Margaret CPA in OH

Amazing! I've seen many kinds of pufferfish and others on my dives but never anything so beautiful created by one. Thanks for sharing this.

No, don't remove it. It's good to know we all make mistakes and 'fess up to it. Especially the adjusting the screen thing. My screen is so adjusted, I no longer know what 'normal' is! Thanks, Rita, for making sure we know you are normal!

Now that's a beautiful thing! I will try to add the Schedule C pages and Schedule E pages as I have several of those folks. Thanks for all the hard work and especially for sharing!

Thanks for the link, Catherine. I will definitely check it out. Meanwhile, I was excused Wednesday until Thursday, Thursday until Friday, Friday until Monday but have to check in again at 4 pm Monday. I was called once when living in Boston and loved the idea of one trial, one day. This method is, well, nuts! I may yet be put on a jury next week for up to an indefinite time. Well, my civic duty... I will let you know more about Boston as time gets closer. Somewhere between 16-22, wedding is the 19th.

Thanks for the sympathy, Catherine and others! I begin jury duty tomorrow for 'two weeks or until dismissed' and know it will be even more challenging trying to get answers and process that last return for 2 German citizens who finally got his ITIN last month. I really don't need this. So I will be in Boston again in September for a week and a wedding. Maybe we can have lunch again and I can see your new digs. Stay tuned! Hmm, the above should have been posted Sunday, somehow I goofed. Meanwhile, the attorney and I finally talked. Her advice was to provide the information from the irrevocable trust dates (grandfather July 2010, no cg, no tax; grandmother September 2013, small cg, no tax) and reiterate that, until the revocable trusts became irrevocable, beneficiary was only potential beneficiary and had no right to info prior. And she could call the attorney or engage a UK-US trust tax specialist and convince the trust attorney otherwise. Beneficiary is vacationing in Italy now so don't know when the fit will hit the shan! Once again, retirement looks better every day...

That was amazing!!!

Again, thanks for the supportive answer. The trust lawyer is the grandparents' lawyer so knows the whole story beginning to end. I warned this beneficiary that I might not be legally able to comply with all the requests but I really like having her contact the attorney! Have a great weekend!

Thanks so much, Lion. She does have copies of HER trust returns for 2013 and 2014 in paper and electronic form and she has paper and electronic copies of the trust document. I was the trustee of the trusts and executor for the estates of the grandparents so of course have copies of all those returns. The estate was just under the federal filing requirement so only trust returns exist save the Ohio estate returns. I don't think she is entitled to copies of the grandparents' trust returns but have provided an extensive spreadsheet showing all income and payouts following the death of the second grandparent reconciling to the penny every account. Why would she contact the brokerage firm? I am fairly certain that they would not divulge information and, in fact, may no longer even have it as all accounts were closed as of March 2014. I think the best bet is the trust attorney and I do wish she would call me back! I will leave another message and may well suggest that the beneficiary contact her directly. They did meet at the service for the last grandparent at least. Thanks again! I am done with all these trusts in 3 more years but may well resign before then...

How great that 33 folks have looked at this to date but not a single suggestion has been offered. KC? Your legal expertise would be appreciated. Those with intimate familiarity with Cir 230? The attorney has not yet responded to my call and email so I suspect is on vacation. Liability insurance folks say to ask an attorney but don't think I should/need to provide anything prior to this beneficiary's actual trust funding. Anyone? I am back from my vacation so I know this one will be contacting me again soon asking for answers. Thanks!

I am trustee on 8 sub-trusts from long time clients that passed away, the last in September 2013. One beneficiary is a UK resident. Her UK accountants are requiring a lot of information in order to prepare her UK return. I am not comfortable providing all that is asked as some relates to when the trusts were revocable and this beneficiary was not my client, the grantors were. They want to know: 1. All capital gains incurred by the grandparent's trusts annually, from inception to the date that the assets were attributed to all the side trusts i.e. the capital gains in 2013 and prior years. 2 .All distributions made from the grandparent's trusts to beneficiaries, in excess of income, since inception. No need to specify beneficiaries, only the distributions. 3. Capital gains tax paid by the trustee in 2013 and prior years. Following that, I understand that the trustees elected for all income/gains to be taxed at beneficiary level and paid no capital gains tax at trust level. I have left a message with the attorney who drafted the trusts and with my liability insurer and am awaiting replies. Any thoughts here from the good folks here? It seems Circ. 230 would require confidentiality at least up to the point of funding of the individual sub-trusts but I can't find specific references.

Too cute, indeed! I could watch those things for hours and accomplish nothing but affixing a permanent smile on my face. Thanks for sharing!

How about that phrase? Frankly, I couldn't find it just now in my quick review of Circular 230 but, in 182 pages, I could have missed it easily. What is you interpretation of that phrase? Should I have known the amount of interest without having the data in hand to prepare Form 1099? I'm not sure of the meaning of your response and would appreciate some clarification. This client's returns have been completed for over 6 weeks now and they have not yet scheduled a review and pick up time. They emailed last week that Mondays and Fridays are good but, when offered last Friday or yesterday, I received no reply at all. Their identity was compromised in February so one might think they would like to get this out of the way. I certainly want it off my desk.

