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Yesterday I had a client offer me to pay extra to prepare his personal and corporate tax return because he has to leave out of town and won't come back until the end of May, I said great, it should be ready by the time you come back

The Easter weekend is putting extra pressure on me to get done to be with family. Usually Easter comes early enough that a day off isn't such a big deal. Ugh - I still have a lot to do this week.

I threw a blank extension form at my crappy neighbor who literally pounded on my door yesterday. The neighbor who lets her two pit bulls run around off leash. Good riddance.

What happens to the extra $6,000 when he can't find the chick and has to refund the money? He can't sell what he doesn't own. I would advise the client to put the funds in some sort of escrow account where he has no constructive receipt and leave it there until this shakes out. And in the future, the buyer should be paying the $6,000 to the account custodian and not directly to the client.

The thing that bothers me is the big owers are usually the ones who put the dreaded tax appointment off until the last minute, and then the suspense starts to kill them, and then they lean all over us to find out the bad news, and then they cry. I try to just do my job and not get wrapped up in their drama, while I fake sympathy for their terrible plight.

Didn't show up. Called; he's coming tomorrow. That usually works for me, but not this case. I've been pricing him out - started 7 years ago at $125 and am now just south of $1K. Curious myself as to what happens now. I don't know how far we can go on this "family" board, but I heard one something like that recently re "ladies of....". Guy asked if he could stay overnight for a million dollars; she said "Yes," and then he said "How about five bucks?" Highly indignant, she asked "What do you think I am - a prostitute?" He replied, "We've already established that; now we're negotiating the price."

usually it's that cute little Shih-tzu in my picture waking me up. He's 8 years old now, and barks in the middle of the night if anyone gets up or - god forbid - the cat walks by. and sometimes he likes to go out on his leash at 2 am. but what really killed me last night, he woke me up to let me know the cat wanted to come in. i sleep through the cat scratching at the door, and I like it when he ignores the cat too, but my fussy little boy couldn't stand it until I got up and went to the door and let the cat in at 3 am last night. only to bark at him when he walked by the bedroom a few minutes later. Ugh! in my next life......nothing that eats or poops.....or talks or barks or meows......

Hubby did the classic "tuck and roll" with the covers at 2AM this morning and woke me up. I've been up since then and this is turning into a very, very long day. He is having a nice nap. I'll get him later.

I don't use ATX, but it's probably a box you need to check that he lived with his parents all year (all the year he was alive) or was born or died during 2016 or put 12 as months lived with parents or something along that line. Make sure you have his birth date in 2016 (I sometimes default to now, 2017, and get weird error messages). Save and exit and open and try again.

When the rant starts? "We can go have a beer and discuss that after April 15th, but for right now? You owe this..." Rich

Re: ATX This is it for me. I have stuck with you people through all of your problems with the software and all of your customer service glitches for 20+ years, but being turned over to a collection agency when my credit card on file was up to date and the problem was on your end and now finding out that I was LIED TO about the pricing is the last straw!!! The most recent post from the ATX Board about this subject. I will be leaving too !

I haven't counted but there is at least 7 or 8 posters on the ATX Board who have also received mystery collection letters just like yours. It is truly mind boggling, the level of incompetence at ATX to do something like this.

next saturday - that is. this saturday will be a long one....

I'm doing the best I can to finish returns with balances due but the others are going on extension if I run out of time by next Friday. And, I haven't even finished my own bookkeeping yet

interesting. will keep that strategy in mind. I have a husband who is awol. well - not mine own, although it would be nice....

Also, lest your client thinks they were "so close," you can point out that the highest number for that % line is 401. I'm guessing line four was 11,770. If so, the household income as percentage of federal poverty line is actually 441%. I had one that was 589%. I overrode the form and printed it for his copy and then restored before filing.

