Christian

A couple has moved into my area who both have federal government issued green cards. They own a few acres in the county on which he raises some livestock for personal use and she works in town as a floral designer. My question is whether they are covered by the requirements of the ACA. They are permanent residents but of course are not citizens. Any info would be appreciated.

I routinely buy my software in May at the usual ten percent off. This morning I received the ATX email noting some of their clients will not be getting the cd they have been sending for years. I had been wondering since you could download the program from their website for some time why it was necessary to get the cd. I certainly don't need the cd but must not have seen that you could buy the program without the cd and I would assume at a price minus the associated shipping and handling. Is this new or have I just overlooked this option?

Lawd have mercy! I wonder if I ever dare post again. I am reasonably sure Jack is technically correct but I have no fear I will be looking at any penalty nor for that matter that my old friend will trigger an audit of his return. A former taxman in our area used to stuff his farm returns with everything but the kitchen sink. A farm rental return of his I received had about $600 in rent income and some $6,000 in deductions in that year as an example. He practiced in this manner for about forty years until his death and as far as I know triggered few audits. Was this right? Of course not. But if my old friend wants to pay more tax than he need pay that is his decision and I'll abide by his wishes even though I did tell him he was overpaying.

This has been a fascinating discussion and I really am thankful for being in the company of so many great tax professionals. I have what may be the trump card that being that large sums he gave were in cash for which he has receipts. Rather than see his beloved taxman of some twenty five years be assessed a penalty the requisite amount of these would sorta disappear. Many thanks for all your input which is much appreciated.

He chose to go with his lower figure. His deductions are actually lower than previous years. Since he chose not to use some of his available deductions I don't see the Service assessing me a penalty on any audit. He made a personal choice even though I advised him he could use all his charitable deductions if he desired.

I am much of that opinion. He has his records which are considerable and complete. My feeling is he will increase his percentage and leave it at that. I fully understand his concern as no one wants to sit down with two IRS auditors out of Richmond for a half a day or so.

Boy, that toilet seat office chair would work well here some days.

A client I have is quite a generous giver. Some years back he had a field audit as a result of his generosity. This past year (2015) he gave away large sums and in doing his extension I noted his concerns over setting off another audit. He instructed me to use only a figure of 35% of his adjusted gross income for his charitable giving for the year fearing using more might trigger an audit. His total charitable giving (all subject to the 50% rule) is beneath 50% of his adjusted gross income so he cannot carryover any to 2016. I would appreciate any opinions on whether using the full 50% amount might be a cause for audit concerns. His AGI is around $148,000 and his status is single.

In a recent article I read that the Service is now permitting transfers of after tax contributions to 401k regular IRA accounts into 401k Roth accounts with no tax consequences. Has anyone read anything on moving after tax contributions in regular IRA accounts into a client's Roth IRA account on the same basis. I have a sizeable balance in my own traditional IRA which was contributed after tax and am wondering if I could not simply pull it out and place it into my Roth instead of taking it in tiny increments each year in my minimum required distributions at the rate of some two percent or so each year.

I appreciate your quick reply. These shares were not distributed to the heirs but even so the gain is long term.

Like most of you I try to follow the regs. However, after the stuff I've seen in more recent years I really don't break a sweat over a lot of these matters. Since the service deep sixed a bunch of applications for tax exempt status from a bunch of conservative organizations (and tried to cover their tracks) the congressional Republicans have cut funding so much (mod edit to hide political commentary) ...there has been a noticeable effect on enforcement [due to funding cuts (added for clarity)]. I read an article recently that somewhere in Texas some guy owed several hundred thousand dollars in taxes and the Service advised they had insufficient staff to pursue claims for amounts less than one million. Go figure.

An elderly client passed on January 3, 2016. Her estate became owner of of shares in two listed companies on that date. The shares have now been sold by the estate executor on 4/1/2016 and 8/11/2016. A capital gain was realized on these sales which will flow to the heirs' K-1 (1041) forms. In reporting the gain my thinking is the gain is short term even though the shares were bought many moons ago by the owner. Is this correct ?

