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A little background first. A new client came to my office mid February. When preparing his return I noticed that the person who prepared his 2015 tax return did not give him credit for federal income tax that was withheld from his social security. For 2015 he had only a small pension and his social security and none of his social security was taxable and even with his pension he had not taxable income so we amended his 2015 return and requested credit for the federal income tax withheld that was a little over 1400.00. Expecting a refund he received a letter stating that as requested they have corrected his 2015 and return and it now has resulted in additional taxes owed of over 10,000.00. Client came to office last week and we attempted a call to IRS only to be on hold for a long period of time and in the course of holding I accidently hung up on them. Client and I laughed when I said did I just do that? Decided we would order in transcripts of his account ect.... to find out what happened. We received those and everything looks the same as original return, so decided to attempt a second call. Was told wait time was long due to call volume, but then the next message estimated 2-4 minutes, cool! First person came on line couldn't help because she was not a balance specialist, but she would transfer us. Again prepared for a long wait, was told to expect 2-4 minutes (each time 2-4 was said I expected hours, not minutes). Nice IRS lady comes on line and we establish who we are and explain the problem to her, not having the amended available she asked me to fax it to her of which I did. When she received it she started trying to find what they had done wrong and sure enough in under 5 minutes she figured out that in addition to the change I requested someone added a 5 in the wrong place changing is taxable income from 8,000 and changed to over 85,000 and some change thus resulting in the increase tax. She took of it and requested an apology letter be sent (her words, not mine) that would go something like this: Sorry we screwed up your account...... Must say it was one of my more pleasant interaction with IRS. Wait was minimal, we were entertained by her humor, and everything is fixed, client leaves office happy, I'm happy, and you could tell this IRS Agent was happy! Just had to share!

Ok.. Long term client. I always dealt with the Wife. She was kinda loopy.. All sorts of health issues. I did the daughters returns earlier, but she is doing them now. And only met the husband once in 12 years. I heard thru the grapevine that she had passed away in October. Sorry to hear of this, did not expect to see the husband. But they called and set up the appointment for today. Going thru the folder of information making small talk ,and saying I was sorry to hear about "wife's" passing, I pull out the death certificate that they were nice enough to bring along. I was about to ask about medical expenses and other things surrounding her death. Than I notice the cause of death. Gunshot wound to chest. Suicide. Wow. Not to many times you can stop me in a client interview.. cold.

I am with you on that - there are not many things that stop me either, but I HAVE been stopped speechless a couple of times. Stick around this business long enough and it happens. Glad you were able to recover well enough. We had a young adult client do the suicide thing last year. We do the whole family's returns and fortunately my first contact was with grandpa. Grandpas usually are more forgiving when we put our foot in it.

Nothing like locking the door after the horse has been stolen. Also need to watch that these K-1s are not in their IRA account. I get two or three a year, with minuscule amounts, but they are in the IRA account so we just ignore them. If they had larger amounts, they could result in UBIT.

I have had 2 dead spouses this year that did not get SSI statements. What is up with that? Shouldn't the surviving spouses have gotten a statement for the SS dead spouses got before they went to Heaven? This is a first for me, and it's happened twice in as many weeks. Sorry to start the morning off with this... but I was dying to ask.

There has to be something going on. Broker being an idiot is one. Maybe an annuity in the IRA is another. *I* just knew that he could roll it out. Even, just roll it from Roth to Regular IRA and be non-Deductible, and then "Back-Door" that to the Roth, Rich

Rita is correct; they DO have until 4/15 to withdraw. Broker is an idiot or doesn't want to do the paperwork; they need to dump him/her/it. Alternative - if 2017 situation is different - is to re-characterize to 2017 contribution.

Agree. My dead people get them. I was dying to say that, too.

I'd rather deal with the IRS than anyone from NYS tax and finance. Just sayin....

