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Lila the giant dog got loose this morning...and she is a runner...cancelled all appointment and initiated a 2-hour search. No luck....I was frantic, but resigned myself to the fact that there was nothing I could accomplish by repeatedly driving around various neighborhoods. I put the word out to friends, facebook, and local animal shelter and got back to work. within 10 minutes of opening the ATX program back up, I received a call from a local Veterinarian informing me that a local auto-body shop had my dog. A mechanic had seen Lila running outside and called her...she eagerly came because she does not know a stranger. He took her to a vet next door and they scanned her microchip. Since I had registered her microchip through 24PetWatch, they were able to get my contact information and called me. I went to the Auto-Body shop and there was Lila...sitting and happily watching the guy sand the hood of a car....so all is well....but the funniest part is that after driving many miles all over looking...where do you think this auto-body shop and Vet were located? the end of my street....no more than 100 yards away.

A lost dog can ruin a perfectly good day. Been there done that - on more than one occasion. My best friend (second to my wife, of course) for many years, took off one day with a pack of dogs that ran through the neighborhood. She was a very young and beautiful German Shepherd. I was out in the yard with her at the time, and when those dogs came by, I guess she thought she had a better offer. This was long before the chip thing and facebook and cell phones and all of that. Three days later we found her. We were walking on one side of a very busy highway and she was lying in a driveway on the other side. It is only by the grace of God that Flower (the dog), my wife and myself did not get hit by traffic when we met in the middle of that road. That moment defined true happiness. Glad your day turned out happy!

All the ones you know about. You are just tempting fate, you know.

Why file so soon? I wait till one week before the deadline. This allows time for error correction before submission preventing the need for W-2C. No benefit to "filing early." I do the same for 1099s.

I am more of a keep things normal sort of professional and would suggest sending the returns in separate envelopes with no explanation. When the penalty notice is received, then ask for abatement. I sense that you are attempting to get a waiver based on first time for all the years. '13 and '10 do not sound like they will have an issue. '12 sounds like a very minimal issue that I would tell the client to pay because it would be cheaper than what they are going to pay ME to mess with it. You can try to get it combined with the 2011, but I think you will spend a lot of time for very little return. The '11 is where the big penalty will be and that is the one that I would want to single out for sure. I do not think it would matter a lot where they are sent. People move all the time and their estimates seem to catch up to where they go. Just be sure that the first ssn on the estimates is the first ssn on the return. Pacun asks a valid question. Who is going to sign the returns? Is your client the executor of the father's estate? I understand he is the POA for Mom, but if you are filing joint returns, I believe you need both signatures - at least for 2010, 2011, and 2012. Mom, via POA, can sign the '13 as surviving spouse, but I do not think that stretches back to 2010 - 2012. I could be wrong about that but it might be something you want to look into.

You win. I am rolling in the floor.

Yes - hugs back at ya! Our phones were extremely busy too. We are wrapping up payroll reports and 1099s. I think we have a corner on all of those at this point. There are still some 1099s that need to be completed but those should wrap by Friday - well maybe Monday. And then it is on to bigger and better things. The returns are rolling in the door. My prize call today was from a name I did not recognize and I got on the phone to find it was an attorney for one of my clients and they (the three clients (Mom, Dad and Son)) and the attorney were on speaker phone. "We (Mom and Dad) are transferring the bar to our Son. What is the best way to do that? Stock or asset?" Really? A heads up to this call would have been nice. But I REALLY like these folks so I will not be too hard on them. We talked it out and got a plan put together. Oh - and then there is the very in depth audit I have going on. It is a Schedule C and Schedule F and one of those random we are going to audit every line on the return audits. The auditor expanded the audit to each year on either side of the original because the client was not forthcoming with info. He is now - he has been coming into my office unannounced on almost a daily basis with a new bag of info. That was another half hour today. New input tab for Form 8283? I will have to check that out before the day is over. Aawww hhhhaaaa hhhhaaa hhhaaaaa!!!!!!!

Yay me...just filed all 2014 1099-MISC forms for clients!

