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Thank you, my friends here at the ATX Forum, for being such a wonderful group and such a wonderful resource for yet another year. May you all have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends, and a terrific year in 2023.

I, too, really appreciate the information that I can get from the people on this board. Bur even more i appreciate the camaraderie I find here. I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas, a Joyous New Year, and that this tax season will be smooth sailing for all of us!

This one is very hard. You need to talk to husband first. Get him to authorize, in writing, a third party (adult child? friend? attorney?) someone else to contact and discuss the situation if it gets out of hand. With the lady, perhaps sit with her and husband and suggest it's time for husband to take over tax papers. But you cannot contact anyone outside your clients without their written permission.

Anyone else remember when IRS sent mail with a label with SSN clearly visible? How times have changed!

I understand. There is a child that I have never met. I know that my first responsibility is to try to contact the husband alone. It is already out of hand IMO. Lady will not be happy about including husband because she already is upset because she thinks he is interfering. Very delicate situation, but Thank You All for your input. In the meantime, I will pray for someone from that side to step up to the plate and contact me. Let us all have a Very Happy and Untroubled Holiday Season!

If I recall correctly, my method of reporting 1099-K transactions that do not affect taxes and are solely to prevent CP2000 letters (or state equivalents), came as a suggestion from either an IRS or state tax agency employee, when 1099-Ks were new. Their interest is "is there taxable income here?" only. If the answer is no, they don't want to be bothered with someone selling off their personal used work shoe collection.

I just got a complaint that we are masking SSN on the employee W2 forms... a financial service provider! I also got a complaint that I sent back an order, because the charge card was not a valid number. The complaint was I violated PCI. PCI only applies to valid cards and their data, and when I don't send the invalid number, inevitably I have to anyway, as the person says they entered it correctly and my system is the problem. Tech has certainly changed things. No more Abagnale skills are needed for check fraud, anyone you ever give a check to has all they need to access your account, such as printing their own checks. Actually had this discussion yesterday, as someone was trying to convince me check by phone was safer than a charge card.

Final Instructions have been issued for S Corporations: https://www.currentfederaltaxdevelopments.com/blog/2022/12/21/final-s-corporation-schedules-k-2-and-k-3-instructions-issued-for-2022-returns "Consider the Option to Just Prepare the Forms Advisers may wish to consider the other alternative to qualifying the S corporation to meet either the Domestic Filing Exception or the Form 1116 Exemption Exception—just preparing the Schedules K-2 and K-3 for an S corporation with only domestic activities. *Several professional tax software publishers have added the option to check a box that tells the software that the entity has only United States operations. When the box is checked the software uses the information entered on the forms to complete the rest of the Form 1120-S to populate Parts II and III of Schedules K-2 and K-3 based on the normal allocation information for profits and losses for the return, as well as the average book value for assets reported on the corporation’s depreciation schedule. For many simple S corporations, this procedure will produce either a correct Schedule K-2 and K-3, or a starting point for quickly creating proper Schedules K-2 and K-3 for the corporation. In that case, taking the additional steps to meet the requirements to meet either exceptions may consume far more professional time than simply preparing these forms for filing with the Form 1120-S and providing the appropriate Schedule K-3 to each shareholder.:

The same to you also, young lady..

I think you are misunderstanding me. This method obviously does not apply to gamblers, or hobbyists, or an asset sale not reported on a 1099-B. Think of the person cleaning out their closet after quitting a corporate job. Never going to wear the "sensible pumps" to an office again, or the fancy suit either. Sells them on eBay, over the course of a year, one at a time as she gets around to it. None of the items are recent enough that she recalls where she bought them or what she paid for them, except to know she's selling for way less than they were purchased for. Gets a 1099-K for $610. None of that belongs on Sch D - they're extraneous possessions, not assets. Basis? Not recoverable. the only reason to report is to avoid any chance of an IRS nastygram two years from now when no one remembers anything about the transactions. I think that in such cases reporting on one line "1099-K from eBay, $610" and on the next line "personal items sold at a loss, -$609" represents what really happened, in a way that does not ask for a CP2000 letter, and without affecting taxes or adding forms and complications that just really don't belong and do not in any way affect the correct tax liability of the taxpayer.

I think I saw a headline where there is talk of an amendment to raise the reporting limit to 10k, IIRC, it was to be stuffed into the budget bill.

Assuming they are still married, call the husband or send him a letter directly. In the securities industry, we are required to get a signed form which is the client's Trusted Contact. You can contact that person in a situation like this but not in any other non-emergency situation. You need to contact the husband and see if he can aid, is aware of the situation and maybe there is a family member you can be given for future problems. Once you have dementia, it rarely gets better for a long period of time. The medication might help for a while but eventually it stops working. If the husband isn't an option, see if the friend knows of a child. I think you have an ethical responsibility to contact family members as much as possible and let them know a problem is developing.

That's interesting as he admits his gambling acitivity is equivalent to a part time job. A part time job doesn't cut it. It has to be on a full time basis and be necessary for a livelyhood. In Groetzinger, 480 U.S. 23 (1987), the Supreme Court established the professional gambler standard: "If one's gambling activity is pursued full time, in good faith, and with regularity, to the production of income for a livelihood, and is not a mere hobby, it is a trade or business.

Been through this as well and there is no easy answer. One suggestion, maybe contact an attorney regarding the ability to sign a POA competently. I would only do this after your discussion with both Mr. & Mrs. I would definitely try to find out if there were any other family members who could get involved. For you, I think you have to know the person who you are preparing a tax return for understands. Kinda similar to working with someone who speaks another language where an interpreter is needed. Maybe things will work out with Mr.

A delicate situation for sure. Easier said than done, but I believe all clients should have a backup plan in the event they are no longer able to handle their financial affairs. In your situation, I would arrange a meeting with both Mr. and Mrs. Longtime Client. Send a letter addressed to both, so he is likely to see it. Then when you meet and Mrs. brings up the refund question for the umpteenth time, you can gentle say something to the effect “as we have previously discussed your refund was received last May (or whenever).” Maybe Mr. will pick up on the repetitive cycle you are going through. The goal of your meeting is to find out who you should contact if both become incapacitated and bring husband on board. Hopefully he is not on the same medication; and you can persuade them to obtain a durable power of attorney.