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Well, ship, don't ask me the standard amount for a donation. Hellur? There is no standard amount for a donation. Yeah, I know what they mean, but learn how to talk, you peanut butter jar donating cheapskates.

I'm the only one in here, but I am totally going to start doing this.

And they all want a BIG return... you know ..a BIG tax return where they get a big check! Oh you mean your tax refund...

Tax pros in office are more numerous than they appear.

What's the standard amount for my yard sale crap I unloaded on the porch at Goodwill I mean non-cash donations to charity? Zero.

Isn't that the name of Rita's back 40? Just saying @RitaB Tom Modesto, CA

Yeah, but where is the 'place'.

I really am, cause they can't even itemize. But the one who wanted to deduct the used peanut butter jars she donated to Vacation Bible School? Uh. They were worth zero. ZEE. ROW.

I think that's because we are quick on our feet tending to all the craziness. Sometimes in two places at once, or so it seems.

There is no software to handle accounting for someone with no experience or training in accounting. In other words, it is impossible to create accounting software which can be blindly used. Same for tax prep, despite many attempts...

Oh, let 'em have $25, it won't change their tax in most cases.

Those places better be unmarked. Now I'm an accessory to her misdeeds.

Judy just about always comes up with the perfect cite.

I hope you haven't transmitted this return. If the receipts do indeed exceed the 250K and you checked the box No, then the IRS will be looking for the Schedules you mention. I always complete the balance sheet, the M-1 and M-2 regardless of the income.

my new response when I ask for interest income and I get "those answers": it's hardly anything I didn't get a form it is less than $10 the bank says I don't have to report it of course, I have already gone through the spiel: "If it is less than $10, then the bank does not have to report it to you; but you have to report it to the IRS. You have to look at your year-end bank statement to get the figure". ...so, you didn't get a form... it is less than $10... so $10 per account will cover it that has gotten a few people to look. And yes, sometimes it is .12; and sometime $2.37 and makes no difference (but it goes on the return!) but sometimes it is $37.12 and they "didn't get a form" because it is online and they didn't look . As we all know..sometimes $2.37 does make a difference. Ugh! knocked them out of Tuition deduction of $2,000 for that $2. But it has to go on the return!

Oh, man. You just like giving them... gruff. Too funny!

I do that Abby, for one or two receipts. But, for 13? And, one of them was that pet stroller for $120 when new. (Did any of you every stroll your pet?!) 13 X $500 X 33% bracket = $2,145. I don't know. They did downsize. Then hit them hard with Rita's education next year.

Boy you guys and gals are harsh. If they want to deduct 500, I let 'em deduct 500. At 15% that's only $75 tax. And if they tell me what they paid for something, I give 'em 20-25% of that.

Oh, they give me a number then, I just like to be a smart ass I mean educate my clients.

Judy, we are all accessories but not to worry - our lips are sealed!

Crying. ISTG.

I believe all estates have to have an EIN, and the 1041 demands one (no place to put a SS#). If you think about it, estate income under the deceased's Social would flow through to the deceased, which he couldn't have gotten because he was deceased. At least I think I know this. After today I feel like I don't know nothin'. Does CODI income from a PTP get added to basis? One client made a few dozen gifts, many $14k or less, but some to the same people, also gave savings bonds, stocks, and oh yea, his house but retained a life estate. I think when savings bonds are transferred the accrued interest has to be reported by the giver, but then again after today I don't know nothin'.

I do have the brokerage statement that does indeed break out the basis. So, and as you said, I entered it exactly so the return matches the 1099B

Twinkle, twinkle, our next star, How I wonder who you are! It's week #5 and you all know the routine by now. Who will have the best story this week?

It was his own return he was screwing up. It was either intentional or he's never mind.

I have been subpoenaed by prosecutors to see if I had any access, knowledge, or any other information about what our customers did or did not do. Usually just a statement made via recorded phone call gets me out of the loop. No defense counsel has asked for my "help", so far...

Here's an interesting article from 2011 about an EA who apparently didn't know the nuances of his software and went to jail over it. (That's complete BS, you know something else was going on there, but it was on the interwebs and all): http://www.cpa-connecticut.com/blog/?p=2057

Had one today. They did sell their house and downsized. 13 Goodwill/other receipts. Some listings, such as oak end tables, 6 leather purses, that kind of detail, but NO dollar amounts. (Pet stroller donated to Humane Society, letter received, used once, paid $120 !!) I emailed her. Same thing, wanted standard amount, $500 she asked? "Good will , I gave them so much due to move - I say the value should be what ever the guideline is. $500? You choose. The stroller was only used once I paid $ 120.00" She's an artist, so I don't think I'll get much more out of her. I know they downsized, so I may sit here with my Goodwill list and her lists (which are short, so I might actually do this) and give her some conservative numbers. And, charge her a bookkeeping fee. Otherwise, I've been doing zero or $10 per receipt or whatever my mood dictates when clients don't respond. If they don't make any cash donations, church or whatever, I go with zero for Goodwill if they won't commit. At least this couple did give money to a couple of organizations.

June 23, and I already have a place card with your name on it.

