Gail in Virginia

The IRS first said yes, but just announced that if you are getting SS or Railroad Retirement, you don't need to to file anything - they will use that direct deposit information for the stimulus payments. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm967

And if is passed as a gift, even though it might be long term, the part of the gain that is recapture of depreciation is ordinary income. And it sounds like that will be almost all of it.

I seem to remember in some of the early information that I heard somewhere, that they would not use banking information that was used to pay taxes but only information for depositing refunds. That may have been an unreliable source, early in the game before any official information came out. Right now I am an unreliable source myself.

This is a rural area with not a lot of financial support. I don't intend to advise on what they should do,; I may in some cases direct them to websites that they can read to get up to speed themselves. I would like to know at least enough to warn them of any tax pitfalls since they do rely on me for that. Since I do the payroll for some of my clients, I will probably wind up more involved than I want to be.

There are all kinds of options during this crisis that are not normally available. I understand Tom's point, and would hope that the increased unemployment would enable most people to navigate this difficult time without going so far in debt that they will never see daylight again. On the other hand, trying to navigate what is available and how to apply for it is often EXTREMELY confusing, and the people who need the most helpful often lack the resources or education to be able to figure out what is available to them.

Thanks for the warning Catherine! I have been getting the summary email, but have not had time to really look at it to see if there was anything of interest there (I would rather spend my time on this board!) and now I won't bother.

You might try updating the program even if it doesn't appear to need an update. Just for luck.

When the itemized is close like that, I almost always wind up checking to see what forcing the itemized will do since VA only allows you to itemize for the state if you do for the federal. Sometimes it is better to pay a little more on the federal to save a whole lot on the state. But I have not had the situation that you describe show up.

I do but I use a different software so I can’t help.

I don't believe an amended return will accomplish that. You have to cancel the payment that is set up, and I believe the method for doing that is addressed in the FAQ at the site that Judy provided the link. Then you set up a new payment date on or before July 15. Personally, I would cancel the first payment date and wait until it had passed to make sure that the cancellation took before I set up a new payment date.

I only had one customer that bought bonds in the right time-frame and cashed them in for education purposes (okay, it was me for my son's college) and every time I found that it was better to use the amounts from AOTC or even tuition and fees deduction than to exclude the interest. But YMMV.

I don't think that they need to do the form showing the valuation that is required for vehicles over $500, but it would still be nice if they gave a receipt that just said he had donated cars for nothing in return. Even Goodwill gives that for bags of used clothing.

I think that self-employed people who would be eligible for paid sick leave if they were employees instead of self-employed are entitled to a refundable credit against income tax BUT i don't know how you get a refundable credit before the tax return is filed. I really haven't worried too much about this since I am more concerned about getting current taxes out the door before I have to completely close my doors.

It does raise some questions though. What happens to a couple that was MFJ in 2018, but has a restraining order now? I think they get one check made payable to both of them. The only thing I know for sure is I am not getting in the middle of that.