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7 years ago today, my high school sweetheart and wife of 17 years passed away. Some of you were with me in spirit then (on old ATX forum) and offered words of encouragement. Thank you. Life is a crazy-magical thing....the door closed on that part of my life....and another opened just a few months later....affording me the opportunity to spend the 2nd half of my life with a grade-school sweetheart. During this time of year that is so filled with tax returns and clients....a take a little time to remember and be thankful. The motto I've learned to live by: "Shit happens...get over it...live happy"

It's the not-weird people you have to worry about.

Eric, you're weird !! (But, you know I love you anyway.)

The very worst are the attorneys and financial advisors who convince elderly people who have no money to give their homes to their kids or to start trusts. These moves backfire more often than not and are so often unnecessary because the clients don't have much in the way of assets to protect. They end up paying for gift tax returns and annual trust returns, which cost them dearly. Not to mention the dangers of giving their homes away while they still live in them. I know an attorney couple who promise that when they retire they're going to go to all those free lunches and dinners these sharks offer and loudly start asking questions like "doesn't that only make sense if I have more than $5 (or $10) million?" I'd love to be in the audience.

I remember that so very well and have often wondered if your second romance ever went anywhere. Apparently, it did. Blessings on you. I can't believe that it has been that long.

Yes, we were with you then as well as when you found more happiness. I love your attitude. It's probably why you attracted two wonderful women -- plus all of us friends, too!

Keep on keeping on JB...........You're the Dude..

I wouldn't use it either. Send the 1099 to the payee with "REFUSED" in the appropriate box. I would send it with a generic looking note that this information is being furnished to the IRS. When the payee causes more of a stink, your client can tell the payee not to worry, that the IRS knows how to find him.

Yeah, that's the scary part. Forget about licensing tax preparers. License parents!

Can you use sec 121 on a decedent's 1041? After all, the decedent is, well, dead, so no longer living in the house now that it's in the estate/on the 1041. The house is no one's principal residence while it's in the estate, unless a beneficiary is living in it.

I think that I would use it as start up expense and amortize in 2013. Anyone?

Check out http://www.mousemitt.com/. I wear mine all the time when working on the computer. Best preventative money I have spent!

Yup, I agree with Judy. Do the whole return to get correct numbers, then file one original NY return & prepare amendments for fed & NJ from the ones you prepared.

Squirrels are the worst. It's like they TRY to get run over. Back and forth, back and forth. No more braking. I'm done.

OMG, yes, and the new client, whose previous preparer (if you can call it that) retired, and it's like he has never heard any of this. I look at her return, and IRS is apparently not even trying. Never seen so many business miles, pretty sure you can't even drive that much in a year unless you work for NASCAR, and home mortgage interest on the Sch C, just because he put it on the organizer there, and she didn't care, and OMG...

I HATE financial advisors who don't inform their customers that when they take money out of their retirement account it is taxable; or they don't advise them on withholding options; etc. Then when we do their tax return and break the bad news to them, they get mad at us like it is our fault.

I don't have any of these as clients, but they are not scarce when it comes to showing up at my office saying, "Let's work together and help these clients." Meaning: "Send me your clients, cause I don't know what I'm doing. Oh, and no, I didn't talk to you in high school, but let's have lunch and see how we can work together now. Since you have lots of clients and I don't."

Well it's really part of her compensation, for services rendered, wouldn't have receive it it she wasn't an employee, etc., so SE.

The truck is company owned. The driver hauls one load per day to a destination about 3 hours away. Driver does not pay for fuel, repairs, or any other expenses. She gets her hourly pay plus the 15 cent per mile payment. Only the hourly pay is shown on her W-2. DOT rules of service don't apply as there is no rest period required. I look at the payment as part of her taxable compensation, but evidently the employer doesn't. We just want to make sure that she doesn't get CP'ed later on.

The employer clearly misunderstood the rules on paying a "per diem" to their drivers. It's a win-win to long-haul drivers and their employers, but does not apply to local drivers, unless the driver supplies the truck.

Assuming they actually have any vehicle expenses? If the company they work for owns the truck and pays for all fuel and expenses it doesn't seem like the taxpayer could deduct 56.5 cents per mile. If the employee has to provide their own vehicle and is responsible for vehicle expenses then it might make sense to treat the 15 cents as a reimbursement and deduct the standard mileage rate.

Tabby: The court decree of their divorce carries no weight with the IRS. The IRS sets the rules to who can claim who. And "Court decree" is NOT in that language. Rich