grmy2h

Did they take a reasonable salary?

on the official board ATX Kristin is conducting a poll: No to adding an error message regarding ACA or Yes to adding an error message regarding ACA Currently the vote is 22 - yes 5 - no

They are both on the election screen - depreciation/amortization tab, near the bottom.

I thought 1.162-3 was an accounting method change and 1.263 - is the election. I'm so confused.

Who Must File (Form 8965) If you are required to file a tax return, you do not have minimum essential coverage for yourself and everyone else in your tax household, and you want to report or claim a coverage exemption for yourself or another member of your tax household, file Form 8965 to report or claim coverage exemptions. Attach Form 8965 to your tax return (Form 1040, Form 1040A, or Form 1040EZ). If you are unable to check the box on your Form 1040 series return indicating that every member of your tax household had minimum essential coverage in every month of 2014 (and therefore you are filing Form 8965 to report or claim a coverage exemption or are making a shared responsibility payment), you do not need to take any action to indicate that some members of your tax household had minimum essential coverage for some or all months in 2014. (The underlining is mine)

Do not include persons that had coverage all year.

Did you update the software? I have had problems in the past trying to back up from one version and restore to another.

The IRS has acknowledged that their tax return processing centers are erroneously rejecting some 1040 returns and providing the following reject codes: F1040-428 – “The e-File database indicates a First Time Homebuyer Installment Payment is due for the Primary SSN. Include amount on Line 59b, 'FirstTimeHmByrRepaymentAmt' of Form 1040 and attach Form 5405 if required.” F1040-429 – “The e-File database indicates a First Time Homebuyer Installment Payment is due for the Spouse SSN. Include amount on Line 59b, 'FirstTimeHmByrRepaymentAmt' of Form 1040 and attach Form 5405 if required.” The IRS expects to have this issue corrected around February 9.

Since it appears it doesn't qualify for the safe harbor, then it may fit here. Restorations. Under Reg. 1.263(a)-3(k) , a taxpayer must capitalize expenditures made to restore a unit of property. For this purpose, an amount is paid to restore a unit of property only if it: (1) Is for the replacement of a component of a unit of property and the taxpayer has properly deducted a loss for that component (other than a casualty loss under Reg. 1.165-7 ); (2) Is for the replacement of a component of a unit of property and the taxpayer has properly taken into account the adjusted basis of the component in realizing gain or loss resulting from the sale or exchange of the component; (3) Is for the restoration of damage to a unit of property for which the taxpayer is required to take a basis adjustment as a result of a casualty loss under Section 165 (subject to the limitation discussed below); (4) Returns the unit of property to its ordinarily efficient operating condition if the property has deteriorated to a state of disrepair and is no longer functional for its intended use; (5) Results in the rebuilding of the unit of property to a like-new condition after the end of its class life; or (6) Is for the replacement of a part or a combination of parts that comprise a major component or a substantial structural part of a unit of property. For a building, an amount is paid to restore the unit of property if it restores the building structure or one of the enumerated building systems. What is a building system? This new term consists of 9 structural components. Each of them is separate from the building structure, and the improvement rules must be separately applied. 1. HVAC systems (including motors, compressors, boilers, furnace, chillers, pipes, ducts, radiators); 2. Plumbing systems (including pipes, drains, valves, sinks, bathtubs, toilets, water and sanitary sewer collection equipment, and site utility equipment used to distribute water and waste to and from the property line and between buildings and other permanent structures); 3. Electrical systems (including wiring, outlets, junction boxes, lighting fixtures and associated connectors, and site utility equipment used to distribute electricity from property line to and between buildings and other permanent structures); 4. All escalators; 5. All elevators; 6. Fire-protection and alarm systems (including items such as sensing devices, computer controls, sprinkler heads, sprinkler mains, associated piping or plumbing, pumps, visual and audible alarms, and alarm control panels); 7. Security systems that protect the building and its occupants (including items such as locks, security cameras, motion detectors, security lighting, and alarm systems); 8. Gas distribution system (including associated pipes and equipment used to distribute gas to and from property line and between buildings or permanent structures); and 9. Other structural components identified in published IRS guidance that aren't part of the building structure and are specifically designated as building systems.

From a webinar...... "A qualifying taxpayer may elect to deduct the total amount paid for repairs, maintenance, improvements, and similar activities performed on eligible building property if the total spent during the year does not exceed the lesser of 1. $10,000, or 2. 2% of the unadjusted basis of the eligible building property. If the amount paid by the taxpayer for repairs, maintenance, improvements, and similar activities exceeds the limits, then the safe harbor election is not available for that property and the taxpayer must apply the general improvement rules. (The limits apply to each UOP, or each building, separately."

This was posted on the Drake forum today (by Merry)...........We are working on getting the Marketplace Coverage Affordability Worksheet in the software. The update should be posted around mid-week (next week). I will post when I see it.

I am filling out my first form 8922 (Third-Party Sick Pay Recap). It appears nothing is to be sent with the form.... just the form. Could someone confirm this for me? - or let me know what else may be required. Thanks.

"It appears ‪#‎IRS‬ will be holding refunds on returns with American Opportunity Tax Credits until the 201519 cycle (Mid-May) so they can verify receipt of the 1098T from the colleges and universities. Taxpayers should be informed of the reason the refund is being held and that once the 1098-T from the accredited institution is verified, the refund will be released. Otherwise, they will receive a letter (4800C) to inform them if further documentation is required to allow the education credit." Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University Source: https://www.facebook.com/centeraglawandtax

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/us/politics/irs-to-base-insurance-affordability-on-single-coverage.html?_r=0 "In deciding whether an employer’s health plan is affordable, the Internal Revenue Service said it would look at the cost of coverage only for an individual employee, not for a family. Family coverage might be prohibitively expensive, but federal subsidies would not be available to help buy insurance for children in the family."

