Margaret CPA in OH

Oops! Edit to say they are MFS not joint. Sorry for any confusion. I'm confused enough!

Potential new client coming in today. She and spouse are long separated filing MFJ for personal reasons. Spouse is CA resident, client is OH resident and thinks she is paying unfair amount of tax. I'm speculating that it is because CA is a community property state but OH is not. I have begun reading through CA info but am not finding useful information. I would appreciate any hints, clues, suggestions, references, whatever you have to point me in the right direction. I've never prepared a community property state return so am on new ground here and looking to my peeps for help. Thanks!

Another pet mother here so sorry for your loss. But you may not need to change your avatar. I have lost all three of my office helpers/paper weights in my avatar but love seeing them again every time I check this site and post. Warm memories...

A late client, into her 90's, frequently used the excuse of an active forgettery when she couldn't remember something. It was endearing coming from her and an important part of my life and vocabulary now as I near 80!

Well, I offered my opinion, not really advice, and provided the research etc. offered here then turned it over to the donor and the church. I do find it exceedingly hard to believe (though not impossible) that the state gaming commission would go after an independent donor receiving no cash and offering something (yes, of value) merely for turning in a pledge for time talent OR treasure, which cannot be legally enforced, by a given date. I'm out but still have found this interesting. I am not a lawyer but would be surprised if a lawyer (I will ask one at church) would take the threat of legal action in this seriously. Thanks for the opinions and advice of all.

Well, I think, as it is not really a business transaction, the donor/gifter of the trip would not have to file a 1099. Neither the donor nor the church are my clients although they did ask my advice/opinion of this possibility to encourage early returns of pledges of time, talent and treasure. I've shared the collected comments from folks here with the pastor and donor. The decision is theirs. I still feel that the church, while possibly benefiting for budget preparation purposes, an early idea of the financial trends of pledges, has no real reporting role here. Thanks to all for the discussion. This forum is always surprising with the variety of topics to ponder.

And I was reminded that our pledge forms ask about time, talent, and treasure. It is and has been possible to pledge to offer time for maybe committee work and/or talent to be in the choir, provide IT services, etc. No pledge of money is required - although it would be nice

No raffle ticket was purchased but money was exchanged. From the description here, only those who bought/paid for groceries were entered into the raffle. Was it possible to have been part of this event without having 'paid for' groceries? Maybe you got a gift. But you paid for the groceries to even qualify for the $5. In my church case, no money will be exchanged, nothing purchased to qualify. The only way to enter is to submit a pledge by a certain date. Even then, there is no legal, just moral maybe, obligation to actually pay the pledge which would be to the church, not the donor of the trip.

Thanks for additional info. I don't think I am too surprised about the grocery prize because it was from a business and money (bought groceries) changed hands to enter into the game of chance. This is from an individual and does not involve money of any kind to 'win,' just turn in your pledge by a given date. And, of course, church pledges are not even legally enforceable. I have forwarded the notice to this person and also alerted the pastor who may or may not go along with it. Interesting exercise....

Hmm, those entered in this raffle will not have paid anything, though. And the church is not sponsoring it. The person giving out the points is a member but she is doing this on her own to encourage others to pledge early. So maybe the points donor should file the W-2G. As nothing is paid for the possible entry into the raffle, (a) 0 (the amount a person paid for a chance...) reduced by the wager = less than zero or (b) the payout is at least 300 time the amount of the wager or 0 x 300 = 0. And since it is not an organization providing the prize, I read that it is not the responsibility of the church to withhold anything. Thanks for looking this up! I will ponder a bit more but am not seeing any responsibility of the church here.

A church member wants to 'donate' vacation rental points (she cannot use them before expiring) to the church stewardship campaign to be raffled off. Sort of. To encourage contributors to complete pledges by, say, October 31, each would be entered in the drawing with the winner being able to use the points for about a 3-4 stay at a resort. I cannot think of a tax issue anywhere - you? She cannot and is not interested in any kind of deduction. Does the winner have to report as income? Value would vary, I think, based on location of stay. Would the church have to be involved at all or just the donor? I'm thinking it is for the benefit of the church but really just between the donor and recipient.

I, too, have a Pixel, love it! and agree with the great spam blocking. I so appreciate that there is a message that does allow a legitimate caller to leave a message. Bad folks don't.

I never answer unidentified calls on either my land line or my cell. I have voice mail available and virtually no callers that are unidentified leave a message. I've done this for literally years. There is the odd occasion that a number has been spoofed (I think that's what it's called). Last year there was a call identified as my township government office. I didn't answer it having no expectation of a call from that office. There was no message so I did call that office back and asked the reason for the call. That office did not call so I alerted them to the issue.