An elderly client of mine passed on in January of this year. Among her assets were shares of stock in two listed corporations. Rather than distribute the shares to the heirs of the estate the executor sold the shares and will distribute the cash. The estate will not have enough income to require the filing of a fiduciary return UNLESS the sale of these shares at a profit is considered a capital gain. My question here is which costs basis applies to the shares. We have no costs record for the original purchases of the shares which would give a basis of zero (the client was 93 and the records are nonexistent) or do we use the basis of the stock on the date of death? Alternatively does the sale even need to be reported as the heirs inherited the shares at the value on the date of death. This is one of those beauties I have never seen so any info will be appreciated.

A married couple I have are now separated but their divorce is not final. The former wife lives at their home with two children who are both under the age of seventeen. He has decided to file mfs and yesterday informed me that the presiding judge has given him the right to claim the two children as dependents even though they live with their mother and without her agreement. I told him I would need to see the legal court order to that effect as I have never encountered this before. Have any of you encountered this before and is his assertion correct ? I cannot recall a situation in which a state judge can contravene IRS regulations especially in the absence of agreement between the former husband and wife.

Ach, die Franzosisch !

Well, it worked out just great. I had to go back to the invoice and fiddle around a bit but Wallah Voilà ! the forms list is now included with his invoice. I send a very few invoices as my clients mostly pay on receipt of their returns which sorta explains my lack of knowledge regarding this. Thanks again your help is greatly appreciated.

Somewhere in the ATX program there is a toggle which brings up a list of all forms used to prepare a given return. I rarely have need to use it and now have forgot how to access this info so I can add it to a billing statement. Can anyone refresh my memory on how to access this function ? Thanks in advance.

I have recently been surprised at the prices H&R are charging locally on the few I've seen. A man came in near the deadline with four W-2s. They had quoted him a price of $345.00 he said so he left their office. They always stuff their returns with unneded paperwork which I guess hhas worked well for them over the years.

For years I have ordered ATX in May online to get their usual 10% early bird discount. Now it seems I will have to call my sales rep and probably listen to a spiel on offerings ATX has which I do not need ?

As a former owner of Linn shares I had to pay tax on their canceled debt. What a bummer but it had already been reported in the financial media.

Thank y'all for your replies. I'll print the page and place it in his file for 2016.

A client and his wife who owned four rental houses are divorcing this year. The settlement stipulates that he will give her one of the houses for her home. In filing his 2016 return next year I am uncertain as how to show the disposition of this asset or do I simply drop it from the 2016 return with no disposition indicated. The remaining three rental properties apparently will be owned by him.

I see youall are as much perplexed as me. Low hanging fruit? It cannot get any more low hanging than a married couple with only three W-2s and a combined income approaching $100,000. A simple case of under withholding and since someone at the Service picked up on it a simple review to check their filing record of which since 2009 there was none .

A couple who have not filed a return since 2009 came in this year. I asked for their 2012 and 2015 information with the filing deadline at hand. They owe somewhat over $3000 for 2012. In preparing his 2015 return I noted a massive increase in the husband's withholding. This produced a refund in excess of $1,000 for the couple. Curious as to why he increased his withholding in 2015 I called the husband who advised he got a letter from the IRS advising he needed to increase his withholding which he , of course, did. The Service clearly saw he was under withheld. This being so why have they not insisted these unfilled returns be filed and taxes and penalties imposed? Any thoughts on this will be appreciated.

I m sure you are right. Add the fact that this particular retired taxman was 95 years old and had been likely filing farm returns this way since the 1970's and your eyes might pop from your head. I cannot resist a final word. Who among you ever met a small farmer who reported the sale of depreciated equipment? My late Uncle was an IRS field agent. He once was going to a farmer's residence and heard a shot fired so he dealt with the problem at a later date. Farmers in southern Virginia despise paying taxes. I hope youall have had a good season.