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I've told myself over and over (over the years) to NEVER believe that line "All I have is a W-2". Card 'em, scan 'em, wand 'em, strip search 'em - demand an old copy before quoting, whatever it takes. But for some reason I keep falling for it impulsively (must be something psycho/psychological there) and low-balling them. Typical one dashes in this week: April shopper, late-model car, well-dressed, acts reasonable, smells okay, nevertheless, it's all about "Are you cheap?" Client tried filing online but the stubborn thing just would NOT fork over $2K CTC for the 17-year old, so abandoned that (don't know how they beat the fee), tried J-H (price induced a near-coronary), and afterwards were scouring the earth for a cheap independent (me). After the poor-mouthin' start I spy a previous year in the junk and it's got 1040, A (fed/state), B, 2106, HSA, energy credit, but no EIC (how unjust) - too much income, of course. Told tax-world has changed, dumped most old baggage, and negotiated a new price (amid groans and gnashing of teeth-both parties). Next year, I swear; no April newbies get past the front desk without a lie-detector test!

Tell them getting good tax advice is like buying oats. For a reasonable fee, I can provide you with good-quality oats. But if price is your only consideration, you may wind up with oats that have already been through the horse.

It's called a QDRO. The QDRO splits the retirement fund into two parts per the lawyer's direction. The QDRO has no tax consequences. Any distributions after that would have tax consequences based on the usual laws, ages, etc.

I don't have to imagine - a few years ago the CEO of a local bank (people seek him out for financial advice) said to me: CEO: "Why am I paying so much tax (many K's +) this year when my associates tell me they pay practically nothing for the same?" BB: "Well, see; when you make the kind of money you're knocking down and you have those side businesses that are dragging in a ton, then you're gonna owe lots of tax. Too, everybody's different - I doubt your pals' earnings are the same as yours. More importantly though, last time you personally sent off all four estimates. This time you sent none. So, it's pretty simple arithmetic." That was a little too plainly spoken for the fiscal analyst. The meeting ended abruptly and I haven't seen him since.

could duplicate and re-create - that has worked sometimes for me D

I have clients who make money dog-walking, babysitting for children/disabled/elderly/even pets on an occasional basis, handyman work for individuals/one-time-type work, and other paying gigs for individuals, seldom for businesses, and very seldom over $600 for a person. So, no 1099s expected or received. The clients report their income, some keeping better records than others. I report all income. I might suggest better recordkeeping &/or depositing it in their bank for a better paper trail. But, if I have no suspicions, I prepare their returns. Your client's work for a restaurant should've been on payroll or at least a 1099 for sporadic, casual labor. Urge her to talk with the restaurant this year. Explain to her what to say &/or print out some plain English explanations.

and long term since the property was inherited

Whoever took vacation with kids left the other parent behind in a QUIET house! Not sure that doesn't qualify for a "win" all by itself, lol.

Yup!

This is very important. The spouse giving the funds must not touch them. They cannot just take a distribution check, cash it and give the money to the spouse. If they do, they pay tax. They give a copy of the order from the court, the Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) to their Retirement Fiduciary along with the information on the spouses account. The trustee transfers to the spouse and it is done. Tom Modesto, CA

I rolled the return over again and recreated it. The efile was created before the newest version of ATX was received. Oddly the reject notice did not so advise. His son's return created the same day was sent off this am and the reject notice advised I needed to submit it using the updated version. So it seems I have s o l v e d the problem.

I am of two minds about this subject. As a preparer I know how hard it is to quote a fair and reasonable price without actually doing the work so that I know what is involved. And if I have done the work, I want to be paid commensurate with my effort. And yet as a consumer, I hate to agree to pay for services when I don't have any idea of what it is going to cost. My preferred method earlier in the year is to tell them that if they bring me last year's return I can tell them what I would have charged to prepare that. Sometimes I will quote a price range, emphasizing that this is based on the return only involving blah, blah, blah. But I don't have a good solution that I am happy with, and I probably lose business because I have gotten short changed so often that I tend to quote high now, figuring that they won't complain if it is cheaper than expected but boy do they if it is higher.

1245 gains are QBI but not capital gains since they already receive tax preference.

Judy, The attachment referred to in Section 3.06 of Notice 2019-7 is specifically for the safe harbor. If you are not relying on the safe harbor the attachment is not needed.

I thought that it was a fairly settled issue that the shares have a zero basis. But I have not researched it in a while. I have used zero basis on my clients in the past but they had basically inconsequential amounts of stock.

It should, because it is ordinary income and that qualifies.

Got it, Thanks

Definitely separate extensions. I'd calculate each under a worst-case scenario and recommend that they pay according to that outcome. Either or both can choose to pay less than the estimated amount due (or even no payment at all) and the extension will still be valid, but that should strictly be their call (or their lawyer's). Give them the 4868 on paper so they can complete the process as they see fit.

So would the transaction be a Schedule D item showing the basis as $120,000 and the proceeds as $120,000?

You need to report the sale of brother's interest in the house in order to file a complete and accurate tax return.

I agree with you. That's One.

It's a little different for me because I only take personal referrals. I am confident they have already discussed prices together.

Or you may be able to e-file a stand-alone VA return. Depends on why the federal rejected.

If they ask my price, I absolutely don't quote. I tell them things like "cheaper than tax-in-a-box" or "I'll save you more money than you'll spend on me" or my all time favorite, "my prices are very competitive, but I don't strive to be the cheapest."

If you are just filing VA to get a refund, I would suggest filing a paper return for VA and don't file a federal (if it isn't necessary).

Transfer MUST be direct. No 60 day rule here.

Land goes on part 1.

I don't think you need a statement if not using the safe harbor.

ILLMAS... ask about vacation the parents took in 2018 and ask where the children were when one of them was on vacation. Whoever took vacation solo, will lose. Whoever took vacation with the noisy children will win. I thought you could not get a divorce unless one of them moved away, especially when there are minor children.

Yes, you can add both amounts on 8962. I did that a few years ago but I don't remember the details.

I would ask the student if they spent any money from their pocket to buy books or other stuff that can be added. Let's say that the student spent $200 in books, I would take only $3,800 for AOC and add $200 as book expense.

It doesn't matter what software you use, land and buildings go in different places on the 4797.

They're both sec 1250 property, but you have to separate them because the building is depreciable property and the land is not.

Building and land are both 1250.

Well, if I know already it's a MFS situation, or if they're going to fight over who paid what, I'd file separate extensions and have the spouses send (or initiate online) separate payments. The extension is an extension to file, not an extension to pay, so I'd encourage them to pay what they owe by 4/15/19. I think IRS will credit the taxpayer (as opposed to the spouse) if spouse sends an estimated payment or extension payment on a "joint" voucher. Pretty sure.

If you write For Deposit Only on the back of a check, most tellers will let it slide (not notice) with a roughly similar name or if they had a joint account. It's exceptionally common for people to find out years later that there was a small balance somewhere. They aren't going to open an estate for $300 so they just deposit the funds into a bank account that is "similar". Had a client with one like that and he kept telling me tellers refused to deposit the funds. Turns out he felt it was important to tell the entire story to each teller before attempting to deposit the check. I mentioned it might work if he just shut up and about an hour later he calls to tell me it sailed through.