As your client's "payment due" amount is because of an "unexpected windfall", he/she probably already knows (or thinks) he will owe this year. The fact that he/she got a windfall and didn't contact you when it happened it NOT your fault! Don't take the blame for one second. Just tell him/her something to the effect "it's like I always tell my clients to call me during the year with any questions they may have or if they have unexpected income.....". Continue YOUR rant that had he/she done that, not a penny would be due now! Some people feel better if they can blame their problems on someone else. This problem is his/hers solely. You can also tell him/her that you dropped your crystal ball on the floor last year and it hasn't been working right ever since! Take care, Cathy

We have already polled our clients and will be filing extensions on Monday. I always do them a week early, and then go back to cranking out returns. Every year there are a goodly number of folks who get put on extension but then file on time. And every year, there are folks whose returns are ready for pickup, who end upon extension because they can't get here in time or don't mail back their 8879's in time. I finished up this week by doing the payroll tax filings for March and Q1 for my business and the one remaining in-house payroll client. Everyone else is on online do-it-for-me payroll. That has been great. Money shows up, and all I do is download quarterly reports and occasionally adjust a w-4 or add a new employee or inactivate a newly-former employee.

I have been lazy about looking for new software. but I think this is it.

Remembering that the LLC is only a state designation - I think this is your answer - to file single member Sch C - because essentially the other member doesn't exist since they are not a citizen, don't have ID #, and the LLC is ineffective. They could not have formed an S-corp anyway. Can't see personally how the LLC protects them anyway. Essentially, the person loaned some money. They should have just made a legal contract, not an LLC

Perhaps your client could contribute to an IRA, if eligible, and get out of paying back the APTC. You don't have to add back the IRA contribution to calculate Modified AGI. It won't take much of a contribution to get back to say 399% of MAGI. I've done this a few times and saved the client a lot of money. Grace

NYS imposes a personal income tax on a nonresident individual's taxable income that is derived from NY sources (Sec 601(e) NYS Tax Law). NY provides some guidance on how one can be exempted from paying nonresident taxes if you meet certain factors. See TSB-M-06(5)(I) at www.tax.ny.gov. See also "Huckaby v. NYS Division of Tax Appeals" wherein an individual was liable for taxes on 100% of the wages earned from a NY employer while working from his home in Tennessee. Looks like your client may have to file a NYS Non-Resident Return (IT-203) as well as a Resident return for the state she resides in. Grace

I always mark the box "lived in home for 12 months" in these situations and it solves the problem. Another issue may be one of phase out. Is that an issue?

Glad you like it. Your client might prefer that arrangement to risking fraud charges brought by the buyer for accepting funds without actually having the right to sell the property. Not to give legal advice, but if it was me, I would want a contract that spells out the contingency to the buyer so he informed and that funds plus interest will be refundable if the seller is unable to obtain proper title. This is a very stinky arrangement.

So, the 1098-T is reported on the parents' return when the student is their dependent, right? But, the 1099-Q is not reported on the parents' return?

I don't think that you need to worry about it as long as they are not your client. Hopefully, they kept a copy of it. I always show i the distribution on line 21 with another to 0 it out, if it's not taxable on the return with the SS#.

Also, if the parents have not exceeded the income limits for claiming AOTC, take a look at using some of the 529 distribution as *taxable* income in order to get the credit. And correct for basis (assuming parents funded the plan)! You can take a small income tax hit of a couple hundred bucks in trade for a larger credit.

Client is not going to be a happy camper. He will have to pay back the subsidy. Complete part 2 question 9 and 10 then enter only amounts in column f, nothing in a-e. Depending on his income his pay back may be capped at less than 100%.

If this is the only 1099Q, then you first deduct the scholarships and then the distributions. The remainder plus any books and eligible fees would be left for tuition credits or tuition deduction. You have to check out the cashier's transactions to see if it was all paid in 2016. I don't remember if you are using ATX or not, but it gets deducted on the education expense detail page for ATX.

over the last few years, have had to file 8615 for children (twins) of man when they have over 2100 of dividends and interest. however, this year they are 19. They only have the dividends. $2589 each. they do not have w2 income. they are still on his tax return as his dependents. however, they are not students. so i think the 8615 goes away, but that means that they have no tax at all. which is good for them, but it makes me nervous now. I think its just too late on Friday afternoon to do this kind of stuff. headed out to get a fish fry. the best part about being catholic in Western ny.

Strike 1 - Late Strike 2 - Liar Strike 3 - Loser

Good old NY. Submitted sample forms (to get approve to print them from our software). All fake data except our address and name. Sent it to their forms approval person. Was approved. Was also dunned for not paying the taxes shown on the fake data submitted to their substitute forms department. Clearly they want a bite if the apple when any sort of nexus might be claimed.

