Gail in Virginia

If you are talking about Total Tax Office, I think you are right and you should have gotten all 50 states. Do you still have your invoice where you paid ATX for the 2005 software? I think that lists the features of the package you are buying and you could look at that.

:bday:

Be careful about kiddie tax - your real life example has him pay tax at his own rate if he is 19, and that is correct for 2006. However, it is being changed to 18 or a full-time student under 24 claimed on parent's return. In that case, if the 19 year old is a college student still being supported by his parents, he will pay at their rate on his capital gains. I think that is effective for 2007, but I am not sure. Might not be until 2008.

Kea, the form that JohnH is talking about has to be filed if they have $10,000 or more in a foreign financial institution or trust at any time during the year. It would most likely come up when you complete their schedule B for interest and ask if they have foreign bank accounts. If that large a percentage of your business involves non-citizens, you should definitely be aware of it. But I think many preparers assume the answer is no on schedule B without checking thoroughly.

I am just wondering if the timing is really tight, or if there is some reason the brother can't come to this country, set up a bank account and then have dear old Dad wire the money into his account. It seems to me that would be the simplest way to get the money into the appropriate hands. It also might be possible to make arrangements with whatever college he is attending to have the funds for tuition, books, meal plan etc. wired directly to the college to avoid any question of what the large sum of money will be used for.

Well, now I know what I am doing wrong whenever I try to fix my own computer. I don't giggle enough! :lol:

I have a taxpayer who has lived out of the country for the last three years as a temporary resident of United Kingdom. She has now moved to Australia and has applied for permanent resident status for that country. While she was a resident of UK, VA considered her a domiciliary resident of Virginia and she paid Virginia taxes because she had not changed her state residence before moving. At what point, if ever, will she cease to be a domiciliary resident of Virginia? Are there any steps she can take to expedite that, or will she always be a domiciliary resident of Virginia as long as she pays US tax and does not establish residence in any other state? Is there anyplace I can learn more about state requirements for foreign income? Any help is appreciated.

This is certainly an interesting situation, and I am not sure I understand it well. I really don't see how the bank can claim they have no responsibility for ATM transactions - it is my understanding all deposits are subject to verification. Also, was the check deposited in the name of the retiree? In which case, the fraud occurred either when the account was opened or when the money was withdrawn. The IRS used to love cash flow audits - would that show that your client never received the money? Finally, the IRA account itself was not stolen but rather the distribution from the account. If the distribution has to be reported on his tax return for $200,000 wouldn't that mean that what was stolen was cash with a basis of $200,000? Just my thoughts - this is way outside of my experience. I would ideally like to see the thief caught, your client's money recovered and then pay the IRS in the year he actually received the money. What will actually happen is probably not that they all will live happily ever after.

Amen, KC. I also get nervous about 401(k) investments that are too heavily in company stock. The person's normal job income is already riding on the health of the company they work for, and many of their benefits are tied to it - do they really want to put all their eggs in one basket by investing the retirement savings in it as well? It might work out, but not always. I think diversification should be emphasized more even for small investors.

:bday:

I am curious. We use APC's in our office also, and I usually replace the UPS every three years or so. Do you replace the entire UPS, or just the batteries? If the battery, where do you get replacement batteries and does it save any money to replace only the battery?

I seem to agree with the majority - an unusual situation for me! I don't see why ATX employees should have to identify their employer or provide any information that would identify them. If they chose to identify themselves in some way it might add more weight to what they say about the software, but as someone else said it quickly becomes apparent if someone is posting on this board without the knowledge to do so. While some of us may be upset about some of the business decisions made by ATX since CCH bought them out, I don't think anyone is upset with the people we work with day-to-day at ATX. They are just doing a job, and probably have more reasons to be concerned about the buyout than we do.

Interesting - I guess this is a way to check on what is being put on the line by adding a form for it. Have to make sure we are not claiming someone ineligible for tuition expenses.

My guess is that two weeks later they will get a letter telling them to expect this check and explaining why they are getting it. That's the guvmint for you. B)

We have only had one situation where the taxpayers did not resolve for us which spouse would stay with our office, and in that case since we have two full-time preparers I took one spouse while the other preparer took the other spouse and we were careful not to discuss the returns with each other. In a case where that is not an option, I would be inclined to explain to both of them that I could not represent them separately without a conflict of interest and therefore recommend that they each get separate advice from someone else. It is easier to show both of them the door and remain impartial than to chose one, IMO.

When we see these in Virginia, what they are looking for is to see if you are treating employees as though they are contract labor to avoid the employment taxes. Can't say for sure about AL, but since it is the Unemployment Compensation Division, I suspect it might be the same.

That worked, albeit not elegantly. Thanks, KC! :)

I had, for the first time, someone this tax season with more than $10,000 in a foreign bank account (Canadian citizen, US resident). I have entered the information for the TD F 90-22.1 into ATX and printed the forms. However, I entered information for 12 accounts, and ATX only printed the first 7. How do I get the other 5 to show up? If anyone is experienced with these forms and wants to warn me of any pitfalls, please let me know that as well. Thanks.

Well, Happy Birthday and Congratulations!

I'm still using one monitor, so maybe I shouldn't express an opinion, but from reading these posts it seems to me you could easily make a case for the first monitor for current tax return; the second monitor for last year's return; the third monitor for the bookkeeping software for information for the return; and a fourth monitor for e-mail, research, responding to phone calls, etc. In other words, anything you might open another window for. If two are reasonable, I find it hard to see why three or four would not be if your business generates sufficient income to pay for it.

Looks like you have lots of choices, ERC. Include me in!

I hate to argue with experience, but I agree with Jainen and Taxbilly. I also think the IT guy needs to do a 1099MISC to the translator showing the amount of rent he paid, and therefore the income needs to be shown separately on the sched C to keep intact easy evidence that the rental was reported. We had a fabric shop that sublet part of their space to an alterations business for years, reported it this way, and never had a problem.

I have done several 990's and 990EZ's over the past few years, and I generally feel pretty comfortable with them. However, I have a returning client this year who has thrown a new wrinkle in on me. This is a 501©5 organization (labor union) and beginning this year they have been deducting "contributions" from members, forwarding them to the national organization, who receives the money and sends it back for the newly formed PAC to lobby on state and local issues. I have never dealt with an organization that had any involvement in politics, and I don't really know what to do with this. Is the PAC a separate entity? My gut reaction is maybe, maybe not, depending on bylaws, etc. Does the existing organization just need to file additional forms, such as 8871 and 8872, or is there some sort of separate filing for this? Any help or advice on where to get more information , would be appreciated.

I don't think the gift limit is a problem since the unified credit is well over $150K, but it might depend on the value of the house being sold. Also, a gift tax return might have been required when the money was put in joint name but more likely would be required if the cash is distributed to the brothers on the bank account because they would then have sole control of the money.

My guess would be that Indian casino's are considered federal lands that do not belong to the state that they happen to be contained within and that this is why state withholding does not take place. This would also make your answer correct. However, I don't have any experience with this issue to base this answer on so unless someone can be more definite I would do some research before relying on our guesses. :rolleyes: