Gail in Virginia

One of my favorites: A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

What a tragic situation to deal with. I am so sorry that you and your family. Must go through this. Prayers for you all.

Just curious, Jack, if you have no connection to the internet how do you update software and e-file returns?

Even those cash registers can't compete with people who won't use their brains. My sister managed a grocery store for a major chain at one time, and I remember her telling me about the cashier who called her over because the cash register said to give back 0.25 change, and she was out of quarters. Sis pointed out that she had a drawer full of dimes and nickels, but the cashier still didn't understand - she needed to give them twenty five cents and she was out of quarters!

The article was so interesting that I actually watched the video. Wow.

I have not, but I will check it out. Thanks, Catherine!

The information for 2014 should be available from e-services. Just be sure to pull a Wage and Income transcript rather than a tax transcript. Or whatever they are called.

I have never read the Divine Comedy entirely, in English or Italian, but Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle did an excellent fantasy version of the story entitled Inferno. Nominated for both Hugo and Nebula awards in 1976, it is highly entertaining and borrows the geography of Dante's Hell. If you want something a bit lighter than the original, I highly recommend this book. i know we have some science fiction aficionados on this board.

Thanks for the in-depth review. I would just add that as of July 1, if an organization qualifies to apply using the 1023EZ, the user fee has been reduced to $275.00. And it seems to me that I recall reading somewhere that if the gross receipt are less than $5000 per year, they do not have to file for approval but should file the 990N. In order to get set up to file the 990N, they would have to call and request registration for that purpose.

I have been introduced to some wonderful authors and books through Bookbub, that I probably would not have come across without it. I also get emails with specials from http://robinreads.com/ There is some overlap between the two, but not always. I love getting books (including cookbooks!) for free. And they are almost always available in multiple platforms, so that you can choose between Amazon for Kindle or BN for Nook.

I have owned a Kindle, one of the earliest, a Nook, and an iPad. I am a tech geek to a point, and they all had their good points. If you are not going to be using the device for anything but reading, I would go with the Kindle or the Nook. My personal preference was the Nook, but my Kindle was old enough that it did not have a touch screen. The iPad (or other tablet device such as the surface pro) is the most versatile, but the Nook, or probably the Kindle Fire, are nice compromises in that you can download books, games and videos on them and they generally are less expensive than true tablets. My husband has a Kindle fire and and iPad, and he uses both devices depending on what he is doing. Going to a store that carries multiple devices and handling them is good advice; you might also check among your friends who are geographically close to you and see if any of them use any of these devices and would be willing to let you borrow them for a day or two to see how hard or easy they are to use. All of my devices are still in use - my mother has my kindle to read on, and my son has my Nook because he can't afford a tablet and I won't give him my iPad. I would base a decision on personal preference for what you will be using it for, and price point for you personally. Although I do think that my first Kindle was in the nature of a gateway drug....

You might want to read this article in the Journal of accountancy: http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2012/jan/20114540.html. I found it by googling IRS and Quickbooks. While I would prefer not to just hand over the quickbooks, i am not sure there is realistically any choice.

Virginia would have also cashed the check.

If the older brother is totally and permanently disabled, age doesn't matter.

It would be helpful for this and many other questions if members put their state in their profile information so that it shows with your posts. In Virginia, distributions can be made from an estate without prior approval.

i love this quote from the article: The lesson, of course, is that in order to get a tax break for work clothing, the clothing must be so specific, awful, or embarrassing that no well-adjusted person would dare to wear it outside of employment. I would like to quote that in my newsletter this fall.

I disagree, Jack. I think the only 100% surefire way to never have a credit/debit card hacked is to never have one issued to you.

And some days, I am not too sure about me.

I sent you a name and number, but also the practitioner priority line number for anyone who needs it is 804-367-9286. You may have already tried that.

Could it be possible that there is a blue form at the top, equivalent to the social security statement and labeled 1099-RRB, that says "THIS FORM IS NOT REQUIRED FOR YOUR 2015 TAXES" and 3 copies of a green form with no such notation? And that green form is a 1099R equivalent? In which case you do not need the top form for any reason this year, but the other 3 forms are required to be reported. Not sure if the color coding applies in every state. But at least in VA, that is the type of set up I see for railroad retirement.

For some purposes, IRS requires use of rates at this site: https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsreports/rpt/treasRptRateExch/treasRptRateExch_home.htm. I think that the treasury site will give averages on a quarterly basis. Not sure if it supplies rates on a monthly average, or on an odd period like five months.

Yes but everyone else they know gets back thousands of dollars and doesn't have to pay taxes and why do they have to pay so much and we should go to a fair tax based on what we buy but the government should send everyone a rebate check monthly to cover what they paid for food and .... Yeah, they don't like my responses this time of year either.

It took me a while to find the board - I did not join until June. Or maybe it took me that long to quit cursing ATX for taking the board down right before the end of tax season.

Catherine, you are a woman of many talents!