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For many years I sincerely hated the 1040. Now, I belatedly realize that while it loved me; I, ungratefully and ignorantly, did not properly and deservedly love it back. Once I could scan all with a brief glance at pages one and two. Now, half my waking thoughts begin with "Where is..." or "Where does...." _________________________________________ Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town? ----- MARK TWAIN: "HUCKLEBERRY FINN."

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

But you can now file your taxes on a postcard!

You never know what you've got until it's gone.

This is awful! We need to petition to have it changed back.

ProSeries is at least printing page 1 and page 2 on the same page! I still can't find anything, but I don't have two half sheets of paper!

I'm so sad. I don't sleep for cryin'.

(Shoo-bop-bop-bop-bop Shoo-bop-bop-bop-bop)

The update I attended said that the IRS now automatically assigns the third party designee to the preparer. The Schedule 6 is for anyone ELSE who needs ALSO to be included. So you are all set, just by being listed as preparer.

Yes, and I'd add the Disclosure statement form, that non-citizen non-resident spouse is not required to have an ITIN. But then, I like to drown them in paper so they have no excuse not to accept what my clients send in. (Else my client would get a letter asking why we did not provide the ITIN that isn't required. YMMV.)

you could file MFS without an ID number for him - it would be a paper/mailed return.

US person can apply for an ITIN for the spouse and file MFS at the same time, see form W-7.

Customize the "main info" sheet on the Form 1040 by checking both "Yes" boxes under "Third Party Designee" and this will accomplish what you are wanting to do

The safe harbor can apply for 2018, and the contemporaneous records requirement will not apply to taxable years beginning before January 1, 2019. Since the safe harbor statement requires a signature, it needs to be attached as a PDF.

This might help, if you can access it. https://www.natptax.com/TaxKnowledgeCenter/IRS Tax Resources/NATP 199A Final Regs Summary.pdf

Form 8275 I think is the number. General "explain what we don't have a form for" form. Don't say that three times fast, it will take emergency services to un-tie your tongue!

Simple solution - Set up a duplicate client and use the duplicate to calculate/keep track of book depreciation.

You should be able to efile through ATX. On 1040, first tab "Main Info" there's a checkbox in a horrible spot this year, under FOR STATE RETURN PURPOSES, put a checkmark in box next to "Check if spouse is nonresident alien, does not have and is not required to have SSN or ITIN." I have efiled spouses with w/o SSN/ITINs for a number of years w/ ATX. Unsolicited tips (worth the price paid) 1) be careful the US spouse may have signing authority over a non-US bank account or non-US investments (FBAR/8938) 2) if the NRA is paying for everything, there's a possibility that the payments may be treated as gifts. If gifts are over $100k for a year from the NRA, US taxpayer will report it on 3520 filed separate from 1040. 3) suggest that NRA gifts to US taxpayer instead of NRA paying expenses directly, then US taxpayer can pay for her own living expenses and those of their son. If son is dependent, US taxpayer would be treated as HoH and have better tax bracket & std deduction. 4) make sure NRA counts days to avoid substantial presence in the US. 122 days on average over 3 years or potentially a treaty may allow up to 182.

I find that I often have to walk Churches (where the minister is my client) through filing (or amending) the appropriate paperwork for Clergy. It is often a secretary or volunteer who is preparing the document. My understanding is that the Church does have to approve the housing allowance once the minister designates the same (i.e. our Church Council 'approves' the housing allowance for our minister every year, and it is in the council minutes). The housing allowance should be in the call letter. I have never known of a requirement for an annual contract - just an annual approval by the Church governing body. Are MAMalody or JJStephens still on this Board? They are extremely helpful in the Clergy Tax arena.

OK. I see your post.

My mother-in-law had that, in her late 80's. I had to physically take a dust mop out of her hands the next day, as she wanted to clean up the dog fur. (She was under orders to rest - far more crucial for full healing in your late 80's!)

It is excellent that it stopped me. Now I know about that "day care" credit up to 1K refundable for expenses on a child under 4 BUT you must pay to specific organizations. I just removed the ELC form and I am able to create the file.

