Lee B

Elderly client has an older, not that desirable, timeshare that she paid $ 10,995 years ago. Now she just wants to avoid the $ 900 a year maintenance fee. The timeshare management company hasn't been helpful. She talked to several firms about donating the timeshare, but wasn't comfortable with the associated fees. Is there a way to just give the timeshare back ?

Individual tax incentives Provisions for individuals that expire at the end of 2016 include: Sec. 108(a)(1)(E), which excludes from gross income discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness income. Sec. 163(h)(3), the treatment of mortgage insurance premiums as qualified residence interest, which permits a taxpayer whose income is below certain thresholds to deduct the cost of premiums on mortgage insurance purchased in connection with acquisition indebtedness on the taxpayer's principal residence. Sec. 222, which provides an above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses. Also expiring at the end of 2016 is the 7.5% adjusted-gross-income floor for deducting medical expenses, applicable to individuals age 65 and older and their spouses, which will rise to 10% in 2017 (Sec. 213(f)). Business tax incentives Provisions for businesses that expire at the end of 2016 include: Sec. 45A, the Indian employment tax credit for employers of enrolled members of Indian tribes (or their spouses) who work on and live on or near an Indian reservation. Sec. 45G, the railroad track maintenance credit, equal to 50% of the qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures paid or incurred by an eligible taxpayer. Sec. 45N, the mine rescue team training credit, which provides a credit for a portion of training costs for qualified mine rescue team employees. Sec. 54E qualified zone academy bonds, which allows qualified schools to issue bonds for renovations (but not new construction), equipment purchases, teacher training, or developing course materials when they partner with private businesses. Sec. 168(e)(3)(A), which allows certain racehorses to be depreciated as three-year property instead of seven-year property. Sec. 168(e)(3)(B)(vi)(I), which provides for five-year cost recovery for certain energy property. Secs. 168(i)(15) and (e)(3)(C)(ii), which allow a seven-year recovery period for motorsports entertainment complexes. Sec. 168(j), which allows owners accelerated depreciation for qualifying property used predominantly in the active conduct of a trade or business within an Indian reservation. Sec. 179E, the election to expense mine safety equipment, which permits taxpayers to elect to treat 50% of the cost of any qualified advanced mine safety equipment as a deduction in the year the property is placed in service. Sec. 181, the special expensing rules for certain film and television productions, which allows taxpayers to treat costs of any qualified film or television production as a deductible expense. The provision is modified to also apply to live theatrical productions. Sec. 199(d)(8), which permits a deduction for income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico. Sec. 1391 empowerment zone tax incentives. This provision is modified to allow employees to meet the enterprise zone facility bond requirement if they reside in the empowerment zone, an enterprise community, or a qualified low-income community. Sec. 7652(f), the temporary increase in the limit on cover over of rum excise taxes from $10.50 to $13.25 per proof gallon to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The American Samoa economic development credit. Energy tax incentives Provisions for energy expenses that expire at the end of 2016 include: Sec. 25C, which provides a 10% credit for qualified nonbusiness energy property. The law also updates the Energy Star requirements. Sec. 25D, the credit for residential energy property for qualified fuel cell property, small wind energy property, and geothermal heat pump property (it will remain available for qualified solar electric property and solar water heating property). Sec. 30B, which provides a credit for qualified fuel cell motor vehicles. Sec. 30C, which provides a 30% credit for the cost of alternative (non-hydrogen) fuel vehicle refueling property. Sec. 30D, the 10% credit for plug-in electric motorcycles and two-wheeled vehicles. Sec. 40(b)(6), which provides a credit for each gallon of qualified second-generation biofuel produced. Sec. 40A, the credit for biodiesel and renewable diesel, which includes the biodiesel mixture credit, the biodiesel credit, and the small agri-biodiesel producer credit. Sec. 45(e)(10)(A)(i), the production credit for Indian coal facilities. Sec. 45, the credits for facilities producing energy from certain renewable resources. Sec. 45L, which provides a credit for each qualified new energy-efficient home constructed by an eligible contractor and acquired by a person from the eligible contractor for use as a residence during the tax year. Sec. 48 credits for fiberoptic solar lighting system, geothermal heat pump, small wind energy, and combined heat and power properties and the credit for qualified fuel cell and microturbine plant property. Sec. 168(l), which provides a depreciation allowance equal to 50% of the adjusted basis of qualified second-generation biofuel plant property. Sec. 179D, the deduction for energy-efficient commercial buildings. Sec. 451(i), the special rule for sales or dispositions to implement Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or state electric restructuring policy for qualified electric utilities. Secs. 6426(c) and 6427(e), the excise tax credits for alternative fuels. —Alistair Nevius ([email protected]) is the JofA's editor-in-chief, tax

