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And yesterday Abby Normal you told me I'd probably been banned for writing derogatory comments !!!! I thought the official board was nonfunctioning (since I could not access it) and this post proves it !!!

I'm seeing the same, many clients getting too much more take home than is realistic, I've advised to update W4. There is going to be a lot of unhappy people next year.

Deduction is not allowed in the case you are describing. You seem to be confusing the "time test" with the allowed time for when expenses for the move are incurred. For employees that move, they must work full-time for a total of 39 weeks, not needing to be contiguous, and self-employed persons have a higher requirement. If the requirement isn't met by the end of the tax year, the deduction is still allowed if meeting the requirement by the due date of the return. I believe the 12-month period you are thinking of is where expenses are incurred within the 12-month period and the person otherwise qualifies for the deduction. See pub 521 here and look at the section for "Time Test" and check to see if your client might meet one of the exceptions to the test.

Thanks for posting this. I'm now one of the newer members.

Thanks Rich. I think I found that same answer, but it was on the FAQ site at IRS.gov and I don't like to rely on that. But I think you are correct, as the FAQ is pretty emphatic that you can participate in both. Tom Modesto, CA

Yes, he can fully contribute to the SEP It has nothing to do with the 401K at the former employer. There is no limitation to $18k, that would only be if he set up a SIMPLE or 401K plan, not the SEP. Rich

Maybe you were banned for leaving a negative comment.

Sometimes that's the best we can do. On another forum, a long-time practitioner said something about always trying to present the "most-defensible" tax return he could. There are times when that is all we can come up with, when the situation is convoluted and especially when prior (well-intentioned but in over their heads) practitioners have made a hash of returns and supporting documentation - or supplied NO supporting documentation, so we've no idea where the numbers came from.

No problem contributing - just watch for the correction for SE and the limitations on total contributions to all plans ($53K? or something similar) for both employee and employer (and as SE he is both). But it's also limited by overall SE income, so hitting that higher limit should not be an issue.

I looked at all of those rules and nothing seems to fit. In my opinion and according to my past experience and the IRS rules, it is a commute. Just wondering if anyone might know something I missed. My explanation to the client was exactly as FDNY's explanation. If I get a fee more folks agreeing, I will tell this guy no deduction and if he insists on me including it anyway (already been suggested) I will send him on his way. Already explained the circular 230 consequences I will face for doing this while all he gets to do is pay back the tax. Well maybe a bit more if they determine it was willful intent. Thanks!!!!

Unless it qualifies under the transportation or 'no regular place of work' rules. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463#en_US_2017_publink100033913

I agree. If he stopped at main office first, the distance to the job site and back to office is deductible.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/827167400659499/ ATXKristin just joined the group. She's the best responder on the official forum. If the official forum doesn't get fixed, the facebook page might largely replace it.

I'm sure it can be fixed, but it's been malfunctioning for 6 months and ATX says they're 'working on it'. They probably need to spend thousands to move to a new platform and just can't bring themselves to do it.

Personally, I don't think Facebook's format lends itself well as a replacement for a busy forum with a large membership for answering technical questions, but I guess it's better than nothing at all. Is the official forum functioning that poorly that it can't be fixed?

I already had a call from a client that had her net pay go up $100 and she is paid bi-weekly. She would owe so much money when she files. I told her to file a new W-4 and tried to figure out how much additional tax should be taken out from each paycheck. This just frosts me! I already have trouble getting my work done in a timely manner, so trying to help everyone with these extra computations and being ragged at makes me want to send Rita to Washington to hug all of them. I know that my small business owners will probably end up happier, but a lot of my elderly clients and middle class families are going to be big losers.

