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Just an editorial. I will try to keep it as non-political as possible: The reason we are in this situation in CA goes back to the 70's and 80's. The state of CA passed a lot of laws for environmental protection and worker protection that some business owners saw as anti-business. The state got a reputation as a high tax, high regulation state and many companies moved to other states, expecially those with no income tax (ie Nevada). However, they kept a presence in the state. CA saw that they were getting a triple whammy to their tax revenues; they were losing the income tax from the company, they were no longer collecting the sales tax for the products being sold, and they were not getting the income taxes from the high earners in the company that were claiming to be domiciled in the other state. So they got aggressive on the concept of nexus. They have been very aggressive in pursuing companies that are accessing "their" market of consumers, but paying no taxes to do so. Famously, they have gone after high wealth individuals who move out of state just before selling their companies for huge profits. They have also gone after a lot of companies who they can attach any kind of nexus to the state so they can get some taxes out of them. The dot com bust, followed by the housing implosion in the state decimated the budget for the state, bringing the typical response from the state of becoming more agressive on collections from companies and individuals with higher incomes. They have also been at the forefront of trying to tax internet sales and attaching nexus to companies who sell in the state via the internet. See the agreements they made with Amazon to now collect and remit sale taxes in the state. As they have gotten the bigger companies to comply with their demands, they have started working on the smaller companies. That is why you are seeing the aggressive steps to go after companies for sales taxes. If they can get a company to register for sales taxes, they can audit the sales, and from those sales records, find out if they can attach nexus for income taxes. Very sophisicated approach the state of CA is using to get revenues from companies and individuals who don't vote. Tom Hollister, CA

Will the banker tell them you are a good preparer, or will the banker tell them their preparer is preventing them from getting the loan? :)

Headline Detroit: Tax Office shooting over refund check not being ready. Client (woman) came back to office with a couple of "friends" Then the argument started and pushing and shoving and one of her "friends" pulled out a gun an shot a couple of people in the office including the security guard! Security Guard in a tax office?? Glad I don't work in Detroit!

Also, just like the numbers doubled if she is married and her spouse "gives" half the gift, if her dad is married she could give his spouse the same amount she gives her dad without triggering a gift tax filing requirement. Sometimes this is appropriate and works, and sometimes for all kinds of reasons this is not what the giver wants. But remember, that is all gifts during the year total $14,000. per person per giver. If she already gave her dad a $1000 birthday present in January, it would drop the available exclusion to $13,000 for this calendar year. Or if she plans to give Christmas presents, the amount she will spend on her dad would need to be taken into account. I am sure you realize that, but we need to be careful to spell that out for clients.

Employer doesn't know what they're doing. It belongs on the W2, but would be WAAAYY smarter for both employer and employee to have an accountable plan. Employer may be playing "hot potato" with the 50% limit on meals deduction... or they may just be stupid.

The company is deducting the amount paid to the worker. If it had been an accountable plan, the worker would turn in receipts and get reimbursed, and there would be no 1099-Misc. In this case, the worker deducts the actual expenses. And, yes, the excess after expenses is like a bonus. Pay the SE tax and carry on.

This sounds just like New York! One Step foot in and you have Nexus so we can tax the hell out you. Sales Tax is the first step they use to get their foot in the door for other taxes they can justify to balance the budget. Don't get me started on Property Taxes...

The banks shouldn't have any sort of preference, other than a preference for the facts. If they spent $27K related to their jobs, the bank should certainly want to know about that. But $27K related to one's job would not be itemized deductions - it would be business expenses. Any banker who doesn't want to know about that is a sorry excuse for a banker. (But I also think we may be combining bankers and loan brokers in the same conversation - they are different animals. The one thing they have in common is they generally know very little about taxes).

If I were in her position, I would report all of the income on my return, then take the after-tax balance attributable to the ORRI and split it with the parent but in increments to preclude a gift tax if giving it all in a single year triggered the gift tax. Don't forget to take the depletion on GROSS royalty, not net of severence tax, ad valorem taxes, gathering, compression and marketing cost deductions.

I'd ignore the email, or else just reply that we will let him know when the return is ready. I wouldn't even acknowledge the reference to the lender. If he asks about it later, I'd just tell him he is my client, not the lender, and that I don't have conversations with lenders. There is some sort of worksheet the client can look at. It's called the tax return. The client does have the option to review the return before you e-fling it. But if he comes up with any "adjustments" I'd tell him there will be an additional charge for the changes (that is, assuming the "adjustments" are valid). If there were any questions in my mind about the adjustments, I'd do what jasdlm did.