I filled out these surveys over the years for many of my clients.

Copied from the OSCPA website: News - Medical Insurance Premium Reimbursement Arrangements Are Back in Play (For Small Employers) December 15, 2016 - Prior to closing for the year, Congress passed legislation that allows eligible small employers to reimburse employees through an HRA for qualified medical expenses, including medical insurance premiums. The legislation was signed into law on December 13, 2016, and is effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2017. By Walter W. Miller, Shareholder at Schwab, Williamson & Wyatt PC * * Reprinted with permission. This article first appeared here on December 14, 2016. In the days before the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”), an employer that did not offer a group medical insurance policy to its employees could instead adopt a health reimbursement arrangement (“HRA”). Through the HRA, the employer could reimburse employees on a tax-free basis for all or a portion of the cost of the premiums for an insurance policy purchased on the open market. The ACA disallowed this practice, effective as of January 1, 2014. Prior to closing up shop for the year, Congress passed the “21st Century Cures Act,” which consists of a myriad of health care measures. Among the provisions of the legislation is one that allows eligible small employers to reimburse employees through an HRA for qualified medical expenses, including medical insurance premiums. The reimbursements are excluded from the employee’s income, provided that the employee is covered under a medical insurance policy that provides minimum essential coverage (such as an individual insurance policy or a policy purchased on an Insurance Exchange). The legislation was signed into law on December 13, 2016, and is effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2017. As a result of the legislation, small employers will be able to sponsor medical insurance premium reimbursement programs, just like in the old days. The key features of the new HRA rules are outlined below. An employer can establish the HRA for a year only if it: Had fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees in the preceding year (i.e., it Is not an “applicable large employer” under the ACA for that year); and Does not offer a group health plan to any of its employees. The maximum amount that may be reimbursed during a year is $4,950 for an individual employee, and $10,000 in the case of an HRA that also provides for reimbursements for family members. The annual limit is prorated for an individual who is not covered for the entire year. The limit will be adjusted for inflation. The HRA could provide for the reimbursement of any type of a qualified medical expense. However, the law is designed to simply reimburse employees for the cost of their medical insurance premiums. Reimbursements must be made available on the same terms to all eligible employees. For this purpose, the following employees can be excluded: Employees who have not completed 90 days of service; Employees who have not attained age 25; Part-time and seasonal employees; and Union employees. Amounts reimbursed under the HRA will reduce dollar-by-dollar any premium tax credit otherwise available for an insurance policy purchased on the Insurance Exchange. A notice advising of the amount of the reimbursements available under the HRA, and other described information, must be provided to eligible employees prior to the beginning of each year. However, the first notice will not be required earlier than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the new law (which is March 13, 2017). The amount of the reimbursements made available to an employee under the HRA for a year will need to be reported on an employee’s W-2. The HRA is exempt from the COBRA continuation coverage rules, and from the ACA generally. The HRA will constitute an employee benefit plan for purposes of ERISA. Therefore, a plan document and summary plan description will be required. Small employers having cost restraints that restrict their ability to provide group medical insurance to their employees can now again through an HRA subsidize their employees for the premiums paid for the purchase of medical insurance on the open market. The reimbursements will be tax-free to the employees, and deductible by the employer. However, the tax-free treatment to an employee will need to be weighed against the offset of the premium tax credit that may be available

I don't know if it's prohibited, but I do know that that you cannot receive a Premium Tax Credit and claim a deductible business expense. You don't say anything about number of employees etc. More than likely the the premium paid is taxable wages to the owner

Antivirus software will not protect you against this type of scam.