Lol... It does make me feel like a stalker. I have the same problem using my iPad.

I had to call them last year. 90 days passed and I didn't hear a word from them. I called and they said my paperwork was on hold because they could not read my fingerprints. They ended up re-sending that paperwork to me and I had to have it re-done.

Thanks for the links.......In the Q & A on the Evergreen site, the author says..."... whether or not an S corp needs a group plan to get the SEHI deduction, the answer is no… you don’t need that. You should be able to do the whole Box 14 deal… Note however that I’m not sure we’ve got good guidance from IRS about how to handle the self-employed health insurance amouunts inside Box 3 and Box 5 of the W-2." I had already read the Iowa State site and it seems to imply that until more guidance is given, we do not know the correct answer.. "Given the breadth of the definition, it is arguable that employer reimbursement of shareholder premiums establishes a group health plan subject to the ACA market reforms. Again, neither the DOL nor IRS has set forth guidance relating to S corporations and their reimbursements of health insurance premiums for more-than-two percent shareholders. Arguments can be made to support the continued reimbursement of premiums to S corporation more-than-two percent shareholders so that they can receive their section 162(l) deduction. Nonethess, the stakes are high. Thus, we believe that the best guidance in the wake of this Q & A is to avoid all employer reimbursements of health care premiums outside of an employer-provided group health care plan, including those to more-than-two percent shareholders, until further guidance is issued by the Departments. This latest communication has affirmed the Administration's clear policy to eliminate such benefits."

The question I still have is... May an S corporation reimburse its S corporation shareholders for health insurance premiums outside of a group health plan? Do the same rules preventing this reimbursement to regular employees apply to S corporation shareholders? Does this now become subject to FICA, if reimbursed? I haven't been able to find a definitive answer? Opinions?

Pre-tax or after tax, the penalty still applies. http://www.calt.iastate.edu/article/updated-health-reimbursement-plans-not-compliant-aca-could-mean-exorbitant-penalties A snippet of the article, for those that don't click links.... Employer Alternatives and New Department of Labor Guidance On November 6, 2014, the Department of Labor issued new Q & A's restricting employers' choices beyond the restrictions made evident by Notice 2013-54. According to the Q & A, an employer cannot give an employee cash to purchase insurance coverage on the individual market, even if the employer treats the cash as wages, withholding income tax and FICA/FUTA taxes. Essentially, the Department has directed employers to stay out of the health insurance arena completely unless purchasing group health plans for their employees. Notice 2013-54 had specified that employers could forward post-tax payments to private health insurance companies at the request of their employees for the purchase of the employees' individual health insurance. The Notice referred to this as a "payroll practice" that was still acceptable. The most recent Q & A (reprinted here) clarifies that this "payroll practice" exception is very narrow. Q1: My employer offers employees cash to reimburse the purchase of an individual market policy. Does this arrangement comply with the market reforms? No. If the employer uses an arrangement that provides cash reimbursement for the purchase of an individual market policy, the employer's payment arrangement is part of a plan, fund, or other arrangement established or maintained for the purpose of providing medical care to employees, without regard to whether the employer treats the money as pre-tax or post-tax to the employee. Therefore, the arrangement is group health plan coverage within the meaning of Code section 9832(a), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 733(a) and PHS Act section 2791(a), and is subject to the market reform provisions of the Affordable Care Act applicable to group health plans. Such employer health care arrangements cannot be integrated with individual market policies to satisfy the market reforms and, therefore, will violate PHS Act sections 2711 and 2713, among other provisions, which can trigger penalties such as excise taxes under section 4980D of the Code. Under the Departments' prior published guidance, the cash arrangement fails to comply with the market reforms because the cash payment cannot be integrated with an individual market policy.

IMO - wrong..... Under the ACA, the IRS issued Notice 2013-54 that said this could no longer be done on a pre-tax basis (whether the employer was reimbursing the employee’s own private insurance or insurance purchased the exchange), even if the employer is otherwise exempt from the ACA due to having fewer than 50 full-time employees. If the employer does not provide group health coverage to any employees and instead uses a reimbursement plan, it is considered a health plan. And under the ACA, there is a $100 a day excise tax imposed on employers who sponsor group health plans that fail to meet the annual limit and preventive care requirements.

I switched to Drake last year. I agree with everything Catherine and jklcpa said. I thought it was very easy to learn. lots of participation on their board with very knowledgable people.

Oh wow... I received this email from them TODAY... Not sure why, I've never used them. Hi , $399.99 package plus s&h. Package includes free unlimited e-filing of the 1040, and states. Here are a few of the wonderful features. 1. Customizable Client grid 2. Automatic updates 3. Automatic backups. Have you ever had your computer crash? No worries, just log in on another computer and all your information is there with no down time.) 4. Do you have multiple user? Is networking a pain? No more, just create office groups and usernames and it is all networked. 5. Ever been out of the office and got a call from a client who needs some of their information? You can log in anywhere there is internet and see the return even on your mobile application(IPhone, Android and Windows). Take a sneak peek or download our awesome 2014 software at www.trxsoftware.com You can reach us a 1-855-880-1040 Thanks, Karen Bills Ext. 3250 [email protected] TRX SOFTWARE

I like the idea of "software and technology" being separate. I spent quite a while looking for a post I read last year about software. I still haven't found it.

Has anyone used the PayPal card reader? Opinions of it?

It is taxable.