And don't live in Detroit!

All good advice, I'll just add one more point. When it comes to gifts to more elderly individuals, it is often smarter to plan a stream of gifts, than to make one large gift, regardless of gift tax issues. Why? Simple reality. Dad might die before he spends it, or Dad might have health problems that impact his ability to handle his own financial affairs, etc. So it might be wise not to gift him a large gift now, but rather to just plan ways to insure his comfort and care, as needed, in future.

If your like me, you start the MFS returns by duplicating the joint return, then modifying to MFS for each spouse....and if like me, you forgot to un-check the exemption for the spouse.... It was nice when ATX added the MFJ/MFS comparison a few years ago...but it would be even nicer if they allowed an automatic "split" of the MFJ return into two MFS returns......but then again, I would complain if ATX had a price tag like some of the packages that do include this feature.

I just finished two for two young girls who owe no tax, but both did work while in school. Grandma made investments when they were small and now, for whatever reason, decided to cash them in and they are registered in the girls' socials. What a nightmare. Also, Grandma did not give the receipts to the girls. Normally, I don't charge for student children of my clients and I spent hours on these. When I talked to Mom yesterday, I told her to tell her Mother that she didn't do me any favors. On the other hand, you have to take the bad with the good and I have had a lot of "good" this year.

She can give $14K this year, and if she is married, her husband could also gift $14K to her dad, all with no gift tax or estate consequences. She/they could repeat the same for 2015 and have given her dad $48K if she is married, or half that if she is single. Also, there won't be any gift tax to pay if she has enough unified credit to cover the "taxable" portion of the gift(s) if she wants to give the entire amount in 2014. If your client made any prior gifts, the amount of the credit available has to be recalculated in this year for prior gifts that used some of that credit because of the increase in the unified credit due to the law changes in 2010. If she's never given any gifts during her lifetime, she could give dad $50K this year, $14K is completely free of any gift tax effect, and $36K of her unified credit would be used up, but she wouldn't pay any gift tax at all. That's a hypothetical based on her receiving $100K; I know you said $100K+, but that's how it works.

If the dividends and sales proceeds add up to more than the filing limit, I would think they'd get a CP2000. Do they owe state tax? I like to file regardless so the year will be closed in 3 years.

(from) stem to stern completely - We overhauled the car from stem to stern. Related vocabulary: from top to bottom Etymology: based on the literal meaning of from the stem to the stern ( from the front end to the back end of a ship)

Put the corrected W-2 in their file. IRS will not issue a notice for $25 difference in tax. No amendment is needed.

I don't call them "Dear John" letters. Just sayin'...

I let my clients choose whether they want to drop off, e-mail, or make an appointment. Except for new clients. I insist new clients come in for an appointment so I can establish a relationship with them. Then, the following year, they can drop off or e-mail as they prefer. I prepare returns during appointments if the return is simple enough. That way I can get the 8879 signed and my fee collected all in one sitting. If the return is more complex, I go over the information with them, ask my questions, and answer their questions. Some clients like to sit and talk. I charge them for all my time. They don't mind because they value my time and attention. Some people just need someone to listen to them. I do not mind because I charge by the hour. I sit with my old-fashioned clients by day and e-mail with the young sophisticated ones by night. It works great. Over the years, I have built wonderful relationships with my clients. Lots of them want to hug me when they come and when they go. I have a yellow page listing but I don't otherwise advertise because I am too busy serving the new clients brought in by word of mouth. Before I finalize a return, I always give the client a call to discuss the results and any ideas I have for additional deductions. At that time I finalize any details such as where they want their refunds deposited or where to set their quarterly payments for next year. Then I print the return, bill it, and give it to my clerical staff for processing. The client gets a call from my staff when the return is ready to sign and pick up, unless they beat us to the punch. Most clients love getting that second phone call from my staff. I do not hand out returns. I stay back in my office when the client comes in to pick up the return. I have found that handing out returns is a big time waster, because some clients think that after their return is signed and the bill paid, is a perfect time to engage me in a half-hour-long conversation. The clients don't need me when they pick up because they already talked to me about the results of their tax return. There are no surprises. They are just as happy to chat with my staff about whose uncle is related to whose sister, etc, at that point. We also give them candy. I keep the candy bowl on the reception counter filled at all times.