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One is HOH and the other is single.

I'd rather pay for a burger than install an app. But now I want a burger, too, doggone it all.

Yes, the student can claim the credit. The exceptions for the refundable portion is below. Of course, this is for the AOC. if you are looking at the Lifetime Learning credit, if the student is not a dependent, they can claim the credit without restrictions. Refundable portion. 40% of the American Opportunity Credit is refundable for most taxpayers. Exception: Taxpayers under age 24 cannot claim any part of the credit as refundable if all three of the following conditions apply. 1) The taxpayer is: • Under age 18 at the end of the tax year, • Age 18 at the end of the tax year with earned income of less than one-half of his or her support, or • A full-time student over age 18 and under age 24 at the end of the tax year with earned income of less than one-half of his or her support, 2) At least one of the taxpayer’s parents was alive at the end of the tax year, and 3) The taxpayer is filing as Single, Head of Household, Qualifying Surviving Spouse, or Married Filing Separately for the tax year.

I have encountered times when after making changes or fixes to a computer that restarting the computer several times has fixed things. Windows is such a massive and complicated software that oddities are more the norm than the exception. I've seen windows behave differently on two perfectly identical computers.

Facts and Circumstances. Document, document, document. Be ready to defend at audit. You can distinguish the BS from a person who really wanted to start a business and make a profit. IF the expenses were things like filing fees for SOS, software, letterhead, accounting and legal, things that are really business expenses that have receipts and cannot be used personally after the closing of the business, then I say you have a good argument. If the startup expenses are a new iPhone, awesome computer and trips to resorts to hear about an awesome opportunity in a MLM company, then I would be very, very leery. Tom Longview, TX

I had done a couple of years of tax returns a few years ago that the woman used the physical address and the man used his mothers address. When I realized that they were living together I fired them. Also remember EIC rules if applicable. I am an advocate of every taxpayer filing individually and get rid of all the credits. Just tax me for my income. Done.

It comes down to if his 32K wages are more than half of his total support. If over half he can claim the full credit, including the refundable portion. It it's less than half, he can claim the 60% non refundable but not the 40% refundable. If that is the case also check the box that he can be claimed on another return.

Interest taxable for sure. I would check it out to be sure they are not overlooking any premiums that were not paid back as dividends.

Duplicate the entire file, then rename it xxxxxx 2ND QUARTER. Then make sure you delete the first quarter data in the second file and start fresh with the second Now you have a new file to work with that has not been accepted; and a record of the first that has been accepted.

Back in December the House passed a bill 420 - 1 to delay the implementation by one year. The Senate has yet to vote on this bill.

I had a couple of inquiries pertaining to the BOI, but had NO bearing on tax prep. I refer them to ficen.gov. Only answer I have. I gave up babysitting adults when I passed 80. I was talking to my brother about this sort of thing , he just commented that most of our clients and/or friends have less than half of OUR COMBINED experience. 160 years He maintains that I should not expect them to have what I would consider common sense. Crabby old man

Well this is a new one. Not their email address, and I don't even have this software. Titled EFIN SUMMARY UPDATE, from Wolters Kluwer <[email protected]>: CCH® ProSystem fx® Tax Release 2023.02030 Dear Valued Customer, We shall be updating our system and would be needing a copy of your EFIN SUMMARY to keep your software active. We will need a summary generated at least 30days before now. The Summary tab should list your Firm Name/Address, Provider Options and your EFIN number for verification. You need to go to your IRS E-file provider services to download a recent and current Efin application page. Kindly attach a clear copy of your EFIN SUMMARY and get back to us via email or fax to 1 (619) 637-9333. Sincerely, Wolters Kluwer Please do not respond to this automated email message. This is an unattended mailbox. Confidentiality Notice: This email and its attachments (if any) contain confidential information of the sender. The information is intended only for the use by the direct addressees of the original sender of this email. If you are not an intended recipient of the original sender (or responsible for delivering the message to such person), you are hereby notified that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance of the contents of and attachments to this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please permanently delete any copies (digital or paper) in your possession.

Not just us, the IRS just posted about this: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-warns-tax-professionals-to-be-aware-of-efin-scam-email-special-webinars-offered-next-week?utm_source=bambu&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=advocacy

Excerpts from Internal Revenue Code Section 72(t)(2)(F): "(8) Qualified first-time homebuyer distributions. For purposes of paragraph (2)(F) - (A) In general. The term "qualified first-time homebuyer distribution" means any payment or distribution received by an individual to the extent such payment or distribution is used by the individual before the close of the 120th day after the day on which such payment or distribution is received to pay qualified acquisition costs with respect to a principal residence of a first-time homebuyer who is such individual, the spouse of such individual, or any child, grandchild, or ancestor of such individual or the individual's spouse." "(C) Qualified acquisition costs. For purposes of this paragraph , the term "qualified acquisition costs" means the costs of acquiring, constructing, or reconstructing a residence. Such term includes any usual or reasonable settlement, financing, or other closing costs. " "(iii) Date of acquisition. The term "date of acquisition" means the date- (I) on which a binding contract to acquire the principal residence to which subparagraph (A) applies is entered into, or (II) on which construction or reconstruction of such a principal residence is commenced. "

I certainly would never go for a pricier package. I'm trying to retire.

In the situation where the parents do NOT claim him but could, doesn't the student get to claim education benefits, except NOT the refundable part? Too tired to look it up now, but check on it, John.

