Hahn1040

they have to meet the two out of five years rule (own and live in it) so if they have been gone since 2010, they are past that... unless active duty military for which the two out of five can be suspended for up to ten years still even if they did meet the two out of five, they cannot exclude the part of the gain based on the depreciation taken in many cases, the gain is not more than the depreciation that has to be recaptured and thus there is nothing to exclude and then also have to consider if there is any gain allocated to "non-qualified use" that cannot be excluded

I agree! I have had the same problem! where did it go???

Is it perhaps foreign real estate?

exercise... isn't that when I walk from my desk to the copy machine... or to the coffee pot...

$200 cash $500 other year after year after year........

Thanks Joan, I have counted days lapping 2013 and 2015, but can't get 330 days out of the country. He comes home about every other month for 7-10 days... and more at the first of the year... oh well, the wife took it pretty well when she asked how many thousand they would owe and I said about 18. Now we are looking at the FBAR- and the 8938. He is the sole signer on the company's account in Turkey that pays the employees. He has no ownership in the company; is just a regular employee. this just started in 2014.. so have time to report... NOT one of those cases where we learn that they have been doing it for umpteen years and they never mentioned it unlike my couple where the wife is from Vienna Austria (They live in Vienna VA) Just found out this summer that she gets a "small pension in Austria" "She pays tax on it there, so we never thought to tell you about it" Even though I ask every year- do you have any other income.... Hopefully the foreign tax she paid will cover it.... they still haven't brought me anything on it...

My client married a man from the UK several years ago She works for the State Department. He got his Green card in about a week. He has no US source income He receives a pension from the UK. For the past couple of years, I have filed them MFJ reporting his pension and the foreign tax credit for the tax he pays the UK covers his portion of the tax. In 2014, he has earned income as well. He worked in Afghanistan and then Turkey pays tax to the UK was in the US for 49 days thus not qualified for 2555 His wages were $105,000. the credit for tax he paid UK doesn't begin to cover the US tax obligation again NO US source income does anyone have any ideas? Is there a treaty that would help? I have tried reading the treaties, but I am not good at digesting all that legaleze... ..and is there anything I can do with the National Insurance he pays to the UK? thanks so much

taxpayers have always filed jointly this year I am exploring MFS based on the child tax credit they had been receiving $3,000 for the 3 children this year it is reduced to $950 because : oldest turned 17 and AGI is over $110,000 If I give her the two younger children, she gets the $2,000 child tax credit My questions is: can I give her all of the investment income from the joint mutual fund? the fund had $7,500 cap gain distribution she is in the 15% bracket, so it is taxed at 0% he is in the 25% bracket so it is taxed at 15% at first, I gave them each half.... but if I give the whole thing to her, it saves over $500 I would put the div ($109) on his sched B and then nominee it to her. The c/g distr just goes on line 13 so no good way to report it on his but assign it to her They live in INDIANA if that matters... Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Laura

the Part-year is pretty straight forward use the VA Sch INC schedule to show which income was earned in VA vs. WI be sure to enter the # of exemptions on page two. It does not populate automatically even if there is only one. VA divides income by spouse (gives an adjustment to the tax based on income of each) so be sure to code F/S accurately there is a tab on the VA760PY to show the itemized deductions paid while a VA resident. if they moved from VA early in the year, they could possibly have no tax. The VA thresholds are fairly high: $11,950 for single and $23,900 for MFJ.

which state? VA only allows credits on the non-res return from AZ, CA, DC and OR are you on for, OSC? there is a tab at the bottom to fill with the info Generally the resident state allows the credit from the non-res state- with the 4 exceptions above

and the look on their faces when you open the envelope to find that the one from the mortgage company is an offer to refinance NOT the 1098 bank is the privacy statement NOT the 1099 county is the statement of the cars they own NOT the receipt for the personal property tax paid. Hopefully they had opened the bill and already paid it back in October; t the county does not send a statement at year end AND the Vet bill is the Vet bill and no it is not deductible even if you had paid it last year when it was due.... ... and the list of things they didn't bring gets longer and longer...

Client's father died in late 2013. Client realized in mid-2014 that the parents had not filed their returns since 2009. Mother is in nursing facility due to dementia. Client and brothers have been compiling the tax info for the returns: obtaining duplicate 1099s, researching the cost basis of bonds and other securities sold, searching for church contribution records, etc. I have the returns pretty much finished up and have some questions of logistics: I have always been told to NEVER send more than one tax return in an envelope, but here it seems to make sense to send them all together as a package with a letter of explanation WHERE do I send them: The parents (mother still does) live in Texas, estimated payments for 2010 were made to TX but my client who has POA for the mother and whose address will be on the returns lives in VA. Will they have trouble matching up the estimated payments if I send it to Kansas City based on the Virginia address? How do I request abatement of penalties based on First time penalty abatement waiver and/or due to reasonable cause? I see the form 843, but I don't understand if I use that. It looks to me that the form is used when penalties have already been assessed. My understanding is that they will not waive the interest. They owe about $11,000 for 2011 and $600 for 2012. 2010 has a small overpayment (because he had made the estimated payments) and 2013 has an overpayment because of medical costs of nursing facility. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Don't forget to double check the assets Client finally sent the rest of the info for a return that I had started back in early February. I noted that they had a large gain on the rental and thought it odd. When I looked at the Fixed assets there were NONE. Oh yes! I first started the return back in Feb when rental properties were dropping off into oblivion! Once I put the house back in, they no longer had a gain. We all know we should check every detail of every return before we consider it complete, However at this time of the year sometimes we can be a bit lax on some things... generally if they have had a rental that has carried forward for umpteen years.... it should be there for this year.....but we know that is not always the case for those returns we started back in the turmoil of February. If the return has lots of assets and you haven't entered a lot of info for 2012, then it is easier to can it an roll it over again. In this case, I had already imported the 166 stock transactions for the 8949.... and had gone through and coded each with A B or C. It was easier to put the house and the carpet in again! On that topic- last year when we imported for the 8949, we could tell it to make all of them A or B if not it defaulted to C. this year I don't see where we can do that. Mine just import with that filed blank and I have to go through and code each one. Does any one know how to make it assign the code to all of the transactions? Thanks!

