Leaderboard

started seeing them last year. Not proper, according to instructions for Boxes 1a and 1b (specifically says to include amounts in box 1b in 1a total). The brokers probably just want to keep us on our toes.

Wow, obviously Schwab's reporting system isn't categorizing the dividends properly. They merged with, or bought out, Ameritrade during 2023, so I suspect that this error may be related to that and that a correct form will be issued.

Tom, it might be the biggest one out there -- Schwab.

https://images.app.goo.gl/qa4qp1MY4jq4Dcc88

I think it is a limitation of IRS MeF system, not any of our tax software.

Which one? I want to watch out for them. Thanks Tom Longview, TX

Oh, darn, one more thing to watch out for! Thanx for alerting us to that, Frog.

Did you select the correct category of income? (Passive). I got that error this year, changed the 1116 to type Passive and it went away. I think I had to actually attach a pdf copy of the Sch B last year to make the error go away, which was about the stupidest thing I think a software ever made me do (print the form from our software to pdf and attach it to the return you are efiling from our software). Tom Longview, TX

Not ATX, but I sent a return through about 1/2 hr ago and the ack was literally back within a minute. That is the amount of time to click on ack received that changes the status to "pending", click again to receive and process the ack that changes the status to "accepted" and mark the return "complete". Maybe it is something with ATX?

Tom: I've never dealt with a Self Directed IRA directly. However several clients have come to me with schemes to use one for a rental property, or even to invest in a franchise business. It seemed really popular among some franchising companies a decade or so ago - the franchising company would ally with a S/D IRA administrator to promote this as a way to buy into the franchise. (Maybe they still do). After reading a little about the rules, and studying a few stories about how these schemes failed, primarily over "prohibited transactions" as you mentioned, I decided to never touch one. I learned just enough about them to avoid them like the plague. I'd just tell the client that if they moved ahead with the plan they would need to find another accountant. Furthermore, I knew someone who was scammed by a financial advisor who set up a promissory note in a S/D IRA that even their family didn't know anything about until it blew up in their face. So I have a strong bias against these contrivances. Not saying they never work or there isn't a place for them, but there's too much room to get tripped up by seemingly minor mistakes as well as lots of room for outright abuse.

frankly I didn't mind pharma reps losing the deduction for their vehicles, or those who were deducting expensive clothes and dry cleaning on Schedule A (I know, they weren't supposed to)...but mechanics weren't in a position to demand their employers compensate them for tools when the law changed.