Thanks for all the input. I really appreciate it. I do just love this machine. I take good care of it, keeping it clean, etc. I don't mind spending money on good machinery, though. Never thought of a refurbished printer. Some things to think about. Thanks again~

I too am seeing client projections all over the place. Some with incomes well under $100k seeing increases, others with higher incomes getting big breaks. I am uncomfortable being entirely dependent on the software to do the projections because there are so many moving parts to this tax law that I don't have any internal sense of what the result should be. The software is brand new and likely contains errors that we aren't aware of yet, so I'm telling clients this is less than an educated guess. I agree with Abby that the biggest concern is that withholdings are going down. I had a couple today whose projected 2018 liability went down by $2800. They both had reduced withholding in their latest paychecks so I did the math and discovered they will have $4500 LESS withheld=big tax bill next year at this time. The problem is that everyone is going to be happy seeing their paychecks go up and realize they were duped when they file in 2019 (after the Nov elections of course). We really shouldn't do projections until people give us paystubs after their employers instituted the new withholding tables (was supposed to be mid-Feb deadline but now extended to end of Feb). The problem, of course, is that we are up to our scalps in returns at that time and won't be able to spend the time. I read an article in Accounting Today that the increased child tax credit doesn't cover the loss of exemptions for taxpayers above the 15% bracket. For those in the 25% bracket, for example, the exemption was worth $4050 X .25 = $1013 + 1000 CTC = $2013, or about the same as the new CTC with no exemptions. For those in the 28% bracket, they lose money. This higher exemption isn't what it was cracked up to be.

Wow 15yrs, call me crazy but I have gone through four printers in 10yrs (2 HP and 2 Brother) and I have upgraded computers three times already and I will be getting another XPS after the tax season. And two laptops too

We all find ways to keep using our favored HP machines! I have a 2420d that's over 8 yrs old that started having trouble picking up the paper from the drawer. When that happened I switched to using the top feed and thought I'd order new rollers or whatever was needed, but I found that the top feed is faster so I've continued to use it that way ever since.

PA doesn't allow IRA deductions.

A first for me. Client has SSA-1099-SM reflecting Attorney Fees of $6,000. This amount is included in Box 5 and is taxable. Based on what I've read, that amount can be placed on Schedule A as a Miscellaneous Deduction, subject to the the 2% deductible. Never saw Attorney Fees listed on a SSA-1099.

It is the trap that the New England states use to keep people from moving away. Double taxation is correct. Tax it going in and tax it coming out, no matter where you live. Nowhere to take credit for the taxes paid previously.

I am getting about the same results. One of mine 72 yrs young got a 652$ increase. I penciled it to be sure. You don't want to hear her comment.

I did one last year for a family partnership that owned a large farm, that was sold after both parents died. A trust was created when dad died, and an estate when mom died, and the trust dissolved on mom's death and was split to the kids... yeah, I likely screwed this up but the end result looked reasonable?

My first choice was professional basketball player. But when I got cut from the freshmen basketball team, I went for my 2nd choice, rock star. But then I found out I had to learn to play the guitar. That didn't work out.

The more you know.... the more you wish you had become a sound engineer for music.

I'm working on one now, because the client just knows coverage was unaffordable. Unaffordable does not mean what they think it means. The clients think if the premium is more than 8.16% of income, it's unaffordable. But it's the "required contribution" that has to exceed 8.16%. These people fall right in there at 269% of poverty level, so they would have gotten insurance practically free. That's affordable. Logically, it seems to me that this exemption would be as rare as hen's teeth. Logically, I get it. But these worksheets. Wow, these are the worst. Well, that iterative calculation for SEHI might beat them, there's that.

Thanks for all the sympathy with or without tea. My concern is that one filed AFTER 3 others was ack'ed within 2 days. I've had many years of efiling 1099's so am accustomed to waiting and waiting and waiting but not when acceptances were so out of order. I, too, have read the IRS info about the FIRE system as I receive virtually all the IRS notifications. As I wrote " Not really expecting answers, just want some understanding (sniff, sniff)." I have patience but not so much understanding...

It happened again. Tax return rejected for SS used on another return. Turns out the kid who had $600 of income and $30 of withholding filed his own return to get his money back. Now he gets to pay me to amend the return, and I am going to charge him more than $30 to fix the problem he caused his parents. College kids are so smart. They get advice about taxes from Jerome the gardener at the college. Jerome is real smart. Tom Newark, CA