I think it's about time to fire one of my clients. They are great folks but have an LLC with rental properties some of which they also sell. Year after year the transaction records fail to arrive until about March or April then generate lots of questions which take weeks to answer. As they have member loans and often put money into the LLC and pay themselves from time to time, I never can get the loan interest calculated timely for the 1099 filing. I know they have paid penalties a few times but I don't want to be held responsible when the delay isn't my fault. Are these penalties on me or the client? I can't prepare and file forms when I don't have the data. Hmmmm, retirement....

Yes, my computer is a few years old now but has been upgraded with memory and tweaked. Doug, my guy, has already said that I probably have about another year, maybe 2, left on it. I/we are holding off because I am downsizing looking at retirement just not sure when. I do expect one more computer. His comment is related to upgrading Windows, not the entire computer, in case you thought that. He's saying the same thing - no new OS on an old computer. And he is joking about the 2021 year. He likes to exaggerate at times.

Sorry, I did miss that this was not a church. You have listed some specific issues raised in Church and Clergy Tax Guide although the book does elaborate more and is more pointed to a church. The possibility of status jeopardy is indeed mentioned. Glad you are continuing to search out resources. Hope you find what you need!

I asked the guy who builds my computers about this. He said to agree to be on the list for a free code to reduce annoying reminders but don't install. "In 2021 maybe maybe maybe then we will load it. One should NEVER upgrade a perfectly fine, working PC." I have 7 Pro and always follow his guidance. He hasn't led me astray yet!

Thanks, Catherine, but the guide knows more! The ask for redirection of donations is better than returning because that can call into question the status of the church. As I indicated to the OP, there is much more to consider and too much for me to post. My mouth works faster than my fingers

I have amended returns for client from 2012, 2013, and 2014. They all relate to her home office and, among other things, erroneous depreciation. She is also currently under a payment plan for ex's debt having filed jointly in earlier years. The net of the 3 years amended is over $3000 which would help her debt quite a bit. We did send 2011 amended return by itself before SOL April 15 but she owed $3600 so paid but no response as yet from IRS. When all these amended returns and 3115 are processed, I want to see about a conference call to determine where she stands. Immediate question, though, is whether to mail 2012-2014 together with a cover letter or separately to the same address. Typically I would send separately but am uncertain now as they are interlinked and she is on a payment plan. Any wisdom to share would be much appreciated!

There are several pages in "Church and Clergy Tax Guide" that address this issue, too many to reprint here. I would be happy to read some of this to you if you like or perhaps you can access the material elsewhere. I purchase this resource as a business expense as I do have clergy clients and advise my own church. PM me if you would like to pursue this from the resource I mentioned.

Although you say that you have the problem, it must relate to the client, right? Wouldn't the client assist you by requesting the POA as that seems to be the requirement? I would think that it must relate to the client or you wouldn't need it for the client.

Thanks, Judy. The item in question is the labor to do the remodeling of the rental. There were no credit card or financing charges directly associated. The client simply had insufficient cash until the following year when another property was sold. From the Accounting Coach: Incur is... A word used by accountants to communicate that an expense has occurred and needs to be recognized on the income statement even though no payment was made. The second part of the necessary entry will be a credit to a liability account. So we now, as cash basis, define the expense as occurring when paid not when the work which gave rise to the expense actually took place. The amount of the depreciation is not even material but I don't feel confident about not doing something funky with Form 3115.

I tried to submit this just after Catherine's first post but somehow didn't get it in. Now I see that Catherine and I were on the same wavelength. If, by chance, she is affiliated with a faith group, that group may serve as a facilitator although it must be made clear that the contributions are not tax deductible as they benefit a specific person if so designated. It is possible for contributions to be made without designation but leaving to the 'church's' discretion as to whom the benefits would go. This has taken place at my church - both ways.

Thanks for supporting my initial inclination although I have this nagging part of me knowing that the work was done before it was placed in service so is it something to put on 3115? Would it be different if the payment was made 6-8 months later, more than a year later? As it is for labor but goes to the building cost as a whole, is it still 27.5 years but begins the month of payment? One was paid in February, one in March of 2014 both for work done over the course of the entire year of 2013 prior to renting in December 2013. This is one case that accrual would have been nice

Client has several rental properties. One was purchased Jan. 2013, underwent extensive remodeling and finally rented in December 2013. Client had insufficient funds to pay laborers in full until February 2014. Labor to place in service should be capitalized but they are cash basis and payment was in subsequent year after placing in service. So does depreciation of that portion of building cost begin in 2014? Is this a 3115 worthy issue? Of course I began depreciating in 2013 not knowing the outstanding labor expense. Miraculously (or sheer dumb luck) it appears as though all properties have had proper depreciation and expense of supplies and repairs, etc. per new regs except for possibly this issue. I was convince this would be the end of me but not so bad - if this next year payment is managed. Any pertinent advice would be welcome! Nothing like getting the books in May....