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On a happier note, my first client of the day was an elderly Japanese man that I've known for my entire career. He put his trust in me when I went out on my own and is one of my most interesting and favorite clients to visit with. He almost always brings me a little trinket from his world travels, usually something to do with local custom, and always with an interesting story. Today he handed me a small weighty box that he insisted I open. In it was a crystal with etching inside it of an origami crane. Also in the little box was a tiny origami crane that he made for me himself. The crane is the bird of happiness and a symbol of good fortune and longevity. I can only hope to enjoy the good health and years that he has. He is in his late 80s now and still travels all over the world to lecture on his field of science.

Guess which of my clients received a corrected W-2 today and actually left it in the drop box. The lecture the wife got from me over the phone was magical.

Unless you've determined that they are in the trade or business of renting property, they don't need to issue 1099s for the repairs. Hiring a management company should indicate that they aren't acting as a trade or business, but that this is more of investment activity. It's also possible that the repairs were done by someone operating as a corporation and that 1099s would not be required either way.

Yesterday's aggravation was my retired hairdresser client. Her husband called last week to drop off records and was told to make an appt or use the drop box outside. Didn't want to use the box, told him appts available on Tues, and he wouldn't set up a time. Over the weekend he said it was too cold to come out. They live about 1/4 mile away, and these are people that want to show up during snowstorms before the driveway and sidewalk is cleared, and he's had double hip replacements! Yesterday the wife calls my office phone while I was rushing to get something finished before going to mom's for a meeting with a health care professional, and she doesn't leave a message but instead instantly hung up and called my cell phone that was sitting on my desk next to the office phone she just called. She also knows I use call forwarding to the cell phone. Ridiculous! Then they refuse the box again and husband had already headed out of their house on the way over here. I was ready to explode when he got here, was late getting to mom's , but thank goodness the health care person was running a little behind schedule. These are people that my family and I have known forever, and they know better, and know mom's and my situations. I really feel like they are taking advantage. They may get a letter after the season is over. They also complained one year because I raised their fee by $5.00. Seriously, $5.00!!!!!!

I had one woman aggravate me with 8 emails all in one afternoon, each containing multiple questions and wanting to have extensive messaging with in-depth answers. She was a fraction of an inch from being told to find someone else. She wants these detailed explanations so to learn about the law, and that's fine for her to want to understand her return, but she doesn't need the depth of knowledge that she wants (like she could be a preparer herself).

Beginning Jan 1, 2015 you can make only one rollover from an IRA to another (or the same) IRA in any 12-month period, regardless of the number of IRAs you own (Announcement 2014-15 and Announcement 2014-32). The limit will apply by aggregating all of an individual’s IRAs, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs as well as traditional and Roth IRAs, effectively treating them as one IRA for purposes of the limit. Trustee-to-trustee transfers between IRAs are not limited Rollovers from traditional to Roth IRAs ("conversions") are not limited The above was copied from this IRS page.

^ Right. There are scholarships that allow the funds to be used for room and board. Do you have the school's bills that show how the payments and other credits are applied?

There's another thread on the same topic that was started last week that has the answers. Here's that one:

Definitely get the signatures. It's required.

If you read item #22 in the link that RitaB provided, it explains that if a coverage gap spans the two tax years and 2 of those months are in the year of filing, that scenario will fit within the meaning of the short coverage gap. That sounds like either you are missing some part of the input somewhere within the program, or the program has a bug that should be reported to ATX

The payroll program was separated out from the main program several years ago. It is included in a bundled package for those that purchase MAX, Total Tax Office, or ATX Advantage packages, and in those cases must be loaded separately with its own installation code. If you purchased only the ATX 1040 package then you don't have it. https://www.cchsfs.com/professional-tax-software/atx.aspx#choose-your-own You should be able to log in to the MyATX support page and view the products you are currently licensed to use.

ATX Payroll Compliance program. It is a separate program included with MAX, or it can be purchased separately. What ATX program did you purchase?

