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Grammar saves lives!

That happened to me twice. Now I have a new MO. I hold every dependent return until the parent's return is accepted. Standard Operating Practice now. It will never happen to me again. Then, I have a jello shot. Right, Rita?

If I had a nickel for every time I said that...

Terry, no way would I touch those returns without talking to the people involved. Those are not HIS returns to make decisions about, just because he prepared them. HE does not have a legal right to show them to you, or anyone else.

"Cough syrup"

I just made a rule that there would be no filing of dependents' returns until parent returns cleared!

I have made this very mistake - once. After that I vowed to always file the parents' return first, and then the dependent's return. Oh, and the year I made this mistake I did not charge the parents for the returns. I didn't wait to file the parents, just made it a paper/mailed return with an explanation cross referencing the dependent's amended return.

I have many old...sorry, longtime clients who are well trained by me to send a fairly complete package every year. But it is their kids, the 20, and the 30 somethings who year after year send me such a disorganized mess, missing docs, and with round numbers in the 100s or 1000s, and after multiple phone calls (they hate talking on the phone that's why I call) and e mails (their preference) it takes forever to get their file out of the rack. One even forgot to tell me they had a baby, after I congratulated him, which I found out from the grandparent. Makes me crazy, thank goodness for Motrin.

Terry D, we had a young woman appear this year who is a child of one of our clients so we charged her half price. I didn't do her return but was called over to answer her questions because the preparer was with other clients. Our return showed a $2k+ refund, but she did it in TurboTax and was getting over $4k and wanted to know why. So I actually interviewed her (the original preparer never even met her) and discovered that although she had a child, she was under age 24, a full-time student, lived with her parents, and no way did she supply over half of her own support. Her refund changed to $19. She started to cry and said that if she couldn't claim herself she would lose her FREE state medical insurance, her financial aid for school, should she change her address to her boyfriend's, blah blah blah. She ended up paying us for our work but asked that we not file the return. I am certain she went back to TT and got that $4k, free medical insurance, a big grant for college. Her parents make more than I ever did. And as a taxpayer, I am the one paying for that insurance and college and great big EITC. What is wrong with this system? As to helping a fellow preparer with questions on a return, it's a wonderful thing. We do it on this board all the time, and I get calls from preparers in other firms for help quite often. (I find CPAs are not so willing to help, as they see it as taking away business or something.) I think we realize none of us can ever know every kink and turn of our convoluted tax code and therefore are willing to share what we have mastered. I am not worried about someone taking away business. We have more clients than we can handle and either have to cull our client list and/or hire more help. That said, the person asking your assistance is clearly not a fellow professional, he only thinks he is. You made him realize he is indeed in over his head, and maybe he'll give up the endeavor when you point out tax code intricacies he doesn't understand. I'd let him swim.

Rita, I sure am glad you added that comma.

Well, the commercials and lack of IRS audits mean everybody with a computer is a tax professional. Shoot, your guy here is a professional with just a pencil. This is killing us. Other professionals can charge what they want because people can't do their own lawyering or doctoring or tooth pulling or insert your own example here. You can charge based on the problem you solve. If there's no problem with preparing an incorrect tax return, they don't need us.

Welcome! So glad to have you in my world!

I would include the education expenses on Mom's return. I believe tuition paid with UTMA accounts is treated like Student Loans and can go on the return of the person claiming the dependent. This is from Pub 17: Who can claim a dependent's expenses. If an exemption is allowed for any person who claims the student as a dependent, all qualified education expenses of the student are treated as having been paid by that person. Therefore, only that person can claim an education credit for the student. If a student is not claimed as a dependent on another person's tax return, only the student can claim a credit. Expenses paid by a third party. Qualified education expenses paid on behalf of the student by someone other than the student (such as a relative) are treated as paid by the student. However, qualified education expenses paid (or treated as paid) by a student who is claimed as a dependent on your tax return are treated as paid by you. Therefore, you are treated as having paid expenses that were paid by the third party. For more information and an example, see Who Can Claim a Dependent's Expenses in Pub. 970, chapter 2 or 3. ************ To me, the only verification would be that the parent contributed more than 50% of the total support, which you have already verified.

Very nice KC....A method, as from the old school.

UNLESS lived in by beneficiary, an inherited house is considered investment property. Always long term.

Yes, I often nap after the last client leaves! But I've started getting kinda chatty with them too. I must be starved for social interaction. But I got to leave the house TWICE this week!