Wish I could get hold of the same lady for a client of mine (elderly woman) for whom we have been waiting since last March for her 2015 refund of a paltry $400-ish. They said "processing" then they said "need more info" which was sent then they said "need still MORE info" which was also sent... Same name, snn, and address as for the last FIFTY-plus years - we cannot figure out WHAT on earth is the holdup and every time I have tried to call I've gotten the 2-4 *hours* on hold and each time ended up having to hang up (or was hung up on) before anyone answered. Thinking hard about getting the taxpayer advocate involved - except I have no time to do *that*, either. But I am really glad to you and for your client, Deb, that it was resolved!

From extrapolation - when I see them showing up in elderly clients' accounts (where they do NOT belong), along with gazillions of losing stock trades. Clear indication of churning and commission-harvesting activities.

Thankfully it's not often but eventually we all will hear something that is heartbreaking. Last year I heard of the loss of a young mother who has had a three year battle with cancer. The husband is a union official of an profession that mostly works at night and weekends (musicians), who was never home and when he was the wife was at work. He cried to me on the phone that he wished he spent more time with her. There's a lesson in there.

Probably another 50 to come in to get done, 200 or so in the hopper to complete... The RACE is ON! Rich

I have a client who in 2015 moved his brokerage account to another and all of a sudden he's got a boatload of these things. Evidently they are a big cash cow for the advisor. I gave my client the best advice I could think of, tell the advisor you don't want anymore PTPs. I also sent client an article explaining all the disadvantages of owning and selling PTPs.

I have a PTP K-1 here (ICAHN). The client's investment advisor put him into this. He invested a whopping $4700 and the K-1 is full of tiny numbers, like ordinary income $-7. I want to ask my client to tell his investment guy to get him out of this PTP. Am I out of line?

Client contributed to Husband and Wife's ROTH IRA's in 2017 for 2016 year. Maxed out, $5,500 each. Need to file separate due to student loan debt. Kicks out the contribution, and asserts a penalty of $660 each. Ouch. Tell client to just withdraw the Roth contribution before April 15th, no problem. Broker says they can't do that. WTH? Thoughts?

I have never posted so many questions on this forum. Remind me to make another donation! Client receives SSA-1099 with 120000 of benefits, much of which is for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. During all of those years she was married and filed MFJ. Divorced final in 2016. Now filing HOH. During all of those previous years her X received SS benefits. My client received SS benefits in 2015 only. Looking at the lump sum worksheet. First line - enter the total amount form box 5 of all your forms ssa1099 for earlier year plus the lump sum for the earlier year. ok - I assume I am only putting my client's ss benefit, not her now estranged spouses benefit.(?) But - line 3 - enter AGI. Well - if I'm only counting her SS benefit, then why am I putting their AGI. Then move to line 7 - enter taxable benefits reported on your return for the earlier year. Ugh - do I figure just the amount that would have been reported for my client's portion of SS benefits, or do I put their combined taxable benefit. Do I need to go thru lump sum worksheet for each previous year - for the husbands taxable benefits. I guess my question is - do i try to separate hers from his as we look back, or do I take their combined each year. I beginning to believe there should not be joint tax returns, that we each should just file individually.......

That's what it sounds like. They don't want to give back a commission, or if it is an annuity it is past the 20 day free look period. This isn't over.

I wonder if the issue isn't that they can't versus it would be expensive or embarrassing to do so. For example, maybe they put it in an annuity. Oddly, yes people invest in annuities within an IRA.

Broker needs a hug. That infuriates me. If you have till 4/15 to contribute, you have till 4/15 to undo what you did. OMG. http://fairmark.com/retirement/roth-accounts/contributions-to-roth-accounts/excess-contributions-to-roth-iras/

I had outstanding assistance with TPA. She cut through tons of BS, obstruction and obfuscation (dying to use that word!) for a client who was denied exemption of child despite proper submission of 8332. Guess like the lottery when calling anyone at IRS. Sometimes we get lucky.

