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President signs extender bill (12-18-15) The President has signed the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the PATH Act). Here is a list of key provisions. Made permanent: Enhanced Child Tax Credit Enhanced American Opportunity Tax Credit Enhanced Earned Income Tax Credit Above-the-line educator deduction Sales tax deduction Enhanced mass transit and parking pass benefits IRA-to-charity — California automatically conforms R&D credit IRC §179 — enhanced Enhanced exclusion of gain on sale of small business stock Built-in gains holding period Extended through 2016: Qualified tuition deduction Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit COD principal residence exclusion Mortgage insurance premium deductible as interest Extended through 2019: Bonus depreciation — phases out First year bonus depreciation on automobiles — enhanced Work Opportunity Tax Credit

They hire a bunch of highly paid execs to sit around dreaming up acronyms that ultimately make fun of us taxpayers.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2016 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2016, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 54 cents per mile for business miles driven, down from 57.5 cents for 2015 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, down from 23 cents for 2015 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations https://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/2016-Standard-Mileage-Rates-for-Business-Medical-and-Moving-Announced

A new spirit for Ebeneezer Scrooge to deal with.

Yes! Look at that list of items that have finally been made permanent. Now if only we could have one across-the-board definition of MAGI. If deductions and credits need to be tweaked in other ways, so be it, but standardizing MAGI would lessen the potential for errors.

piggies noshing parsley piffle. this was supposed to be an adorable video of two Guinea Pigs sharing a parsley stem but I can't get it to display. let's try this one Yes! This link works. Four or five tries later...

What Lion said !!!

Don't want to read it today, Tom, still sleepy from yesterday's Star Wars. That was fun, reading this load of _____ would totally spoil my Christmas spirit, so I'm baking cookies for my grandkids instead.

Where do they come up with the names of these ACTs?

WOW! I miss those big dance numbers in movies today.

That was really neat Catherine, Thanks....Sad part of it though.......I probably saw a lot of those when they were originally performed. Still, really neat....

For trusts, the capital gains rate is 20% for the 39.6% tax bracket, 15% for the 25, 28, and 33% tax bracket and zero % for the 15% bracket - according to the USMTG 2016 - paper version.

Please consider NOT using commas or other punctuation in your username. If you have a comma in your name, for example something like "John Doe, CPA", no one will be able to send you private messages through this forum's system, and that includes our owner of the forum and the moderators. If the username is set up like in my example, the forum's software would split the name into its two components as if it is trying to send the message to 2 separate individuals, one named "John Doe" and another named "CPA". I've run into 2 problems this evening trying to PM a new member with the initials "MST" following a comma in the username. The first problem is that the new member did not receive the PM, and the second problem is that we already had a member with the 3-initial username of "MST" that actually did receive my PM in error. If you've already set up your name with a comma and can't find where to modify it, here is the post that explains the process of changing it. Thanks, Judy

COPIED FROM THE BASE NEWSLETTER: On December 16th, the Treasury Department and IRS released Notice 2015-87 regarding the treatment of employer health care arrangements and the market reforms of the Affordable Care Act. Below are a few highlights from the most recent Notice 2015-87: The notice reaffirms that an HRA or employer payment plan with one participant can still reimburse individual market premiums without violating the market reforms. The notice solidifies that an HRA or employer payment plan with two or more participants cannot pay or reimburse individual market premiums. These types of arrangements are subject to the $100 per-employee per-day penalty. The notice amended previous guidance regarding Integrated HRAs. Prior to this notice, the benefit amount of the Integrated HRA could be extended to a spouse and dependent who were not insured by the employer's group insured plan, but insured by another employer's group insurance plan. From this point moving forward the Integrated HRA benefit amount can only be extended to individuals who are insured by the employer's group insurance plan. The notice reiterates that an employer who utilizes an Excepted Benefits HRA or 125 Plan for two or more participants does not violate the market reforms. The notice further confirms that an employer cannot utilize a Section 125 plan to pretax individual market premiums, even if it is funded solely by the employee. These types of arrangements are subject to the $100 per-employee per-day penalty. Many of the questions addressed elaborate on IRS Notice 2013-54, FAQs about the Affordable Care Act Implementation (Part XXII), Notice 2015-17, and final regulations implementing the market reform provisions of the ACA

Mix to a modern tune; less than five minutes. Superbly well done and it must have taken *weeks* of research and cutting. Uptown Dance

Thanks so much for this, Catherine! I saw it on FB but the link didn't work. I am in awe of such talented folks, the dancers and the folks who put this together!

I would just add that while your user name is your choice, please consider that we are a friendly COMMUNITY so while you have a perfect right to any name you like [we all love Janitor Bob, for example] if you use a name or nickname, it makes it easier for others to remember you. Ditto for your avatar, whether it's your loved pet, a funny icon or picture.

Many thanks to all. I knew life was 3 not five after I had posted. Fingers got happy.

It is a "lose" only situation. If the employee comes clean and pays their share of taxes, the employer will eventually maybe get caught, and even if not, the employee will probably lose their job. Been there in my naive youth as the employee.

I seldom do estate returns, but one big reason to file anyway is to elect "portability" by filing a return to move the deceased's unused exemption to the surviving spouse. She/he might win the lottery or the house or other asset might skyrocket in value during the rest of her/his lifetime. It's a CYA so her/his heirs won't sue you for not protecting their inheritance from estate taxes down the road. At least put in writing that you discussed the benefits of filing and have her sign it for your files.

use Form 3115 to treat as a change in accounting method ( improper depreciation method). Then and only then you can take all of the depreciation in the year of sale. FYI, the depreciation life for a tractor (trailer) is 3 years, not 5.

What is probably happening is that the employer is taking a distribution from the company of money on which he (the employer) has already paid the tax. Then he is giving it to his employee. Hence, he is telling the employee that the tax on the money has already been paid (it was taxed as corporate or partnership profit to the shareholders or partners). In the employer's mind, the tax has been paid and he is treating the check to his employee almost as a gift, which it could be if it were not given in return for any services rendered. As to why employers would do this, consider that the employer is not paying his share of FICA and Medicare, nor is he paying Fed and State unemployment tax. Depending on the employer's tax bracket (which could be zero if there is a large amount of deductions or a NOL on his return) he, the employer, could actually be saving money. I do not agree with the employer nor would I take the client unless he reported all of the checks as income.

Them's the rules. Depreciation is taken or assumed taken when it is suppose to be taken. Your over the road truck has a three year depreciable life. If he placed it in service six years ago, you are out of luck. His basis is zero. Hopefully this was not your client six years ago and this can be a teaching moment for you. And you can show him how tax smart you are. Of course, none of that will lessen the sting. But at least he will respect you.

Wondering if the TP treated it like an operating lease and just deducted the lease payments?