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Unless required to mask, show. It is the one annual shot the recipient has to make sure the amount is reported correctly. Same for W2 forms...

Nope. I stand behind my work and if I make a mistake I will correct it. I pay for penalties if it comes to that. That is my guarantee. Tom Newark, CA

Just venting. Lady I know from non-tax work came to me quite some time ago with a final 1040 and estate income return for her dad. They've been all done and about ready to print for a while, just waiting to know if they need K-1's for beneficiaries or if the estate held the income (not much, so not a huge deal). I got an email from her about two months ago saying she HAD K-1's from who-knows-where?! Said I needed to see them before finalizing - because this is NOT a tax person, for all I know she meant a 1099-R from an IRA distribution. Now there's a new email saying the sister - wants her accountant to review my work before they send anything in. I'm still waiting for K-1's - or whatever the bleeping forms were - before releasing anything! Can I dope slap her now? Give her a Rita hug? *Something*? Argh. Not the way I wanted to start my week. Thanks for letting me vent.

I'm singe, too. I go around hugging people. I don't understand why I'm single. Seriously, after the questions I've had today, I am going to incorporate dope-slapping with the hugs.

Right after the IRS pays you for auditing tax returns as you do them.

Lawdy Gail was I sposed too ? I apologizes.

I have also Tenenz for many years. They are very reasonable, especially compared to Nelco.

The office supply store only sell the envelopes with 1099 forms. I use Tenenz. They have all the supplies you need.

Oh Catherine! We must accept each client with gratitude and bear their eccentricities with equanimity.

We need a tongue-in-cheek emoji.

Add to that list that we are also safeguarding all the world's identities from data thieves with a myriad of log-ins and passwords all while the government systems are the ones being hacked. I need chocolate already!

when will the DOJ start paying me for doing their police work.

I definitely wasn't fishing for donations, but thank you Good news! Nothing blew up!

Christian, you left off the /s to show that was sarcasm.

Gail's pointing out my error demonstrates a salient point in gender dynamics. Namely, the disposition of the fair sex to point out the error of our ways in the less than fair sex. You married fellas are sooo fortunate.

I ordered envelopes from the same supplier as the uni-forms, but use so few per year that that was a very long time ago. Maybe Intuit. (I have clients buy the complete package from Staples or wherever that includes 1099s, 1096s, and envelopes. Usually a few envelopes left over as some ICs pick up their 1099s. When client has a stock of envelopes, I buy them uni-forms.)

That's why I was daydreaming of dope-slapping, instead of Rita-hugs!

You never do, Eric, and this April will mark the forum's 10-year anniversary. Other than posting thank you messages here, it's the one other way of showing our appreciation for putting up with us.

@Elrod - Love it!!!

You have my permission, Catherine.........Just make one of these and sneak it into her house....

So you are required to have ID to file taxes, or more specifically, get your refund, but you do not need ID in NY to vote?

After today, I'll need all of that and more....

My pet peeve: "Security" software vendors who choose not to be accurate. By not being accurate, their customers eventually have to disable their "security" software to install known good software, making the "security" (and payment for said "security") pointless. It is a no win for me. I have to tell folks to contact their "security" vendor for help, since the issue is not on our end. (not a great solution, even though the most accurate) The usual feedback is it must be our fault because the "security" vendor must not be wrong... It usually is the :security" vendor, but sometimes it is the user who does not keep their "security" software current. If I had a nickel for each time I end up providing support for the product of others...

I don;t know the software you refer to. In general, it is better practice to keep HR and payroll separate. Yes, even if the HR person is the payroll person as well. Payroll does not need to know all details of employment, such as performance reviews. HR does not need to know the W4 details, garnishment details (unless the company considers garnishments beyond one as a reason for dismissal), etc. HR should direct PR to update the rate, but PR does not need to track beyond what is needed for calculation. NOTE: There should be a policy that rate changes are always at start of pay period to avoid complicating calculations more than needed. (Even for minimum wage increases in my opinion.)