I file now to recipients and the week before the deadline to the IRS/SSA. There's always that call about a new address or even an error in the amount (had a husband/wife songwriting/singer team for a client; we didn't have the breakout right).

I like the new input tab for Form 8283. Don't ask me why it's been a long day lay off. Just kidding. Hugs.

There is nothing worse than a surprise speaker phone encounter. (Y'all know I'm not the person you want to put on speaker phone, right?) Ron, you are too good for this world.

My sources tell me 'yes' - list change # 184

You are correct, Tom. And so is Lion, so I'd certainly mention that to the lawyer. And there should be no problem discussing it WITH THE LAWYER, that is never going to get you accused of 'practice of law'. Just don't do it with the client, unless the lawyer is also present. And be glad the client has a lawyer smart enough to request your professional advice IN ADVANCE.

tell the 17 year old to claim the 18 year old then sit back and watch the fireworks

How can you ask for abatement of penalties that have not been assessed? I agree with rfassett. Each return in its own envelope. Mail oldest first then the others waiting 2 weeks between. Then deal with penalties as they are assessed.

As far as tax reporting, Virginia treats LLCs the same as the federal - it ignores them. As long as you report the federal income as sole proprietor, the state takes that for LLC. They do require the registration statement once a year with the appropriate fee to the State Corporation Commission. And if it is a multi-member LLC filing either a 1065 or 1120S you have to do the Virginia Pass Through Entities return, Form 502. I hope that helps.

If line 61 was checked, then don't worry and amend later if needed. Let the process go flawless and when the client receives the refund, then talk about amending. This makes me think about this: What's better, to find your own practice's mistake and be worried about them, or never know about your mistakes or potential mistakes and drink your margaritas or wine happily?

Sorry Pacun,...Your post just gave me a headache.

One SSN...

Hugs Back......but it really has been a long day. The thunder rolls, the phone rings non-stop and tax season is truly here. This is no time to be calling and asking me for copies of 2012 and 2013.; at any price. I didn't leave my husband for a woman like this client did and now needs copies of her returns to buy a house.

on the official board ATX Kristin is conducting a poll: No to adding an error message regarding ACA or Yes to adding an error message regarding ACA Currently the vote is 22 - yes 5 - no

Clearly this was started as a joke, so this one post will be allowed to stay in General Chat.

It might be a rip-off if you pushed it on your clients, but, depending on the type of clients, if you merely offer it, and they WANT it, I don't think I'd go as far as call it a rip-off. Not something I'd offer, not worth the money in most cases, but not exactly a rip-off, either. My biggest doubt would be over how good the service would be, if they actually needed to use it? I've gotten a number of new clients, over the years, from people who bought H&R's "protection" only to get blown off when an issue came up.

Been there, done that, few things can make you sicker than thinking of all the bad things that could happen to your beloved dog while you race around looking for them. Glad she's home safe.

Now you can pick on child 2 and 5.

So glad for the happy ending!

Discrimination, Whistleblower, and Certain Other Suits - Above the Line Deduction for Attorney Fees The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 enacted IRC § 62(a)(20), thereby establishing an above-the-line deduction for attorney fees and court costs paid in connection with discrimination and certain other suits. In December 2006, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 was enacted creating IRC § 62(a)(21), an above the line-deduction for attorney fees and court costs associated with suits involving whistleblower claims. In order for IRC § 62(a)(20) to apply, attorney fees and court costs must have been paid after October 22, 2004, with respect to a judgment or settlement occurring after such date. Additionally, the suit must involve - Unlawful discrimination, Certain claims against the federal government, or A private cause of action under Medicare Secondary Payer statute In order for IRC § 62(a)(21) to apply, the attorney fees or court costs must have been paid in connection with a whistleblower award for providing information regarding violations of tax laws as outlined in IRC § 7623(b ), and the information must have been provided on or after December 20, 2006. The deductions allowed under IRC §§ 62(a)(20) and 62(a)(21) are limited to the amount includible in the litigant’s gross income for the taxable year in which the deduction is being claimed.

OH MY GOSH ! I LOVE THAT !!!

We got in under the wire! Phew! Thanks again, KC.