Be aware, some states have accelerated their due dates to January 31st and some have not. For example, my state of Oregon, which has a mandatory efiling of W -2s, has kept the same due date of March 31st.

Congress Eliminates IRS Penalty on Employer Reimbursements for Health Insurance The Senate passed legislation Wednesday eliminating a tax penalty on employers who reimburse employees for the cost of health insurance premiums, following passage of the measure last week in the House. The IRS began enforcing the penalty on employers last year, even though it isn’t part of the Affordable Care Act. Employers who violate the rule can be fined up to $100 per day for each employee, or up to $36,500 a year, which is 18 times more than the penalty imposed on larger employers that don’t offer insurance to workers. Under Section 18001 of the 21st Century Cures Act, business owners would be permitted to compensate employees for the cost of individual insurance premiums or medical visits. President Obama has issued a statement in support of the legislation. The National Federation of Independent Business praised passage of the bill. “Both the Senate and the House have now passed critical legislation to protect small business owners from outrageous IRS fines,” said NFIB president and CEO Juanita Duggan in a statement. “Our research showed that a significant percentage of NFIB members reimbursed employees for the cost of health insurance, a practice the IRS tried to stamp out despite the lack of clear direction from Congress. Now Congress has acted to make it clear that businesses should not be punished just for trying to help their employees pay for health care costs.” The legislation includes a number of other sweeping health care provisions, including more funding for research into diseases, improvements in the mental health treatment system, and an overhaul of the regulatory system for medical devices and pharmaceuticals. It also includes funding to fight opioid drug abuse, collect genetic information from a million volunteers for medical research purposes and provide money to back Vice President Joe Biden’s “moonshot” effort to find a cure for cancer. “One of the last times I'll preside over an actual Senate vote count,” Biden tweeted Monday. “A lot of lives will be saved by this bill, God willing. So will this taxable wages subject to social security and medicare ?

Perhaps I am fortunate, that all of my rental clients are primarily operating business clients, because I don't have these problems. Actually I prefer business/payroll clients and I discourage 1040 clients.

If you still have time, I would suggest talking to the examiner's supervisor.

I remember the first time I installed ATX on my current Windows System, I had to adjust the default security levels downward before I could install any ATX prpgram.

ATX is referencing Knowledgebase Article # 13729, which details the procedures to add/update an EFIN. It doesn't say anything about confirming or recertifying a current EFIN. Since I don't start preparing tax returns until early February, I have time for other users to play guinea pig and figure this out. Good Luck, I just hope it's not excessively frustrating and painful !

ATX™ MAX® Cyber Week Offer $999* Apparently this is a cyberweek deal offered only to new users! You cannot renew at this price! Unfortunately, this kind of marketing just continues to break down the relationship between providers and users! Reminds of the banks who will offer $100 to $500 to new customers to entice them.

PENALTY RELIEF EXTENDED TO 1040 FILERS: The extended due dates for information returns required to be furnished to individual taxpayers may make it difficult for employees who may not receive the information in time to file their returns. For those taxpayers, the IRS is providing relief by eliminating any requirement that they file amended returns if they receive these statements after they have filed their returns. They should, however, keep the information returns with their tax records. The IRS is also extending its relief from penalties under Secs. 6721 and 6722 for taxpayers that have made good-faith efforts to comply with the 2016 reporting requirements. —Sally P. Schreiber ([email protected]) is a JofA senior edito - See more at: http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/nov/irs-extends-due-dates-for-ppaca-forms-201615569.html#sthash.6veELRC5.dpuf

Copied from the ATX Blog Download your updates: Program: ATX Tax 16.1 Program Update will be available Nov 28th. ATX Tax 16.2 is planned for mid-Dec. ATX Tax 16.3 is palnned for early January and is the minimum version needed to efile individual returns later that month. Payroll Compliance Reporting-- 16.1 Program Update will be available the week of Jan 3rd. Forms: Refer to this page for expected delivery dates, but check for form updates every day as we deliver three times around 10am, 2pm, and 6pm. https://support.atxinc.com/download/formdevelopmentstatus.aspx Efile: Electronic filing for a particular federal or state return is activated by a form update, the EF INFO form for that particular entity. The EF Info forms will be downloaded to you starting Jan 3rd week, and then updated as "efile enabled" as we near the efile start dates. IRS has not released official efile start dates. Efile: Refer to this page for expected delivery dates of federal and state efile

