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I have a client who had post tax HSA contributions deducted from his pay for a number of years. I had to get his final paystub each year and compare it to his W-2 to make sure.

When my daddy died 19 years ago, he left each of 5 children $2000. The first $1000 came right away, the second a year later. I took the first $1000 and bought a printer and a laptop, and made a spirit promise to my daddy that I would one day earn enough money to support myself. I started with less than 50 clients. I have over 500 today. I don't know what I would do if I had parents who gave me a house. I'd probably be homeless by now. Thanks, Daddy. I know you're proud of your "Possi." (The nickname he gave me)

In short, yes and yes.

Direct from the IRS: "Most taxpayers will receive their refunds in 21 days or less. There is no guarantee concerning how long refunds will take." Some refunds will not be sent out, until mid March.

I agree with Rita. If the mom remained in the house, continued to pay the taxes and upkeep, then she had the "incidents of ownership" and has an implied life estate. IMO, they may be able to get the step up in basis. But, as always, it depends on the facts and circumstances.

If mom remained in the home, I think you have an implied life estate, but others know a lot more than I do about that.

On the state efile tab click the button to decouple the state from the fed.

According to an article I read this morning, last year there were more than 1 Million refunds with EITC & ACTC that were subjected to "enhanced electronic scrutiny" which delayed the refunds until mid March. A similar number of delayed refunds are expected this year. I just love the phrase"enhanced electronic scrutiny."

Haven't done one of these in years. I think -- without having done any research recently on this topic -- that since mom passed with a life estate, this acts like any inheritance. If mom were still alive with a life estate and a house sale, then I think the calculations are necessary to attribute to mom and to kids. You're going to need to research, sorry!

I've seen some "full" fireproof safes.

Word to the wise - put your money under your mattress.

If it was a completed gift, the children's basis is the parent's basis the day before the gift. If the "gift" included a life estate, written or implied, the children's basis is the DOD FMV. If a 1099 arrived, report it.

If it's on a paystub, it's usually pre-tax payroll deductions plus the employer part, so ALL PRE-tax. If the client wrote a check to his HSA, that would be after-tax.

Just be sure they are AFTER tax contributions, and not before tax. Not always easy to tell from a pay stub, and taxpayers never seem to know the difference.

Just completed one of these where the daughter inherited the house. So, the daughter's basis is FMV at date of death. I agree the children's basis is the mother's basis plus any improvements.

Having my client sell a house to his daughter for $10, I'm waiting for this response. I may be corrected, but their basis is the parents' cost, plus improvements. It was not inherited. It already belonged to the kids.

I got my day off to such a good start today (not), when I went to compile a finished return, and the client’s original forms weren’t in her file. I always clip the originals with a green or blue paperclip, so they're obvious when I'm ready to mail everything back to them. This morning I started to compile, and the originals were nowhere to be found. 10 minutes of pure panic as I flipped through all my other open return files, and was thinking “OMG, what if I mailed them back to someone else??!” Finally I remembered - oh yeah, she was the one who came in super early and completely unprepared, and had to email me all her forms. I never had any originals! Whew!

I too did this one time. After that, I employed this anal method. I purchased numerous boxes of Hefty jumbo zip lock bags. Each client that drops off gets a zip lock bag. I place a post-it-note in the bag with the client's name on it. Once the return is complete, the docs and the return are put right back in the zip lock bag to stay until the client picks them up.

I think Lion hit it on the head. I believe that the requirement to pay self employment tax is contingent on the attempt to earn a profit from an activity. And the IRS rules for what is a hobby, generally used to reclassify losses in what is represented as a business, cut both ways. Go through the factors that the IRS uses against a taxpayer to determine if the activity is a business or a hobby. Based on your answers above to my questions, the analysis will most likely come out that this is a hobby and not subject to SE tax, but included as other income. The biggest factor, even though the IRS says none are controlling, is the profit motive. I think you need to document the initial contact from the company and your client. You will need that, because this is probably going to generate a letter. But if you can reply with all the facts and your analysis of the law, it should go away. Prep the client for the probability that a letter will come and be ready to reply when it does. You should be fine. The position you are taking is supported by the law, and the tax courts. Tom Modesto, CA

100% other income. Being an expert witness is not something I've enjoyed doing. Attorney's earn their reputation for being jerks.

Hobby income.

If one sees what it takes to qualify as an expert witness, I think there is only one conclusion - SE income, even if it is only one time. It is much the same as authoring a book. If it is a carpenter writing one time about bee keeping, it is ordinary income. But, if the one time book is about building a house, it is SE income. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2004/oct/soyouwanttobeanexpertwitness.html

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's been added

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