If it was discrimination, and a narrow definition (hostile job environment/sexual discrimination/something?) then the lawyers' fees can get netted on line 21 instead of being a 2% on Sch A. As you say, I would not supply the wording but direct the lawyer to designate discrimination if appropriate to the settlement.

I have to say thanks to kc for her timely post too. I had gotten sidetracked getting 1099s and W-2s out and probably would have woken up Monday and realized I didnt re-apply. Filed online yesterday.

You have been given two alternatives for sending in returns and each has its own merits. If you decide to send all of them in together, I recommend "sandwiching" the returns with two pieces of printed paper - both sides printing facing OUT. Text should be in the biggest darkest type that will fit the page, and be something like "Forms 1040 for FOUR years enclosed - 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013" - and make sure each individual return is binder-clipped together so pages cannot be mixed. I have done that, and it seems to be the best way for them not merely to process the return on top and ignore all the others.

This is normal. They will e-mail you if there is a problem with your submission. Tom Newark, CA

It was my own w-2 from my corporation, so I'm not concerned with someone coming back saying it has errors to correct.

It's a normal delay. I couldn't find information yet about this year's processing, but using last year's processing as an example, W-2s submitted after 12/20/13 weren't put into processing until 2/11/14. I submitted one file already and will wait several more weeks to check on the status.

I have real tax returns to work on.....

My question was not posted as a concern. I wanted to know how JB handled. I knew how I would have handled it.

Thank you RitaB, I stole your pic --- it will help get some attention for some doc's I am waiting for.

I will place the ACA questions on the other forum. Thank you.

Yes KC...Kristin at ATX is notifying proper folks to get the table corrected.

We made a mistake today on it. One of our new preparers didn't click some checkbox and line 61 didn't populate. Our reviewer also missed it, so she e-filed it. Less than 30 minutes later we noticed the mistake, but the fed came back Accepted. Darn drat damn. We made an amendment. How much did we delay our client's federal refund?

Glad it helped someone. Especially YOU, dear friend.

Right. For him to file HOH, he must be able to claim an exemption for the child. The special rule for divorced parents does not apply in this situation.

Who Must File (Form 8965) If you are required to file a tax return, you do not have minimum essential coverage for yourself and everyone else in your tax household, and you want to report or claim a coverage exemption for yourself or another member of your tax household, file Form 8965 to report or claim coverage exemptions. Attach Form 8965 to your tax return (Form 1040, Form 1040A, or Form 1040EZ). If you are unable to check the box on your Form 1040 series return indicating that every member of your tax household had minimum essential coverage in every month of 2014 (and therefore you are filing Form 8965 to report or claim a coverage exemption or are making a shared responsibility payment), you do not need to take any action to indicate that some members of your tax household had minimum essential coverage for some or all months in 2014. (The underlining is mine)

You got the correct answer from Frazzled, mom as single or HOH if she qualifies and father as single. Or father as HOH (if he qualifies) with the dependent child and mother as single without the child as a dependent and no benefits. The only time I have seen one filing as HOH and claiming EIC without claiming the child is in the case of separated parents. One parent lives with the child all year and provides more than half of the support, get HOH and EIC and signs the dependent release form so the absent parent can claim the child.

No, they cannot split the tax benefits. See pub 17, page 31 Sometimes, a child meets the relationship, age, residency, support, and joint return tests to be a qualifying child of more than one person. Although the child is a qualifying child of each of these persons, only one person can actually treat the child as a qualifying child to take all of the following tax benefits (provided the person is eligible for each benefit). 1. The exemption for the child. 2. The child tax credit. 3. Head of household filing status. 4. The credit for child and dependent care expenses. 5. The exclusion from income for dependent care benefits. 6. The earned income credit. The other person cannot take any of these benefits based on this qualifying child. In other words, you and the other person cannot agree to divide these benefits between you. The other person cannot take any of these tax benefits for a child unless he or she has a different qualifying child.

I am proud I did do at least my minimum exercise before the client appointments began today. And my phone tracked walking up 10 flights of stairs and I know I did at least two more when I wasn't carrying the phone! Benefit of having an upstairs office Filed my first return today too.