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While I understand the desire to be DONE on April 15th, I also don't want to work myself to the bone three months of the year. I use extensions extensively (intended doubling up) and work steadily while still taking Sundays off all season. Do what works for you, but remember that extensions are your very good friend. I'd rather put a client on extension and do the returns correctly the first time, than rush to finish and find an error - or get a corrected consolidated 1099 - months later that makes an amended return required.

I am so glad that I don't have to deal much with current stuff, but I am still dealing with 2023 letters from my terrible, rotten 2024. My 96 year old dad just passed away two weeks ago after being hospitalized with Influenza A, I had to have my knee manipulated for the second time in the OR, (this one actually worked and my range of motion is pretty good) and today I found out that a bone implant from 4 years ago has failed. I am not going through that again. I can't deal with it here, because we are finally moving to Littleton, CO on 4/2. Our new grandson will be born on 3/10 as long as he is not as difficult as his father was. We are over the moon about being close to them and we have a mountain view! One of my clients received a "we need 60 more days to research" from the first request that I sent and received a second 60 day letter last week. I don't expect it to get much better. I feel sorry for them. Morale has to be pretty low. I really hope that I don't end up getting a tax job in Colorado, but I am starting to worry about the part time job market for older workers. I miss you guys, but have not have much time to hang out here. Everyone hang in there and take care. Bonnie

What Catherine said. Plus I can make more money, and save my health & sanity, by working 11 months instead of 3 months. I actively encourage extensions. My 1st year on my own, I even gave a small discount for those, a bit like an overbooked flight. It helped me that year and going forward as I then had a core of clients who realize an extension is NOT a bad thing. Unfortunately, my biggest client is an S-corp who adamantly, passionately refuses extensions, plus I have to have their Forms K-1 in the hands of their personal preparer by that firm's deadline, due to no personal extensions, either. This year they're broadcasting out of the country until 20 March, so I'll have a bit more trouble getting their signatures when they have time to check the portal and when they get to a location where they have strong wifi. Plus CT redid their S-corp/partnership form and broke out a separate PTET form to learn. Not crazy about their bookkeeper, either; I just found mid-six figures under Taxes on the P&L instead of the BS Shareholder Distributions! (They take plenty of salary, so that's not the problem, just that their profit is a LOT higher than they are expecting.) I'm trying hard to get through this set of returns before Monday. The worst thing about a 15 March deadline, and others such as brokerages having a February deadline and also extensions to that, is that I just barely get into 1040s when I have to shift gears to biz entities, and then spend a month trying to pick up speed again on 1040s. It breaks my stride. Anyone get well into a return where you thought you had everything, only to discover that their Int/Div/CG seems way to little; they forgot to tell you they changed brokers during the year, and the 2nd set of statements isn't out yet? I hate to restart later but still need to review my earlier work and... OK, I know I'm procrastinating.

My tax season "ends" on March 25th. That's the deadline for clients to send me all their information so I can guarantee they will be done by April 15th. That gives me about three weeks to catch up. The stress of getting the procrastinators' returns done is gone. I don't do many entity returns and they are usually happy to go on extension to give them more time to get the books in order.

I've never been bothered by the March 15 due date. I just extend those. Most of my clients who have pass thru entities are usually just one or two owners and I also do their personal returns. So I think of April 15 due dates for them. And those who are later, just get extensions. It's usually the same ones done by April or on extension. For the brokerage accounts, they are even later than Feb 15 gettting their consolidated 1099s to clients. I try to get the returns done by April 15 but there are some who are on extension. My big complaint is with clients who have umteen brokerage accounts.

I just called one yesterday to ask if they had any investment income this year. She said, "Oh, that just came today. I didn't know that you needed it. She dropped it off, I finished the return and filed it. Today she texts me a picture of a K1 that she received today, but of course she didn't think that we needed it since they didn't draw any of that money out. It isn't going to change the outcome of their return, but I feel ethically bound to include this in their income to avoid repercussions.; so will amend. I told her to take her time getting it to me. I am busy.

You are correct on using IT-203 and yes, you need NY IT 360.1 to enter the wages paid for NYC resident period. Also, I assume you entered the NYC amounts on the W2 worksheet for local wages and local tax. BTW, we call it "The Bronx"

You need to add depreciation to the actual expenses before you analyze the situation.

Your client is not paying all the actual cost that are factored in the the standard mileage rate. In that case the standard rate does not accurately reflect his cost.

They are asking you to elect the interim closing of the books method. It will match income and expenses to the time period of ownership. Therefore it is more equitably unless income and expenses are even throughout the year. Unlike S-Corps, partnerships must use the interim closing method unless an election is made to use the proration method,

My daughter is expecting her first child in June so I agreed to host a baby shower at my house on the 12th of April. Don't know what I was thinking! But - it is what it is and I will try to be done with most returns by then.

