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The one I "lost" in this thread also told me that 10,000 of his unemployment is not taxable. You don't say. I should have told him Lefty Loophole down the road would make it 10,200 if you wanna try them. Would have saved me some time on the depreciation schedule issue.

Gosh, it's been a lloooonnnggg tax season. I got (and passed) my second wind about two weeks ago; am now working on the third which is disappearing fast. Lost/non-received refund complaints are frequent. Think I'll ask the preacher to revise a prayer and invoke it for me - to wit: (from medieval Englishmen) "Lord, protect us from the wrath of the Northmen" -- to that I'll add ("and from the ravages of lost and unknown Stimulus payments to the lost and unknowing souls who declare {"think we got it/don't remember/seems like we did-maybe/part, but not sure which/is this any trouble?"}) It's downhill from here, so after 4-15 I'm disappearing for awhile and to heck with May 17th.

Yep, don't you love the ones who include clippings with their tax documents and forward you emails, links to US Today, etc.?! They're right up there with the ones who label all their documents. Actually, they're often the same clients. And, I do add a charge, calling it something like Consolidated Appropriations Act.

I had a "helpful" client email me about this just yesterday - in case I had not heard. His bill just went UP.

I thought it was just my clients. I have never understood how they can trust me to do their taxes but not trust me to know what a W2 is.

Dear LORD, I am fried good and proper. Help me not hug my next client who says, “I dunno, you’re the accountant, hahaha,” and slaps his knee.

We have people who take pictures with their phone cameras. Usually badly lit, creased, and out of focus. However, I've taken to recommending apps like "CamScanner" that takes that camera and makes it into a scanner. Mine gives a good, clear, IN FOCUS pdf (I tried, on purpose, to see how well it did). The folks who use that - well, we still get individual files of multi-page docs (most don't bother learning how to do a multipage pdf) but at least we can read them!

I am not following you in regards to "a reduced exclusion" since the 2 out of 5 year rule was met. If you are referring to the Nonqualified Use Ratio of 121(b)(5)(B); that would not apply here since the house was converted from personal to rental. The Nonqualified Use Ratio would only apply if the conversion was from rental to personal.

He DID use it for 2 of the last 5 years, so he can get a reduced exclusion on the gain, recapture not withstanding. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2002/oct/thehomesalegainexclusion.html ... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TO EXCLUDE GAIN ON THE DISPOSITION OF A HOME from income under IRC section 121, a taxpayer must own and occupy the property as a principal residence for two of the five years immediately before the sale. However, the ownership and occupancy need not be concurrent. The law permits a maximum gain exclusion of $250,000 ($500,000 for certain married taxpayers). The IRS has issued proposed regulations to clarify how these rules work in certain situations....

I have one that I used to call Document Processing but have changed it this year to Staple Removal Fee. It starts at $25. I don't charge for stuff that came to them stapled (you can tell) but I do charge for stuff THEY stapled. Our letter specifically tells people NO STAPLES!

Ragnar Lothbrook is on his way. My long hours end April 15 too. I'll do what I can on slow time to May 17, then extensions after that. Ky has conformed to May 17 but only some of the locals have conformed. So now I have to determine who has to file certain local business returns by April 15 and get those extensions ready and with a payment of some amount.

Yes, it goes on.

3115 is not an option in this case because it is a math or calculation error instead of an accounting method change. Keep in mind that 3115 is not a catch all for depreciation errors. If this was in fact an accounting method change instead of a calculation correction, you could waive the 2-year rule under REV PROC 2007-16 and make a 481 adjustment in year two. I just had a case where there was a greater benefit to take the adjustment in year 2 rather than to amend for year 1.

So a S-Corp owner who received PPP, their business made more income in 2020, paid themselves more and is above the PTC threshold get one more freebie?

Thanks Possi, I realized after I posted this that this property was indeed their primary residence for two of the last five year period prior to the sale. The client did their 2019 return on Turbo tax and for some reason they depreciated the property at 50% use. According to their records, the property was converted to rental in June of 2018 and rented for 365 days. I think they used the 50% business use due to renting the property of half of the 2018 year. The recapture of the depreciation won't be that much. But, it looks like 2019 needs amended with a 3115 to correct the depreciation. Folks don't realize the mess they can create if they don't know what they're doing.

