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Just once I want the little message to say, "Close enough."

I changed all my passwords to; "incorrect"

I enter my zombiatic state of living sometime around the third week in February and stay there until about the first of May. I am certain you can all relate. It is really a strange sensation. I can actually feel my transitioning into and out of that state of being.

I like hugs and I love living! Thanks for the warm welcome, guys! I shall cease my lurking and join the fray. Tom, I'm in Los Angeles. Does everyone feel like a zombie this time of year? Hope you're all having a great week.

KILLIN ME! LOL LOL

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA When I do get it right, I do the Dorito Dance. Every. Time.

The good kind of hugs, not the kind Rita sometimes give PITA clients.

Just accidentally learned that you can double click a variable to insert it into a letter. So much easier than dragging and dropping. Why didn't someone tell me this!

I hope you find (or have found) your return. This happened to me last week but I did not think much about it until I saw your post. Freaked me out at the time because I thought it was just me not seeing what I was looking for. I do not remember what I did exactly, maybe shut down the program and reopened, and there it was. The fact that the return is still in the rollover manager is immaterial to the issue at hand. The rollover manager looks in a different place for the prior year return info.

Other countries around the world are calling this extortion and an illegal tax, and the Netherlands recently expelled Eritrea's top diplomat from the country over this tax. I would highly doubt that this is eligible for any sort of credit here but I couldn't find anything specific. If you can't find anything in your searches, try searching for it's other name "Eritrean Diaspora Tax". From one of the articles linked below: " In December 2011, a UN security council resolution (pdf) called on Eritrea to “cease using extortion, threats of violence, fraud and other illicit means to collect taxes outside of Eritrea from its nationals or other individuals of Eritrean descent”. I googled for "Eritrean Diaspora Tax", also called the "2% tax", and came up with a lot of articles. Here are a couple of those: This one from 2015 has a lot of information: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jun/09/eritrea-diaspora-tax-uk-investigated-metropolitan-police This from Jan 2018, seems the view hasn't changed: https://qz.com/1183766/netherlands-expels-eritreas-top-diplomat-for-diaspora-tax/ Sorry, not much help, but I found this interesting and had to read about it.

They don't want a good preparer, so that'll work out great.

Nice to have you Alex, before you go lurking again, it might be a good idea to click on the donate button.

Form 1116 foreign tax credit. I have see (very rare!) circumstances where taking a deduction on Sch A works better - so I always look at both choices before finalizing.

I got 8 done yesterday and then my Office Manager tells me as she's leaving for the day that we have more returns in now, than we had on 4/17 last year. Holey shirts, Batman! I need to crush it!

you can double click a variable to insert it into a letter.

After you get married it will be easier to search, but maybe more difficult in other things, I don't know, just saying.

The find feature searches quite a few fields in ATX. You can try EIN or street name next time you can't find a return. I learned this because I can't find my own return using name search, because ATX searches the preparer name field. I'd sure like to turn that off.

Was everything ok inside the file? The return name in Return Manager is easy to change, perhaps, too easy.

Thanks to all. I shut down the software and my computer more than once. Nothing. I finally signed on to my assistant's machine and logged in using her user ID. Nothing. However, when i came back to my computer and did one more check, I saw an S-Corp with a very strange name. It had not been there previously, because I had searched through the list of corps multiple times. I opened it, and it was my file. It somehow disappeared, renamed itself, and reappeared. I renamed it back to its original name. (The name was really random - nothing related to or in the corporation in any way.) You can't make this stuff up. Crisis averted, but blood pressure suffered.

Atx rolls the info over, so the only time you have to check the box is on the first return you do for a client.

Have you tried to import the K-1 into the personal return? I know sometimes when I look for a return to rollover and its not on the list. I uncheck everything and then it shows up on the list, another weird thing in ATX. Freaks me out because I am just waiting for something to happen.

First, I would check on ATX for the e-file acknowledgement. I had this happen once and had to shut down ATX and reopen. The missing returns showed up. If that does not work for you, then check the backup folder.

Sounds to me like the partnership was dissolved on 7/13 and your client received all the assets in a liquidating distribution. Then he contributed those assets to S. Corp.

It's EASY to find a preparer now! However, if you want a COMPETENT preparer - or better yet, a GOOD one, it just ain't happening.

There is no penalty for filing a 1099-MISC that is not needed - but there ARE penalties for not filing when they are needed. Better safe than sorry, I always say!

Awesome. This is why you do this crazy job? For when you can really help a client - LEGALLY! Tom Modesto, CA

Three thoughts: 1. §267 ( b ) clearly states that a fiduciary of a trust and a beneficiary of that trust are related parties. If the Property is rented (and the funds actually paid) at Fair Market Value, then there is no issue with deducting losses. If the rent charged is not FMV, then the expenses, other than that which would be generally deductible on Schedule A, would not be allowed. This is the same general rules for a rental between a parent/child or a child/parent situation. 2. I think you are being a little quick to judge on the fiduciary duties. Real Estate is a generally sound investment. Since title is presumably not passed to the son, the corpus of the trust is still intact, except for normal losses of first year rental that will presumably be recovered in future years. Just because it threw a loss in year one due to an extraordinary item does not make it a breach of fiduciary duty IMHO. 3. I am guessing that the trust document gives wide latitude to the trustee to provide for health, welfare and general maintenance of the son as current beneficiary. I would also guess that it specifically allows for invading the corpus to do so. And it probably says on the death of the son, the remainder corpus goes to the grandchild. To sum it all up, you need to only determine that the rents paid by the beneficiary are at FMV. If not, I believe you have a related party loss that cannot be recognized for tax purposes. Then if gets interesting, to see if you have a distribution or not. But I don't think you would, unless the trustee was also paying for items that were personal in nature and not related to the preservation and maintenance of the home (electricity, water, etc) Hope this helps. Trust but verify. Tom Modesto, CA

got them to change their IRA to traditional from Roth and saved them a bundle!! Thank you!!!!!!!

She's a prime candidate to use TT that would allow her to see the bal due/refund change with every fabrication additional business expense or deduction she made up forgot on her first attempt. /sarcasm

I love neighbors and friends that use me when they need me. /s I have turned away very few people in 24 years, but I declined to take back two clients in two days this week. One was a long time friend who got mad at me last year for telling them I have 10 weeks to make a living and cannot re-do your return every year because you forgot something [you can't manage your W-4 and are making up ship for your side business]. She has not spoken to me in a year and her husband made her ask if they could bring in their stuff. I apologized at the time for my attitude, I apologized again Sunday night when she texted, but politely told her no. I have been smiling ever since.

Stop hiding and come out into the open more often. As you have found - not many folks here have too much of a bite. Well, there are a few exceptions - but you will never be abused here.

All final returns are accrual. The fees should have been deducted on the final return.

I'm glad you finally came out of lurking. Pretty soon when the season's over and we'll be back to the die hard skeleton crew that sticks around for the rest of the year. Now I have The Beatles "Hello, Goodbye" stuck in my head.

I don't understand the use of the word "tried" here. Is she saying she had business income when she did not? Or is she reporting income that she always has and normally does not report? I may have this all wrong, and if so I apologize. If I'm not wrong, I would never let a client decide what income to report, or suggest what income to report. Besides the obvious (it's wrong), I would not want that to be told, and it will be. They made some bad moves and do not qualify for a credit that a lot of people didn't qualify for. I'd try to keep emotion out of it and just reconcile the income and taxes and credits. You might try MFS. It's not your fault that they didn't think taking distributions would increase income. It's also not your fault that the price of health insurance is obscene. Tax pros can't make it affordable. Try not to worry about it, neighbor or not.

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