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Thanks for the well wishes...... I've been getting very frustrated the past few years....with being "the tax police" for eitc....."obamacare".....no phone service at IRS.....and the list goes on. I had been trying to phase out......and as soon as I heard the C word....I cancelled anything I ordered for the upcoming season and wrote an "away message" on my e-mail with a couple of referrals. The man who bought the business is absolutely perfect for my clientele. And for those who can't/won't/don't e-mail....he has an office in the most convenient and central location here. Finding him, and a quick sale was truly a sign from the cosmos........... (It took DH 6 years to sell his business...at a price much lower than he wanted.)

Dear MsTabby Kats, I am so sorry to hear of this development. I certainly pray for the outcome predicted and congratulate you on your decision to step away from unneeded stress. How wonderful that things with your practice worked out so well and so quickly! Sometimes it seems this was just waiting in the wings and right choice. I do hope this doesn't mean we won't still be hearing from you. When you are back to normal, do let us know and let us support you on the journey. And let the buyer know of this great group, too. Hugs from afar...

We've already bantered about the personality types of those who bring in their tax docs on April 10 or later--disorganized, usually owe a lot, didn't open the envelopes, etc. Now let's amaze about those who habitually go on extension and don't show up until Oct 10 or later. The past month has been a constant stream of emails and faxes. Tell the client you are missing 10 items so they send one. After reminding them they send another. Eventually, some day you get them all (minus one or two, but you may have missed that email). Today I finally got the numbers on a client's foreign pension, but he neglected to tell me if he was reporting foreign currency or US dollars. Another email...... Another owns a huge business and dabbles in a few smaller ones. Brought in two huge volumes of records on Oct 13 but "forgot" to bring one of the businesses. Guess he'll be late. Or the client with a dozen rental properties who finally gave me all the income and expenses but neglected to bring every single other tax doc (pensions, IRAs, bank interest, dividends, you name it). Of course they can't find that paperwork because they got it in January and "put it somewhere." Today a client comes in with his dad's stuff--it's a pretty basic return, nothing fancy. Dig into it and find three documents are missing. Why am I surprised. Sent a client two separate emails today, one with the returns and one with the two documents to be signed and faxed back. So what do I get? One signed doc (not the 8879, the one I really need to file). Another went back and forth 3 times about whether they wanted to send a check or have the balance due direct debited. Every single email I requested the signed docs and it's like they never read beyond the first line. Finally sent a dedicated email today asking for the signatures and actually got them. You wonder how these people even get out of bed in the morning. Oct 15ers have it way over April 15ers in disorganization, disinterest, confusion, carelessness, not following directions. Oh yea, they also rank in amounts they owe. A client just brought in a pile of stuff where I found my carefully prepared voucher with instructions highlighted and envelope attached for a $14k estimate that was supposed to have been made in January. April people may owe a few grand. Oct people owe in the 6 figures. One more day.... (Well, we'll still have a dozen or so like Mr two volumes that will just be late. But it's October--sales taxes, payroll reports, assessor reports. Those returns will just have to wait a little longer.)

It's beautiful. Thanks for sharing. I would like to point out though that Stacy Westfall is neither deaf nor mute. That is definitely Stacy riding though, and she is a well-known pro trainer and competitor in the reining world, and she also does these exhibitions without tack and has done it with a few horses now. Here's a piece she wrote about that email that is circulating: http://westfallhorsemanship.com/2011/09/22/stacy-westfall-deaf-mute/

There would be no loss if there were only startup costs. You can't expense or amortize until the business is operational.

If my home phone rings at 4:20 AM it is an emergency. It was either an emergency when the caller dialed or it is going to be an emergency after I answer. Either way, it will be an emergency. You have shown great restraint. I expected to read a story involving a gun.

It does belong on the balance sheet as a liability. The question here is what is the effect of passing that liability out to the shareholder. I think, as the shareholder pays it, it increases the stock basis allowing any suspended losses to be claimed. But in this case, the stock basis was already increased by virtue of the sales tax being included in revenue. Which actually makes it simpler. No deduction for the shareholder when the sales tax is paid personally.

Would like to see this added too, but I always have a pdf of last year's return open to compare it with what's on the screen. Organizer is also useful for this.

Even with amending the corp returns to remove the sales tax from revenues, it would then shift to a liability of the corporation on the balance sheet, not an expense. Had it been recorded properly when it was collected at the time of the sale, it would have increased cash and increased the liability account. Had the corporation been the entity that paid it, it would have decreased cash, decreased the liability. As I see it, this liability should have been distributed to the shareholder at dissolution of the corporation. Has the final return for the corporation been filed?

You all basically went through everything I was thinking of -- but I had thought myself into confused circles. Basis, not deductible but depreciable after placed in service - unless there is some small non-acquisition amount that could be considered a current year expense. Fortunately the paperwork from Dubai is in English. Am leaving pawing through those for last...

I am with Gail on this. I don't see any of it being deductible this year. It is all capital transactions so far, and when the property is ready to be used to generate income, the cost will begin depreciating. Are you overthinking this one Catherine, or are Gail and I missing some important point? Tom Newark, CA

has the property been sold? this error happens if the 'property has been disposed' box isn't checked on the Sch. E.

I am about 2 hours due east of Cleveland but (due to the landscape of Lake Erie) am further inland and higher elevated. Sunday morning it was 33 when I got up and we had our first light frost of this season. But as Catherine points out, the Cleveland weather, because of the lake effect, will be more moderate while you are there. I would suggest bringing an umbrella. In the for what it is worth department, I was born and raised in a town 55 miles east of Cleveland and just as close to the lake as Cleveland. I remember snow as high as the power lines so make sure you get out of town before early-December.

Well, since he's paying in cash, at least you avoid capitalized interest. The basis calcs might not be that hard if your client has a contract with the builder for a set price. There can be modifications to it as work progresses, so ask if any changes to the original contract have been made. As you say, the price is being paid in installments as the project is completed, so maybe all you have to do is add up the payments to make sure it is in line with the final price. Are there other expenses being paid on the property other than payments toward the construction? Is your complication that this a large enough project that you are considering cost segregation of the building's components?

She needs to roll it over to a traditional ira and keep it separate. It's going to be taxable either way, but you can avoid the penalty on 10k for 1st time home buyers. (5329 exception 9) No reason to run it through a Roth.

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