Talked to the client. He doesn't understand this PTP thing and thinks he bought ICAHN stock and will receive dividend checks. I explained that's not how PTP's work. He's going to talk to the broker.

brokers get huge commissions on these, and Merril Lynch brokers seem to love them. I too charge per k-1 for these.

Not on this thread...

They are a pain. Last year, a client had $29,000 reported to him as cancellation of debt income. He was in the top tax bracket. A few days after I got his info, I saw an article in WSJ that this PTP had a major reorganization and had billions in restructured debt. My client's share was 29k. Cost him $14k in tax (Fed & State). He got out of it after that.

I've had a few of this sort of things over the years including one this morning. I just point out, from a tax perspective, what I see and advise them to have a good talk with the investment advisor to be sure they understand what, exactly, that investment is and why the advisor thinks it's a good one. One client a few years ago had an advisor that I am convinced was churning the account with scores of short term transactions. After the third year of pointing this out and showing that she had over $35,000 in losses without the likelihood of using them, I again suggested she have a chat with the advisor. The advisor left me a nasty voice mail message but the client moved her accounts and was much better off.

No, you're not out of line, but tell the client what I tell mine. Each PTP K1 will add $75 to the bill and any sales, partial or complete will add $150 to the bill. I have clients with 9 or 10 of these damn things. Fortunately, ATX does a very good job with them. Also, except for income and deduction items, we don't enter any amounts under $10. And you can skip a lot of boxes anyway like DPAD (box 13T), AMT, and box 20. Is getting them a $2 foreign tax credit worth even a minute of your time?

You would enter the items of income from those prior year returns that would include the ex's share. In the end, what is happening on the worksheet is that it is calculating the hypothetical tax under a scenario as if your client received it during each of those prior years using the rules, rates, and filing status in effect and based on everything included on those actual returns that were filed...and then toward the bottom on lines 18-20 it compares the calculated results in the worksheet's "what-if" scenario to what was actually reported. The end result should be what is attributable solely to your client and the addition of the new lump sum payout had he or she had the SSA benes paid during those years. Does that make sense?

Does NY ever answer it's phones?! I don't think I've ever spoken to a real person there.

Had a case some years ago needing an ITIN for a dependent who lived in Canada. IRS kept "losing" the documents - or so they claimed. TA office guy said "send them to ME!" and he hand-walked them over and stood over the bozos at the IRS until they issued the ITIN, and then walked back, called me with info, and mailed it all back out himself. I could have kissed him; we battled that for about six months (or more; memory fades) and had submitted identical doc's at least four times.

They should have received a 1099-SSA for the portion of the year the deceased spouse was living and drawing benefits. I've had several brought in to me this year for clients who have died. Are you perhaps dealing with a situation where the address changed after the death of the one spouse and SSA wasn't notified?

They will be assigned an account number after they file the first return, and even then, I never know what my clients' account number is unless something goes wrong. You're good, just leave it blank.

Send them whatever you feel is appropriate. But my answer would have been simple. Mom and Dad still claim the kid, thank you for the gift for the tuition, now get me a 1098T Rich

Are you kidding? I've laughed my head off all day. I would give anything for a video of this day in this office. Only you people could believe this without seeing it. I really do love my job, and wow, these people need us. BAD. SO. BAD. Whew, still can't stop laughing, guys. Good hugs for you, and you, and you...

I just have to say that I am enjoying this tax season. So far I have prepared my return and my granddaughter's. I came into the office this morning at 9:30. I am still doing sales tax and payroll and a little bookkeeping. Semi-retirement is nice. I guess I really shouldn't post this, but I am. Rita may hug me.

Yes and he can't blame his advisor because he is a DIY investor.

Years ago when I was single, I dated a woman and she mentioned the death of her former husband and I asked her what he died from. After a pause she said, "I shot him." Turned out it was a very abusive situation and it was an act of self defense.

