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I have one client who enjoys gambling and every year I get a scratch off ticket along with check. Actually won $50 on a $2 ticket this year.

http://old.post-gazette.com/columnists/20010709brian0709p1.asp

I went through college on tips (not law school). I had a family at the time and my spouse did not work, she stayed home with the kids. We were poor, but we made it on bartender tips. I was even able to buy our first home at the end of my senior year of college on those tips. The right restaurant can be very well paying for some of these tipped employees. Tom Modesto, CA

with all my heart, to fly with dragons in a land apart. (Anyone here with kids that grew up in late 90s early 2000s?) I wish the IRS transcript would give us the state info! Why can't they? Are they just mean IRS people?

You should ask "how many went to the bank of Patty". The wife gets it all, gives me the crumbs that are left over. Tom Modesto, CA

Oh, I stay informed by many means and agree that newspapers (I never watch news) are a bit behind in reporting but they do provide more in depth reporting and good local reporting. I am also aware of lots of electronic games but my eyes are not so great on those screens. So you keep doing you and I will keep doing my crossword puzzles in the paper and folding over the headlines by my coffee cup. Also, the paper has no glare and I can read it indoors or outdoors. It's so good to have options and I appreciate mine.

First I would check Visa type and SPT. A US taxpayer ( via Citizen, GC or SPT) reports worldwide income and gains wherever derived. Yes it's a regular schedule E except the fact that you report share of income and expenses and depreciate under ADS (30 years for foreign rental using lower of cost or FMV date assets were place in service). Foreign real estate direct holding/ownership is not an asset under FATCA. So value of property is not considered when testing for SFFA F8938 and for FBAR filing requirements. Passive FTC may be available if taxes are paid/accrued on the RE net income in Germany. IRS pub 519

I never realized this but that's why so many bars price beers at $3.50 instead of $3 or $4. Many years ago my barber (when I had hair) went from $8.50 to $9.00 to get a haircut. I joked with him that it was a pretty big percentage raise and he said he didn't make any extra money. Everyone always paid him $10 regardless but now he has to share more with the owner. He said he didn't think he'd get an actual raise until he raised it to $10.50.

Got a big one yesterday. Won an EIC audit for a client. They got a big check - so they added 50% extra to the check they sent me for my bill. BTW, they were totally entitled to the EIC, these were not scammers. I like it when the good guys win and the nasty tax agents without a clue lose. Makes me feel good to get for my clients what the tax law says they should get. Tom Modesto, CA

I've had several clients pay me more than my fee. Said my fees are too low. They are rare though. And yes, my fees are too low. Received a bottle of wine once and a gift card from a restaurant once.

I wonder what percentage of those tips went into the Bank of Tom.

I can never find the right lighting to read a book, or be comfortable holding a book (hand cramp). I read ebooks on my regular sized cellphone with white letters on a black page, which is so great for my eyes. The glare from light shining on a white paper page bothers my eyes. And, if I fall asleep reading an ebook, I never lose my place. And there are no popups in my ebook reader, Google Play Books. If you get books from libraries, be wary of bedbugs. They had to fumigate our local library for bedbugs recently. eBooks don't have the HUGE carbon footprint that paper books do, cutting and hauling trees, processing paper, waste, transporting heavy books around, etc. Trees are essential for our climate, especially now. And a lot of smaller authors can create an ebook whereas they could never get a publisher to do a printing. We're all different, and books just don't work for me.

At the top of the general forum, Judy has pinned the all QBI posts and discussions. There is a wealth of information that will help. Everyone here has given you excellent and expert responses. However, under the QBI tab you can find resources and code references you may need. I didn't read all replies in depth but your client has to make the safe harbor election if they qualify. Depending on which software you are using, you may need to include this yourself. Drake has an election that will go with the tax return when it is transmitted.

Why do people when they quit their job cash out their HSA?

I love my Kindle. I have a houseful of paperbacks and hardbacks. But I can have thousands of books on my kindle (which is waterproof, so I can read poolside or in the tub) and at most shows an ad before I open the book I am reading. I can also carry all those books with me on my Kindle, or have them available instantly for download on my phone or tablet. The kindle is lighter weight than even a paperback, and I can adjust the font size if I want to read without my glasses. I can even read in bed without turning on a light and disturbing my husband if he is sleeping. I did not think that I would prefer e-books to "real" books, but in some ways I do. And I know my husband appreciates not having the whole house taken over by books; it gives him more room for his albums.

I started in 1984 after finishing some accounting courses at Queens College and taking a tax preparation course at the old Sobelson School in Manhattan. My first clients were firemen and their families and I would work on the top floor of a 3 story firehouse in the early hours of the morning when fire calls quieted down. If I did go out on a run I would have to leave everything on the table, no security of a clients info. Looking back that was not a good idea, it was a bad neighborhood and one time when we came back from a fire the TV was gone and they stole our shoes. To this day I still have many of those clients, and if I'm up at 3am, I still go to work on the top floor of a 3 story townhouse, but my shoes are now safe.

I have received numerous cash tips over the years. (I consider flowers and booze and fruit to be gifts.) Often they come from the people who can least afford it. I try to refuse, tell them I'm paid very well, but I've come to realize that they have a need to express their appreciation that way and I hurt them if I don't accept. The cash goes into the office ice cream or pizza pool, so I've never reported it.

I love real books. I read in the tub every night to wind down and I don't want my phone or tablet in there. I've already had books fall in. I'm currently reading a chapter or two of the Outlander books a night. I'm just finishing the third book and have the next one ready. I know that half price books has opened here and have a large stack to trade in. Our libraries are not open yet, but they are working on curbside pickup. I do read ebooks when I'm traveling or don't want to bother anyone with a light.

NOT!. I just enjoyed reading a new novel my son gave to me. Sitting in the air conditioned room in an easy chair with a cold beverage on the side table and wasting away a hot day while reading a good novel is superior to sitting in front of a computer or tablet any day. And not a single ad or popup or message from my book ever happens. We will have to agree to disagree on this one my friend. Tom Modesto, CA

Not needed. The IRS will not question it. This is what happens when you only know to enter 1099's and don't understand the implications.

We've been giving HUGE tips when we pick up food and to the UPS/FedEx/mailman who deliver to our house, etc., to show our appreciation. We paid our house cleaner to NOT work. The size tips we give each Christmas, but we'll still tip big at Christmas. My hairdresser opened up this week, but I'm not ready to go yet. I've set aside big tips for her and for my nail lady when I'm ready to go out.

There are people who know more about this. But until they jump on -- from memory -- as long as she's a tax resident here, her reporting is pretty much Schedule E from her standpoint. However, the property being out of the US gets some depreciation differences, maybe no MACRS, straight-line only, longer life (40 years or ADS life?). It's the overseas property that might be different.... I'm sure you've looked at FBAR and FATCA and banking rules on transferring monies into her US account, if she's doing that. Yeah, if she and her sister get along, letting sis report it and paying your client her profit less a property management fee is a good thought.

I've never used a mac. But I have heard for years that they are not too good for the ordinary business software programs. I have a couple of clients using QB on a mac. It does not allow the accountants copy function. They have to convert their file to PC and I use it but can't export any adjusting entries. I have to give them a printed list of AJEs and rely on them to make the entries correctly. One client doesn't even bother.