I do exactly what Sara does, because I seldom see basis listed for the fractional share. If Terry has the brokerage breakout with basis assigned to that fractional sale, then I would make the tax return match the 1099-B.

Indeed. Had a client with dependent care benefits on W2 but no child care expenses listed. He told me they paid cash and could not deduct it. I opened 2016 return while on the phone and he had preschool expenses, so it wasn't taxable last year. But as I was hanging up I realized we (be a team player, it diffuses the blame) had missed entering the DCB on the W2. I try to be efficient when reviewing returns, and we only see DCB once or twice a year, and the DCB was off to the left all by itself on the W2, but it was still a mistake we made. I had to sit with this for a few days before I emailed him the bad news. Frell. (I always had the hots for Chiana, even though I prefer brunettes. She was a bad/tough female character.)

I would stay away from BHoffman and paper if I were you. And don't let Catherine walk behind you. Other than that have a good time.

Rita, I think you need to plaster that egg back on your face. All your comrades on this board are giving you support that you really don't deserve. It's time for you to take deep and painful responsibility for your many misdeeds. Suck it up and move on. By the way, I'm sure you'll want to invite me to your June what-ever-is-happening. I may consider my elite status and condescend to the group long enough to show up. In fact, I'm certain I should be the guest-of-honor.

Yes not my favorite situation. I have some big time filthy rich clients who never give a cent to their church or the many worthy non-profit organizations, but they can throw at me 8-10 tickets to [Goodwill, Salvation Army]. Of course none of them have any representation of dollars. This is such concern for the underprivileged. Trophy wife wants a $5000 upgrade to her wardrobe or hubby wants new toys for his vintage electric train set in their basement. And they tell me their donations are worth thousands, until they find out they have to detail everything above $500.

I tell them the standard donation amount is zero, or in TN southern talk Zee Row.

Only for the portion that isn't taxed. If any of momma's benefits are taxable, that part of her SS benefits is included in gross income.

Yes, please proceed as if our answers are correct because there is no way you can convince the IRS that your clients deserve the full credit as you requested it.

Thanks to you both. I'm just about fried from the client load and just couldn't get my head around this. I'll double check about the condo. They had told me that they had no bank accounts overseas and I believe them. They've always been straight, just a little hard to understand sometimes.

I sometimes get QB users say, “oh accounting is so easy.....”. So I feel your pain.

I agree with you, Edsel, about QB. But it seems there is only one resident 'bookkeeper' who is not that knowledgeable about accounting. All the more reason to keep it simple. Outsource the payroll, let the bookkeeper do only basic entry. And you come in to make the necessary adjustments, backing out personal, etc.

Congratulations to Rfassett, this week's winner!

With the tiny amounts usually involved in "cash in lieu" sales, I usually use a basis of zero. That way they can keep their entire original basis in the shares they do own,. The math is complicated enough trying to calculate basis of each share when they received 1.4087351645 shares for each one they had. Adding a couple of bucks in gains to their tax return for the partial share sold isn't going to change anyone's tax bracket.

Hi jklcpa, the distributions we were talking about was paid-in-capital which becomes a part of stock basis rather than income accumulation (retained earnings). You are correct that distribution of accumulated retained earnings income is a different type of distribution. Paid-in-Capital is not Retained Earnings. From a tax standpoint there is no difference in distributing shares of stock or paid-in-capital. Both are Capital Distributions not distribution of earnings. S-corp distribution rules only apply to accumulated earnings.

I appreciate all of your responses. The parent's have wills willing all property to the other. I have pretty much talked him out of his idea explaining that if the purchased lands are deeded in both names his mother's half interest would be valued at 1/2 the purchase price at that time and he could incur significant taxes. I have not run this by my own attorney but I am confident this would be the case. In my own family we had one of these split valuation deals that proved to be a real mess.

<<<<<<<OK, Margaret, since you want some concrete suggestions, here we go.>>>>>>>>> Isn't this why she posted it in the first place? While I'll agree that I am glad that I am not dealing with this, I too would suggest taking each item separately. The debacle with the 12 room unit is a challenge. You could keep the expense to each unit separately along with the rent received for those units. Question is, how do you take depreciation on anything when the building in it's entirety was not ready for rent? It is apparent the rehab(s) are capital improvements but again, how do you determine basis if they are not keeping up with the expenses. Maybe they will have credit card receipts or statements that you could pull expenses from. Maybe the other thing is if the units are all relatively the same size then maybe you could divide the expenses proportionately. It will be interesting to see how this comes out.

I usually get a series of naps totaling 5 - 6 hours a night. Last night I was running a fever and was hit with an overwhelming need to sleep, so apparently I needed all of that rest. Being sick is the only time I sleep as soundly as I did last night. I managed to drive to a client's today, although I don't remember much of that, but no way I could have driven safely at all yesterday. Thanks for the well wishes.

Or there was a yellow warning and I missed it, got to give those yellow warnings more than a cursory look.

I had one of those EDU problems this year too. Took me some time to realize I needed the address of the college because there was no error or yellow warning. Couldn't figure out why program was not allowing the LLC. Luckily I eventually found it because I do need the sleep.

Yes

Nothing new since late last year and that wasn't the first case, but I say good!