Lee B

Just wondering, were these court cases District Court, Circuit Court or Supreme Court cases? Sometimes the IRS accepts court cases results and other times they don't,since they only have to accept Supreme Court case results If the IRS doesn't accept the court cases, then your client could end up incurring significant representation fees if they ended up in audit.

There were only 2 legitimate possibilities here, if the owners received distributions in excess of basis, capital gain could be triggered, otherwise the 64k is a suspended loss. How did it ever end being reported as other income?

Your idea might work if the managers were nonowners but otherwise no.

I think I would approach it similar to the allocations used for a Schedule C Daycare client for any shared expenses. Keep track of the number of days each unit is occupied pus 365 days for the owner occupied unit,

Article in the LA Times: "This being the land of opportunity, an enterprising Florida company has come up with a solution — for a price. The company, called EnQ, swamps the IRS’ switchboard with its own calls, then sells desirable, time-saving slots near the head of the hold line to accountants and tax preparers willing to pay up to $1,000 a year. By subscribing to the line-cutting service, EnQ says, tax professionals trying to reach the IRS can slash their waits on hold by as much as 90%. The service also is available on a monthly basis to ordinary taxpayers who may be having difficulties resolving a problem with their return Have you ever put money in a vending machine, made your selection, and as the product was about to fall, it got stuck? No amount of shaking or button pressing could free it. Not only was it a waste of money, but it was also frustrating. Andrew Valiente, the founder and chief executive of EnQ, says he’s just turning the IRS’ customer-service lemons into potentially lucrative lemonade. “When there’s a problem, there’s an opportunity,” he told me. Basically, Valiente has come up with a business that’s a lot like somebody offering, for a fee, to wait in line on your behalf outside Best Buy ahead of Black Friday. “Calling the IRS is very painful,” he said. “We make it easier.” I learned about EnQ from a Baldwin Park certified public accountant named Arturo Pedroza. “As a tax preparer who’s up against the wall with deadlines and client demands, this is a great service,” he told me. “I don’t have the time nor the manpower to keep calling the IRS just to get through, and then wait over an hour to be able to speak to someone.” For that reason, Pedroza, 32, said his tax firm is now weighing a regular subscription to EnQ. However, as a taxpayer, he said EnQ’s moneymaking scheme “doesn’t sit well with me.” “It seems that they’re monetizing something that should be free and available to everyone,” Pedroza observed. “They’re making a problem worse, and the IRS hasn’t done anything about it.” Raphael Tulino, an IRS spokesperson, declined to comment on EnQ or its business practices. He did point me, though, to a transcript of IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig’s testimony to Congress in May about the agency’s operations. Rettig said there’s been “record-breaking and unprecedented phone demand this year.” On March 15 alone, he said, 8.6 million calls — about 1,500 per second — were made to the IRS, compared with normal filing-season volume of up to 3 million calls a day. Needless to say, the vast majority of those calls went unanswered. Rettig told lawmakers that the IRS’ ability to handle calls “is significantly less than where we want to be.” This is great news for Valiente and EnQ. “We can help people get through to an agent,” he enthused. Part of me is impressed by Valiente’s entrepreneurial gumption. As they say in business school, find a need and fill it. At the same time, I agree with Pedroza that there’s something unseemly about not just exploiting a public agency’s shortcomings for profit but also making things worse in the process. Valiente wasn’t pleased when, during our conversation, I characterized EnQ as using autodialing technology to overwhelm the IRS’ switchboard and snap up limited spaces in the hold queue. Rather, he prefers to see himself and his company as providing a much-needed helping hand to frustrated tax pros and taxpayers. “The poor level of service is an IRS phenomenon,” Valiente insisted. “It’s not caused by EnQ.” Maybe not. But the company isn’t helping. It’s taking a woefully congested phone system and clogging it up even more for its own gain. Again, Valiente says he’s not to blame for the IRS’ phone woes. The problem was already huge before he (and his autodialing machines) showed up, he said. Be that as it may, EnQ is forcing tax professionals to decide whether they should do their best to get through to the IRS on their own or whether, for competitive reasons, they should pay for the company’s service so their clients won’t get left behind. “As a tax preparer, I have to provide good service for clients,” Pedroza told me. “I can see how EnQ helps us do that.” But he said it’s “a little disconcerting” that if he doesn’t pay for EnQ’s service, his clients might switch to an accounting firm that does — and that can claim to have better odds of reaching an IRS staffer. “EnQ has set itself up as a gatekeeper to tax services that should be free,” Pedroza said. Moreover, he noted that if he does sign up for EnQ’s queue-jumping technology, he’d probably have to pass along that cost to clients. “This is especially tough for smaller accounting firms,” Pedroza said. I’m not sure if there’s a solution to this. Valiente, who declined to comment when I asked if privately held EnQ is profitable, isn’t breaking any laws. He recognized a business opportunity and ran with it. Then again, so did those massive ticketing firms that buy up all available seats for concerts or sporting events, and then turn around and resell them at hefty markups. That’s not illegal either. But maybe it should be. I’d argue that whatever convenience ticket scalpers provide is far outweighed by their aggressive price gouging. So too, perhaps, with EnQ. It’s an interesting and clever service. But its entire business model is predicated on taking a bad situation and making it worse. Not ideal"

