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Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business.Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon.She emphatically told George (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny. He said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house... walked home... and left it there all night. You gotta love George.

"why oh why won't people stop robbing their retirement accounts? Leave them alone. Please." PLEASE! What do people think they are going to live on in retirement? We've all seen it time and again. Client takes $100k out of retirement account, then falls on the floor when we tell them how much they owe. "But I already paid the taxes!" Sure, you had a whole 10% withheld (which only covers the early withdrawal penalty) and NO state. And with the added income, 85% of your SS is taxable, and your Medicare contributions will go up too. On rare occasion a client will call BEFORE they take the distribution. When I tell them how much to withhold/put aside for taxes and they have to keep adjusting the withdrawal amount to arrive at the cash they need to buy a home, pay bills, whatever, it does give them pause. Yet they still do it. Combine this common practice with the number of people who give their homes and businesses to their children so they will qualify for Title 19 someday (while their kids live in luxury) and you can see what the future holds. There won't be enough people paying taxes to cover the nursing home costs of the purposefully destitute. Back to the days when nursing homes where people went to die. Ten or 12 in a room with one nurse, no activities, gross food, because the taxpayers won't be able to afford it. Repeat: PLEASE leave your retirement accounts alone.

Interesting article for spare-time reading: http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2016/06/06/john-oliver-buys-and-forgives-15-million-in-medical-debt-but-is-the-forgiveness-taxable/?ss=taxes#7f89131929a6

Rita: In *this* particular case, I believe the phone call is in order. Since the SSN was messed up. Get your 2848 from your client and the cancelled check, and then make the call. While the *IRS employee* is on the phone, fax the copy of the check. Then its easier to correct the record. The IRS is taking incredibly long amounts of time to process paper. And in this case, they just might send a refund out to the person who's account was credited incorrectly, and then you have a real mess. Rich

The client creates the situation, we can not ignore the facts because she does not like the result.

Form 9325

I always try calling the Practioners Line first. Hate mailing stuff. Most of the time I can fax info to the agent while I've got him or her on the line.

In addition to 9325, especially if you need a state acknowledgement I've gone to e file manager, check the return, then from drop down click on acknowledgement history. It will bring up SS#, accepted status, Submission ID#, Jurisdiction, form #, and date and time.

How many times have you seen clients after being informed of what they owe on their retirement distribution, take out more to pay the tax, so the problem occurs over multiple years?

Why we shouldn't lieWe were dressed and ready to go out for a dinner and theater evening. We turned on a 'night light', turned on the answering machine, covered our pet parrot, and put the cat in the backyard.We phoned the local taxi company and requested a cab. The taxi arrived, and we opened the front door to leave the house.As we walked out the door, the cat we had put out in the yard scooted back into the house. We didn't want the cat shut in the house because she always tries to get at the parrot. My wife walked on out to the taxi, while I went back inside to get the cat. The cat ran upstairs, with me in hot pursuit. Waiting in the cab, my wife didn't want the driver to know that the house would be empty for the night, so she explained to the taxi driver that I would be out soon. "He's just going upstairs to say good-bye to my mother." A few minutes later, I got into the cab. "Sorry I took so long,” I said, as we drove away. "That stupid bitch was hiding under the bed and I had to poke her ass with a coat hanger to get her to come out. She tried to take off, so I grabbed her by the neck. Then, I had to wrap her in a blanket to keep her from scratching me. But it worked, so I hauled her downstairs and threw her out into the backyard. She'd better not shit in the vegetable garden again!" The silence in the taxi was deafening.

And NY will say that only shows the federal. Perhaps the 9325 and the NY efile ack both?

I was fascinated by the reasoning and the apparent IRS position on this. I've never run across a 1099-C for cancellation of medical expenses, but if I had I would not have not come to this conclusion. I would have assumed that the excludable portion of the forgiven debt under Section 108 would only have been the tax-deductible amount after the 10%/7.5% haircut, and then probably only if the client itemized. I would have been totally off base on several levels.

