Christian

I was never fingerprinted. Of course, at the time I was working for the poe lice.

After reviewing the rules I've decided to use the Lifetime Learning Credit. The college indicates she was not a half-time student and this would likely disallow the AOC. She evidently needs only a few courses to complete her degree.

A twenty five year old married mother received a 1098-T from a college she is attending. She is working towards her BA degree but because of family matters she was unable to attend for four years continuously. Box 8 (half-time student) is not checked on her form. Even so I plan to compute her AOC education credit since she is finishing her degree requirements. Is this correct ?

Some of us have been sending efiles since the program was initiated.

Does a first time efiler still have to receive their refund by check ? This was the old rule and I am wondering if it has been changed allowing them to receive the refund into their bank account.

It is reported in Box 12c as $2000. The only reduction in gross wages is is 401k contribution. Since it is through their Cafe 125 plan I expect to show no deduction on Form 8889 and show the distribution as non-taxable. I have not yet seen the distribution reporting form as it is in transmit to me by mail. I've not seen this before hence my wanting to be correct in what I enter on their return.

Every year a new wrinkle ! A married couple who work for the same employer each have an HSA with the company. Along with the employer they each make voluntary contributions to the plan. The plan is part of their Cafe 125 arrangement. If I read the rules correctly they are not entitled to a deduction for their contributions. Is this a correct reading? Their voluntary contributions were within the applicable limits. My reading is their contributions are not deductible and their distributions are not taxed. They are both in their twenties.

A single mother with two dependents has come in. She clearly qualifies for the EIC but also receives some public assistance. In checking I can find nothing that indicates her income from public assistance in any way limits her EIC. Is this correct?

I noted those and will need to collect more info. I do very few of these and will need to increase my record requirements.

With the increased IRS scrutiny of returns using the EIC I am wondering what other info documents some of you are requiring for your files. Other than the complete 8867 and worksheets I usually require a birth certificate and the child's social security card.

As we all are only to well aware ATX is having unprecedented software problems this year. Basically unless the 12.5 upgrade does not resolve my issue i am (in a word) out of business. I would much prefer sticking with CCH but if push comes to shove I will need to buy elsewhere. Does anyone know what their refund procedure is? I do not see it in my material from them or where to locate the info on their site.

That clarifies it completely. Although I have been preparing taxes for some thirty years it's nice being considered a newbie.

Thanks for y'all's input. A comment by ATX Master left me puzzled however. There were no reinvested dividends so that is of no concern. The securities have appreciated since he bought them. Should she sell these stocks I would expect her to pay capital gains tax on the increased value over what her former husband paid for the stocks. Your comment about adjusting the basis I did not fully understand.

A recently divorced lady contacted me in regard to the cost basis of stocks she received in a divorce settlement with her former husband. She will likely sell some or all of this position. She did not purchase any of these shares. The cost basis would be what her former husband paid for the shares some time back. Is this correct. Or is her basis one half of what he paid?

Have any of you received an email offering to sell you information on the number of efiles submitted by other practitioners in your area? I received one and was really surprised and I wondered if the IRS could be releasing this private information into the public domain. This could be a scam but I thought I would pass it on for what it's worth. KC being new to this board I would still wish you to know you have my heartfelt sympathy in your loss.

The shares were acquired over many years for which he evidently has no record. His cost of all his shares were reported on his 1099-R provided by his plan administrator. The portion shown as taxable was what he paid for all shares. I'm going with the average costs argument since there evidently are no extant records on individual lot purchases over many years. Thanks for your input. If checked I feel the Service would likely agree.

A client upon retirement took his company stock held in his 401k plan and transferred it to his brokerage account as a distribution. He paid income tax on the costs (basis) of his stock withdrawn. Last year after several years he sold 100 shares of his holdings. My reading on this is that he must divide his total stock holdings from the distribution into his basis to arrive at the cost per share. He then can multiply by 100 and subtract this from his sales price to arrive at the tax on what is a sizable capital gain. Is this correct?

I resolved my access problen after several hours looking for a solution. I had to reload my security software which apparently did not recognize the board ip address after their recent upgrade. :wacko:

I passed the RTRP Exam on August 11th but have not as yet received my certificate from the IRS. Anyone have an idea how long this process takes ? I am sure I have no background issues of any kind.

For a number of years I have used the ATX Community Board available from the My ATX Sollution Center. Since a system upgrade by ATX I am no longer able to access it. To date solutions offered by their support team have worked only to connect me briefly and then I again cannot connect at a later time. Do any of you use this board and if so do you possibly know of a solution to this problem. I formerly connected through any of three browsers but was told to use only Internet Explorer but I am still not connected.