Terry D EA

Yep, it sounds like your guy is a little late as by his panic call, he must be a calendar year filer.

Well, I am a little later or early. I finished my last extension at 8:00 PM last evening (4/15)and have clients coming in today. I plan on working in the yard on Saturday and turning into a couch potato on Sunday. I will take a week off and then begin working on the extensions. I hope you all had a prosperous tax season. Take some time off and relax you have definitely earned it. ^_^

OldJack I agree with your position. However, I have tried to talk to a client's former CPA and they have refused and yes, the client was able to get the information. In the current situation, amending these returns is of no emergency and out of respect as well of lack of time on my end, I am taking the time to wait. Thanks

Interesting conversation. Old Jack is the 5 year carry back option only available for 2008? The required 2 year has been the only options until the change this fall with 08. This a need to know situation for me.

Disregarded entity "sole member" file on Schedule C

I like the rest of you thought I was loosing it as well and wondered if I screwed up by having an LLC file their 1065 by tommorrow. Stop shaking me up like that! My already frazzled nerves and burned out brain can't handle much more. Time for a break.

Tom, I agree with you totally. They came to me this late due to their daughter who is one of my clients pushing them to do so. The CPA who has done the previous filings has filed their returns as MFS due to the fact the husband has had a stroke and was incapacitated for a period of time. Because the wife had, and has power of attorney I have yet to see why the MFS in this situation. After speaking with the IRS regarding both of their accounts, there are no hidden gremlins lurking around. The problem is the tax liabilty generated by the MFS returns that might have resulted in a refund and until this is straightened out, the spouse is paying unless I can get it suspended for a time which I doubt. The IRS just wants the tax returns for the husband or amended returns that shows MFJ. The push now is amending 2006 by 4-15 to obtain any possible refund. This situation sounds more like the CPA was more of a PITA then the client. He/She won't return phone calls and has stated he/she will not prepare anything for the husband and their is no explanation for this. I personally would never contact another CPA, tax preparer, enrolled agent; etc at this time of the year. I have place 2003,2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 on the back burner as well and will not even attempt this until after the 15th. At the very least, I will contact and stay in contact with my client.

He can't file single. He is married regardless of his wife's status

Thanks Margaret and you are correct, the change does make it easier. I can tell you this much, I am using TRX this year and it does not handle this kind of return very well. All the input comes from the 1041 and the 1041-A. For a split interest trust, I can see why but it is still cumbersome. It was especially fun preparing the K-1. On the other hand, it really makes you use your head and not the software.

I too was glad when this board started. The amount of kindness and willingess of others to help is sometimes overwhelming. This is one research tool and can't be replaced by any other. Thanks Eric for creating this board. :bday:

Congratulations!! I thought I only had to get to 500 well I guess I better get busy as I am lagging way behind

Hey it's me again Margaret!! I want to see if you read the requirements for filing CRUTS they way I am. Form 1041-A is no longer required and form 5227 replaces it correct? Have a great day Terry D.

Jainen the reasons for talking with the IRS is to obtain the prior years accounts. These folks probably don't know for sure what documents they need or should have kept. The other reason is to find out if the husband has some enormous tax liability, collections or anything else that caused the other CPA to recommend filing separate. I don't know if the other CPA will talk to me or not. The client's claim they will not return their phone calls. Thanks for the help

Last minute new client. I know how to ammend a tax return. Let's get that out of the way first. Another CPA, and for the life of me I don't know why, filed 2009 for a MFS for a couple who are married with no quarrels; etc, that should have been filed MFJ. They missed a few entries and included entries for the husband on the spouse's MFS that were identifed soley as the husbands. The spouse has already mailed the return and paid the tax due. My question with this is, this return should be amended but the taxpayer has not filed his MFS return. What are the right steps to take? The only thing that makes me wonder is the taxpayer said this CPA no longer wanted to file his taxes because there was too many receipts and they didn't have time for it. (Makes no sense billable hours). With that said, the CPA has filed 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008 MFS. Now, if this guy owes the IRS big time, or his tax situation is really stinky, then I can understand the CPA's recommendation for the spouse to file MFS. If not, then I am still lost. I did get the POA signed and will be talkinh with the IRS before I proceed. I may want to toss it to the wind as well based on what I find. If he is clean, then the crunch will be on to get the 2006 amended by 4-15.

If you are e-fiing the return, then I would enter the grand total and attach a copy of the statement to form 8453 and send it to the IRS.

I agree with KC. You have too many unanswered questions and certainly not enough information to make a comparison. Alot of different items can trigger the AMT which is a horse of a different color to deal with. I would never assume any package is right or wrong without all of the information surrounding the client's income and expenses.

