Margaret CPA in OH

I've not gotten bitten but would never put myself in that situation, either. It's one thing to not get paid, even for months or ever, for services rendered but it's for certain I would never put out my own money for the tax debt of someone else. Guess I'm not as kind hearted or trusting as you.

Oh no! You have more issues than I can imagine. I do hope you can get it all completed then breathe, breathe, and promise yourself that you come first next time. Good luck!

How lucky you were! I tried again just now but renewal was still not an option. So I selected Update and realized that my license expires Dec. 31, 2019. Aha! That's the problem! So I just spent over an hour renewing my Ohio CPA license. Accountancy Board now shows Dec. 31, 2022. I changed to that date on PTIN but still no option to renew. I can see messages, number of e-filed returns, etc. just no renewal option. Maybe in a couple of weeks...

You could try deleting the input numbers for those fields and re-entering. Sometimes a space before or after can creep in unawares. Otherwise, search Google for reject error list.

I have referenced my 2019 Church and Clergy Tax Guide and it may provide the answers you seek. There is just too much for me to write here but my browsing inclines me to believer that, without a relationship to a church and/or performing sacerdotal functions, he is not permitted an excludable housing allowance. In the section titled Counselors, all examples were as employees. Only one was allowed a housing allowance exclusion as he was employed by a nonprofit religious organization not associated with a particular church but spent a majority of his time 'in performing service in the conduct of religious worship or the ministration of sacerdotal functions, such service in the exercise of his ministry...' The other two examples of counselors, both employees (nonprofit pastoral counseling center and organization the promoted recovery through spiritual ministration and counseling) provided indicated that only about 5% of the 'taxpayer's working hours are spent performing duties such as the conduct of religious worship or the performance of sacerdotal functions...' IRS rejected excludable housing allowances for the latter two. I don't know if this helps or totally confuses you. I would not attempt to justify a housing exclusion given your description. I also suggest that you reread the Exempt earnings portion of the instructions for Form 4361. If this counselor is not performing sacerdotal functions and is filing Sch. C, he may well be subject to SE tax. You might want to contact, for example, churchlawandtax.com and maybe get a copy of this tax guide or other similar organizations. If you expect to have clergy clients of any type, I suggest good resources to be educated and support your decisions. Good luck!

I didn't get the letter, I know it's for 2020. But the website specifically states that it is open for renewal applications. I copied the message from the website. I sort of think that if it was open for renewal and stated so, well, it would be possible to renew. Wrong again!

Curses, I tried to renew but renewal is not coming up as an option on the Main Menu despite this: SYSTEM STATUS: Sign-up and Renewal applications for the 2019 calendar year are now available. I followed the directions but no renewal option. Any successes here?

Thanks Lion and Judy, it appears as though she qualifies as a dependent. Disability income does not count no matter the amount and gross cd redemption income offset by basis leaving no taxable income doesn't count. What she contributes to her own support is apparently irrelevant. This mom and daughter will be happy as they need all the help they can manage! Thanks again...

Daughter is considered disabled emotionally, age 59, so not child but relative. I think at 65 it converts to regular SS. I have the worksheet but don't know whether to include the $6100. The SS is not included for this support test even thought the worksheet Line 1 says to include taxable and nontaxable income. I know the $6100 gross proceeds could be the difference as she pays all her money for medical expenses and share of food and own clothing plus grandchild gifts and vacation expenses. If GROSS income is used ($8500 + $6100), she provides more than her own support.

Adult daughter of client has disability income of $8500, not taxable, and gross proceeds from cd's of $6100, face amount of $6100. As this $6100 exceeds the threshold of $4150 for a person's gross income, does she qualify as dependent? The basis equals the proceeds so no tax is due BUT the gross receipts are $6100. Pub 501 does not seem to address net taxable security sales just gross income. Thanks for quick reply!

How wonderful for you all! Looks like a perfect day. Be sure to upload the photo of the proud parents, too!

Thanks, I will likely amend HIS filed return to include her unfiled information as Lion mentioned. I just have to get all of his documents now. For the college son and 529 distributions, it is a real challenge getting actual documents for 8867 proving dependency. He has lived in an apartment year round so gets no mail at parent's address. School info does not come to parent, privacy stuff you know. I will have to rely solely on a phrase from the divorce decree that she gets to claim one son for tax purposes, ex claims the other. I HATE 8867!

