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Well, that's all sorted then.

This is a professional-only forum and does not support ANY TurboTax (I see the icon on the screen) problems of any kind. Contact TurboTax for help.

I used 0patch with my Win 7 system for years. It worked well and I had zero problems.

Skill and judgment take real skill and judgement to determine. Along with some good old fashioned (now un)common sense.

Like the Extended Security Program from Microsoft, 0patch is not a free service. However, it promises much longer support and additional benefits, such as faster and less disrupting patching (the DogWalk vulnerability was fixed two months before Microsoft), fixes for vulnerabilities that were left untouched by manufacturers, and patches for non-Microsoft products. 0patch is a yearly subscription that costs 24.95 EUR (~$27) per computer for individuals and small businesses. https://www.neowin.net/amp/windows-10-will-get-five-years-of-additional-support-thanks-to-0patch/

The IRS is broken!

Copied from today's AICPA Town Hall: "Earlier this month, Maryland Attorney General (AG) issued an opinion on whether assistance by a CPA with BOIR would constitute the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). Determined that it’s fact specific and provides guidelines • What is NOT UPL: • Raising awareness • Guiding clients through FinCEN’s FAQs/Compliance Guide • Filling out the BOIR based on client information • Answering client questions where the question and answer “do not call for legal knowledge or skills” • CPA “generally should not answer a BOIR-related question for a client where there is uncertainty as to the answer and resolving that uncertainty would require legal knowledge, skill, and judgement”

If a 1099-C is issued, Marilyn is correct that if this was a qualified mortgage on a principal residence, Form 982 is used to exclude the income (or a portion of it). But in this case there was no income as only a 1099-A was issued and the FMV was less than the basis (presumably). So the home sale is just reported on Form 8949 - adjustment code L is used to eliminate the loss so that the reported gain (or loss) is zero. For recourse debt, the amount realized is actually the lesser of the fair market value – or – the debt balance minus any remaining amount owed after the discharge (usually none) – so the lesser of boxes 2 and 4 on Form 1099-A - in this case, the OP stated that the FMV was less than the principal balance, so FMV is correct.

Totally!!!!

" Georgia CPA Pleads Guilty to Promoting Syndicated Conservation Easement Tax Scheme Involving Fraudulent Charitable Deductions Friday, June 14, 2024 Share For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Defendant Helped Clients File Tax Returns Claiming $14M in False Deductions, Causing Nearly $5M in Loss to the IRS A Georgia man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and filing a false personal tax return related to his participation in the promotion and sale of abusive syndicated conservation easement tax shelters. According to court documents and statements made in court, Herbert Lewis was a CPA and return preparer at an Atlanta-based accounting firm. Beginning at least in 2014 and through at least 2019, Lewis promoted and sold tax deductions to his wealthy clients in the form of units in illegal syndicated conservation easement tax shelters organized and created by co-defendants Jack Fisher, James Sinnott and others. For their involvement in the scheme, Fisher and Sinnott were sentenced in January to 25 and 23 years in prison respectively. According to the superseding indictment, the scheme entailed the creation of partnerships that would purchase land and land-owning companies and then donate conservation easements over that land or the land itself. Appraisers would allegedly generate fraudulent and inflated appraisals of the conservation easements that frequently valued the easements at amounts at least 10 times higher than the price actually paid by the partnership for the land or land-owning company – often just months prior to the appraisals. As the superseding indictment charged, the partnerships claimed a charitable contribution tax deduction based on the inflated value of the conservation easement, resulting in a fraudulent tax deduction flowing to the clients who purchased units in the partnership. According to court documents and statements made in court, Lewis knew that, contrary to law, the transactions related to these illegal tax shelters lacked economic substance; that his wealthy clients participated only to obtain a tax deduction and that his clients received only a tax benefit for their participation in the shelters. For example, a client who purchased units in a partnership had a “vote” ostensibly on what to do with the land the partnership owned. However, Lewis knew that the “vote” held by the partnership each year was just for optics and that the land invariably would be donated largely as a conservation easement. In some cases, to make it appear that his clients had joined the partnerships before the date of the conservation easement donation, which was necessary to claim the tax benefits, Lewis also instructed and caused his clients to falsely backdate documents – such as subscription agreements and checks – related to the partnerships. In 2019 alone, Lewis assisted 15 clients with claiming false deductions on their 2018 returns. In total, Lewis assisted in the preparation of tax returns that claimed nearly $14 million in false deductions based on backdated documents, causing a tax loss to the IRS of nearly $5 million. Lewis earned over $1 million in commissions for his role in promoting and selling the illegal tax shelters to clients. Lewis also concealed the amount of commissions he had earned from selling units in these shelters by not fully reporting the commissions on his personal returns and instead fraudulently reporting commission income he had earned as income on the tax returns of nominee entities in his children’s names. Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 16 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and three years in prison for the charge of filing false tax returns. Lewis also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. To date, in addition to the convictions of Fisher and Sinnott noted above, eight additional defendants have pleaded guilty to criminal conduct related to the syndicated conservation easement tax shelter scheme, including appraiser Walter Douglas “Terry” Roberts, CPAs Stein and Corey Agee, CPA Ralph Anderson, CPA James Benkoil, CPA Victor Smith, CPA William Tomasello and CPA and Attorney Randall Lenz. Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia and IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco made the announcement. They thanked U.S. Attorney Dena J. King for the Western District of North Carolina for her office’s assistance. IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Richard M. Rolwing, Parker Tobin, Jessica Kraft, Grace Albinson and Nicholas J. Schilling Jr., of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Huber, Deputy Chief of the Complex Frauds Section, for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case. Updated June 14, 2024 from https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/georgia-cpa-pleads-guilty-promoting-syndicated-conservation-easement-tax-scheme-involving