I don't even know my own account number. Long story.

Thank you, Ma'am!

for the night - 3:15 here. Finally got all those heavy-duty cases knocked out over the weekend. Now for some light-duty stuff coming up to hopefully cruise on lightly through the week. Just to finish off last week with a bang, IRS sent me a letter. To recap; back on October 15th I filed & sent in my tax due check (stop laughing - it's normal for carpenters to live in shacks and auto mechanics/body repairmen to drive unpainted junk cars; why should we be any different?). Anyway IRS cashed my check the next week (got a bank copy), but one month later sent a letter demanding I pay them that same amount again.. Abby Normal advised ignore and it will go away (said they don't need any more mail), however nothing would do me except to speed things up - I sent a full explanation. Result: Nov-Ist IRS letter (we need 45 days to check this out)/ Jan-2nd letter (need 45 more days)/ Mar-3rd letter (need another 45 days). To be continued...

I knew she was yours! ISTG. OMG, tears are rolling down my face. Whew. Therapy.

CRYING..... Rita, you're welcome! Glad she moved to TN!!

I love you all. Thanks for the laughs. Yes, we are in this together.

Bahahahaha, this morning I did the Sch A seminar for a new client. She had 14 noncash contribution receipts with nothing on them. She figured that those treasures were worth $2200.00 Me: Your standard deduction is $12,600. That's the amount the IRS will allow you to deduct without itemizing your deductions. Your mortgage interest is $2,500, your property tax is $500, and let's say these non-cash contributions that are blank amount to $3,000. (No I did not mention sales tax, stay with me here.) I write the numbers down and show the sum is $6,000. Do you want to take the $12,600 or the $6,000 deduction? She: I don't know, are you allowed to give me advice? ISTG (I swear to G**) this happened. You cannot make this up. I will be filling out the Sch A to show her, and I wasted fifteen minutes on the seminar, too. The seminar took longer for her, as you might imagine. I'll charge her ten bucks for the two minutes to fill out Sch A, print it, copy it, BBFB. No, I ain't doing the 8283.

Thanks everyone, my client will have two options: 1. Pay me to get it resolved 2. Free - have her take a day off from work and visit the local IRS office

All the blah blah blah is killing me, too. One whose husband went to jail for failing to pay spousal support... I need to know exactly how much money he actually PAID you in 2016. Pretty clear, right? After about 2 minutes of BBFB (blah blah frikkin blah) she said, "Donna, what would YOU do if you were me?" "Honestly? If someone was paying me taxable spousal support, I would know exactly how much he paid me, and I would give that number to my tax pro. Honestly, that's what I'd do." She finally shut up.

I had this last year for a poor grandmother, long time client, who had her grandchildren ten months in 2015 because the parents of the kids were incarcerated. I made asked her to get everything she could on the list of suggestions that IRS provided. I forget the form number, but you can google. Yeah, it took a while for me to assemble and make copies. She got her big @$$ "refund" of taxpayer money. I charged her for the audit assistance this year when she came in and didn't know WTH the interest income from IRS was. Yeah, she paid me. No, I didn't charge enough. Yes, she also had the kids 2016. No questions from IRS this time. She called me and thanked me. And let me tell you it was high time.

You have to be blood related or adopted for the credit. "other" is the only one that qualifies and Child Tax Credit and EIC are lost.

Yes, you can deduct shipping. Cubic, but that varies depending on final arrangements. Cardboard or pine? I also have a feed sack special now through April 18. Yes, my soil is so rich it should file a tax return.

Offtopic - client received a 1099-C for a credit card writing off $4,500 in balance due. Client tells me initially they hadn't made a payment on it in years but he was getting ready to pay it ALL off. With the code given I told him it is highly unlikely they will ever ask for the money again and it's on his credit report as lost. Now all of a sudden he's obsessed that the credit card company has screwed up his credit rating. His not making payments for years isn't applicable?