Might I recommend you folks all look at Drake, once we get past 4/18 and the dust settles.

This company is a personnel management service that provides services to local medical providers. The client is an Illinois resident who only works in the local area. They should have taken Illinois withholding, but defaulted to NY on the records. No one noticed until the W-2 arrived. They have corrected the file, but she has to deal with the mix up on the 2016 return and for 2 months of 2017. I don't believe that the client would owe NY tax as this company simply vets the credentials of the employees for the local provider and handles payroll. Why is it that the highly skilled people pay the least attention to the pay stub?

They shouldn't have legally been able to form an LLC without each member having an SSN or ITIN. Also, the LLC couldn't elect S-corp with a foreign owner. That leaves partnership or disregarded entity. Were these two individuals married at the time of LLC formation? In general, H-W LLCs can elect to be a disregarded entity. I'll post a link to a topic that I remember on this subject from a while ago. Anyway, the question in my mind on this ultimately is this - If the ex-wife is not sharing in the profits, gains, deductions, and losses, is there really a partner relationship at all, or is this a disregarded entity to be reported solely on your client's return based on that fact alone? Is the installment sale the only reportable item or was the property rented prior to sale, are there other properties involved? Maybe you don't need this, but here is the link to the other topics:

I filed a NY Non-resident return and zero out the NY income. Mine is a VA resident. We have done that for 2 years.

Thank you, Catherine. The MA DOR calendar on their website still gave 15 April as the date for estimated payments. True? (My MA trust does make ES payments.)

I had a similar situation but in my case I was at the end of the contract to buy, and the previous accountant had set up the installment agreement to buy as rental income. So instead of having installment cap gain and interest, he was showing rental income and deducting depreciation. A sticky mess to untangle. In your situation, I agree that the deposit should be held in escrow and sounds like no valid contract yet. May consider putting on extension until they find the missing shareholder.

Sorry. 72(t)(2)(A)(iii). I think it has to be the participant/employee's disability.

Household employees don't have a 941 filing so there might be a small penalty for late-filing a W-2. All the taxes (federal) are paid on Sch H with the 1040. However, there might be state tax and unemployment taxes that could have late-filing and late-paying penalties. In Mass., those tend to be about 1/2 of 1% of the tax due, per month, and therefore usually in the annoying but not hurtful category.

You can't go wrong with the classics. I thought the original was from HL Mencken.

I use 4835 as I have sharecroppers. There's a line for Lime that I actually used one year. And, cash rent on E. I just do what my cousins tell me!

If your client is filing a farm return (sch F) I would put it on line 4a, Agricultural Program payments. And unless you have information that says otherwise, I would treat it as taxable income.

Having total control over what the macros do is a huge benefit. Drake is so flexible you can customize them to do whatever works best - either populate the form and return to the input screen or populate down to a certain point and then wait for input on the target screen. It's almost like having customizable "bunny hops" on steroids.

John, those are great, and I really wish I'd set on up for the Goodwill entries! I must get this set up so that I have it for next year. I have Alt-P set for the PIN screen.

I start off telling them that I wish I owed that much [pause] because it would mean I made a ton of money.

I usually preface these situations by saying "this is the worst part of my job" and "please don't hate me, I'm just the messenger." A quick explanation so they understand and you're done. Showing compassion and understanding with their ranting and raving is good, as long as it is over quickly, you've got the next guy to listen to, unless it's wine per diem time, which you probably need.

My handiest one right now is the extension macro I wrote. Alt-F1 for Federal and Alt-F2 for state of NC. It checks the boxes and waits for my entry for the tax liability. I also set up Alt-W to go to the W-2 input screen & wait for entries, Alt-H to answer "Yes" to Healthcare coverage & then return to the input screen, and Alt-F for the default entry for foreign accounts & return to the input screen. . Another useful macro for me is one which populates local Goodwill address info on the 8283. I have a few others as well.

I have a sale of a rental property that generated a $70k gain, and he is trying every way to Tuesday to reduce his tax liability. I told him that most of my clients call me when they sell a rental so we know what is coming. I'm not crying over it. But I am ready to give a hug...

What if you tell it to delete the PRS? I never use the RITA form. I use the generic city for all cities.