Leaderboard

Wow, that really clears this up for me. I'll save this one, as I do most of my resolutions here! I just emailed her to see if she sold them. She moved from a big position at Anthem and it is a substantial figure.... to me, that is.

All you folk's work is very valuable ......

Not fun. Sending sympathy from CA. Would take you out for a cocktail or glass of wine but the flights are too long. Hang in there girl. Tom Modesto, CA

My minimum is $150, and that sounds like what I would charged your client. I had a new client yesterday, after I finished going through the mountain of pages from last year's HRB return, I found their bill for $529. Well no wonder they give the client so many useless worksheets and statements, they have to justify that ridiculous price! I'm thinking mine will be around $300.

New client - he said the previous preparer made mental errors like sending him emails meant for someone else and including a copy of someone else's tax form in his information. Three W2's Child Tax Credit - no daycare 1 div, 1 int 1 capital gain entry They charged $520. Including generating a new client entry and running through itemizing, it took me an hour.

I have a minimum of 165 that is state and federal. for very basic return. When there are kids involved and that damned 8867 comes into play I took the advise of another professional and added an hour's billing of $135 for IRS due diligence reporting. (the form states an hour to 90 minutes to prepare this form) So this return would be a $350 bill for me.

I called alright. Not only did they mess up that return, but they have messed up the VA worksheet calculations and changed other returns as well. I contacted TaxWise after talking with a rep in Richmond. He is blown away as well. So the software isn't dancing with the state who is not dancing with anyone. Basically, all my VA returns with a VA Sch A and all my return with deductible MIP will be changed, making ME appear bad. Monday was a flat tire day with all this going on, between Richmond and TaxWise.

I would want to be sure that the credit was actually appplied to 2019 by getting the Account Transcript for that year. The reason - 2016 will be closed on Apr 15, and if the credit does not get included in the refund, trying to find out what happened to it may cause the time to slip by Apr 15 and the credit could be lost. As for the question, I don't think it matters one way or the other. It is the same as somone filing a return and forgetting the $1000 Est Pmt made. It will still get credited even if it is not on the return. If it is on the return and it is too much, like Est Pmts that were never made, the IRS will discount them. And as Illmas says - Charge for it.

I use Abby's method. I mark amount zero and print vouchers without amount. I do an estimate outside ATX and have a Word memo for them. They can then vary the estimated payment amounts during the year.

There are at least 3 ways to make this happen. I went with down and dirty, but yes, using the planner is the most elegant way. The 3rd way is to use the estimate worksheet.

Me too, you’ve got to be fair, it will pay off in the long run.

I try to bring in all new clients at $500 minimum. That doesn't always work. But, I'm in pricey Fairfield County, CT so it does work sometimes. Even when I charge less, I print the full price and then a discount. And, I have long time clients at a fraction of that price. And, families with deep discounts or free for kids or.... I get more complaints when I raise prices than I do when I start high with a new client.

I guess I'm undercharging as well. I would be nowhere near that charge for that return.

Not to beat a dead horse if you think you got this...but.... I have a client who works for Tesla. They get quarterly awards of stock options. Tesla is very good about giving the worker all the details of the awards, so it is just a matter of hunting for the award date and the amount of income that was included for that lot when it was awarded. Just finished that return last week. From your original post above, it is not clear that the client has "sold" the stocks, just exercised the right to purchase the stocks. If that is the case, then there will not be a 1099B. At the point of grant (not exercise of grant, but the grant of the options), there is generally no reporting, because there is nothing of value that has changed hands. The employee has the option, but not the requirement, to purchase the shares at a given price (the option price). If they don't actually choose to purchase, they have received nothing from their employer. This is what it sounds like happened to your client. Then, when she was leaving the company, she exercised the options, purchasing shares at a discount to the FMV on that date. The amount she gave the company (the option price) is basis, as well as the spread between the option price and the FMV on the date of exercise of the option. The spread is the portion that should be included in the W2 at ordinary rates. This is also the amount you need to hold on to for the actual sale of the stocks when it happens, because the broker may or may not have the correct basis reported on the 1099B. If there is no 1099B, then there is no sale. Double check with your client that they did not receive a check. If she got a check, she should also get the corresponding 1099B. In a lot of cases, the grant, the exercise and the sale all happen on the same day. Even in this case, there should be a 1099B. It generally results in a small CG loss due to the broker commission (as Judy said above). Back to your original problem. The real question is: Did she sell? If so, make her get the brokerage statement. If not, then ask her where the stocks are held right now, because she owns them and some broker is holding them in an account with her name on it. Hope this is clear as mud for you? Tom Modesto, CA

I am just wondering if the market value of the property had dropped, if you would have to put it in to service at the lower FMV when the use changed again....... Hopefully, that is not the case.

Perhaps your client's letter was generated before VA Tax had the bill from the General Assembly with the conforming items. That notice is dated 18 February, but I had read it elsewhere before that. RE: The sales tax vs. state tax subtraction on line 18 of the VA sched A: At the start of the year, ATX was subtracting both Sales tax and State tax. I called VA Tax on 2/3/2020 to ask about it and was told that the software was correct. Then about a week later, ATX changed the software.... so I called again on 2/14/2020 and was told that sales tax is NOT subtracted on line 18. Each time, the person I spoke with had to go ask a supervisor. This was not an issue that was on their radar because it was not a change. In the past, when we used sales tax we did not have to deduct it. The big change for us and for VA Tax is that before last year, there was not a separate schedule A - any changes from federal were adjusted on the 760. Even on the 2018 Schedule A there were no adjustments on the Schedule A. They were done on the 760. I would say that if you have already filed returns that had sales tax subtracted on line 18, I would give them a look to see what difference it would make for the t/p. if it is material you might want to amend. Certainly VA Tax is not going to make the change. They did not make any adjustments on the 2018 returns when they changed the calculation of line 11 on the 760 in mid-season which made it more favorable to the t/p. I confirmed each time I spoke with them, that they were using the 10% for medical rather than the federal 7.5%. But at least they started the year with that rate compared to 2017 when they changed mid-February and t/p were getting adjustments because we had already filed. Possi, In your position I would certainly call on behalf of the t/p and do not give up until you find a person who realizes the VA Tax error and will make the correction.

Like cbslee, I would treat this as property that's been idle and put back into service, meaning to put it back into active status and use the same basis and accumulated depreciation. To do otherwise would risk losing track of the depreciation already taken that will be subject to recapture when the property is disposed of.

I may be wrong, but I would start up where you left off, in order to keep track of depreciation for purpose of calculating exclusion of gain on future sale of this home.