Part of the reason we have trouble getting thru is a paid subscription service called enQ that floods the IRS phone lines with hundreds of calls then connects you when an IRS employee answers. As tax professionals we qualify for their special price of $ 100 per month.

First I would look to see if the business is really incorporated. Is the corporate name on the title of the truck and trailer or the individual's name. Whose name is on the expiring loan? Who was actually receiving income payments corporation or individual? Was a corporate bank account ever set up? If you go ahead to work on this, I would ask for large retainer, because unless this taxpayer has large amount of money set aside for taxes, it could get really ugly!

Now it makes more sense

You just have to use a common sense approach as far as allocating expenses. One thing I would do is set up each cabin as a separate asset on the depreciation schedule. A basic asset cost segregation study would also be very helpful i.e. furniture & appliances, landscaping, other land improvements. If there are any facilities shared by both the owner and visitors, things would get complicated.

If prior years are indicative, the announcement will be 2 or 3 weeks from today

That implies that it will be next year before we know which clients fell thru the cracks that will need amended returns.

Chrome is up to date Version 95.0.4638.69 (Official Build) (64-bit) There is another unscheduled update to the Chrome Browser due to several more serious active exploits.

Since I do monthly write up/payroll for most of my clients, March 15th isn't a problem for me except for several PTS returns with disorganized record keeping. A bigger problem for me are my Schedule C clients with sloppy record keeping that I have to give deadlines, then remind them of the deadlines several times.

I have been preparing 5 or 6 PTS returns for years. Potentially, 1065 returns are the most complicated of all of the Business Entity Tax Returns. There is no single practice return that will prepare you for all of the variables that might pop up. A 4 to 8 hour CPE class would at least get you headed in the right direction. While it's somewhat expensive PPC's Tax Guide for Partnerships is very thorough and complete.

I am the opposite. While I have a Chromebook at home, I can't imagine not using a desktop for work.

Several reviews list the Dell XPS13 as the top choice

Some of the larger laptops have a numerical keypad. Although I still prefer a mouse to a touchpad.

This sounds like something totally different than PTET

I have never heard of composite payments ? Is this real or hypothetical?

27.5 is correct for residential, this is nonresidential

HVAC is Qualified Real Property which qualifies for Section 179. I don't use Bonus Depreciation due to my state.

So are you working with the spouse? I don't think I would perform any work in this case unless I was retained by the client's attorney.

A touch of gallows humor

If you think of bitcoin as an investment similar to buying shares of a mutual fund, then you are on your way to understanding bitcoin.

jbelle, you have one more year in our profession than I do. I am still pushing forward on a part time basis