I also use Tenenz and have been happy with their products and prices but be *very* careful which ones you order; more than once I have ordered what I thought was the exact same item as the previous year, only to get (for example) envelopes for three-up forms instead of (two-up, uni-form, whatever). As an aside, the self-seal envelopes are really worth it.

Just a quick heads up -- I'll be upgrading my server to PHP 7 this evening, which will require a little bit of downtime. I'll be performing the work in the evening to reduce the burden on the bulk of my clients, so some time after 10pm Eastern Time (probably closer to 11pm). And then tomorrow there will be some additional downtime, although very short, when I upgrade to the latest version of the forum software. Sorry for the inconvenience! EDIT: It's a relatively minor forum upgrade. Mostly performance enhancements and bug fixes, but also some (very) minor new features that I doubt anyone will notice. After the upgrade: Ctrl+ENTER keyboard shortcut to submit a reply Some additional logic to help reduce double-posting If you're using multiple devices to browse the forum, you'll now be less likely to be logged out

It is ridiculous that we are entering all of the information into their system for them, and they still take 30 business days to approve and 10 days after approval to activate. The state of CA has no interest in working with the tax professional community to service their clients. I would really like to leave this state. There is just nothing good about this government. Tom Newark, CA

I ordered mine from CFS Tax Tools. Nelco is another vendor. Did you look at Office Depot or staples or similar big box stores?

I agree with Tom.

Thank you Catherine. I have signed up for the trial version of Signature Flow. I think it is exactly what we need!

This is a great reminder of the work Eric does for us behind the scenes, so I am donating toward his efforts and the new hardware. Thank you, Eric. The donation link is at the top of the forum or by clicking here.

A real estate agent formed an LLC and made the election to be treated as an 1120S, when she makes a sale, her commissions are paid to the LLC, then she draws a salary, here are my questions: Since she is the one that is making the commission, the LLC is really not providing a service (how I see it), shouldn't the whole commission be subject to S/E tax? Let say the commission earned for a given month is $5,000, she only draws a salary of $1,500 for that month, the difference stays in the bank account, so she will pay ordinary tax on $3,500. Would this be considered a reasonable compensation?

As I think this thru, the structure that is setup is the best way to setup a real estate agent. Your client works for the LLC (hence the reasonable wage) and all commissions are paid to the LLC as you say. Because of the S-Corp treatment, all of the commissions are not subject to the SE tax regardless of whether she earned all of them or not. Again, she is working for the LLC and the LLC is a real estate business. This is one of the benefits of the S-Corp structure. Yes, the total earnings of the S-Corp pass thru to her and not subject SE tax. However, she does not have to take all of the income/earnings at one time thus negating the total amount as subject to the SE tax. The S-Corp should have an AAA and an A&E account setup so the shareholder can take a distribution at a later time tax free which is also known as a distribution of basis. The tax was paid on the S-Corp earnings when it passed through. Again, the only amounts subject to the SE tax are the wages. >>>>>Since she is the one that is making the commission, the LLC is really not providing a service<<<<< The LLC does not provide a service but is a business which the shareholder is the employee (who should be to avoid problems with the IRS) who is providing the service. As far as determining a reasonable wage, the article below will shed some light on this. It is a conundrum at best trying to determine a reasonable wage and explain it to your client how you arrived at it as well. http://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2011/aug/nitti-aug2011.html I hope I haven't added too much confusion to this.

Never, ever, EVER give info to a third party without a properly signed Section 7216 disclosure authorization. There are TIGTA rules on paper size, font and font size, wording, etc. But acceptable samples are available online. Without that letter, I won't even confirm to a third party that the client IS my client. But easiest by far is to give it all to the client; then it's their lookout. Yes, if it's extra work for you, get paid up front. If they do need you to send (you have a fax that will handle 50 pages and they don't, for example), get that signed letter first.