Exactly. You should be out of this because it is a problem between them. If your former clients are unhappy, it isn't any of your doing, and they each have the ability to make a choice to stay with him or move on to another preparer.

Pub 974. Not sure if this will guide you to a definitive answer, but here's a start: Under the section for SEHI on page 50, it says (bold is mine): Read the Instructions for Form 8962 to find out if you meet the requirements for claiming the PTC except for the requirement that your household income be at least 100% but not more than 400% of the Federal poverty line for your family size for 2015. You will determine whether you meet the 100% – 400% requirement in the process of completing these instructions. If you meet the requirements described above, do the following...

Rita is correct. Enter the code on the 8965 for the short coverage gap and the penalty will not be assessed for 2015.

That would probably depend on whether the school indicates that she was a student for at least 5 months during the year. Did she earn credits for the lab internship? Was her graduation date in February or in May or June?

This isn't going to stray down a path into political discussion. I've hidden the last 3 posts going in that direction that had nothing to do with the topic. Please, let's get this back to the original topic of Portal Safe or other avenues of sending and receiving information securely.

Too bad you had to teach them something, but at least someone listened to you and resolved the issue. Glad you got it fixed.

Determining whether or not a husband-wife LLC is a disregarded entity is a matter of state law. If the LLC is formed in a state that is NOT a community property state, the LLC defaults to a partnership unless an election is made to be treated as a corporation. The exception is where the LLC is set up in a community property state and meets the exceptions in Rev Proc 2002-69. If it meets the criteria, it is considered a "qualified entity" and may be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes. The IRS will accept this position for federal tax purposes. Likewise, LLC may file as a partnership for federal tax purposes and the IRS will accept that position also. Consistency in filing from year to year is key, otherwise a change in filing is considered a conversion of the entity. The requirements under 2002-69 for the LLC to be a "qualified entity" are: The business entity is wholly owned by a husband and wife as community property under the laws of a state, a foreign country, or a possession of the United States; No person other than one or both spouses would be considered an owner for federal tax purposes; and The business entity is not treated as a corporation under the applicable Treasury Regulations. None of the above addresses state reporting. Please check your state's law to verify that filing as a disregarded entity is acceptable.

Yes, correct. No need for the 8822. IRS will update their system to the new address.

CHIP coverage is considered MEC. ATX should have an area of input to indicate that these 2 children were covered, not that they have an exemption.

Filing the 1040 itself will change the address in the IRS system. You don't need to file the 8822. I only suggest filing the 8822 at times of the year when it isn't close to filing a return.

Coverage exemption C is claimed on the return using form 8965. It is for U.S. citizens living abroad for at least 330 days in a 12 month consecutive period.

Sounds like that could be the problem and is possibly something that isn't working properly in the program. Perhaps a call to ATX support is warranted. Not to ask the obvious, but if you filed a joint return LY and rolled that over, you have checked to make sure you have changed the filing status to MFS, right?

It was a hard year for me with the pets and family too. Last year 2 of my 4 dogs passed that I still miss terribly, and then a third dog started battling CHF late in the year. Yesterday she collapsed twice from lack of oxygen for which I gave extra doses of lasix over the course of the day and evening that brought her out of her difficulties. Those incidents are hard to watch and definitely make it hard to concentrate. On top of that, for those that didn't see on facebook, my mom fell after Th'giving and had 3 fractures that earned her an 8+ week stay in rehab. Because of intense pain early on, she really only had 3 weeks of therapy before her release last week, so although she is home again and mostly healed, she needs additional strengthening, some amount of help, and for someone to look in on her periodically over the coming weeks as she goes through home-based therapy and transitions fully back to independent living. It's been endless hours with things related to her care, meetings and numerous phone calls, caring for her dog and her house too. I am also the one that accompanies her to all doctor appts, meetings, and wherever else she needs to go. Thank goodness she only lives around the corner from me, and thankfully my oldest sister has stayed at mom's house for the last week. I've never been physically and mentally exhausted like this going into tax season. Send extra chocolate, would ya? I'm going to need more than ever.