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It keeps getting harder and harder to advocate for our clients. They are also going to have to extend the response time, if it will take weeks to get a POA on file!

it worked. I put todays date and transmitted this morning. it's accepted now. Thank you!!!!

So, If a Donor says this $5,000 can only be used to buy food for the hungry... The donor doesn't get a deduction? I do not think that is how it works. There are ALL sorts of donor restrictions placed on contributions. I have had major donors ask for their money back when the organization decided NOT to pursue what the donation was for... We want to do project X, we need $100k to do it, but we only raise $35k, so they do not pursue the project, so they have to return the money. Donor restrictions do not preclude a donation deduction. "Some" donor restrictions CAN limit deductibility. That is not the case here. The client donated a car to a charity that needed some repair work. They paid for the repair work. I like Pacun's suggestion to have written a check to the NPOrg for the amount of the repairs. The NPOrg, if using the vehicle for its charitable purposes, (whatever they are), then a 1098-C is not required to be issued. The 1098-C is issued by the NPOrg when they receive a vehicle and then sell it and use the proceeds to fund what they are doing. So, the client could have donated a delivery Van to a NPOrg that delivers food to the hungry. Rich

This is so true. Many times people who have limited skills in their non-native language will answer "Yes" when asked if they understand, even though they don't. They do so for a number of reasons - running the gamut of everything from embarrassment, not wishing to inconvenience/embarrass the other person, simply not really wanting to understand in hopes that will give them cover if things go wrong, and so on. I've seen it firsthand numerous times, and will generally try to have the other person explain to me what I just said. Even that approach doesn't always get you where you need to be.

The only solution is to find someone fluent in both languages, preferably a professional interpreter. You said you explained it to him before and he said "yes". You do not know what he understood. When dealing with non-native speaking people you have to ask them what they understand. It also applies to many native speakers of English. You deem him as reading English "reasonably well" . Reasonable well is not going to cut when it comes to reading tax information. I speak from experience as a former translator/interpreter. This might help you out. It is a list of LITP clinics that provide translation services. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4134.pdf

The IRS does provide info for 5 languages, Spanish Russian, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. If you pull down the language tab on the header line, you can see what they are. There are also English to the other 5 language glossaries. The info available are things like TAS, EITC, Disaster assistance, small biz tax responsibility, Where's my Refund, LITP language service locations, etc . None of the pubs available are related to tax preparation except Pub 17 in Spanish. The are no tax prep forms available except 1040PR in Spanish, but that is only for Puerto Rico. Forms such as W-7, 2848, and other information forms are available in the other languages.

The software (Sch E) has a checkbox that asks if the property has been disposed. Checking this box prevents the loss from being swallowed up into the 8582 mishmash. Max and Catherine are right on top of this. Thanks to all...

The loss is not added to basis. It is taken on line 22 of Sch E.

Try that. In my ProSystem fx, prior to the deadlines, I can give a future withdrawal date that is not later than the deadline. After the deadlines, I cannot. I forget whether I have to leave the withdrawal date field blank or put in the transmission date. Try both !!

Is this really a problem? Has anyone heard of someone submitting a POA without the taxpayers knowledge? Most representatives are professionals (CPA, EA or attorney) so are they really going to risk losing their license by submitting a false POA. They would better serve taxpayers by coming up with a better way to verify refundable credits before issuing the refunds without placing additional burdens on tax professionals.

Wow. That is comprehensive. Lots of excellent info in there, plus creative writing. (Probably the first time I've ever seen a tax discussion say something to the effect that "If taxable income is greater than $XXX, then you are hosed.") This is definitely a link to be bookmarked, and its clear they plan to update the info. Thanks, Max

Thanks Max & Gail. Gail, you're correct, there is depreciation, and it affects 4797 income, but does not affect LTCG. Max, I think you're telling me that the $5K loss will be allowed on Sch E, and thus will not have to be added to basis.

Projecting the calculation algorithms to comply with the proposed changes (as well as allowing the existing form) took no more than a few minutes for me. What took longer was making space, and making readable, the proposed new parameters on pay stubs. The real push back (I suspect) is caused by the lazy you know what states and tax agencies, who continue to use federal withholding for any part of their own revenue stream calculations. Employees, under the proposed changes, can do nothing and continue to use any existing w4 they have in place (2018, 2015, etc.) Any new W4 would have to be the current year (as always). Employers will be encouraged to get new forms, but do not have to. Any media report of complication for software developers is simply untrue.