Yes, but we are talking about the 10% penalty that applies to conversion amounts not left alone for five years or until age 59.5. They are subject to 10% penalty to discourage people from converting traditional IRAs and then taking out the conversions penalty free. Here's a good article: http://www.fool.com/money/allaboutiras/allaboutiras07.htm

That's always my aim. Plus burying them in enough paperwork to satisfy their supervisor, make the agent think there is nothing else left to give, and thereby justify agreeing with me, fixing the problem, and closing the case.

Yes, if I understand it correctly, and we're talking about a 2015 distribution, she's met the five-tax-year period that starts with the year the conversion was distributed from the regular IRA (2010). 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 have passed. * I'm going to go on record as admitting that I may or may not understand it correctly, and why oh why won't people stop robbing their retirement accounts? Leave them alone. Please.

Look at the business real property exclusion. If she's rented it the last 3 years, it's not her principal residence.

B&N has a free sample of this book available.

I am in the middle of a debate with NYS regarding filing an extension on time. I went to ATX and printed page where it shows the efile as accepted. But still going around with NY. (grumble, mumble......NYS.......)

Are we talking about a 2015 withdrawal? You say "several years," [after the 2010 conversion] so I assume it's NOT a 2012 withdrawal that we are discussing. If it's a 2015 distribution of a 2010 conversion, the five year period beginning at conversion (not payment of tax - we don't care about that) has been met. She doesn't need to be 59.5 to avoid the 10% penalty on conversion amounts. There is not a penalty on withdrawn conversion amounts (just earnings) if the five year period has been met, regardless of her age. Earnings would be subject to the penalty if under 59.5, yes. I think I have that right... As to whether the program is treating it correctly, I'd just know what is correct and spank the program till it gets there.

The above was moved from an e-services question, and since some readers here complained that the pins at the top of the page caused unnecessary scrolling to read the active topics, I recently unpinned one for that very reason and was considering whether or not to unpin the one on states' EINs also when the above was brought up. If anyone would like the states' withholding retrieval process or contact information in a pin, we could set up a separate thread for that so that the information isn't mingled in with discussion that would cause the user to have to scroll through a lot of text and discussion to find the useful information. That information could also be incorporated into the existing pinned topic about the state addresses and EINs. I could easily do that by modifying the title and editing the one top post to include it there.

There appears to be a way to filter that, although I haven't tried so ymmv: At the top left, click on "Activity" and then "Unread Content" from the submenu of items shown on the next lower horizontal bar. That will bring up additional ways to filter the unread content. One of those selections is "Following" and it appears that if you were to choose the first option "Content posted in areas I follow" AND choose to only follow certain of the forums while not following others, I think that would accomplish what you want. You might have to click on that "Activity" when visiting the forum, not sure about that, and you always have the default if you want to look at the entire page. Users can also customize the type of notifications of followed content and notification frequency from within the user's profile, specifically within the account settings section.

WHOA! Extinguish the torches and stop storming the castle! I just offered an alternative for those who want to take advantage of the free offer and still have Win 7 on their computer. It does not have to be an "either-or." With backups of all drives and data, there is very little risk in exploring the options if you take your time. Partitioning hard drives is much easier than, for instance, filling out a 3115 form and can be much more rewarding. I did not mean to offend, just to offer an alternative.

I found this thread from 2009 and enjoyed reading it very much. Might be helpful somewhere along the line for someone. And like Tom said in the thread, "the fact that IRS has to work harder is not my issue."

I agree that IRS originally most likely did not want an amended return, just a response, but since the taxpayer has been messing around with it herself for years (we know this because she's afraid to file 2013, 2014, and 2015), and I can amend a return faster than I can call and be on hold and explain and discuss and prepare an answer, preparing an amended return seems far easier to me. I believe they'll take it and eventually the situation will be resolved without further aggravation to me. And I'll be honest, aggravation to me is a consideration.

I have never read the Divine Comedy entirely, in English or Italian, but Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle did an excellent fantasy version of the story entitled Inferno. Nominated for both Hugo and Nebula awards in 1976, it is highly entertaining and borrows the geography of Dante's Hell. If you want something a bit lighter than the original, I highly recommend this book. i know we have some science fiction aficionados on this board.

