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You are absolutely correct. The training for the tax season marathon should never be done between January and April.

PSA: Don't try to train for a marathon during tax season

That's funny. You should write a book!

This is what I have been doing and will continue to do...Instead of paying the fee for LLC, I'll use that money to further increase my liability insurance...or better yet, add a security breach/information loss ryder.

Good - I thought I would spending the weekend catching up on bookkeeping, but happily discovered that I'd already finished it! Bad - I can't really see well enough out of my new progressive glasses and am pretty frustrated about that. Ugly - Client owes BIG tax on 1120S, 1120S loss is suspended, owes capital gain for distribution in excess of basis, owes ACA subsidy because he went way over 400% on his Sch C. Every year it's a new catastrophe. Deciphering his paperwork is like untying a wet shoelace. I want very much to fire him. I love the guy, but dread doing his tax returns each and every year. He's on the short list to get my gentle farewell kiss.

MA annual LLC fee is $500 - plus $20 for the "privilege" of filing it online (which is mandated). So really it's $520. You can buy a LOT of insurance for $520 a year.

You are right. You do NOT charge enough!

Good - good for you. It is always nice to get some time freed up by surprise! Bad - I fired my progressive glasses a couple of years ago and never looked back! Ugly - if we charge these clients enough they come to be not so ugly. Raise his fee until you feel good about it - and if he sticks around you are both better off! And he does not - you are both better off!

Bill.....Hears a hat for Ya...

Yeah, but some of us die hard runners just can't help ourselves. As I am self employed in my home office, I really appreciate that I can just go run in the middle of the day if I choose and I can do my long runs (up to 17 miles this week) Saturday morning and be done with it. I've run 6 or 7 spring marathons during tax season and prefer it over training in the summer heat. I do dive trips in the fall. I agree it's exhausting but, for me, a nice release and I 'have' to get out for some movement and fresh air and a bit of sanity appreciating nature. JB, where are you running? Try the Cincinnati Flying Pig if you haven't done it yet. Great race!

Run faster......Jump Higher..........

In CT, the LLC fee to SOS was only about $20 (maybe only $10 when I went into business) and that's it, so really a little extra protection for no big deal for a SMLLC that's just the same old Schedule C for tax purposes. Then CT added a $250 business entity tax. That makes all the difference in the world to a small business. Buy more insurance coverage, as others have said. To CT's credit, they now make the fee every other year instead of annually, but still....

They now sell "cyber" insurance and I bit the bullet and purchased that this year. In addition to my E&O, I get far better protection for me and my assets for about the same fee as the annual state LLC fee. And I would *still* need the insurance, and that insurance would cost the same.

Hey no problem at all!! I did learn that this morning and as crazy as it sounds, I am ecstatic that I can do this and get rid of some of the paper. I realize that I am behind the times a bit and sometimes it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I also agree with Catherine on the stupid idea of requiring paper and electronic copies but like she said, we are dealing with the IRS.

I'm going to wear the glasses all day today since I'm just printing and assembling and see how things look tomorrow morning. Glad to know that others have had the same experience. FDNY - no line in the middle. I tried a pair of those and and they were impossible for your same reason! The ugly is worse than the bad. I'm ready to pull the trigger on this BIG tax return.....any advice on that?

I sympathize about the progressive lens. It took me more than 6 months to adapt. Even now I have to be careful matching up numbers and descriptions. If there is a big gap between the description and the numbers, sometimes I will confuse the number on the line below with the correct number.

No, there is no savings bond interest exclusion for medical expenses.

You are brilliant! That makes so much more sense, and I did just find the back up. I really appreciate it. It just wasn't passing the smell test.

This is from my sleep-deprived brain, but I think the holding period includes his prior ownership also, so long-term if the two periods add to more than a year. Try your tax research, such as IntelliConnect.

My opinion is that all a SMLLC does in TN is add expenses to your life and some billable work for me. It might POSSIBLY fake somebody out by making them THINK you'd be difficult to sue. Kinda like that time back in the eighties when I tied my horse to a lawn chair while I ran in the house for a Mt. Dew and she stayed put. My motto is do your job right, have the appropriate liability insurance, and don't worry about it.

Terry, this is slightly off-topic, but did you know that you can also save your Word and Excel files directly to the DDM directory and folder for that client, and you can do the same thing with pdf documents the client sends to you. You can also print any document using a pdf printer and save it there as well, such as email correspondence. Sorry for the hijack.

The ugly: This past January I attended a tax seminar and the instructor said he was able to get his client income under the 400% by having his client and wife put money in an IRA account. He gave us a couple of examples in our material, you might want to play around the IRA numbers and see if it goes down and if it does charge them double.

