Jump to content
ATX Community

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/12/2019 in all areas

  1. Maybe that's the answer. Stop all withholding, and have people make quarterly payments. They may be much more leery about who they send to be their local and federal legis-vermin if they get a quarterly reminder of how much it's all costing them! And WE wouldn't get the questions and complaints about the bleeping W-4 forms and owing and lower refunds and heaven only knows what else. That part would be a win for us!
    5 points
  2. Paying with the amended return is the quickest way to stop interest from accruing, so that alone is enough for me to choose that option. Also, I think Murphy's Law will be in full force on the other option, and it won't be as easy as it sounds. That said, I have no experience with trying to get IRS to shift a payment to a prior year, just a strong feeling that it won't go as smoothly as it should, and you'll be wasting time on it in the future.
    4 points
  3. There would be questions 4x per year instead of once per year, at least for tax preparers... As much as I do not like how employees try to blame employers for incorrect WH (which trickles to me, for which I have to say the employer, via our software, withheld exactly what the employee directed via their W4) - if the process was easy enough to remove most questions, there would be nothing for me (us?) to process at all. Kind of like how modern consumer vehicles have become reliable enough there is much less need for skilled mechanics (just people who can replace what a computer tells them to replace). While I do not spend time digging into the issue, I have to wonder if those who were opposed to a very similar change for 2019 were worried about how the new form will actually be easier, versus claiming it will be harder. From my personal perspective (payroll) it is absolutely little effort to program, and the form itself reads easier than the old form, for those who traditionally have had issues getting close to even at the end of year. Of course, change is good for me/us, and when eventually there is a new administration in charge, there will be change again since net pay and appearing to give more has been an issue for every administration going back for quite some time.
    2 points
  4. We just had a similar situation, with original return refund applied to 2019. The amended return was sent in without payment, and with a request to lower the 2019 carry-forward. The client immediately got a bill. My partner called the IRS and was told that they cannot change the carry-forward amount. That sounds bone-stupid to me (they HAVE the money already, after all), so it may be worth another call for us to see if we can get someone with a better clue to answer the call. My partner now has a far-better understanding of why I detest applying refunds to the next year. One mess up (in this case, our elderly client misplaced a consolidated 1099 and since she was new - and newly widowed - we had no prior history to question her on), and now you have two years involved in the mess. I'd just have the client pay it - and watch like a hawk, next year, to be certain the IRS doesn't lower the carry-forward anyway.
    2 points
  5. I've always felt that there should be no withholding, and taxpayers should write one (plus one more for each state they're connected to) big tax check with their tax return. Actually write the checks. Then they would know how much their government is costing them and could weigh the costs/benefits and vote accordingly. Until then, I highlight the Tax Liability lines on summaries to point out their taxes, not refunds or balances due.
    1 point
  6. Thanks for the suggestions. These prices are a lot less than I thought I would have to pay, and mailing to recipients is a nice add-on.
    1 point
  7. So they can take the money when they correct the return but they can't take the money when the taxpayer amends the return? That sounds like an amazingly well thought out system essentially designed to generate interest for the government.
    1 point
  8. @Anthony I moved your question on preparing 1099s in Drake Accounting to a topic of its own that can be found in this subforum in case others chime in on their favorite 1099 prep software.
    1 point
  9. Abby, I have a payer who started withholding CT's new mandatory 6.9% rate. I sent in a new W4P and requested 5% withholding (the 6.9% is for couples with $1m in taxable income--not quite there yet). So they stopped all CT AND federal withholding. Go figure.
    1 point
  10. I have several clients who have SMLLCs for their rental real estate holdings. Since the SMLLCS are disregarded entities for tax purposes, everything is reported on Schedule E. Your client's situation is really no different except that the transactions will be reported on Schedule B, D and Form 8949.
    1 point
  11. If you just have a few 1099s, use one of the many online programs that are available. If you search the board you will find a thread from earlier this year where posters recommend different online programs. I used a program called OnlineFileTaxes.com, which was reasonably priced and worked well. Drake Accounting requires you to obtain a TCC code from the IRS, so it's not as easy to use as ATX Payroll Compliance.
    1 point
  12. Can;t disagree. There will be some who will need to use the additional WH field. The form itself does not state the implied allowances, but those who are like your example likely have already made adjustments. Personally, the whole "allowance" deal is being left in place to lessen push back from the states who use the federal form for their own WH calculations... From a purely payroll perspective, all employees should be using separate W4 or equivalent forms for federal and state. This has been my advice for years (for several reasons, such as telecommuting and domicile changes), but has become more important in the last couple of years.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...