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Well, alrighty then. June 23rd. My house. Visiting hours (not like funeral home) begin at 2:00. Cookout for supper. Message me for directions, my email address, all that stuff. Absolutely no hurry on the RSVPing. I'm excited!

Just be sure you get paid up front.

Except by April 1 or so some of us do not feel very "knowledgeable and enthusiastic." This year it might happen by March 1.

Today. From a FB group: Per NATP and filing of amended versus superseded returns to reflect the extenders: NATP attended today’s NPL Practitioner Meeting with the IRS — it was noted that if a taxpayer has already filed and they are affected by an extender provision, they should file a 1040X even if it’s before the filing deadline. A second original return could be flagged as a fraudulent return — do not file a superseded return. NATP recommends that the taxpayer not file the 1040X until they receive their refund or their tax payment has been cleared as to not have anything get crossed in the mail.

Yes. Use the previous amended return as the original return on the second amend.

I'll chime in too; I have NEVER liked the QB tax mapping/import. Plus I find the online version even *more* fraught with problems. Heck, I have QBO clients whose bank feeds mess up on a regular basis, and some of them just gave up and enter everything manually. Faster and more accurate than fixing double entries and missed entries. Print out (even just to pdf) a good P&L and work from that. You'll know where every entry came from and won't waste time chasing down irregularities.

Prepare all years of the 1120S and 1040 returns and give them to the tax payer to mail. Do not efile anything for this client. Your best option is to get rid of this client without doing anything.

Good points Max W. But business returns play off each preceding year. So the only way to get a good starting point for the 6 year old return is to prepare the older ones first. The 1040s would be a different issue unless the 1120s or other things on the return threw off carryover issues.

I'm doing the Dorito Dance over those 2% deductions, ISTG.

Hats: Welcome to the ATX community forum! How many times have you heard this? Especially in light of this: File the missing 1120S. File the missing 1040's. Get paid. Let the IRS send the letters and you get paid to sort them out. Easy peseay. Rich

If they would audit tax-in-a-box, VITA, free military prep services, and every single DIY'er, I'd be good with it. But to line us up and use us as free auditors, well... it goes all over me. I can't tell you how many clients we all have lost because TT allows them to click a button saying health care was unaffordable, and totally dish off the penalty. Rental property, depreciation, on and on... DIY'ers. They are making a killing. I truly believe that after this year, if a client goes away for a year, I am not taking them back. I've taken back at least 6 clients and the thrill is gone. When trust is broken, I am not taking them back anymore. It's trouble, and it's no fun. Sorry, I got off topic.

Already on my calendar!!! Woo-hoo!!!

I will be there!! There may be a group of us from Ohio. We will see!!

Hopefully, S-corp election form 2553 was filed the first year. Otherwise, the IRS will convert them to a C-Corp. Will the IRS even process corporate returns going back 10 years? There is a lookback period of 6 years and the IRS does not require older returns to be filed. I don't know of any states that do this. So, do you inform the client of the look back period and tell him he is only morally obligated to file the older returns? What if you don't tell him and he finds out later that you did not apprise him of the situation? It could become ugly. I always prepare all the missing returns, charge them for it, and leave it to the client if they want to file the old ones or not. Most people do want to file.

Is Abby going to teach a class? Making the trip tax deductible business travel for education purposes? If so, I think I can make that. Need to check with my employee (spouse) to see if she can make it as well. Tom Modesto, CA

Nothing sticky about this. How would you justify payroll being paid under an S-Corp EIN showing up on a Schedule C? Keep this very important thought in mind: YOU DID NOT CREATE THIS MONSTER! Your job is to bring him compliant in the best way possible. File the prior year 1120S's and 1040s. But before starting any work, give the client an estimate of the total job, that you will need a 50% retainer and the other 50% will be due when you have completed 50% of the work. Give him hard deadlines as to when you need information. As to him not knowing the returns were not filed? Bunk! Unless the old preparer used the old preparer's address on everything, your client would have received non-filing notices.

The IRS wants us to do their job for them. They think of us a free labor. If they want us to do this work, prices will have to rise substantially, first to cover our time, and second to cover our liability for preparing the return. I have no problem with the oversight on me via circular 230 related to my EA license. But when regulation over me becomes a revenue raiser item in the federal budget, it has gone too far. Tom Modesto, CA

That's a good looking award Abby earned. Total Stud.

