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Sara EA, thanks for your concern about my rates but I have only about 45 clients, work only during the season, all 1040 with just a sprinkling of rentals or small Sch. C's. I downsized from businesses and payrolls, etc. about 10 years ago when my other CPA retired. I make enough money to cover expenses and pay for dive trips and a little extra. I take no new clients unless referred and are maybe extended family members and lose about as many as gained annually, usually to simpler returns. At 75 with a license expiring end of this year, I just may call it. Or not and go for 3 more years. I enjoy the 10 or so weeks of work and keeping the little gray cells somewhat active. And I love my clients. The biggest reasons for the low income last year are tiny home office deduction, nearly all free CPE from online webinars, QCD's from my RMDs, living off savings while my husband waited to begin his RMDs this year, and very little taxable SS for us. As I mentioned, 2022 will be a killer year for taxes as his income shoots way up and 85% of our SS will be taxable. We will never be in the EIC situation again which was why I questioned it. I agree with your other observations about Medicare, etc. Some things, well, a lot of things, just don't make sense - like me qualifying for EIC when we actually have a lot of nontaxable income in SS. But I will follow the recommendation and add to my Roth. One of them return 23.86% last year and the other was 18.36%. I'll go with the higher one knowing that past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Since inception in 1999, it has an 8.94% average so I'm okay with that!

I love that Retirement Savers Credit. If you work it right, you can almost get as much back as you put into an IRA.

Free money - well, our taxes are going to really jump this year so a one time thing, i guess. Adding to my Roth is a good plan with unexpected money. Thanks for affirming this is correct.

Yes it can. Also, consider making a Roth IRA contribution, including Spousal Roth, to get the Retirement Savers Credit. I have an older client who works just enough each year to max out the Roth, just so they can get the credit. It's hard to pass up on free money!

The expanded EITC is for 2021 only. If congresspeople can stop making faces at one another long enough to get some work done, they may choose to extend it. Actually, now that full retirement age has been extended to 66-67 years for some cohorts, another thing that needs changing is the age for Medicare. Hey congress, people are still working at age 65 so why shouldn't they get EITC like 64 year olds? Many employers make employees go on Medicare at 65 and the work plan becomes secondary insurance, an unnecessary hassle because people have to write checks for their Medicare because they aren't yet collecting SS. Margaret, if you are a CPA making little enough to qualify for EITC, you really have to raise your prices!

In the past, when the client didn't consolidate ACA Premium Tax Credit, the client got a long letter stating not to amend and to fax the form received from the Exchange along with form 8962 Premium Tax Credit. This year, there is flag for those people and when the software detects the lack of form 8962, efile rejects. MUCH better than the client receiving a letter and having his/her/their refund delayed.

I had a self-employed client who was embarrassed to tell me they were on Obamacare, so I assessed the $695 penalty. Got the letter and brought it to me. He got the penalty back and some additional PTC, and I got to bill him for a 1040X. Win win!

I love this!

I just prepared my own return and was so surprised to see that we qualify for EIC! I didn't recall that now over 65 can qualify so read up on it. We seem to meet all the requirements given that so much of our SS isn't included and we live off of much savings. In 2022 my husband begins his retirement draws so surely can't happen again. Most of my IRA RMDs go for QCDs but I am just a bit uncomfortable thinking something must be wrong. Can it be real?

Well thank you so much! I appreciate this.

Does anyone have a link that summarizes which of the changes are for 2021 only?

From the top of my head: Day care credit EIC Credit Advanced and child tax credit Using 2019 income to calculate EIC and Child Tax Credit and others less common.

You can only use it if 2019 income is higher than 2021.

Actually there are instructions: :The IRS cannot cancel your EIN. Once an EIN has been assigned to a business entity, it becomes the permanent Federal taxpayer identification number for that entity. Regardless of whether the EIN is ever used to file Federal tax returns, the EIN is never reused or reassigned to another business entity. The EIN will still belong to the business entity and can be used at a later date, should the need arise. If you receive an EIN but later determine you do not need the number (the new business never started up, for example), the IRS can close your business account. To close your business account, send us a letter that includes the complete legal name of the entity, the EIN, the business address and the reason you wish to close your account. If you have a copy of the EIN Assignment Notice that was issued when your EIN was assigned, include that when you write to us at: Internal Revenue Service Cincinnati, Ohio 45999 Note: If (1) you made a Federal Tax Deposit or other Federal tax payment, (2) are liable for any Business Taxes, or (3) the IRS has notified you that a business tax return is due, you must file the appropriate tax return(s) before we can close your account. See Closing a Business for other actions you may need to take."

No, you have to own them.

I would say yes. Not sure what it checks but it is accurate. To be honest, one of the returns was rejected before the 1095A was issued. So, I guess each month the IRS gets an entry stating that such and such social security number is getting money from the government to cover for ACA.

Am I understanding you to say that before the IRS accepts the efile, they check to see if any SSN's on return have been issued a 1095A?

The ATX website works as well as the ATX software. I've had numerous problems with it throughout the years and sometimes doing stupid stuff like this works. Surprisingly, I haven't had problems with the website the past few months. Was even able to purchase the software with the advertised discount off their site instead of over the phone for the first time in many years.

Thank you very much, Michael. I really appreciate your help. You can't imagine how big of a help it was. Thanks again.

I mailed my W 2s via Priority Mail on Tuesday, January 25th with a projected delivery date of January 29th. According to USPS Tracking they weren't actually delivered until today, 9 days later. Apparently, the Postal Service is also struggling.

Thanks for all responses. We got it figured out by getting more info from the school. This board, as many will attest is an incredibly valuable resource. Thanks again

I would also see 2020 1098T didn't not include scholarships that should have been included. As Lion correctly pointed out, see if the university report helps you figure it out.

We use Daybreak Virtual to answer our phones - https://daybreakvirtual.com/ They cover our phones M-F 9a-5p, so everyone who calls talks to a human and does not go to voicemail. They schedule all appointments, confirm all appointments, make followup calls, etc. Their team communicates us via slack so we can authorize which calls to put through. Couldn't do this without them. Their billing is based on usage: "Combined productivity equivalent to one or more 6-9 hour per week clerical employees"

A scholarship received by a child who is a student isn't taken into account in determining whether the child provided more than half of his or her own support. (See Pub. 501 or code section 152(f)(5)) However, watch out for the kiddie tax. The $13,000 is considered unearned income for purposes of the kiddie tax, so child's return would need Form 8615 if it is all taxable.

Thanks, I will be meeting with this client again on Friday. I will have her log in and look at everything we can find. I post the results.

Scholarships in excess of tuition would be compensation. However, you'll need her bursar's statement to see the actual ins and outs. Colleges still report wrong much too often.

Do you have all the reports from Uber or just 1099-Misc and 1099-NEC? Ask your client to log on again and to print the rest of the report and it will match.

Your should have access to reports that tie to the bank deposits. Quick online search reveals that the difference is Uber's service fee which they deduct from the gross.