Excerpted from the ATX email I received Note: EFIN verification is only required once. You do not have to update this information every year. Will Campbell800-495-4626 [email protected] ATX 800-638-8291 [email protected] © 2016 Universal Tax Systems Inc. d/b/a/ CCH Small Firm Services. All rights reserved. 225 Chastain Meadows Court NW | Suite 200 Kennesaw, Georgia 30144 USAUpdate Email Preferences

November 30th is the IRS deadline for personal tax returns. However the ATX blog says that ATX will stop accepting efiles 1 or 2 days before the 30th. The IRS will announce the business efile deadline ( usually just before Xmas ) early next month.

4. Technical Guidance Notice 2016-70 extends the due dates for certain information reporting requirements for 2016 imposed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) under section 6055 and 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code. Specifically, this notice extends the due date for furnishing to individuals the 2016 Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, and the 2016 Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, from January 31, 2017, to March 2, 2017. This notice also provides for transitional good-faith relief from the penalties imposed by sections 6721 and 6722 of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the 2016 information reporting requirements under sections 6055 and 6056 Great, this will help me and my one ALA for whom I have to prepare these forms !

I transmitted a 1040 late Wednesdday. Thursday morining I received an IRS matching error reject. I immediately fixed the error and retransmitted Several hours later I received my acks. So, I haven't experienced these issues. The most interesting facet of this is that ATX has posted zero responses to the user posts on the ATX Board. The last 2 years it seems like ATX has adopted a Public Relations style of responding to problems i.e. don't acknowledge any negative stuff!

Copied from IRS enews: Congress recently expanded the EITC due diligence requirements to include two additional refundable credits – the Child Tax Credit/Additional Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit

Copied from the ATX Blog: IRS Security Summit announces 2017 initiatives that will affect you this tax season. One new requirement will require all individual tax software customers to update their security credentials to a minimum eight-character password and establish personal security questions. For ATX users, this means your passwords will be required to meet IRS-mandated complexity standards. We know that you value the security of your clients’ data and will be implementing these steps to help protect them. Be sure to look for more information about new security measures when ATX 2016 is released in November. You can also learn more about the new initiatives recently announced by the IRS on the ATX Blog.

This article on Tax Pro Today is like throwing stuff on the wall. It doesn't tell you much.

According to the ATX Blog, they will be requiring complex passwords plus secret questions with the coming Tax Season's software. There was an IRS Security Summit earlier this year attended by Tax Software Providers and State Revenue Departments where the participants agreed to implement these security related changes. There is more detail about this on the ATX Blog.

