Christian

I have ruled them out for 2018. If they live with him all of 2019 and the couple remains unmarried I don't see how he would qualify for any tax advantage such as the CTC, EIC, and the like but time will tell. I am hoping she will just take a powder before then. With my luck she will still be hanging around. He has a real penchant for these winners.

I have been looking over the rules Possi. They are not married so are not stepchildren. I have yet to see anyway he can claim them. Of course, if he wants to produce the old golden ring for 2019.

A longtime client who is in his 50's and divorced has come in with (for me) is a unique problem. His 36 yoa unemployed girlfriend who was kicked from her rental has taken up residence with him since June 2018. She has three children under the age of seventeen who came along with her. The client has an income of some 14,000 or so dollars and of course wants to claim the entire batch. They are on public assistance (food stamps and likely the CHIP program) and she receives some support from the two men who fathered her brood. Frankly, I have never encountered anything quite like this. None of these people are related to my client. How do I determine exactly if he can claim them. If memory serves me public assistance does not effect his claiming them but child support payments likely would. Any input is appreciated. I am tempted to send him to H&R Block but he is a longtime client so I must give it a shot.

My local hometown independent bank is now pushing filing through Turbotax. Who would have thunk it ? Other financial outlets are doing much the same. Alas, the day of the small time tax practitioner is likely slowly drawing to a close.

I cannot imagine anyone considering IRS regs as a mess. By the way Gail I called the local Commissioner's office to see if they might provide any info on the opening of state efile. Their usual answer was DUH !

I note our state efile forms 8453 and 8879 are not even going to become available until January 31st. The release date for the 8879 is not shown. Any Virginia preparer have a clue when state efiles can be sent ?

Wasn't this tax bill intended to SIMPLIFY the tax code ?

I have clients who, of course, are itching to file. I am assuming ATX will hold any submitted efiles and forward on the 28th.

I notice in the ATX blog they have added chat support. I do not see a toggle on opening the program.

That pretty well clarifies it for me Abby. If he switches to actual expenses after the initial year I would simply multiply his first year mileage by 25 cents and deduct the resulting figure from the vehicle costs and use sl for the remaining years of service. Like you I am leaning toward his use of the standard mileage rate as he logs between 25,000 and 35,000 miles each year on his one service vehicle which is used for business mostly. Awhile back I raised the question of whether or not the depreciation percentage of the standard mileage rate was dropped after five years or so and was surprised to be told it was kept until the vehicle ended service.

A client is getting ready to buy a new pickup in 2018. He is going to want me to assign the standard mileage rate or the use of actual expenses. In reviewing the standard mileage info I do not see what part of the rate is calculated to be depreciation. If we choose the standard mileage rate for the initial year and use actual costs the next I am not certain I understand how the depreciation would work. He likes the new rules in which he can write off most if not all of the truck's cost the first year. His current use of the mileage rate yields some $15,000 in deduction and I don not see where writing off $17,000 for the truck in the first year is the best way to go as he will need to use the actual costs for the life of the truck. Any input is appreciated or if you can direct me to something that will clarify this many thanks.

As if we don't face enough issues Intuit is going to offer consultants in their tax package this year. Wonder how accurate their advice will be?

I printed a test page. This will be my 37th year in 2019. In my wildest dreams I would never have thought the Service would sqush (this is the Southern form of squash you Yankees !) the Form 1040 on a half full page. Maybe as Abby suggests we can add some snappy add on the bottom.

I was going to point that out Abby but Catherine beat me to it. And Taxman are you saying the 1040 is not going to fill a full sheet. Good grief. It sounds kinda naked.

In looking over the new form and attached schedules I can see how it may be more simple for some but more confusing for many. Subtracting figures in a line item arrangement wasn't all that bad was it ? Who knows maybe it will increase our traffic.

Oops. It looks as if I have made an error and confused clients. Have patience you too will get older.

In trying to understand these new rules I have this situation. A client and his business partner own an LLC. The client receives a W-2 each year from the partnership. As I read the rules his W-2 income is not subject to the twenty percent reduction. Am I correct on this ? The twenty percent taken at the corporate level ?

Another reason she is your ex right Abby ?

The new software looks to be working a ok. I am still using my old computer and it actually seems to load material much quicker.

What a relief ! I feel confident I can handle the new setup. I won't have to sell out lol.

I usually buy a Compaq or an HP but oddly enough I never pay a great deal for a good computer. If memory serves I've had this one going on seven or eight years. I always shut mine down after use and my guess is this prolongs their life considerably.

Thanks for all the input. If I make the change I will likely wait until after April 15th next year. With all the ballyhoo about security an encryption file is probably a good idea going forward. I have had no problems as I maintain virus and malware security in place at all times and run one or the other on shutting down my system. Unless in use I do not leave the system running.

My processor is an AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) Graphics 1.40 GHz.

I note ATX is recommending Widows 8 as it has an encryption file unavailable on my current Windows 7. I have a 64 bit machine and would like to know if any of you upgraded with a 64 bit computer and had problems as I may do so. Th argument can be made I should move on to Windows 10 but I am no tech whiz and fumbling with a conversion just before tax season and the coming release of ATX 2019 is definitely not in the cards.

That is to say his attorney should raise this point. In view of the fact he was clueless about the change in the law leaves room for being pessimistic. I sent his attorney an email discussing the new law including the paragraph from Divorce Magazine and suggested he have further discussions with the firm's CPA. I wish them luck since it apparently has been a contentious divorce.