Janitor Bob

all side and rear windows were covered in plastic and duct tape...I could not see in and I doubt they could see out....

Client (mom and adult daughter) have appointment at 5:30pm. At 5:20, I look out window and see car parked outside. I assume it the mom or daughter waiting for the other....time goes by and I'm busy doing taxes until my 6pm appointment arrives. I let her in and she asks "do you know 2 people are just sitting in a car outside?". As I finish with 6pm client at 6:20, 5:30pm clients ANGRILY come to my door and yell at me because they's been sitting outside in their car for an hour. Why were you sitting in your car...your appointment was for 5:30pm? "Well we did not know if you were home!" "Of course I was home...that is why I scheduled you for 5:30...but if you were unsure, you could have just called me." "Yeah, well we do not have one of those fancy smart phones!" what is wrong with people?

I just looked at daughter's W-2 and she made $13,126...so she will certainly claim herself and AOC.

client's 26-year old daughter moved from parent/client in OH to PA to attend college in 2017 and has not returned home since...full-time student in 2018 with a part-time job. received no support from parents. lived with boyfriend's parents all of 2018. Parent/clients were hoping to claim her on their return to get AOC, but I told them that either daughter should file on her own and claim herself and AOC or boyfriend's parents should claim her as dependent and claim AOC...as I suspect value of housing/utilities are more than 50% of daughter's total support. Am I correct in my thinking? Boyfriend's parents already filed and did not claim daughter as a dependent...so daughter should claim herself and AOC...correct?

I was printing to pdf just fine until the most recent program update. Now, when I try to print to pdf, the program just closes...printing to printer is just fine.

same issues here

Just be aware that more and more I have clients living in RITA municipalities and working in (and having tax withheld for) non RITA municipalities. Some RITA municipalities do not reciprocate...so client must pay RITA even though they already had local tax withheld for the work city. As much as I hate the RITA form, it is good at pointing out when this is the case.

This occurs when you try to claim the Earned Income Credit (EIC) for a child on your return, but someone else has already claimed the EIC for that child on a different return.

It went through last year just fine...and this is the only error...strictly EIC related...nothing on the 1040

I received the e-file reject below...using same client dependent info as always...verified that name and SSN are correct. Could this error happen if client's ex already filed claiming this child for EIC? 2/9/2019 12:15:01 PM 0 SEIC-F1040-501-02 Each 'QualifyingChildNameControlTxt' that has a value on Schedule EIC(Form 1040A or 1040), Line 1, and 'QualifyingChildSSN' that has a value on Line 2, must match that in the e-File database. /efile:Return/efile:ReturnData/efile:IRS1040ScheduleEIC[1]/efile:QualifyingChildInformation[1]/efile:QualifyingChildSSN

Dammit! Not having MFS/MFJ Comparison and OH RITA-37 is really making my life more difficult right now. I would like somebody to fix the situation. I'm paying $1,800 for software so I can manually check MFS vs MFJ the "old" way (by duplicating the joint and modifying it into two MFS returns) and filling out RITA-37 returns via the RITA web site. It really grinds my gears. Rant Over

client has no insurance for 2018. Gross income $12,160.00...just barely over the 12,000 limit for exemption from ACA. Penalty is calculating at $695...seems high for someone with income that low...am I missing something on the 8965 or does that penalty seem normal?

I only have 150 clients...that is all I can do as a part-time preparer. Since I will likely only need a secure portal for roughly 20 of those clients, cost is a factor, I am doing a trial of Citrix Fileshare, and will like pay for that when trial is over. It does not integrate with ATX, but the cost of ATX Client Portal, is simply not justified at my quantity.

I want to start a secure portal so I can exchange documents with clients. suggestions? Which one integrates best with ATX?

There were a few improvements prior to 2001 and I have included those in mom's basis. I was able to pull detailed property value information from our county auditor...that was helpful as they track any improvements as a reason to increase value (and property taxes).

I would like to schedule at least the first the exam so that I have some type of deadline pushing me to study. How many months of study time is reasonable before taking the first exam if I take the most unfamiliar one (business) first?

Not always, but on many occasions, when I close a return, I'm getting a brief pop-up "ad" in upper left corner asking me if I want to subscribe to Fee Collect. Am I the only one? Am I really seeing them or am I finally losing what's left of my mind?

Please follow my line of thinking and tell me if you agree: Mom & Dad by home in 1978 for cost of $32,300...basis =$16,150 each Dad dies in 2001....mom's portion of basis remains at $16,150, but other half steps up to half 2001 market value (61,940)...so mom's new basis is $47,120. Mom transfers ownership equally to her 3 kids...basis for each kid is 1/3 of mom's basis...$15,707 oldest brother buys out the two younger sibling in August 2017 for current Market value....$30,000 each....so the two younger siblings have taxable L/T gain of $14,293. Or...instead of retaining mom's basis in 2006 when property transferred to kids, do kids use 2006 market value ($72230) as the new basis?

After 22 years in the tax business, I am considering getting my EA designation. I'm embarrassed to say I am scared. I have come up with countless excuses for not getting it previously. Cost, time required to study, etc..but it all comes down to fear. I have always had test anxiety (high school/college) and I'm scared I'll fail. How should I start the process...sign up for test date/time, then start studying? I'm sure I'll do fine on the individual portion...but I have very little experience doing non-personal returns

So true!! I've lost two already this week because I would not use the Affordability exemption (since SRP did not support it). I also kinda understand their point....these particular clients were not actually offered a plan through the marketplace that was anywhere near what SRP uses in calculating affordability.

Client's income was such that her required contribution was zero....Marketplace subsidy would have completely paid for her bronze plan. She chose not to get the insurance. Now paying $695 penalty. What the hell is wrong with people?

knowing these clients, though...and their habit of doing things without any expert advice or guidance, I doubt they established any type of estate and simply deeded the home to the three kids.

They did not reserve a life estate. Mom simply transferred property to the kids ...looks like back in 2006 after dad died (not 2015 as originally thought). Mom purchased home back in 1978 for $31,000...$1,000 improvement in 1980 so mom's (and siblings basis is $32,000.....$10,667 each....so assuming no step-up basis, gain for each of the two siblings of roughly $19,300. what about "presumed" estate since mom lived in home until her death for over 10 years after transfer?

In 2015 mom transfers title of home (valued at $90,000) equally to her 3 children. Mom continues to live in the home until her death in 2017. Later in 2017, one son buys out the other two siblings for $30,000 each (home still valued at $90,000). Am I correct in assuming no gain for either sibling that sold their ownership? Any tax reporting at all?

Refresh my memory: Child lives with my client most of 2017, but she agrees to let child's father claim her as dependent for 2017. Since not claiming child for dependency exemption, but lived with client most of year, is child still qualifying child for EIC for my client or does that go ONLY to the person claiming the dependency exemption?