Oh yeah........ (and yes, that's a bit of my desk underneath)

I am amazed you managed to leave them untouched long enough to photograph them!

You love torture teasing us, don't you?

Who said they were thinking?

New client never heard of deducting medical insurance premiums on Sch A. I questioned this during the review of their 2014 return. No medical expense deductions and the cost of their insurance premiums exceed the 10% floor. 2015 expenses are even higher previous preparer didn't tell them this. So they say. These folks have rental property and don't know what a depreciation schedule is. Depreciation shows on Sch E on 2014 return but they don't know what it is being depreciated. Previous preparer did not provide the depreciation schedule and there is no form 4562 in their return. Next one, guy comes into my office with a handwritten 2014 return that he prepared himself. Took the wrong education credit and screwed himself out of about 1500.00. Has a kid in school first year so AOC. He leaves happy and I have a 2014 return to amend. All good so far. Same guy calls and says he is preparing return for a friend and doesn't understand the ACA and where or how to input the information (hand written paper return again). I blow him out of the water with all the different ACA calculations, form 8965, 8962 and the formula for determining affordability using the poverty level calculation. Of course, the went through it quick and technical. He says "I think I'm in over my head". Me - Yep you are fixing to blow another hole in your foot. Now he wants to pay me to get his butt out of a jamb with his friend. Yes, I will charge accordingly. But the nerve of some people! (This is a good place for the head banger emoticon)

Clearly, only one of them was thinking that day.

I agree 100%.

Client brings in Mar 21, 2016 letter saying IRS has resolved an issue with his 2013 return and will be mailing him a check for $2.77 in four to eight weeks. Whew. We didn't even know there was a problem. Dodged a bullet there.

And in the coffee, and Monsters and Rock Stars......

Client has a terminal disease and got a W-2 from The Guardian Life Insurance that reads: Box 1: $26,878 and nothing else no box filled out. On box 13 it reads: Third-party sick pay. Depending on how this benefit was paid for, it could be fully taxable, partially taxable, or not taxable at all. Any other advice that you can share before I contact this client? How do I report this w-2 in ATX?

Thank you.

GO TO PRINTERS and devices. choose another printer as default. print something and then reselect the one you normally use.

Was there an update recently? This similar topic was recently posted where ATX finally determined that this earlier issue was caused by an update and was related to KS estimate vouchers. Also, I ended your post to remove your personal contact information.

To those who celebrate, Happy Easter! Have a great day today. I will probably be back at my desk after Easter brunch with my family.

B: The partnership may have changed preparers, and instead of not reporting anything in Box 14 like they had in the past, the new ones put something in that box. ATX also changed some things, and is now defaulting to putting something in box 14. Your client gets a W-2 for her wages. Correct? While some may state that is incorrect for a partner to get a W-2 from the entity, it actually works in many respects. She should just have a guaranteed payments line for $100,000. This 1.51% interest is her share of the profits after actual business expenses, and clearly part of the "limited" partnership interest. I would ask for a corrected K-1. You may not get it, but you can ask. Sometimes it alerts the Tax Prep firm that they screwed up. File the 8275 if you want. Support for it is that the treatment is inconsistent in THIS year by the firm. Rich

It was not business property so no to 4797. I would report on 8949/Sch D. Basis equal to value at DOD of dad plus expenses not deducted elsewhere.

PAINTING EXCEPT for new construction is always a current year write off

Indirect maintenance and repairs. Take total amount.

Spoke with client. He expects 2016 to be a big income year so I suggested he apply an amount TBD to his 2016 estimated taxes. He likes that idea. This year I have been slow to get there...... Bad things about home office:. Pretty lonely sometimes, no really fancy copy machines, no admin assistants. Good things about home office:. The afternoon nap .

I only e-file 1099's. I only electronically transfer W-2s. One main and overriding reason. ACKNOWLEDGMENT. If there is ever a question by the IRS, only electronic acknowledgment will be accepted as proof of filing. This also goes for extensions.

Enter them in alphabetical order. Only way I have found.

Taxable amount goes on Form 1040 line 7. Enter this W-2 like any other W-2. Of course, if the amount in Box 1 is not all taxable, I'd enter it all on line 7 and then subtract the nontaxable amount on Line 21. I bet it's all taxable, though. But, you never know if a form is correct or not. Unless you did it yourself. Yanno?

