Leaderboard

Merry Christmas to everyone. Same sentiments here, Catherine.

Merry Christmas to everyone here. Thank you all SO very much for your help and friendship during the year, and I look forward to working with all of you again next year!

Merry Christmas! This community is such a gift - thank you all!

Merry Christmas and safe travels to those that will be away over the holidays!

What's their excuse this time? These giant insurance companies have known for five years they had to do this. Emphasized in BOTH my CPE seminars this year was that taxpayers MUST have their 1095s in hand before filing a return. Now Judy passes on the information that these huge insurance companies have been left off the hook again. We have historically known that large institutions (corporate, govt, educational, even religious) escape enforcement from the IRS, but this delay is ridiculous and without excuse.

Who are we working for? ...when we run into situations such as above where additional research into dubious information is necessary to make sure the IRS gets what they think is "their" money? The above "split" of capital gains/losses is potentially one of those situations. Husband/wife have separate brokerage accounts, as well as one joint account, and the last 20 years is peppered with a mixture of capital gains and losses. The husband dies, and you have to tell the wife as follows: Preparer: "You need to provide me with brokerage statements for the last 20 years." Client: "Why do I need this to do my taxes for the current year?" Preparer: "The IRS needs to know whether you are going to be claiming excess capital losses in the future which drop out because of your husbands death." Client: "So what is the final effect? Will I owe any more money?" Preparer: "Probably. It is definite you won't owe less. And the extra 4 hours research will cost you another $300 in my fee." Client: "So you want to charge me another $300 to explore the possibility of me owing more money? How will the IRS know the difference?" Preparer: "They won't. In fact, they don't have a clue. Only by my due diligence and subsequent disclosure will they know you owe more money, if in fact you do." Client: "Y'know Edsel, I don't think I would have to put up with this if I took my taxes somewhere else. Who are you working for anyway, for me or for the IRS?? I don't think I want to dig out 20 years worth of statements and pay you an extra $300 for the honor of knowing I "might" owe some more taxes." Preparer: "Well Hortense, it is a matter of whether you want to be totally honest or not. As a preparer bound by due diligence requirements of Pub 1230, I am obligated to dig further to find absolute truth." Client: "Sorry, I don't know Pub 1230 from the Irish Pub down the street. I'm not a crook - I'm paying everything I know, and everything you know before you charge me another $300. I'm going to Shifty-Eyed Sam across town." In spite of all desires for compunction and the desire of the IRS to make auditors out of us, we do have to live in the real world whether it coincides with the loftiest ideals or not. Christmas colors provided at no extra cost...

Since we've had a few topics posted already with questions, and several that included where information or analysis can be found, I thought it might be a good idea to make one post with links to the law and those additional sources. Here's a link to the final enrolled bill on the Library of Congress website: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1/text Today's KPMG News Flash email included extensive first observations of the new law, 167 pages worth. Thank you, @Abby Normalfor suggesting this as a news source. That document is here and is a searchable pdf: https://home.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/us/pdf/2017/12/tnf-new-tax-law-dec22-2017.pdf There's this this nice summary from CCH of the highlights: https://www.cchgroup.com/media/wk/taa/pdfs/news-and-insights/federal-tax-legislation/house-gop-tax-cuts-job-act.pdf Please feel free to add any others you've found that may be useful and accessible to our members.

If you have AnswerConnect, their analysis is here. And, you're welcome for the KPMG source!

He should get a W9 from the LLC to determine if a 1099 is required. Tom Modesto, CA

You can also still buy new, registerable, copies of Acrobat X on ebay for very small money. Or Nuance PowerPDF is also small money - but it won't take the Tic, Tie, and Calculate plug-in that I find so useful in Acrobat.

