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I think the IRS needs to add a space on Schedule A next to the charitable contribution line that says "it's actually more". I can not tell you how many times I have heard that this year.

Shared by a friend: A little boy was doing his math homework. He said to himself, 'Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine....' His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, 'What are you doing?' The little boy answered, 'I'm doing my math homework, Mum.' 'And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?' the mother asked 'Yes,' he answered. Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, 'What are you teaching my son in math?' The teacher replied, 'Right now, we are learning addition.' The mother asked, 'And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?' After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, 'What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four.'

That's how I calculate taxes, Catherine....especially as the end draws near.

"How much can I claim without raising any flags?"

Or, whatever the standard amount is.

Or.....How much can I use?

I want a shock device that zaps them second and subsequent times they say, "I didn't know how that worked."

Probably very good. And now I'm almost out of mandarins, AND STILL WANT PIE!!! Dammit. At least the guy with the NY deferred comp & options found tax returns, a calendar of days worked where for 2006, plus some EOY stubs from 2007. Gotta love someone that keeps records! I'll extrapolate for 2005. But pie, oh pie, would make everything better.....

DNI = distributable net INCOME. The property is not income (albeit income producing). Old Jack is right--the 1041 reports income and what if any income was distributed, not distribution of assets.

I am in a horrible mood. I have been working on the same tax return since 10:00 this morning. (I skipped Church to get something done - that's a joke.) My assets have all gone missing, and I HATE charitable organizations that send clients a letter saying "Thank you for your in-kind donation valued at $3,000 . . . Please keep this letter as proof of your tax deductible donation". Clients do NOT like what I have to say about that. Aaargh!

Look at the exceptions to Time Lived with the Taxpayer, specifically "Temporary Absences" which includes, school, vacation, business, medical care, military services, or detention in a juvenile facility, count as time lived with the taxpayer.

Hey America - Get Your Billions Back!

oops, I didn't see "prior" . NJ-Non-resident. You may have to allocate the income to be sure nothing is taxed in NJ.

Or, if she really moved prior to 2014 as she told you, then a NJ NR return to get withholding back (good luck!) and NYS/NYC resident return.

Part Year NJ and Part Year NY

Remember this one? So I emailed the son about my decision and reasoning. Yesterday he emailed me with a copy of his mother's signed durable POA from 2001 (I think around the time of diagnosis of declining mental health) naming him as contingent with all rights to sign, etc. "I'm thinking you may not have seen this POA before..." Right. Still an attorney 'feels' he could still 'help' his mother sign the returns. I assured him that I have no problem any longer with anything except an attempt to have his mother sign. He should sign and be done with it. We'll see what happens next! Can't believe in all our exchanges that he has never mentioned this. No, I didn't specifically ask as deceased dad told me that she did not have a POA. Guess he forgot.

Was a part-year resident return filed in 2013? Need a date the residency changed. Yes you need to file in both states.

One thing is for the employer to accept the change of address in a timely fashion and another is to file the NY state withholding form. It doesn't matter when the employer knew about the change of address what matters is that the employee didn't inform the employer that NJ taxes were continued to be withheld. So, it is what it is and it is what you have on the W-2. That money is long gone to NJ and you need to pay or recover.

There are always one or two of those every season, so hopefully that's your last one.

It's ordinary income taxed at the ordinary rate because it is considered compensation because the employee receives the award for their service to the company. It should be in his W-2, subject to withholding. Be sure to read up on how the sec 83(b ) election works. This article from Grant Thornton is pretty good and explains it, including the vesting and other issues with these. Or this one from Fidelity that is in a FAQ format might be an easier read that gives the highlights of how these work.

And unicorns make good pets! Never gonna happen in our lifetime.

The phone number to call is 1-800-908-4490, Ext 245. The taxpayer should file the 14039 with the paper return and call the number as well to report the incident. If they end up having to wait too long on the phone, I would tell them to maybe wait till after April 15th and try again. It's not major critical to report it right away because they aren't going to do anything about it right now anyway. But the tp should at least call the number after 6 weeks or so and check on the status. Oh, and btw, it's best to send the 14039 and paper return CERTIFIED. That way you can prove they got it.

Here is some news. The spouse in this situation has called, (she left her husband to inform me and question the grant) and now tells me that this grant is a fully taxable fellowship grant and does not fall under a NIH grant. I did question her extensively about the paperwork with the grant and sure enough it is taxable. I guess their confusion was everyone who works or does research and is a part of this project all use turbo-tax and have always included the funds in taxable income. I did the same thing from the get-go. They complained about paying the State of Maryland and not NC. Okay, NC gives credit for taxes paid to another State. Yes rates are different but there is not a huge difference in the bottom line. No one else on her team files anything with Maryland. This is a government grant issued by Maryland and I am still not sure that Maryland doesn't have to be done. Nice to find out all of this after I have burned the candle out doing research. If she would have only called a week ago.