In the 11 years I have relied on Eset NOD32, absolutely NO virus or malware has infected either my Windows-based primary desktop or laptop. One desktop in my network inhaled a rootkit Trojan, once, when an assistant downloaded it from a French site. (At no extra cost, an Eset tech talked us through the process of extirpating the rootkit.) That's the ONLY time any platform in my network has been infected in any way. In the past three years nothing has infected my spouse's Apple-based platforms; she didn't use any third-party antiviral before that. Eset offers a more wholesale Security Suite, that I simply haven't felt the need for, given my experience with NOD32. I started using Eset because, at the time, it was the only antiviral that hadn't failed a VB100 test. Eset has stumbled in a couple of the quarterly tests since then, I've read, but it really has kept up its perfect record for me.

Rita, you hit it head on! He is going to pay me to do the review which doesn't mean I am preparing the return. I will point out the errors and then offer to prepare the return at my normal fees (well maybe a PITA fee is in order here). Exactly as you said, I am not educating him on how to prepare returns and take business from me.

I also have high-roller clients. Guy brought in 12 months' bank statements Thursday and said "There's some interest on that bank account, but they didn't send me a 1099 form; I don't know why." Checked after he left and the YTD figure was six cents.

COPIED FROM THE ATX BLOG: Federal and State Tax News Highlights,I.1,IRS Releases Revised Form 3115 and Instructions; Transition Rules Provided (Ann. 2016-14),(Mar. 25, 2016) The IRS has revised Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method, and its instructions . The current Form 3115 (Rev. December 2015) replaces the December 2009 version. The IRS will accept either the current Form 3115 or the December 2009 Form 3115 on or before April 19, 2016, except where the use of the current version is specifically required in guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. Taxpayers filing Forms 3115 after April 19, 2016, must use the current version . Regardless of the form used, taxpayers must provide all the information required by Rev. Proc. 2015-13 , I.R.B. 2015-5, 419 (or Rev. Proc. 2011-14 , I.R.B. 2011-4, 330, if the taxpayer is making a change under the transition rule in section 15.02(1)(a)(ii) of Rev. Proc. 2015-13 , as modified by Rev. Proc. 2015-33 , I.R.B. 2015-24, 1067). Beginning in January 2016, the duplicate copy of Form 3115 for an automatic change request should be filed with the Internal Revenue Service, 201 West Rivercenter Blvd., PIN Team Mail Stop 97, Covington, Kentucky. 41011-1424. A taxpayer filing its duplicate copy of Form 3115 (Rev. December 2009) before April 20, 2016, with the IRS in either Ogden, Utah, or Covington, Kentucky, may file its original Form 3115 with its return on either the December 2009 Form 3115 or the December 2015 Form 3115.

Yeah, right!!!! Haha, still 8 pages.

it takes about 4 or 5 years for them to understand when they have it all, it is not ALL, they always forget something. Some times I catch it on the intake most of the time not, because they are worried about the deductions

Bahahahaha! I don't know, but I do know that every time a client says, "It's all there," I know for sure it's not all there. Every. Single. Time.

I got in a new client who moved to the area, but wanted a CPA because the guy she went to in LA that her friends went to just didn't seem 'right'. And some of her friends got audited and the guy wouldn't help them. Now this girl is just out of school, and 2015 is only the third tax retune she's ever filed. On the 2014 return: $3000 of cash charitable contributions (she only donated a little bit to goodwill) lots of employee expenses, including auto insurance, auto payments (she's a nurse, doesn't drive for work) some licensing and courses she did give him receipts for, clothing, shoes under other misc itemized: the pension payment shown on her w2, the code DD medical insurance from the w2, $1000 in hobby expenses (no hobby income) and some more stuff. $35000 in itemized deductions in total and she really only has state income tax and her vehicle license fee because the lil bit of legit employee expenses don't exceed the 2% floor. Oh, oh, and the preparer name was stamped on the return over the 'self prepared' note that turbo tax puts on the bottom of the return , and instead of being signed there's another stamp with an initial. And the PTIN is a stamp too. She's going to bring me 2013 too. She wants to bust the guy. I hope he gets jail time.

Guy called me Friday the 5th, can I drop off Saturday the 6th, no, please wait till next week. He drops off Saturday the 6th. I refrain from killing him because I knew he would do that, and my daughter is here in the office studying. And I love her and don't want her to see a dead body until she gets out of grad school. He comes in with another form Wednes the 23rd. No, I hadn't done the return. I know better with him. That's right, you better say my hair looks nice. That's right, you better come to a rolling stop as you lay that gently on my desk and turn around and don't let that door hit...