How Google, Apple & Microsoft saved the PC Mike Elgan Home Computer Hardware Windows PCs More by Mike Elgan The Google Jamboard lets people work together on a massive 55-in. multi-touch display and connect to the meeting's workspace over the internet. Credit: Google By Mike Elgan Computerworld | Oct 29, 2016 4:00 AM PT The long-neglected PC got a massive injection of innovation this week with major announcements from Google, Apple and Microsoft. Each company introduced advancements that users didn't ask for, didn't think they wanted and are already complaining about. Why? Because we love new technology in theory but hate it in practice. Technology change is expensive, transition is messy and people are creatures of habit. We demand innovation, but resist it when it actually appears in our favorite product lines. That's why only tech giants like Google, Apple and Microsoft can force the necessary change users want, but don't know they want. This was a huge week for forced innovation in PCs thanks to wildly divergent new products from Google, Apple and Microsoft. Google pushes your meetings into the cloud Problem: Meeting technology isn't integrated into our cloud-first workflow. Solution: Google Jamboard, a cloud computer for collaborative meetings. Google Google's Jamboard brings meeting collaboration into the cloud. Jamboard is a "cloud-first whiteboard" optimized for Google stuff. Jamboard is built around G Suite, the collection of cloud apps formerly called Google Apps for Work (Docs, Sheets and Slides), and Google Hangouts, the group video chat service. Jamboard also runs other cloud apps and services. Jamboard can connect with other Jamboards for shared screens, collaboration and group videoconferencing, as well as with remote meeting participants using a companion app on a smartphone or tablet. That means whatever is happening in one meeting location is also happening on the screens of remote participants. All that collaboration and brainstorming is saved in a shared folder on Google Drive. Jamboard is a 55-in., 4K touch display that offers a built-in HD camera, some virtual markers and an eraser that doesn't require batteries. Jamboard starts at "under $6,000," according to Google. For now, Jamboard will become available to people selected for the Early Adopter Program. Companies don't want to make the painful transition from Windows PCs, PowerPoint and projectors to cloud whiteboards. But it's the right place for meetings to go, and Google is pushing it there. Apple MacBook Pro Problem: Laptops are a mishmash of obsolete technologies and interfaces. Solution: Apple MacBook Pro. Apple this week unveiled a thinner, lighter MacBook Pro with a TouchID fingerprint reader, a bigger Force Touch trackpad and a customizable touch-screen strip above the keyboard called the Touch Bar. Apple is notorious for killing old standards. Users griped about the elimination of floppy drives and CD/DVD drives in MacBooks and the termination of the audio jack in the iPhone 7. The new MacBook Pro goes further, killing USB ports, SD Card readers and charging ports (and with it, the much beloved MagSafe connector!) in favor of four Thunderbolt 3 ports, which double as USB-C connectors, any one of which can function as a charging port, a data port or a place to connect an external display. Apple Apple's MacBook Pro kills the password, function key, Escape key, dedicated charging port, USB-A port and SD card. The replacement of old ports and readers is ushering in a dreaded "Donglepocalypse." Your peripherals won't work with the new laptop until you buy special cables and converter "dongles." Your existing devices that use HDMI, VGA or even Thunderbolt 2 ports will all need special adapters. Even an iPhone 7, which ships with cables that are Lightening on one end and USB on the other, need a replacement Lightning-to-USB-C cable that starts at $25 on the online Apple store. Apple's biggest fans, who will buy both iPhone 7 and MacBook Pro, will be swimming in dongles. "Donglepocalypse" is inconvenient and expensive, but the transition is necessary. Thunderbolt 3 enables devices to be daisychained out of the same port, and also the conveyance of massive quintiles of data, enough even for the LG 5K display designed to work with the new MacBook Pro. And USB-C is far superior in usage and convenience to the old USB-A standard. The MacBook Pro was tweaked, improved and optimized across the board, as Apple tends to do. The biggest change is the Touch Bar -- which is conceptually a context-aware, touch-screen version of the old function key concept. Buttons, controls and functionality changes with applications, and developers can program exactly what the Touch Bar looks like and how it works while their application is selected. In a single product, Apple killed the password, function key, Escape key, dedicated charging port, USB-A port and SD card. The MacBook Pro also introduced Mac users to two ideas that will transform future laptops. The first is the idea of touch screens on a Mac (the Touch Bar is just a thin strip, but it's technically a touch display). The second is the idea of solid state, on-screen keyboards. No, the Touch Bar doesn't give you QWERTY keys, but future MacBooks will. These are just two evolutionary steps to a solid-state MacBook of the future -- no moving parts except the clamshell hinge -- which will have touch-screen glass both top and bottom, a concept I first described here years ago. Pricing for MacBook Pros with the Touch Bar start at $1,799 for the 13-in. version and $2,399 for the 15-in. model. With the new MacBook Pro, Apple is dragging users kicking and screaming into a better laptop world. Microsoft Surface Studio Problem: The PC has been stuck in the