@Margaret CPA in OH one of my goals is to read it in conjunction with an Italian version. There is an old Italian saying: "Traduttore, tradittore" which means "the translator is a traitor." Not as stark as it sounds; rather it is a statement that there are *always* trade-offs to be made. Do we keep the scansion here, sacrificing these two nuances of meaning? Or do we keep the nuances and ruin the flow of the text? So my idea was to see if I can learn more, and more deeply, by reading both together. "S'io credesse che mia risposte fosse a persona che mai tornare al mundo, cuesta fiamma staria sensa piu scosse." "If I believed that my response was given to a person who might return to the world, this flame would cease all movement." Ah, but you lose the sense of the shocked stillness, the frozen-ness, of that cessation. Traduttore, tradittore.

Don't forget to check out your library. I can borrow most any ebook I want for 3 weeks. I don't own it, but that does give me the incentive to read what I borrow, rather then buy a ton of books that I never get around to reading. And I can always buy it later if I decide I want to own it.

Catherine, my book group is just winding up "Divine Comedy" half way through Paradiso. We began in January and won't finish until next month. What an amazing book! Our leader has taught it in university several times and is just full of insights and thought provoking questions. It's such a challenging spiritual journey...

Thanks for the in-depth review. I would just add that as of July 1, if an organization qualifies to apply using the 1023EZ, the user fee has been reduced to $275.00. And it seems to me that I recall reading somewhere that if the gross receipt are less than $5000 per year, they do not have to file for approval but should file the 990N. In order to get set up to file the 990N, they would have to call and request registration for that purpose.

I would so that if the IRS does pick up on the error, that it doesn't think the company changed its accounting method.

Sorry for the late response--just saw this. Just to establish my credentials in this area: non-profits are the bulk of my biz. Depending on a) when the entity was organized and b ) if it plans to apply for exempt status), it might not have to file an 1120. To request IRS recognition of tax-exempt status a non-profit has to file Form 1023 (or Form 1024, depending on what type of exemption it is requesting). The filing deadline is the last day of the 27th month after it is legally formed (i.e., after its charter date). The filing fee is either $400 or $850, depending on the entity's expected level of income. Some entities qualify to file the super-simple Form 1023-EZ; its filing fee is a flat $400. If its 1023/1024 is approved it will receive what is called a determination letter (it's important they keep it in a safe place as they will likely be asked for copies of it by banks and various others in the future). In such cases, the determination letter will (almost always) state that the entity's exempt status is recognized retroactive to the date it was formed. If that is the case, no 1120 is required for those prior periods. On the other hand, if the IRS determines the entity does not qualify for exemption it will receive an adverse determination letter. In such cases, the entity must file an 1120 for prior (and future) periods. If your client's 1023/1024 filing deadline has not passed (and assuming it plans to file prior to the deadline) the IRS allows it to operate under the presumption of exemption if it reasonably expects routine approval of its 1023/1024. However, it is required to file the iteration of Form 990 appropriate to its circumstances during the interim period. Which flavor of Form 990 the entity files is dependent on what type of exempt organization it is and the level of its income and net assets. 990s are due by the 15th day of the fifth month after the entity's fiscal year ends (May 15 for calendar year filers). Failure to file Form 990 for three consecutive years results in the automatic revocation of exempt status. The only way to get it reinstated is to reapply (and pay a new filing fee). If the entity files Form 1023/1024 after the filing deadline it can still request recognition of its exempt status; however, if granted, such recognition will be retroactive only to the date the Form 1023/1024 is received by the IRS. In such cases, the entity must file an 1120 for prior periods. Hope this helps.

There was a call for "pithy sayings in four words" -- such as "this too shall pass" -- and my contribution was "Common sense isn't very."

I have been introduced to some wonderful authors and books through Bookbub, that I probably would not have come across without it. I also get emails with specials from http://robinreads.com/ There is some overlap between the two, but not always. I love getting books (including cookbooks!) for free. And they are almost always available in multiple platforms, so that you can choose between Amazon for Kindle or BN for Nook.

The fact that the scammers are successful with this group of "educated" people speaks loudly of how low our educational standards have fallen. Natural sense (once called "common sense") is a RARE thing today.