Sorry for the double, now I need a good night's sleep.

Yes, get a good night's sleep and start it as early as possible tomorrow morning. Before you know it, it will be lunchtime. Have a good lunch, easy on the carbs, don't want to get sleepy, then when assembling the return hike up the bill a little. Works for me every time, and I feel good about it.

You just cracked me up! Thank you Elrod, I needed that! Can't stop smiling, wife is asking me what's so funny?

When you say progressive do you mean with the line in the middle? I just got a new pair, top 1.75 bottom 2.75 and they work great. Just don't try to get up and walk around the room and stay away from stairs.

MY hat (if I had one) goes off to you two. As a former long distance runner in my 20s and 30s I don't know how I could do it during tax season now. But it must be a great way to clear the head with that runner's high. For me, with not so great knees from all the pounding they took on NYC streets, cycling is the way to go, do it every morning before the start of the craziness.

Pretty sure it's temporary absence. Probably still lists his parents' address as his permanent address, right?

I had a problem with this too. In my client's case the student had just enough in wages that she spent on herself and also borrowed on student loans heavily, and if I read the rules correctly those loans factor in to the funds that she provided for her own support for the dependency test. In this case the numbers worked out that the parents did not provide more than 1/2 of the support and could not claim her as a dependent, not that they forfeited it, but actually didn't meet the rules. Part of the limiting factor for the parents was that the daughter didn't live at home for a couple of months and so some of the living expenses were prorated for the part of the year that she was at home. Student claimed herself. Then on top of that, she fell into that over 18 but less than 24 age range, and it worked out that her earnings were not more than 50% of her support, so she couldn't claim the refundable part of the AOTC. I think I got it right, but I reread those rules and what I'd saved for my files over again. At least, I hope I got it right....

I have had problems with this too! You have to read it very carefully as the does and does not get passed over. When I make myself slow down and read each word I get it, but can't speed read it or I will read in circles.

I just re-read the IRS Pub 970 section about requirements for refundable AOTC and I have changed my mind. Since he is 24 at the end of the year, then item 1 (a, b OR c) does not apply to him and it doesn't matter if 2 and 3 do. So I think that the parents can't claim him since he is 24, but he can qualify for the refundable credit. See copy below: You don't qualify for a refund if items 1 (a, b, or c), 2, and 3 below apply to you. You were: Under age 18 at the end of 2016, or Age 18 at the end of 2016 and your earned income (defined below) was less than one-half of your support (defined below), or Over age 18 and under age 24 at the end of 2016 and a full-time student (defined below) and your earned income (defined below) was less than one-half of your support (defined below). At least one of your parents was alive at the end of 2016. You are filing a return as single, head of household, qualifying widow(er), or married filing separately for 2016.

Waste has nothing to do with taxes. If no one has the right claim the exemption, no one does regardless of waste. If the father lived with the mother the whole year and provided more than 50% of his girlfriend support in 2016, then he can claim her. If not he can claim his daughter only.

Took field trips there. It always smelled great !! (I lived on Bellwood Avenue, one house away from the train tracks.) And, Mr. Normal: "It wasn't that long ago when we went to 10 digit dialing for local numbers. I called it 17 digit dialing because I often called the 7 digit number, got the error message then dialed the 10 digit number." It wasn't long ago that CT had to add an area code, so I know the feeling. My phone number growing up was Linden 4-3541.

I agree about good insurance. An LLC does NOT replace your need for insurance -- in any state.

It provides an additional layer of protection in terms of personal liability, but it is not an absolute. The corporate veil can be pierced, and if you are personally negligent, you will still be liable. It is a bit more of a hassle for the other side to pierce the veil and actually attach you individually, but it definitely can happen. The best money spent is on good liability insurance.

Here's some guidance from the IRS: https://www.irs.gov/uac/new-electronic-signature-guidance-for-the-irs-efile-signature-authorization

It's because contributions to the traditional IRAs aren't disallowed due to income limitations, they merely become nondeductible contributions and create basis in the IRA. With the Roth IRA, there are specific income limitations that will not allow the direct contribution to the Roth, so to get the money into the Roth it is this 2-step process.

Do you put the State cover sheet in front of the state return or do you just use a cover sheet for the 1040? It would be nice if ATX put the State cover sheet in the State Forms section so it will go in front of the state tax return when printing.

Numbers are our business, right?

I always deduct painting by the numbers as CPE

That at the Planck limit of 10^-35cm, X loses all locality and is everywhere at once.

I asked Siri your question and she had nothing good to say.