As long as they're going after these 'Taxes 'R Us' places first, I'm all for it. But we all know a few CPAs or EAs who prepare shit returns. One went to jail near me awhile ago. I learned of him when one of his clients was being audited and came to me for assistance. I passed their story on to the IRS agent handling the audit. Plot twist: his daughter was married to my cousin (did not know this at the time). My aunt was defending this preparer one day at a family gathering, and I gently explained how what he was doing was fraud and he deserved some jail time.

I do my best to provide my clients with top rate service. As a CPA (similar to other licenses, such as EA's), I follow a set of rules, obligations, and ethical standards. I'm comfortable knowing that I do my best to prepare client returns with the utmost integrity. I'm not suggesting I always get it right, but the client knows I'm not going to break any rules/laws. With that said, enforcement does not concern me because I have nothing to hide. Let's hope if they do implement new oversight, that's its reasonable. Time will tell.

"If I decide to move forward, and I get the client back in good graces with the various taxing authorities, I have a client for life" True and you will be pulling for information every year as this client will not keep documents or adequate records. He will drive you crazy at your busiest time. lol

I would not add loan costs to a building, I would amortize them, if for no other reason than a shorter write off period. And when the loan is paid off, I would write them off since the loan is gone. But don't ask me for a code section!

I remember it being a mess about 18-20 years when it was first introduced , even if you mapped an expense to the correct tax line, the bottom line never matched. We thought it was going to make business returns a piece of cake, the firm dropped it and went back to preparing returns the old fashioned way.

In the new tax "reform" bill, what got killed? Increased Standard Deduction, Eliminate exemptions, Eliminate Misc 2% deductions and 2nd mortgages, increased diligence on EIC/AOTC/ACC Seems that someone from the IRS was sitting in the room when this law was getting drafted. They were at least being listened too... They blew up all the area's that you could "play". Not saying that you can't "play" on a $14.5k Schedule "C" cleaning "biz", or a Sch E but... Those folks are not here on this forum. Rich

File all of them as 1120S (don’t be a hero and try to save them on penalties) it’s seems your new client is habitual non-filer. Most importantly, get a retainer and informed the client of the monthly penalty he/she is going to incur for the return being late.

I never trusted the export/import of tax information from QB. The function is not complete and fraught with errors.

Not trying to be combative, but who do you think is asking congress for those additional documentation requirements to be added? It surely is not the AICPA or the National EA group. Tom Modesto, CA

Why? So the client hasn't filed. They can be lazy , stupid, scared, cheap or all of the above. I take a measure of the client and make a decision. If I decide to move forward, and I get the client back in good graces with the various taxing authorities, I have a client for life. Yes, my standards have raised somewhat since I started this biz 15 years ago. But at its basis, we are service providers. We tell to many folks to scram, we don't have a biz before long. Collect a retainer? You betcha. Make sure the paperwork makes sense, and avoid too many "Look there on the ceiling, my business mileage!" Yes. Rich

Not to mention the always important shareholder stock basis.

Adding to my post above, I agree with Abby that I'd write off any remaining points in the year of the loan's payoff.

Rich, this should fall within sec 461 that requires that prepaid interest be deducted ratably over the loan's term for those taxpayers reporting on the cash basis. The allowance for homeowners paying points on the original purchase is the exception. There's a rev rule that deals with the ratable deduction for those using accrual basis.

DITTO!

By any chance, was the property originally bought for personal use and later converted to business use? And was the depreciation based on FMV at the time it was converted to business use from personal?

Double amend will become more popular since now the IRS is not accepting a second 1040 before the end of the tax season.

I don't want delve into politics, but the additional documentation requirements were imposed by Congress not the IRS.

The problem isn't the regulation, it's the interpretation of it by the regulator in your office and mission creep. Look at how much documentation goes into the EIC and apply that to pretty much every form (consider a Schedule C or 1120S for a minute). When I started in the securities industry a new account form was a single page. 27 years later it is an 18 page document with 13 pages of legal wording and we are required to update it every 3 years with new signatures. If I sell a client an individual muni bond the regulatory and documentation burden on that is 5x that if I sold them a mutual fund that invested in the same thing.

http://news.cchgroup.com/category/news/federal-tax-headlines/ http://news.cchgroup.com/category/news/state-tax-headlines/ Or combined: http://news.cchgroup.com/category/news/

Ditto!! There is not a PERFECT weekend, so follow Richcpman's advice so we can plan!!

Rita: We are all planners here.... LOL. If we do not get this on the schedule, we will never go. Pick a weekend that works for you, and then we will see who can make it. Rich

yesterday already, I decided taxes were fine - government nasty and I do not like people anymore - too demanding!

Also... This was new to us, and we carried over the amortization treatment of the points, they should have just gone to the basis on the building anyway, correct? Rich