WIMP model (windows, icons, menus and pointing devices) since the Nixon administration. Solution: Microsoft Surface Studio. Microsoft unveiled this week a new PC called Surface Studio. The screen is large -- 28 inches measured diagonally -- offers a pixel density of 192ppi and is surrounded by minimal bezel. Microsoft claims that, at under half an inch thick, the Studio screen is the thinnest 28-in. LCD ever made. The touch screen is supported by two arms, and the computer is mostly inside the base. Microsoft Microsoft's Surface Studio is presented as a drafting table for creative types, but it's really a clear vision for the future of desktop computing A four-point "zero gravity" hinge enables the screen to transition from vertical to nearly horizontal -- the 20 degrees is as low as it goes, which Microsoft claims is ideal for certain types of creative work, such as drawing, drafting and designing. It's called "zero gravity" because it takes almost no force to re-orient the screen. "Palm rejection" -- the ability of a touch screen to accept pen input without responding to the hand holding the pen resting on the screen -- is taken to extremes with Surface Studio. Microsoft says you can lean your forearms on the screen, and the screen will support the weight of your lazy upper torso. In the ancient WIMP model, peripheral devices rest on the same desk surface as the monitor. So while the documents, images or objects appear up there on the screen, they're manipulated down there on the keyboard and over there with the mouse. Next-generation PCs like Surface Studio bring everything to the screen. But to me, the breakout star of the week was Microsoft's Surface Dial, a silver hockey puck that turns like a knob, but also provides haptic feedback. You can use it as a peripheral device for a regular Windows 10 PC or laptop. But with the Surface Studio, you can place it directly on the screen and, depending on the app, the screen recognizes the device and surrounds it with interface options, such as color palettes. Studio customers will initially get seven apps that support the Dial, including a CAD app, a couple of PDF apps, a music composition app and a smattering of illustration apps. One of the drawing apps turns 2D drawings into 3D. Best of all, the Dial can be used even without custom integrations. Windows 10 itself supports the Dial for scrolling, zooming, selecting, undo, fast-forward, rewind, volume changes and other interface navigation jobs. Surface Studio works with the existing Surface Pen product, and using a Dial with one hand and a Pen with the other brings new capabilities to illustrators and others. Surface Dial runs on two AA batteries, which should last for a year. The Dial ships Nov. 10 for $99, but ships free with Surface Studio if you pre-order the PC before it ships. The Surface Dial is a glimpse of the peripheral devices to come. In the near future, the keyboard will rest on the screen as well, and the messages, emails, documents or whatever it is you're typing will appear directly above wherever you place the keyboard. Placing your phone or camera on the screen will cause the pictures inside to "spill out" onto the screen. People are griping about the price ($2,999 to $4,199), the less-than-gaming-quality compute power and the fact that screen resolution doesn't quite match comparably sized iMacs. But all this missed the point. The psychology of using the work surface as the computer, placing peripheral devices on the screen and for documents and other artifacts to default to life size makes digital content creation seem more like real life. Instead of looking in one place (the screen) and interacting with things on that screen elsewhere (trackpads, keyboards, drawing tablets), the Surface Studio concept lets you touch and move and navigate through on-screen objects and creations directly. Instead of a desktop PC sitting on a desk, and surrounded by papers, sticky notes, books and other analog clutter, the Surface Studio concept is to make it all digital, but continue to use it in the same way. So you could imagine an open e-book, virtual yellow sticky note reminders, a stack of virtual documents and a virtual notebook filled with your scribbles -- all on the screen instead of littering your desk. The Surface Studio concept not only makes existing desktop PCs obsolete, it makes desks themselves obsolete, especially as ever larger versions of Surface Studio like PCs come on the market. The Surface Studio is available now for pre-order and ships in "limited quantities" in time for the holidays. More than nine years ago, I asked in this space the question: "Will Microsoft beat Apple with its 'giant iPhone'?" Finally, I can report the answer: Yes! More importantly, Microsoft is showing the industry a path to a much needed transition away from WIMP computers and toward the giant tablet model of the future. In a single week, Google dragged your meetings into the cloud, Apple killed off a wide range of obsolete PC technologies and Microsoft pointed the way to the next-generation PC of the future. We're all going to love the future of PCs -- whether we like it or not!

I have a client who manufactures citrus based deodorizers, cleaning products etc. They have previously sold their products to Canadian subsidiaries of U S Retailers and other Canadian retailers. Now they have an opportunity to sell through Amazon Canada. Amazon Canada insists on having a Canadian GST/HST number from my client and sent them a RC1 to fill out, which is a 6 page form to request an ID number. Previously, none of the Canadian Retailers that they have dealt with have asked for a GST/HST number. I would appreciate it, if anyone can shed light on this situation? Thanks in advance,