Lee B

So has this house remained investment property with no income for 18 years and no one deducted mortgage interest or property taxes?

The definition is "a 4 wheeled vehicle with a GVW of less than 6,000 pounds."

"Separate books and records are maintained to reflect income and expenses for each rental real estate enterprise. For rental real estate enterprises that have been in existence less than four years, 250 or more hours of rental services are performed per year. For other rental real estate enterprises, 250 or more hours of rental services are performed in at least three of the past five years. The taxpayer maintains contemporaneous records, including time reports, logs, or similar documents, regarding the following: hours of all services performed; description of all services performed; dates on which such services were performed; and who performed the services. The taxpayer or RPE attaches a statement to the return filed for the tax year(s) the safe harbor is relied upon," I have two clients that could potentially qualify for this safe harbor. However they are both recordkeeping challenged. They don't keep separate "Books and Records" for each property. They also don't keep contemporaneous records of their hours. I have had both of these clients for way over 20 years, but they both have reached the age where they aren't going change how they do things.

WASHINGTON — "The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers of a recent increase in IRS-themed texting scams aimed at stealing personal and financial information. So far in 2022, the IRS has identified and reported thousands of fraudulent domains tied to multiple MMS/SMS/text scams (known as smishing) targeting taxpayers. In recent months, and especially in the last few weeks, IRS-themed smishing has increased exponentially. Smishing campaigns target mobile phone users, and the scam messages often look like they’re coming from the IRS, offering lures like fake COVID relief, tax credits or help setting up an IRS online account. Recipients of these IRS-related scams can report them to [email protected]." I was reading this morning that the US was the Number 1 target of Ransomware Hackers. I have read that quite a few mid sized governmental agencies and nonprofits have been have been hacked and held ransom this year.

The interactive tax assistant is a good resource for this kind of question. rhe

I don't have any clients effected by this relief. However, September 30th seems to be a date selected by the IRS for determining who gets the automatic penalty refunds. I haven't seen any guidance for what happens for post September 30th filings?

Follow the link I provided and read page 5 & 6

Exactly, I have a client who spent a lot of money on an Estate Plan, a Family LLC and a Trust with multiple page instruction letter from the Attorney that he didn't understand. Since the Attorney made him uncomfortable he wouldn't ask questions. So he tends to regard all these documents as just paperwork, which leaves me in the position of refereeing and trying to keep him between the lines. Really don't enjoy being in this position, since estates and trusts are not my area of expertise!

Pub 4681 is fairly well written and has some detailed examples. It's always been my go to reference for these issues.

Years ago I had a S Corp with a September 30th year end, which requires you to make a tax payment so that your client can't use the year end change to defer payment of their taxes. The Tax Advisor has a very good explanation: https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2009/apr/scorporationtaxyearrules.html

Are you saying that the value building now with the new roof is less than the value of the building with the old leaking roof with rafters that were failing?

For what's it worth this is from the website of a CPA Firm "Brokerage services Defined as an SSTB: The performance of services in the field of brokerage services includes services in which a person arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller with respect to securities (as defined in Section 475(c)(2)) for a commission or fee. This includes services provided by stock brokers and other similar professionals but does not include services provided by real estate agents and brokers or insurance agents and brokers."

IRS FAQ # 5 "For taxpayers with taxable income that exceeds the threshold amount, specified service trades or businesses (SSTBs). An SSTB is a trade or business involving the performance of services in the fields of health, law, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, athletics, financial services, investing and investment management, trading or dealing in certain assets, or any trade or business where the principal asset is the reputation or skill of one or more of its employees or owners. The principal asset of a trade or business is the reputation or skill of its employees or owners if the trade or business consists of the receipt of income from endorsing products or services, the use of an individual's image, likeness, voice, or other symbols associated with the individual's identity, or appearances at events or on radio, television, or other media format."

Based on your post it sounds like the new roof extended the life of the building.

IRS management blamed for tax return backlog By Michael Cohn September 21, 2022, 4:22 p.m. Accounting Today "Management has not taken steps to either reallocate staff or realign work to address the backlog of tax transcript requests," said the report. "As a result, taxpayers who need these transcripts to validate information for mortgages or apply for student and small business loans will continue to be burdened. In addition, the IRS's mail-processing equipment is 20 years old. Although IRS management previously agreed to take the necessary actions to replace this outdated equipment, as of May 11, 2022, funding has yet to be allocated. Until the funding is allocated and equipment replaced, the federal government will continue to lose millions of dollars in interest revenue. Finally, a strategy is needed to address the delays in processing amended returns, which is not only causing significant burden on taxpayers but also results in the federal government continuing to pay substantial amounts of interest."

https://dwdcpa.com/resources/insights/tax-free-conversion-of-us-savings-bonds-to-529-plans

Unfortunately, the annual report only reflects what was filed by the person filing the report.

My state has a Business Registration Search Lookup function which I use for any new business entity clients. It shows all of the relevant information. However, just because someone's name shows up here doesn't mean that all of the legal requirements have been meet. Are there Board of Director's Minutes confirming who the Officer's are? I suspect most of us assume that our clients are telling us the truth, unless something obvious smacks us in the face!

Interesting, if I have new clients with copies of prior years tax returns with different last names, should I ask for proof of marriage?

The OSCPA has a 1 hour online webinar coming up titled, "The Imposter Syndrome". Who am I anyway

I have an older HP Laserjet 1320 that still works really well. However the last driver update removed my ability to duplex print. Fortunately, I also have a newer Canon BP253dw that prints in duplex really quickly.

I listened to a recent podcast where the host was discussing Quickbooks Desktop. He said that he had noticed that Intuit has included unannounced "kill features" in their updates this summer so that if you don't pay for the next year, your version of Quickbboks Desktop will stop working.

Bloomberg Tax projects that the upcoming inflation adjustments to tax brackets and exclusions will be about 7.1 %, more than double last years adjustments.

Tom, I encourage you to take a deeper look at whether your client is in an active trade of business?

I have taken an in depth look at Dennis's accounting software several times and It will do everything that you need at a very reasonable price. The only reason I don't use it is that I need more flexibility in COA and Financial Statement Design for my larger clients. I am very pleased with his payroll software and support, which I have used for over 3 years now.