I, too, think this is the problem. I was getting a similar error check message from Drake's program on an individual return where I'd entered a payment withdrawal date a few days after the filing date so there was no actual reject, but the issue sounds the same and the program would not allow the e-flie creation. The only date acceptable was the same date as e-file submission.

Sounds like the problem is you are trying to push the payment date out beyond the day submitted. From what I am seeing because it is past the original due date it will have to be paid at the same time they receive the return.

This guy is from Tibet. Fortunately he reads English reasonably well, but he has trouble when you explain something verbally. He's a great guy, but when we converse it's like we're speaking different dialects. Than God he has a good sense of humor!

Sorry - I just assume everyone is still in 2017 like me. Heck - I'm still in 2016 sometimes! This is 2017

You didn't say whether this happened in 2017 or 2018? It matters because of the TCJA.

When I chose Language from the IRS.gov menu, I was offered information in five languages besides English: Espanol, two with symbols that might be Japanese and Chinese, Russian (I know the cyrillic alphabet), and Tieng Viet with a lot of pronunciation symbols above and below the letters. I know preparers who use a translation app on their phones, but I haven't tried that for specialized vocabulary such as taxes.

Yes. I bought from HP but when I custom my purchase on line, I then call and talk to a person to walk me thru it.

Can I answer E? There should be some depreciation.....

Pub 17 is available in Spanish. There are some forms W-4, W-7 and a few others also available. There are no other languages provided. There is also a Glossary of English to Spanish tax words and phrases -Pub 850. As a side note - I have a friend who had a tax prep service and had 60 clergy as clients. He said they were the biggest tax cheats.

A lot of IRS Pubs and Forms come in multiple languages. Perhaps you can download the relevant ones in his language. If a Pub, just give him the paragraphs that you need him to understand.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4361.pdf As you said, once the exemption is approved, you cannot revoke it. The exemption covers payments for ministerial duties. If he paints houses on the side, he should have FICA withheld. If he expects a non-ministerial SE tax obligation, he could increase his FIT withholding to have enough in his "bucket" to cover SE as well as FIT or make SE payments. If he's a minister in a national or large denomination, he can probably get counsel from his superiors or a legal or finance department. Read Pub. 517 for more information.

I don't mind building computers, but I would feel badly if a component were to fail. I think you're better off buying from someone local, or from Dell so that you can get service if something goes wrong. For the laptop, if the requirements are 17" and Dell, you have a couple options. XPS doesn't come in 17" which is unfortunate because the Dell XPS laptops are really high quality and feel great to use--great keyboards, great trackpads, quality materials and finish. In my past experience, the Inspiron laptops feel like cheap flexy plastic crap, but maybe they're better now. You could also get Alienware, which has been owned by Dell for a while. They're obnoxiously styled to appeal to Gamers, but it's what's on the inside that counts and a computer that's good for gaming is generally also good for heavy workloads of any kind. It seems unimaginable that you wouldn't be able to configure a laptop with an SSD instead of an old spinning disk. If you have trouble configuring the laptop the way you want online, then maybe it's worth calling them to order over the phone.

Please note that to keep this topic on point, i moved posts by SaraEA and JohnH to a new topic of its own that deals with the new sec 199A QBI deduction and W-2 income.

@Linda Mathey Linda, the OAS and the CPP are the equivalent of social security and as I said before, it is reported on line 20a that will use the same formula for calculating the taxable portion of benefits. If these are in canadian currency, please convert it to U.S. dollars and enter it on line 20. Please see pub 915 where it instructs that the OAS benefits received should be entered on worksheet 1 which is the worksheet to use for line 20 of the 1040. And this also on the OAS:

I have run into this a number of times. What I do is to allocate at least a part of the distribution to Officer Compensation, Line 7, 1120S. Then that amount is entered on the 1040, Line 21 as Officer Compensation. Then an SE form is generated for the SE tax. In 2004, the IRS began auditing S-Corps and at that time issued some guidelines which I can't locate again. They guidelines were less than $10,000 income and more than $50K distribution. These may have changed over the years. The good news is that less than 1% of S-Corp returns are audited and I assume that the small ones, such as this, are on the bottom of the pile.