This is reported as the sale of the home, so it is capital not ordinary income. With a recourse loan, the amount realized is the FMV of the home as reported on the 1099A. Basis is the usual: purchase price plus improvements. There may be a capital gain, but a loss will be personal and disallowed. Ordinary income will come into play when a 1099C is issued.

Back before there was the Security Summit, there was one year when ID theft soared. We had 12 cases in our office alone, compared to one or two in prior years. It took a lot less time to resolve then, and people got their refunds within a few months. I guess the IRS had more staff then. It takes a human and time to determine who the real taxpayer is. My most memorable case was a physician who made hefty estimates. Before he even filed he got a letter informing him that his refund was increasing by $46k! Apparently the thief filed the usual fake return claiming a refund of $3k or so, not knowing that estimates had been paid. I immediately called the IRS to alert them not to pay out the refund, but I don't know if they ever did. I hope they realized that I was representing the real taxpayer because the thief wouldn't call and tell them to send less money.

According to the GAO: "AI models are already being used to help select a representative sample of the taxpayer returns to audit. AI is also being used to identify returns that are more likely to have errors and are more likely to owe additional taxes. After these audits, as described above, IRS creates an estimate of the tax gap.Jun 6, 2024"

Really? The TAS just warned against relying on AI for tax advice: https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/tax-tips/is-ai-generated-tax-advice-making-the-grade/2024/06/

Something in their enhanced electronic screening process triggered this response, which requires a live IRS employee to review the return and take action. Due to all the fraudulent credits being claimed, this is an unfortunate part of filing personal tax returns these days. Their long range solution is to incorporate AI into their enhanced electronic screening process. Gosh, I wonder if the AI will have hallucinations?

"Speed" and its various synonyms are not in the gub'ment's vocabulary.

The 1099-C is not always issued in the same year. There's a worksheet in Pub 4681, be sure and use the one for recourse loans.

If your friend just rents it to the square dance club, the situation would be much less complex. Who knows 5 or 10 years from now how relationships might change, In addition, your friend could rent the space to anyone. Why make it so complicated?

Working from memory from a loooong time ago, but I believe that is correct.