If the SSA-1099 was under the estate EIN it would be a good idea to report the gross and deduct the nontaxable portion in order to prevent an under reporting letter.

He is still a qualifying child if he does not provide more than half of his own support. Dependents cannot claim education credits. Filing his own return (not claiming himself) might work if he has paid student loan interest.

Report any taxable amount as other income.

I believe an estate is treated as any other taxpayer under section 86(b). 86(b) does not make any reference to "individual" vs estate. Instead the code refers to any taxpayer in which the taxable portion of benefits applies. Therefore in my opinion an estate is treated the same as an individual in computing the taxable amount. I have seen it and reported as mentioned above.

Starting with the 1st quarter return rollover and file next quarter. Don't duplicate the return.

The dividends are considered a tax free return of dividends; any excess is taxable. But in this case did the dividends offset all the past premiums paid? If he has been receiving taxable dividends that would be an indication.

People wondered about ATX a few years back. Owned by Walter Kluwers now and they have TaxWise too as a smaller package. So I guess as long as they have the profitable business they'll keep it.

Anyone dealing with this yet? Just opening it up for discussion. Seems outlandish but then what else is new?

My point is that when the idiots leave the beltway to campaign and hear that this is a problem, they may try and get something done before the election to win votes before people go to the ballot box. Tom Longview, TX

Insurance companies should provide an annual statement showing the activity. People should save these annual statements. It's doubtful your client has that saved. You'll probably have to estimate his cost basis.

The only problem with this being an election year is that the election is in November and if one party wins all, they won't be able to do anything until January, 2025, after the due date of Jan 1, 2025.

Box 1 should show the total distribution = amount received. Box 2a should show the taxable amount, box 1 less basis (premiums). If

I sent my clients who were subject to the reporting the FinCen guide last fall. I think that guide is well written and clearly explains the process. I told my clients I was providing the guide as a courtesy but I would not be filing for them. I have answered a couple of questions about when to file (my advice, this is an election year and some people are upset by this perceived government overreach - so wait till after the elections to see if anything changes in the law). That is as far as I have gone with advice on the situation. Tom Longview, TX

We put the requirement to file in the engagement letter, more clearly than past years' one-sentence fbar notice. But we won't do them (nor the fbar; just the 8938s). Preparer penalties can be vicious on anything to do with foreign reporting. I have my areas of specialty, and this ain't one of them.

I will file my own BOI and no more. I will give them a letter so that they are aware of the requirements supported by several pages with more detail. I am not going to answer questions or offer advice. If they have questions or need advice I will refer them to seek out a knowledgeable attorney. FINCEN BOI has nothing to do with accounting, tax law or tax returns. It is not administered by the IRS and our privileges and responsibilities under Circular 230 do not apply.

We are their trusted advisors and even if you are not going to file these for your clients you should still be up on the requirements and be prepared to offer them some advice besides referring them to a government website. There are many accounting groups putting out 1-2 page summaries, in simple plain language for you to send to clients. If you are willing to take this on, it could be a huge money maker for during out slow summer time. We are offering to do the first, initial filing but will not be doing any monthly monitoring. Every accounting group and E&O company is saying to make sure your engagement letters explicitly state that your tax work will not include BOI filings but advise them to educate themselves as to the requirements. Our separate BOI engagement letter will be a few pages long too.

Just read an article on MSN page that Drake software users are also getting those emails. They are after us. They know what we hold in our systems and they want it. Tom Longview, TX

Copied from Forbes: "An Austin-based CPA firm was hacked after a part-time employee clicked on a link in an email with a reminder to renew her password. The scam is becoming increasingly common, and last month, the IRS alerted tax professionals to watch out for a new round of filing season-related email schemes. Cyber insurance can help, but not all policies offer complete coverage." Here's a phishing email scam that worked

Yes with help of AI, the scammers are getting more sophisticated and polished.

Usually when incomes are roughly the same, MFS costs way more than MFJ because the tax rates are so much higher and deductions/credits limited. The SALT deduction for MFS, for example, is limited to $5k each. It can work if medical expenses aren't 7.5% of joint income but exceed that using one income. A lot of people ask about MFS when they learn they can't itemize. They think they are losing out on claiming their mortgages, charities, etc. Actually, if your standard deduction is $27,700 and your itemized deds are $25k, you are winning!

For MFS, they either both itemize or they both use the standard deduction. When you run the MFS calculations, from what you described with the husband paying the mortgage from an account solely in his name, he would get the entire interest deduction, and she would have to itemize even though the standard is higher. If you are still using Drake, in order for it to properly analyze joint vs separate returns, I believe you must have three separate input screens (and please make sure that the program doesn't show one itemizing and the other using the standard): one for the mortgage interest and any other potential deductions paid solely by the husband with "T" indicated at the top one for any potential itemized deductions paid solely by the spouse with "S" and a third one for any potential itemized deductions paid jointly with "J" Please watch for the state impact as well when presenting them with which filing status provides the best overall choice.

Always check MFJ vs MFS. Your software does all the heavy lifting if you entered all income and expenses as J or T or S. Don't forget to consider the cost of 2 returns.

I had one of these for years, because they both refused to file with each other's accountants. My client always got the short end of the stick because she owned the home and paid all of the expenses. He had nothing to deduct. Dear friend of ours who has passed away. He could not take the standard deduction because she itemized.

If one person itemizes on MFS returns, they both need to even if other spouse is less than standard deduction.