This is why I love spreadsheets. I am tired of pulling my hair out trying to keep all of the calculations straight. Remember book depreciation is separate from tax depreciation. A spreadsheet side by side works extremely well. Keep in mind though spreadsheets are tough for a company with a lot of assets. JIMHO

I don't know for sure if I can help with this or not but here goes. The ALT, in my opinion, is the Alternative Depreciation Systems also known as ADS which you have identified. The alternative depreciation system has some fairly strict usage and once elected is irrevocable and usually gives a slower rate of recovery. Also, the ADS must be used which figuring the AMT. I have tried to come up with the figures you presented and am having trouble backing into it as well. Given more time, and that is not a luxury right now, I think this can be figured out. Here is a suggestion, see if your client is open for an extention that will allow you the extra time to work on the math. In the mean time,check out the depreciation tables in the my link below and see if they might be of any help. I tried only one of the tables that I thought were appropriate and still the numbers are off. The worse case scenario here is having to correct the depreciation from the previous year which will require amending that return. My link

Assuming the home that was sold was "their" primary residence then no taxable gain on the sale so I would report the sale on his return. Also, because it was "his" business then I would take the recapture on "his" return. Hope this helps.

Don is right, I just completed one of these yesterday using TRX. But, ATX has the box as well. I always thought ATX had programmed in some gremlins that eat at random things in the software. Too many times, I experienced the incredible disappearing information. Remember the year when client's names; etc would disappear from the return? Might be some of the same gremlins left behind. :-)

Dear Client, Thank you for calling and insisting that I file an extension and include a payment amount with the extension that you do not owe. I encourage you to give your bookkeeper a raise for being far more knowedgable then I who worked hideous hours unraveling the messiness of your financial statements. Don't bother to recognize the 23K loss titled Net Income/Loss from operations from my certified finacial statements as it us not relevent because your efficient bookkeeper entered transactions in a closed period. Again, I point you to giving her a raise due to her ability to find, override, and bring my errors to your attention. I am sure you have noticed the reduction in the fee I charged this year in an attmept to be sensitive to harsh economic times. However, be adivsed the discount is not available when it comes to filing extensions of this nature. See the portion in your contract regarding the additional charges for dumb looks and responses to stupid requests. P.S. YOUR FIRED! Go find another "frickin", "friggin" (JB's words) accountant.

1.) 2006 Van, in service 10/06, set up as 5 year 200DB/MQ. On the ATX "Asset Entry" form, Item 4 Asset Category I used "V - Vehicles" and I am unsure on what to put in for Item 5 - Asset Subcategory. Do I use "2" - 5 yr. Qual non personal use vehicle or "7" -Truck, Van on truck chassis or some other category? You would use the 5yr Qualified non personal use vehicle. You need to determine if this vehicle is a personal vehicle and if so, what the percentage of business use is. You will need to see what the amount of the accumulated depreciation is so the program will calculate the depreciation for 09 correctly. Also, Since the method is 200DB should this years depreciation be less than last years depreciation? Typically, yes if MACRS is used. MACRS depreciation is based on a percentage and the tables can be found in the publications. I think it is Pub 945 on How to depreciate property. Again, I suggest getting the previous depreciation documents to see what methods were used. Also, Since the van is being depreciated he cant deduct the loan payments, correct? Only the interest on the loan, correct? You cannot deduct the payments for the van, only the interest if the van was purchased and owned soley by and for the business. If this is a personal vehicle, then only the percentage of business use would be used to deduct the business portion of the interest. Remember, the cost of the vehicle is being recovered through depreciation and deducting the payments would be double dipping. .) Form 8829 - Part III - Depr of Home. Since the home was sold on 6/29/09 whats the proper way of calcualting only the 1/2 years worth of Depr? The yearly depreciation total divided by the number of periods the asset was used in your case it is 6 months or simply divide by 2. Example: 1200.00 annual deprecation for six months = 600.00. They are filing a joint return and the recapture will be calculated on Schedule D and flow to both of them.

I have to follow GraceNY on this one. Your client must be able to substantiate the business related calls and only the charges for the business related calls are deductible. One other option is a cell phone purchased or added to a plan strictly for business use. The additional fees to add the phone, the monthly charge for the phone, and any added minutes would be deductible. I did this with my own business as it is ridiculous to pay 150.00 per month for a phone to take up space on my desk. I added a line, ported the company number and added minutes to cover the business use. Here is the key, my wife is to never and under no circumstances call me on this phone. Non-business calls are easily identified on the phone bills. This is an area to be extremely careful with.

Thanks for the replies. You have confirmed my intial take on this. I guess the idea of building the building on your own property that is not zoned commercial is what put the question in my mind. Over thinking it I guess. Pacun I cerntainly knew this was non-residential real estate but thanks anyway.

Client has built a building on his primary residential property to run and operate his automotive repair buisness. I understand using the uniform capitalization rules to determine the final building cost. Question is what asset class is this? 1250? and how many years and what method of depreciation would you use? I can't see this as commercial property because of it's location. My thoughts are 25 year property SL. Any suggestions on this?