Gail in Virginia

Thanks, Judy. I just kept thinking this was too good to be true for the client.

If this has been discussed, I could not find it but sometimes I don't choose the right keywords. I have a client who has an NOL generated in 2017 by his Schedule C business. This if the first year his business did not have a profit, so I am carrying the loss back. He also has been getting his health insurance through the marketplace with a subsidy. Two years ago, he had to pay back about $1200 of the subsidy he received. Now with the loss carried back to that year, he not only does not owe the repayment but is entitled to more subsidy than he actually received - about $2000 more. I haven't found anything to say that recalculating the income does or does not affect the ACA subsidy and result in refundable credit. Does anyone have any knowledge about this? TIA

I don't think it can be considered a loan, since from the original post it doesn't sound like there would be an obligation to pay the loan back if the investment had lost money instead of making money. Nor was the documentation for a loan done stating when and how it would be paid back with what rate of interest. Sara's answer seems to me to be closest to what he wants to accomplish. Or pay the taxes himself, figure what the amount is that his tax increased because of investments for other people, and have them reimburse him. But if this is going to be an ongoing arrangement, it sounds to me like they should form an investment partnership to hold all the money and report all the income and then each investor would get a K-1 to reflect their share of the gains or losses. But I know that is not helpful retroactively.

Virginia does the same thing. I even have one client that I cannot e-file the state return because the amount withheld exceeds their parameters for what is normal. And the amount withheld is from a Virginia Retirement System pension. Plus VA changed their account number system a few years (maybe 10? Time slips on by) ago to more closely match the federal. Except VRS is still using the old number and has not changed to the new system. Gotta love bureaucracy.

I will drive 18 miles every day for $5000.

That is my understanding of exactly what the statute means. If I know someone only because I do their tax return, I will not even admit that I have met them. And all of my employees sign confidentiality agreements that spell out they are never to admit to knowing anything about anyone they see here at the office, or they don't work here. I have wondered, if I decide to retire and sell my business, how I can do that and still not violate this law.

The 3115 can be a bit daunting at first glance, but it is not as bad as it looks. You got this!

I am still digging my way out from under work, plus the managing of my parents' estates. But I have a reservation in Gatlinburg, which I think gets me to within driving distance (not as short a distance as I would like, but doable) so I am planning to be there if at all possible.

In the state of Virginia, under a will, a contingent beneficiary(ies) can wind up inheriting if the primary beneficiary disclaims all or part of the inheritance. I don't know if it is the same in other states. But I do know that works in Virginia, and you can disclaim all or part of an inheritance. I don't know if it works for a trust, or for a named beneficiary on an IRA or life insurance.

I think you have to send the IRS a copy of the 1095A and the 8962 showing 0% allocated to the son.

Thanks for sharing that information !

I don't feel like I slow down until sometime in May. We have put off bookkeeping for some of our clients that can, and have quarterly payroll tax reports to do, plus the returns on extension and the several 990s that I do that are due May 15. So I usually get to come our of the pressure cooker more gradually, which I think helps avoid such a sudden let down. This has been an incredibly hard season for me, however, and I am looking forward to some down time to recover and re-think some priorities. So many of my clients have been sympathetic and supportive when they found out that my mom (who was also my business partner and mentor and sometimes chastiser) passed away Feb. 1, but I really wanted to just not talk about it with them. Sometimes I find it very hard to accept sympathy without going to pieces.

It doesn't impact the deduction for mileage, but that is how I get the percentage for personal property taxes that are deductible. In our locality, it also impacts how much the personal property tax will be the following year - if business use is more than 50%, then the vehicle no longer qualifies for car tax relief on the personal property tax bill.

I guess the advisor is thinking that the amount was not part of the balance of the IRA at 12/31/17 and therefore will not be included in the calculation because it isn't in the 5498 amount. But I thought the reason 5498's were not issued until May or June was so they could include contributions made in the first 3 1/2 months of the year for the previous year, and I would think that would include rollover amounts. But I am just speculating and thinking out loud. I don't think it is legitimate, but you might get away with it. Like so many other things....

I don't know, but since no one else has answered my first guess would be to see if there is an update available that would correct this. Other than that, I got nothing.

Thanks. I don't do enough NY to be comfortable, and from what I hear they are almost as bad as CA ...

I am doing a return for a kid that graduated from college in 2017 and is playing basketball for a minor league team. Of course, income is low and we are filing several different state returns. My question is about the amount reported to NY. He was not a New York resident, although the basketball league has their headquarters in Secaucus NY (I assume - that is return address on W2). The entire amount of his earnings is shown as NY earnings in the state part of the W2, with 0 withheld. He only earned $5700 last year (roughly) and is paying taxes of $107. I don't see anything else to do but pay it, but I wondered if someone with more NY returns experience (or basketball player experience?) had another suggestion. I keep thinking that if this is right, they would have withheld some state tax for NY like they did for VA, his domiciliary state.

Could it possibly be that H&R Block has access to TurboTax and that is how they know that he claimed himself? Maybe a shared database?

And you can have the floaters without the torn or detached retina. I have always had some floaters, but if they suddenly get worse I still RUN to the eye doctor for reassurance. So far it has always been nothing, but it is a classic sign of damage to the retina and should be checked out. Just like the aura you are seeing may be nothing but should be checked out. I consider those peace of mind visits.

I love the Serenity prayer. Someday, perhaps I will be able with God's help to live every moment like that.

Years ago, I started seeing a charge on the mechanic's bill for shop rags. And what about the car dealer's charge for document processing? If enough people pay it, and enough people charge it, it soon becomes standard business practice.

I am working on perfection, but it is still a long way off. The only advice I can give you is to look at what happened and try to come up with a way to prevent this particular mistake from happening again. If you are the only one in the office you can;t have someone else check behind you, but can you look over returns a second time several hours after they are prepared? Or list all the documents when they are brought in, and then check them off by comparing to the return? Or something more brilliant I did not think of? I have someone in the office to check on my work, and believe me that is a very good thing! Especially this late in the year. Even with all that, mistakes occasionally go out the door and I totally agree with rfasset - it feels like a punch in the gut!

I have not heard of any changes yet for VA standard deduction. And yes this will be a windfall for VA if they don't do something. I think they will do something but I have no idea what or when - they usual don't make decisions about conformity until late January since they only meet annually beginning in mid-January. So while we may hear rhetoric between now and then we won't know officially until next year what if anything they plan to do about the tax changes. Unless they have a special session.

Apparently, like usual, I am a little slow. I didn't join until 4/22/2007, and my first post wasn't until 4/24/2007. At the time I was upset that the official board was yanked so close to the end of tax season, but since joining this board I haven't missed (or viisted) the official board. Yay Eric! Thank you, and thanks to all of you who make this board what it is!

I guess that eliminates the need for the backhoe and back 40.