Returning client has married and now has brokerage accounts in joint ten. I haven't yet asked whether spouse (already filed, not my client), claimed half the divs, etc. I doubt it. Client's SSN is on the account. Is it okay for her to claim all? The only other clients I've had with joint accounts, I've split the amounts. I strongly suspect that all the money is hers. He is a personal trainer making not much money. She is a pharma sales rep making much more. It may also be advantageous for them to file jointly. Spouse has already filed, though. Is it appropriate to file client MFS then amend if it is, in fact, advantageous for MFJ? I haven't yet seen spouse's return. Client skipped a year with me but feels quite nervous that TT wasn't right. Yep, we may well amend 2017 as she completely omitted dividends and security sales. She also withdrew lots of 529 $ for both sons in college. I'm having her prepare a sheet of expenses but conversation seems to cover all withdrawn amounts as valid expenses. However she claims one son, ex claims the other. 529 accounts are in her SSN but both are named on the accounts. As withdrawals only in excess of valid expenses seem to be reportable, I have suggested that she just have handy the complete list of expenses and receipts if/when a nasty gram arrives. Other suggestions? I have two more footdraggers coming in Oct. 1. I really wish this season was over! I'm ready to send out the year end newsletter, for pete's sake!

My dedicated fax machine is an old XP computer. Faxes come there then I can transfer, if desired, to my main computer now Win 10. There are differences, indeed!

Catherine, that is exactly the message I tried to describe in the first post. The only thing that fixed it was to mark every single forum as read, whether or not it was. No problems since then.

Thanks, I did finally figure that out and actually have it already!

Well, this is embarrassing. I want to change banks for my business account and can't find my IRS letter with my EIN. Is it possible to get a copy somehow? I will look in the safe deposit box but can't get to it until later this week. (embarrassed emoji here - I don't know which it is)

Thanks, Eric. When I marked ALL fora as read, even those I never read anyway, the issue has disappeared. I am so relieved to reduce my keystrokes

I've now marked all of them as 'read' including this one. I'll let you know what happens with the next posting. Thanks!

Yes, recurs every time. I can get back but have to go to Forums, then choose General which is black for having unread messages but, of course, there are no unread messages. Oh, the pain of extra keystrokes!

Recently I have been getting this message when I have finished reading all posts: Giant exclamation mark followed by Sorry, there is a problem There are no unread content items. Error code: 2S136/J Then I have to choose Forums to get back to General which shows as black as if there are unread messages. But there are none. I used to just be redirected back to the main General page. This began about the time one topic was moved to maybe e-file. Related? How can I get rid of this nuisance? Thanks

I had one, similar situation. From the Edward Jones form: Do I need to Report the information on Form 1099-Q? If the fund distributed from a 529 account are used to pay for qualified education expenses, generally the distribution is not subject to tax and does not need to be reported on an income tax return. What Amount is Potentially Taxable? The contribution basis shown in ox 3 is nontaxable. This shows the basis in the gross distribution reported in Box 1. The earnings in Box 2 may be subject to taxation. I will assume that all was used for qualified expenses so you have no reporting. My clients had too high income to qualify for any other education credits. I do recall another client in years past that did have to include some amount of the earnings in income. There is a calculation involved to determine that and it is included in Other income as Qualified tuition program (QTP) distributions and earnings (1099-Q) that would be taxable for nonqualified expenses. I just don't remember now the calculation.

ATX does appear in the comparison chart you can click on (incredibly tiny). I think the article just mentions enhancements and ATX is the poor, unenhanced, stepchild of WK. For me and my clients, we really don't need the mobile access and data entry from the client. YMMV

Gail, et al, the wife minister's W-2 was entered as spouse and Special type, clergy. The 1040 Clergy worksheets were completed. Husband, filer, had $325 non-employee compensation. Somehow, the SE created was short form for filer and should have been long for for spouse. The amount of SE tax was actually almost correctly calculated, off by just $15. I can't easily find out why but it was in their favor. The remaining issue is that the SE tax was reported for filer, husband, and not spouse, minister wife. So I will still pursue the path Max recommended as the tax difference is less than $50 and we just need to be sure she gets the proper credit. Thanks again, all, for great guidance! What a group of fine professionals on this board...

Max, thanks so much for this! I would never have thought of it. Since this was for tax year 2016, wouldn't it be already posted so the client can do this now? Also, would both husband and wife follow this procedure as both are incorrect (I haven't read it yet but will)?