I think the best thing is to look at the audit guide just posted here recently. From my recent experience and the replies on this board, the 1099A box 2 is essentially the 'selling price' of the property and used to determine gain or loss. The amount in box 2 of the 1099C is considered income but it sounds as if your client is insolvent. I think you use 982 for that. Others will chime in and be better guides but that recent post is great. I also found it on irs.gov by typing in cancellation of debt audit guide.

Janitor Bob, your assumptions are correct. Only amounts exceeding the distributions are eligible for those various deductions and credits. I always report on a Line 21 worksheet and then back it off on a second. As Rita B said (I think it was her) in another thread, even though the worksheets don't transmit it gives *you* a memory trail of what you decided and why. Plus you can always print the worksheet for the client. We all have clients that want to know "where did you put this?" and you can point to the worksheet as proof that you didn't forget something crucial.

I just re-entered them. I felt it would be quicker than waiting on tech support. I hope they don't somehow duplicate themselves (both show up) in the efile. Eeegads.

You already are. You are just not paid! You belong to the Government Insurance Law Enforcement Division.

II I really admire whoever baked this one.

One of my restaurant clients for whom we do EVERYTHING picks up his payroll every two weeks. With no rhyme or reason, every now and again he will come in carrying one of his pizzas. And he always seems to know the exact right time to do that. Nothing like food to change the tone of the day. I don't know why i did not think about the cookie angle before Because if there is one thing I like more than pie, it is a good cookie. In fact, the girl scouts were on the side of the road today selling cookies and I almost ran them over because I saw them too late and got all excited and started my turn too late. I never pass up a girl scout selling cookies. So I bought a case of the do-se-do things. Should last me a little while. Of course, that is in addition to the five cases (mostly thin mints) that we bought last week. But getting my clients to make me cookies - I have got to develop a plan for that. I send out a weekly email to my clients. Next week I am going to put in a blurb about how much I like cookies and how stressed I am right now and see if anybody is listening. It is worth a shot. And I have never been above begging.

Form 1041 is an income tax form to report taxable income, not for reporting distribution of the value of assets to beneficiaries.

Send your client to: http://www.irs.gov/privacy/article/0,,id=249802,00.html There is a phone number for them to call. You can be proactive and complete form 14039 to be included with the paper filed returns you must do. Someone has filed a tax return with their SS# as primary taxpayer.

The ONLY reason IRS is being proactive on identity theft is because they got "crawled on the carpet" about sitting back and only going after those who committed identity theft many, many times. Each of the steps they recommend are vitally important if a taxpayer is seeking a quick resolution to their case...and who isn't?

I was hoping my favorite math teacher would jump in here, and she did. She is the one who taught me to memorize all the digits of pi. That was a breeze. But I'm still working on getting them in the right order.

Probably no one would go for this - permit tax return filing only after all information forms have been received by IRS. So It may be May or June before filing can begin and NO refunds without matching first. For Schedule C filers with estimated payments, no refunds, only application to next estimated payment. Harsh but I think it would make at least a dent in this and prevent a lot of CP2000 letters and replies.

I've never done a return for a blind trust, but here is my take: I do not think the trust is a grantor trust because if I understand correctly the way blind trusts work, your client (the beneficiary) does not control the trust. The lawyer is likely the trustee. I think I would file a 1041 with a k1 to the beneficiary. Unfortunately, I do not believe you can transfer withholding to a beneficiary via k1. Line 24e—Federal Income Tax Withheld Use line 24e to claim a credit for any federal income tax withheld (and not repaid) by: (a) an employer on wages and salaries of a decedent received by the decedent's estate; (b ) a payer of certain gambling winnings (for example, state lottery winnings); or © a payer of distributions from pensions, annuities, retirement or profit-sharing plans, IRAs, insurance contracts, etc., received by a decedent's estate or trust. Attach a copy of Form W-2, Form W-2G, or Form 1099-R to the front of the return. Except for backup withholding (as explained below), withheld income tax cannot be passed through to beneficiaries on either Schedule K-1 or Form 1041-T. The client I have who has a trust (not blind) for her lottery winnings has to pay the taxes on her individual return each year reflecting all of the pass-through income, but she has to wait for the refund to process from the 1041. That's my best inexperienced advice. Hopefully we'll hear from someone who has more experience.