For those who have a desire to help, one place which usually does not bite politically is foster care / CASA. The bite is you do have to become a little more self aware about town as you may run into a "parent" who believes you helped take their child from them, but in most cases, those folks don't bother seeking revenge. I just became a CASA last fall and finished my first case 3 weeks ago. I get my second child/family this evening. Definitely no politics. For those unfamiliar, CASA is Court Appointed Special Advocate and the advocate is a trained volunteer for the child/children. So many children need an advocate, someone just on their side only.

Hmm, Form 1023 is the application for tax-exempt status.

I began in a 4 person firm and found auditing incredibly boring. I thought I had made a serious career mistake. Then tax season rolled around... Made my days! Master's in Tax and never looked back.

Oh my, you do have lot going on! Your health, physical and mental, should be the highest priority, in my opinion. I'm glad you have a diagnosis and plan for treatment. I would suggest that you migrate your payroll clients to another provider/service midyear rather than waiting until year end. It will be less stressful for you and you can be available to help the process. My guess is that your clients will appreciate the care you are providing as you have for all the past years. I would also guess that the potential loss in revenue would be not so much while easing the stress you would otherwise be having. You could assess a charge for assisting in the migration and helping clients choose the right provider. They will have to make changes anyway and may will be grateful for your hand holding on the path. When I decided to stop doing business returns and payrolls after my other CPA assistant retired, this process worked well for me. I still retained several for individual return preparation and some chose payroll services. I believe they all appreciated a transition period, my guidance and oversight and lack of abrupt change. Best outcome wishes for all of your future moves.

Congratulations to all! What a beautiful baby... I want one!

Ooo, good observation! Again, I don't think they will push it. If so, I may bill them for the 'research' which, at this point, would be more than the deduction let alone the tax savings!

I think that would be appropriate but probably for a lot less than the amount charged. At 14 cents per mile, I know the drop off was not 1,450 miles away. And I really doubt that paying for a commercial transport service would qualify as a charitable contribution. I'm hoping the charge was listed on the receipt. If not, I would think to myself as I have done for other 'contributions' was this for charity or tax deduction?

I just wrote him that there should be written confirmation of the donation. If part of the acknowledgement for the furniture donation, I would expect the additional amount be shown on the receipt. I'm not too worried about this, though, just thought I would ask as I wasn't sure. Thanks!

Wow! I'm glad I no longer do business returns, especially S-corps. At least the few that I did do had something close to a reasonable salary. It's sad how much we are being held responsible our client (mis)behavior even after the fact. It seems, in this case, unless the client self-prepared the corp return, any preparer would be held liable even if for a new S-corp client.

Clients are moving and donating furniture. Several items went to Habitat for Humanity. The value of the furniture was $170 but HH charged them $203 for transporting the furniture. Is this charge also a donation? I would like to think so but...

I, too, prefer live seminars but also find the cost exorbitant for my very small practice. I will have to bite the bullet this year for tax with the SECURE Act and other changes. I still might do it online but pay money for it.

This is an interesting thread! I am semi-retired working only tax season and with about 50 individual clients. I spun off all business clients about 8 years ago when my other CPA retired. I don't have enough hours in the day! I am the church treasurer, sing in the choir, play handbells, am on the worship planning committee and am kitchen coordinator (aka Kitchen Witch), attend zoom Bible Study Tuesday noons. I am also a CASA volunteer (court appointed special advocate) and see my child/family twice monthly plus court meetings. I go to the gym for HIIT (high intensity interval training) 4 times weekly (not as intense as those 40 years younger!), Tai Chi every Friday and Yin Yoga Saturday. We are on summer hiatus at the moment but our Classics Book Club meets weekly to discuss the current book. We just finished the Iliad and the Odyssey in May. We have 2 cats to care for and lots of birds and animals in the Certified Natural Habitat in my back yard. I feed and water numerous critters daily including a turkey that just moved in. Then there is the usual yard work, laundry and grocery shopping (recreation for me). And 40 hours of CPE for the CPA license and 12 hours for CASA. Last weekend I just competed in the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh in the Power Walk 1500 m and 5 K (did not come in last so yippee). My 'baby' brother was first place in those events as well as Race Walking both distances. These are by age groups, the oldest competitor in our events was a 94 year old gentleman and an 89 year old lady. I begin my 12 week training for the fall half marathon in October. I did spend 3 weeks diving in Papua New Guinea in May and we will go to the Poconos in August for husband to play golf. Then family reunions in Branson and Cleveland. Trying to schedule friend lunches is always a challenge as they also seem to be very busy. But at least I am realizing how very important they are as a dear friend is having surgery tomorrow for breast cancer after her months of chemo. Then comes radiation. And now off to meet a client for lunch as they are moving to another state. I hope to keep them as clients and friends.