I don't click links. I know it is probably safe on this site, but I just get the heebie jebbies when I see an underlined blue link with random characters. I just think there is some scammer in a far away country waiting to jump through the interweb thingy and ruin my life. But thanks for clearing up my question. Tom Modesto, CA

I tried to access through the online portal, but the system didn't like my username. (I've only used it for the last 8 or 10 years.) I called the number, and after several holds the IRS rep told me that there was a "problem" with my file and she had to pass it up for resolution. I'm supposed to get a E-mail with directions on how to proceed in 2 or 3 days. (This was a week ago.) She wouldn't even tell me what the "problem" was. I'm beginning to think that they don't like me. (The feeling's mutual.) Any ideas as to what might be causing this?

The pass through deduction is a Form 1040 deduction reducing taxable income.

primopdf is free to download / install. Basically anything you want to print, change the printer to primopdf in the drop down box and before creating a pdf, hit the pdf security change button and enter the password you want to use. They use AES 128-bit encryption. If you want to turn a webpage, word document or anything else into a pdf - this will work quickly and easily. I've been using it for years. Since I'm cheap, I usually find a free option. My scanner software is now a free program called NAPS2. It stands for Not Another PDF Scanner 2. It's ultra tiny, quick and customizable. I did a 187 page document that was <17 MBs. The program is up and running in 2 seconds on my computer. (NAPS2 is only about 22 mb in size for the entire program - very tiny) I use Foxit Reader instead of adobe reader but you can't encrypt with the free version. Foxit is far faster than Adobe IMO.

PDF995Suite, Nuance PDF Standard and I'm sure many others will add passwords to PDF files. https://www.google.com/search?q=password+protect+pdf&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-ab

Thank you, that makes sense. There are a surprising number of people who didn't really want to buy insurance but didn't know the SRP was relatively low compared to post 2010 health insurance premiums. Yes, that seems reasonable now. Hadn't thought of that.

I always print the worksheets (in ATX) for the lines on Sch D that show what's what and whose on Capital Loss carryovers and attach them to my copy and client copy. I don't print the crap worksheets like we've all seen that I can only assume are a way to justify fees by weight or something, but this information is important to have, just like depreciation schedules. I know some think it gives you a chance to save a client from leaving if they call to ask for information because you didn't provide it. Nah, they're gone. I don't want to spend time sending these things later. I have other things to do. Like TV and food.

Thanks for the laugh Rita, this is also a true story. When Timmy was in grade school the teacher ask him to solve a problem on the board, what is 2 + 2=?, Timmy went up there and wrote 4, the teacher said correct. All of a sudden a little girl named Mary raised her hand, the teacher called on her, what is it Mary, the correct answer is 2, the teacher baffled said, how is 2 + 2 = 2? Mary responded by saying, my mother said to only believe half of what boys say. Well Tim now as an adult came to see me this week, he had his own assessment on a couple of IRS billed he had received and somehow he was trying to convince me left and right that the IRS made a mistake and he did not personally (trust fund penalties for a couple of years) owe any money because it was the corporation who should owe the money. I still think Mary was right.

Now that you mention it... A DIYer came in recently for me to review her 2016 return because she has no idea what was wrong with it, and IRS sent her a refund she did not expect in May. She did not receive any correspondence explaining what was adjusted. She filled out the online PDF forms for 2016. 100,000 wages, 47,000 ordinary dividends, 60,000 Sch C loss, 95,000 long term capital gain from sale of fully depreciated commercial building and equipment, 38,000 Sch E loss (yes, there it was on line 17), SS benefits. I'm probably forgetting something, but you get the ideas: 1) Don't DIY. 2) If you're going to DIY (please don't), at least spring for software. 3) Hello?? (Did you really DIY?) She figured her liability was 23,000 or so. She said IRS sent her a refund of 11,000ish. With the passive loss disallowed and AMT, her liability was about 46,000. If she hires me to amend this mess, and she should, it will be a Merry Christmas indeed, no need to tell me to charge accordingly. I'm absolutely stunned at this one. More at IRS than her.

Yes, as I have been saying for several years, the IRS is definitely showing signs of systemic stress due to reduced staffing and budget.

No way to pass to beneficiaries. If they have significant assets and a good investment advisor, they could play in the market. If they win, the gains would be tax free up to the amount of the Capital Loss Carryover. I am not aware of any other way they can harvest that loss. Tom Modesto, CA