Eric Green has been doing just about daily short updates on the IRS situation. Here's the youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@TaxRepNetwork

Do it the way you've always done it and see how close the income split is to the separate accounting they've given you. If it's at all close, it's not worth all the additional work to do the separate accounting.

Per share-per day is the method you've always used. Splitting into 2 separate parts of the tax year is an election and requires signed consent of all parties. You should calculate the effects on the pass-through items and on each shareholder's basis under each of the methods and allow shareholders to decide. Does the shareholder agreement specify which method should be used in the event a shareholder leaves, dies, sells shares, etc? A couple of (older) articles: https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2008/dec/allocatingpassthroughitemstoscorporationshareholders.html https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2010/dec/clinic-dec2010-story-09.html

Maybe ProtectionPlus will pay off this year!

Ask them if they got commercial insurance on that vehicle. If you use a car for business but insure it as personal, the insurance company can deny any claims. Also, I agree that you can't use standard mileage because the business is not buying the 100% of the fuel.

NYC taxes only NYC residents. NYS taxes NYS residents and non-residents; NYS taxes non-residents only on NYS-sourced income. FDNY sums up your situation well. (I don't like NY nor CA returns, and have been reducing those clients when I can, such as the client being a PITA and not just their NRPY returns being a PITA. Or the clients fleeing NY and CA. Finally got rid of my OH clients.)

we were trending towards this anyway, and we may soon be close to 100% of notices starting with "CP"--the computer will be the only one watching the store. Dealing with a notice will be another matter...I would suggest establishing a de minimis $ amount that it's worth messing with.

Or, maybe it will be totally unnecessary.

If this happens I will be glad to write correspondence, but I am not going spend hours on hold. Everything will just take much longer and the processing backlogs for amended tax returns will increase dramatically.

Thanks for all the advice. She has not told me anything else about this other than what happened today. I did tell her to make sure he gets an attorney ASAP. When CI gets involved I know it's serious. Her main worry is if they are going to take the house and she is going to be left homeless. I have never met him or talked to him so I'm not worried about any involvement on my end.

She needs a new boyfriend.

Most likely there is a lot more to this case than just failure to file. CI investigates major crimes like fraud, money laundering, narcotics--things that land the perpetrator in prison. The only failure to file cases listed on the website as part of their duties are those jerks who claim income taxes are illegal. I've sat through several presentations by CI and learned that these people carry guns, often work with the FBI, and mean business. That said, do not discuss the case further with your client. If you do and she is called to testify, anything she tells you is not privileged as it would be with an attorney.

Thank you, Eric, for your creativity, and thank you, Catherine, for reminding me of my favorite and most-descriptive-of-me-during-never-ending-tax-season emoji! And, it did pop up as Recently Used.

remember, @Eric gave us this one some years ago.

You know I re-wrote that post three times to get it to "Judy Acceptable" standards. Tom Longview, TX

Stick only to the above and I won't delete the topic. We aren't going to discuss Musk, his strategies, whether or not he can or can't be stopped, or anything else remotely related to his actions. Tom, thanks for trying to be diplomatic.

Here’s the latest list of Social Security Administration offices that have been closed or are in the process of being closed by DOGE: Georgia Brunswick Columbus Gainesville Thomasville Vidalia Alabama Anniston Cullman Gadsden Jasper Arkansas Batesville Forrest City Jonesboro Texarkana North Carolina Elizabeth City Franklin Greenville Roanoke Rapids Texas Abilene Nacogdoches Victoria New York Horseheads Poughkeepsie White Plains Mississippi Grenada Greenwood Meridian

They are already not answering their phone here in Wisconsin. SS applicants without computers are getting frantic. Oh, how simple life used to be.

I was speaking with an agent in Buffalo yesterday. She is asking that we get stuff to her no later than Thursday of next week. She thinks that they are going to be let go on Friday (Mar 7). Has anyone else heard this? She then said "I probably shouldn't be telling you that."

"Internal Revenue Service: More than 110 IRS offices that handle taxpayer assistance will be closed, according to a plan from the U.S. General Services Administration obtained by The Washington Post, as the Trump administration began layoffs of about 7,000 workers in mid-February, at the peak of tax season, multiple outlets reported."

I haven't heard anything that specific, only that layoffs during the season are to take place and that services will be affected.

If you follow the career of Elon Musk, he believes you need to get rid of 5% of your workforce every year so the other 95% will step up their effort for fear being fired. Not saying this is right, but that is how he operates. He is bringing this mentality to all government jobs. I am not sure how this will work out, do the unions have enough sway to stop this or will Musk get his way. Time will tell. Tom Longview, TX