Ok, revision to talk about possible change in its status: For whatever this is worth to anyone, I found that there was a bill introduced in the House on 1/8/19 to make this a permanent deduction and includes amounts paid or accrued in 2018, so it would be retroactive. This bill was referred to the Ways & Means committee the same day. Nothing beyond that, and no idea if this will pass. "H.R.284 - Mortgage Insurance Tax Deduction Act of 2019" https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/284/titles I have only a few that had this deduction, and some of those may be using the new higher standard deduction anyway. I'll have to weigh the potential impact since DE still allows itemizing if using the std for Fed. If of any significance, rather than extend the returns, my recommendation will most likely be to file and amend if this is enacted but that decision is ultimately the client's.

That deduction expired on 12/31/17. No mention of an extender provision as far as I've heard either.

You can make the error go away by overriding 19B. The problem has been noted on the ATX Community Board and reported to development. https://community.atxinc.com/forums/thread/270632.aspx

Agreed. They did it to stop people calling support and asking 'are we there yet?'. Some people abuse the 'free' support and need to be less reliant on it. Now they need to combine the two separate availability pages into one complete list! https://support.atxinc.com/download/formdevelopmentstatus.aspx https://support.atxinc.com/support/ATXJurisdictionStatus/Jurisdiction Did you know that there is a forms request page: https://support.atxinc.com/support/FormRequest

It seems clear as mud to me. It won't make a lot of difference with my clients, but it will some... so, I'm still looking. Maybe NATP has something I can understand.

Had the same thing 6 years ago. Had to wait 5 days in the hospital until pancreas cleared up. Then laparoscopic surgery to remove gall bladder. Lapro is great as it leaves no scars and there is no long recovery, as was home the next day. Hope yours goes as well as mine did. Good luck to you.

And a windfall for those already invested.

Both the prop reg released in August and the final version released last week are well written and have excellent examples. I took the time a couple months ago to read through the proposed reg and work through the examples. Working through the examples was a great learning tool for me. The real meat of the final reg are the operational rules starting on page 156. There is a table of contents starting on page 151 which makes it easy to navigate through the operational rules.

It did give the same information. It did appear to me that the items surrounding the safer harbor were a little more definitive. Still no real confirmation on rentals rising to the level of a trade or business. I am still standing on the safe harbor or sec162 for some of my clients. For others that do not participate at all, then no deduction and they do not meet the requirements under section 162.

There are a number of specially enumerated provisions that make no sense other than real estate lobbyists with lots of money bent the ear of members on the Joint Committee on Taxation at the last minute and got special provisions written into the law for their wealthy clients. The qualification of REIT Dividends and PTP Income are just two of many. It is especially ironic because before the the TCJA was signed into law, all of the proponents were talking about what a great incentive this would be for real estate investors big and small. !

Let me know how that works. I have a very similar situation and I had know idea how to make it work with the Clergy worksheets. If you could spare a few minutes after you do it and explain the process, I would be forever grateful. I told the client they might go on extension this year just to cover my bases. Tom Modesto, CA

Margaret, I am going to report the 1099- misc income on sch c, back it out with the description, designated housing allowance, then make a ‘dummy w2’ in my system for the housing allowance. I do not think I can get the housing allowance to show up in ATX otherwise,

The "noisemakers" were during the 1 day holiday of Purim that takes place between February or March. It never would be during the High Holidays from Rosh Hashonah to Simchas Torah.

This clergy is a cantor that works for the congregation at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. You are right about the housing allowance - it’s not in the contract but stated in the congregation board minutes. Thanks ,

My understanding is that for the housing allowance to be 'nontaxable' it must be designated in the employing contract and BEFORE the first check is paid to the clergy. Further reading in Hammar's Church and Clergy Tax Guide did have one or two lines regarding contracts that cover more than one year. So, I think in the long run my client is ok with the contract covering 3 years. The other issue with this client is that the contract designated all of her remuneration to be housing allowance, and the congregation's 'bookkeeper' issued her a 1099-MISC with that amount in box 7 instead of the W2 with all boxes of -0- except Box 14, $xxxx.xx housing allowance.. My client wanted me to call the bookkeeper and I refused to do so. There's a workaround for this.

These forms. Aaugh. When I'm going over the returns with the client, I'm starting to say, "Just trust me, ok?"