is it a loss? A loss will go on part I not in part III

The fact that the 1099-S is issued and the client knowing (or remembering) that they received it can be two different things! Example one: 2010 client sold house she had owned for well over the required two years. She had always lived in it. When she didn't have a 1099-S, I wasn't concerned because there was no reason that she should have received one. Jan 2011, she sends me the letter she had received from the IRS. The tax on a $450,000 house adds a LOT to one's tax liability. OF course, it was just a matter of sending the IRS the Schedule D.... but it takes time and effort.... to say nothing of the client's shock of getting the letter! Example two: 2012 client does short sale. When asked for the 1099 C and 1099-S she "did not get any forms". She insisted that she had asked the people who did the paperwork and she didn't need to file anything on her tax return. I insisted that she bring me the papers from the short sale. Indeed- there was the 1099-S. I did not find a 1099-C. But will do the 982 and the Schedule D. Why would I not include it! It takes a lot less time to include it in the return than to answer the IRS letter later!

Indeed they want to file the return should show no tax and the full withholding for the refund amount. If the withholding is not showing on the VA- check your input on the W-2 to make sure you have VA for the state.

What is their Virginia AGI? The filing threshold is fairly high: MFJ $23,900 possibly they are not required to file. Of course, if they had tax withhled, file part year to get their withholding back.

I use AFSB: http://afsb.net/ less than $300 per year I had looked at CCH for $1,000 and found the AFSB set-up does what I need

I was able to get the VA 8879 last night and e-filed the first VA return. It was accepted as of this morning.

Put the $1 on line 21 they found the dollar on the street- that makes it report-able income truly almost everyone has at least .01 interest- so round it to $1

Oh I know! She bought it for $94,000 in 2003 in 2007 she refinanced $190,000 this was the THIRD refi- each time taking more cash IT looks like her insolvency will allow her to exclude pretty much all of the amount forgiven. Her adjusted basis (after depre) is about $84,000 So if she has $100,000 forgiven, then it reduces her basis to zero. the the entire amount is a gain. Correct??? I also wondered why they put FMV at $79,000 since they had a buyer at $90,000. I would love to see an example just so I can follow through each step to see that I am on track. Thanks

I have a client who sold her rental property on a short sale. I have read the IRS pub and I think I know how to do it, but would like to see a comprehensive example Does anyone have a site to suggest for examples of such a sale? I would appreciate any input Goodness the house sold for almost as much as she had paid for it, but she had taken out so much cash in refinances (not for home improvements) that the mortgage company forgave over $125,000 in debt. orig purchase: $94,000 sell price$90,000 on 1099-C box 2 $125,000 box 7 $79,000 Thanks for any guidance

That is why they are added to the W-2- because they are not deductible. The moving truck (moving your household goods) and the airfare or mileage (getting you and your family) don't have to be added to wages because they would be deductible. But the things that are not deductible: closing costs, temporary living, house hunting trips, etc. must be added to income. Ironically transporting your family pet is deductible- I always wonder if Rover is considered part of transporting your household goods or part of transporting your family. :)

NO DOUBLE DIPPING Pub 970 Chapter 1: Veterans benefit Veterans' Benefits Payments you receive for education, training, or subsistence under any law administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are tax free. Do not include these payments as income on your federal tax return. If you qualify for one or more of the education benefits discussed in chapters 2 through 12, you may have to reduce the amount of education expenses qualifying for a specific benefit by part or all of your VA payments. This applies only to the part of your VA payments that is required to be used for education expenses. You may want to visit the Veteran's Administration website at www.gibill.va.gov for specific information about the various VA benefits for education. Example. You have returned to college and are receiving two education benefits under the latest GI Bill: (1) a $1,534 monthly basic housing allowance (BAH) that is directly deposited to your checking account, and (2) $3,840 paid directly to your college for tuition. Neither of these benefits is taxable and you do not report them on your tax return. You also want to claim an American opportunity credit on your return. You paid $5,000 in qualified education expenses (explained in detail in <a href="http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch02.html#en_US_2010_publink1000204341" name="en_US_2010_publink1000239102" style="line-height: 14px; color: rgb(102, 28, 128); " title="Qualified Education Expenses">chapter 2). To figure the amount of credit, you must first subtract the $3,840 from your qualified education expenses because this payment under the GI Bill was required to be used for education expenses. You do not subtract any amount of the BAH because it was paid to you and its use was not restricted.

There is! Go to the detail sheet SCROLL down (there is nothing at the top) then you will see your imported transactions if you move over several columns you will have the long/short column that is blue so that you can edit it You have to edit the form 8949 box to tell it a, b, or c- so you can do the term at the same time