch A, you in fact did do. I never wanted my reputation marred by that sort of thing. And I never, so far as I know, ever lost a client by telling them "You came to me for my best professional advice, and I am giving you that when I tell you that the tax law does not allow you to take that deduction". I think, based on her follow-up post, that Tabby agrees with me, actually, on this.

http://chicksontheright.com/posts/item/24654-best-instructional-video-you-will-ever-see-ever Don't be turned off by the still picture. WATCH THIS. You're about to fall in love.

This picture says it all. Like if you agree Comment if you disagree http://i.imgur.com/5Y2bI.jpg

My older girl has the most wonderful way with words. She (at the grand old age of 23) is disgusted by the way people let their pre-teen and young teen girls dress. She has coined a new term for these girls: "prostitots" She also has a wonderful term for those super-short shorts the older teen girls wear, that have the pockets *longer* than the shorts themselves. "cargo panties" I love that girl.

Elrod, listen again. You will get it. Judy, the truth is that if the Mom's refuse to buy trash, they will stop carrying it. Little kids, and even most teenagers, do not have the ability to pay for the stuff, so the parents can, if they grow a spine, control what their kids wear. Plus, if they make it plain WHY they object, and keep reminding their kids that they are "better than that" and should have more self-respect than to dress like whores, or 'gangstas' [because the same conversations should be held with the boys] it will have an effect. You don't, if you are smart, expect them to agree with you. Teenagers think it's REQUIRED to disagree with parents. But the thoughts you plant are still sitting in their heads, you know. And deep down, if your's is a loving home, normal kids want to please their parents, and want their parents to be proud of them. But we have to let them know what we expect, and not be so afraid of making them angry that we keep our thoughts to ourselves. And always, we should let them know that if they want trash, they have to earn the money to pay for it, we will not. Nor will we let them go out dressed in trash! Maybe you should mention to those 'younger moms' that they might be making their little girls more of a target to the pedofiles ?

Yes, Jainen, and thank you. I wasn't looking for the specific advice but only to make the point that even with the simplest of returns there can be difficulties keeping both of them happy, as happy as a divorcing couple can be when discussing finances. Yes, I have a variation of this each year with one older couple. They aren't divorcing, it's that they decided to get married about 5 years ago after having lived together for more than 30 years. He's been my client for 17 years and I'd never met his wife. She will most likely never get over that filing a joint return causes 85% of her social security benefits to be taxable because only about 25% was taxable on her single returns, and she used to use the standard deduction (higher because she's over 65), and always received a refund. They itemize with most of the deductions coming from the husband and the joint returns usually show a refund where a MFS return would have her owing. They both make my job easy by asking what her refund would be if she could file single, he pays her off something much higher than that, and they both go away happy. It works for them.

>>What is your basis for splitting the refund?<< There are several formulas available, and it certainly isn't limited to refunds. it is actually a three-step process. First allocate the income and deductions. Then determine how much of the total tax liability to allocate to each spouse. Then allocate the withholding and estimated payments to see if one spouse already paid too much. You'll have to decide where to put various credits. Keep in mind that clients can agree to one of these splits regardless of how they actually file. They may want a lower overall tax, or they may want to avoid joint liability. Don't try any of these without an informed waiver of conflict of interest, in writing. If you run into trouble, you might be able to get back on track by talking about the two bank accounts for direct deposit. One of the best ways is 50/50. It is simple to do and easy to understand. I justify it on religious terms, community property, low cost, running out of time, postponing hard choices, lawyer's instructions, de minimus effect, or whatever fits the situation. Form 8958 is an official IRS calculation, so it has the feeling of objectivity. It is designed for community property but can be used as a worksheet in any state. It recognizes that some things in a marriage are joint while some things remain separate. The allocation can be made according to law or agreement. The brief instructions are helpful. Formal isn't necessarily better, so variations are to use your own Excel worksheet or just pencil and paper. Usually I will do a quick pencil draft and quote a fee for a more detailed analysis. Here's a model I've used once or twice but don't like. If one party refuses to share I will draft either an S or an MFS return using just those items. The idea is, "You have to file anyway, so how much extra did my information add?" Or maybe, "I won't pay more than if I were single." This can be very misleading sometimes. I mark the printout draft and planning-only, because it does not follow tax law and can't be used for filing. Nevertheless I charge full price for it. . A variation of that is what I call tax effect. Some items are inherently unequal, such as capital gains with a lower rate, claiming kids for EIC and Head of Household, and high income subject to phaseout or AMT. You can use a special allocation to compensate for this. It sounds harder than it is, and I generally just do a partial for the item in question. I only do it on instructions from one or both attorneys, and I don't bother billing because they won't pay anyway.

>>> Can you be fair to both? What is your basis for splitting the refund? 90% of the time my divorcing clients will choose MFJ to get the higher refund and some will ask me that question. How should we split the refund? My answer. I can't tell you how you did your finances but probably like how you split your household income/expenses etc. You guys come up with any reasonable way to split it because it belongs to both of you. How did you do it last year? I am not getting in the middle of telling them the amount or percentage. Never had any divorcing couple insist that I tell them exactly how to split the refund.

Yes...and in NYC (where I live) 65K is not considered a high income. Then, we also have to explain "phasing out" when they accuse us of not entering the correct amount. It's not so much "the myths" that are problems....but the rules that apply to some....but not to everyone.

No...I didn't miss the key words. I was just explaining that the client may know something that the preparer doesn't....so a challenge doesn't bother me. If it's to take a stupid deduction, such as: "I bought a ring...can I deduct it?"....if the client insists, I may fire him. However, sometimes "the ring in question" wouldn't affect anything anyway...so I might put it in and show it to him..but the standard deduction is still greater. Everyone's happy...........