I'll keep trying until the 14th, then mail.

I'm following Abby's method. Some that were in the phaseout range called during 2020 when they received the reduced payment, so that information was saved in their file at that time.

The IRS will check and adjust Recovery Rebate, so I'm not spending any time chasing the amounts down from clients. If they're in the phaseout range, I'll call them, but if they're below or above the phaseout range, I make entries accordingly.

YOU Put down what the client tells you and you document where it came from.

I think, in the defense of these folks, that this process somehow helps them feel organized and have a sense of control. Memories fade and gathering these documents once a year can be a scary thing for people who are number and tax phobic and worried about missing something and getting a nasty gram from IRS. Like jasdim, though, the hands on identifiers make me a bit, um, anxious except that "I'm billing time."

And, my envelope opening fee, unfolding your documents fee, getting the pages in the right order fee, calling you to get the even number pages that you didn't fax fee,...

Me, too. Worse yet, I'm starting to get more than a little snippy with clients. Instead of just hiking their bills. Some are going to be really horrified to see their bills this year, and I'm gonna show them how much TIME I spent chasing their hindquarters to give me information. If they walk for next year, good bleeping riddance.

I make people get their transcripts if they don't know or have confidence in their info. It is very easy to go on Get My Transcript and request them to be mailed. I do that in my office and tell the clients to get them to me when they receive them in the mail. Of course this is not 100% fool proof, but it has prevented a host of problems.

Did you check that one business was tp and one was spouse?

If it was only one wrong year (2019) you can amend. Two years or more means an accounting method and a 3115 to change. And, remember that depreciation is what was taken or should've been taken.

Margaret, You should go buy a lottery ticket

At the risk of jinxing myself, I have to say that, again this year, I have experienced none of the problems described by users here. I didn't in 2012, either. Guess I had best care for my lucky stars even while I do feel for folks with problems. Maybe my computer setup? The guy who builds them? My sweet nature and good looks? Dunno but I am really glad as I have enough issues with 'special' clients.

Holy Cow, I'm up for adoption! I only do one every couple of years, so I have to re-learn it every time.

I am filing a separate extension 4/15. I have many clients that used up their 11mil exemption before it gets changed. Never had more than 1 0r 2 gift returns before, this year its 9.

Peggy's client might've gotten a debit card -- and maybe tossed it. They'll say we did something wrong when their refund is held up or when it's smaller than they expected or they receive a bill for balance due.

I am highly entertained by people who label things for me. One client actual prints out a full sheet of paper "Husband's W-2"; new sheet of paper "Wife's W-2". Thank goodness; I might not know what these were, otherwise. It entertains me when they drop documents off in this fashion, but if they set a meeting and take 30 minutes of my time just to tell me 'this is my 'W-2', they move to the front of the line for a good ole fashion 'Rita Hug'. I did have one client who had a big orange smear across her 1099-ssa. She drew an arrow to a conversation bubble and wrote 'This is Squash'. That's one of my favorite all-time labels, and I was awfully glad to have it identified.

Only 1040 was extended to 05/17/2021 as far as I know.

$1,734.65 by May 31. I will put it on a card and get $26 cash back.

And did they want you to put all the staples back that you had to remove in order to run the pages through the scanner! I have one that has no less than 4 staples per doc where she attaches a computer printed label for each doc. Just to be sure that i will be able to know which is the mortgage interest and which is the pension income!

If its an ordinary meal for himself because he has to eat, and he is in his "tax home" and not traveling, those meals are not deductible. We all work more than that and wish our meals were deductible too. To be deductible, the meal must have a business purpose and must be ordinary and necessary. If it is for entertainment or recreation, those meals would not be deductible. He would need the log that includes all of the items you mentioned plus the stated purpose and name(s) of the people he met and dined with. He would also need the receipts for the expenditures.

I may be mistaken and didn't research for you, but I think the rule and question asked is if you are now presently current on all returns and payments. I can't answer about questions related to becoming an EA and it's been a long time since I initially applied for my EFIN so YMMV. The only way to know for sure is to apply and wait for an answer from the IRS. It's too late for this coming season anyway, so your best bet is to try to find employment with a firm to expand your knowledge and proficiency.