Gail in Virginia

May God bless you and give you peace in this time of your loss. You and your family are in my prayers.

Within ten miles of the zip code where I work, I am #1

The interest on a loan might be deductible as mortgage interest on a second home. The only expenses that would count as charitable, I would think , would be those incurred solely while he was performing the charity work. For example, if he has to pay for waste disposal while living in the RV in a remote site, then maybe. Property taxes? I would think not because they are the cover the entire year whether he is using the RV or not. But I have not done any research either - although I think that rfassett and I are on the same page with this.

Good thing they only ask about smoking. This stuff is going to drive me to drink like a fish since I am not allowed to smoke like a chimney. /s

From the tax professional section of Virginia Department of Taxation, "Guide to Tax Form Changes:" Last 5 digits of VA Driver’s License Number - New field(s) added to the Forms 760 and 760PY (not Form 763). The Department requests this information from each taxpayer who has a Virginia Driver’s license. However, it is not required information. The agency is requesting this information to better serve taxpayers i.e., additional information to assist with identity fraud detection. I think it has to be optional; some people who are required to file may not have a driver's license.

It is optional, so I am leaving it up to the taxpayer. Virginia apparently believes this will help cut down on identity theft.

Should I buy heavier paper stock and charge by the pound?

Bob, I know you are trying to do the best for your client, but they got married in November. Are you seriously suggesting that they were not together for even one night in the last 6 months of the year? Why did they get married?

My husband uses No Crack from Duluth Trading company. He hates any kind of scent in hand lotions, and this has done wonders for his hands. Considering he works outside a lot in all kinds of weather (he is an HVAC mechanic, among other things), anything that will work on his hands is good enough for me.

I guess this forum has spoiled me - I find the ProSeries chatroom so much more difficult to navgate, and so much more cluttered looking. I visit their chat room. and it makes me really appreciate Eric!

I agree that 6 million is not a small number but I tend to agree with John that IN MY PRACTICE it is not going to be a huge number either. I will have a few that will have to pay the penalty. I will even have a few that will have incomes low enough that they don't have to pay the penalty even though they don't have insurance. But by and large, my clients have insurance. They have assets to protect, so they are going to do what is necessary to protect those assets by having insurance. And even though next year they will have to bring me in an extra form, whether from their employer, insurance company or the market place, they will do it because I am sure that it will come in an envelope marked "important tax information" and therefore they think they know to bring it in. Yes, it is one more thing I have to be sure is covered, but it is not going to be that big a deal. I am far more concerned with trying to figure out the repair regulations and when I need an election or have a change in accounting method (is from none to some a change in method?) But depending on the type of practice you have, your mileage may vary.

As far as tax reporting, Virginia treats LLCs the same as the federal - it ignores them. As long as you report the federal income as sole proprietor, the state takes that for LLC. They do require the registration statement once a year with the appropriate fee to the State Corporation Commission. And if it is a multi-member LLC filing either a 1065 or 1120S you have to do the Virginia Pass Through Entities return, Form 502. I hope that helps.

I feel more like the mine-sweeping unit. *sigh*

I am referring to the Health and Human Services website, healthcare.gov. https://www.healthcare.gov/fees-exemptions/hardship-exemptions/ There are quite a few exceptions, and the last one is just you experienced any other hardship. I would at least try that avenue.

Was he separated from service?

Or if one member is continuing in the same business,it is possible he or she might want to buy some of the assets, which might or might not include the receivables. But then we are back in convoluted territory.

Or they can apply for an exemption on the HHS site. As far as I can tell, they actually have a lot of leeway to grant exemptions on an individual basis. If he lived in a state that did not expand Medicaid, and his income was less than $1,000 for six months I would think this would be a slam-dunk. BUT in looking at income for the first 6 months while he was in school, was he a member of his parents' household? If they could have had him on their insurance, and chose not to for some reason, he would have a harder time claiming hardship.

I think it may be even worse next year. If they signed up in November 2014 for 2015 insurance and subsidy, they are probably basing the income numbers on 2013 figures. Now, they should be able to go in and adjust it once we get their tax return done for 2014 but will they? I hope no one is holding me responsible for reminding them - I am NOT in insurance business.

The uninsured taxpayer might be able to apply for an exemption for the first six months from the marketplace. More than likely, if her income was only a little over $2,000 per month, the lowest cost bronze plan would be more than 8% of her income. Since that is not true for the entire year, I think she would have to apply for a hardship exemption to the Secretary of HHS. Also, if you are in a state that did not expand Medicaid, and her income would have been low enough to qualify for the expanded medicaid prior to her marriage, she might qualify to apply for a hardship exemption on those grounds.

Do they own any property - common areas, club house, etc.? Or do they just provide maintenance on grounds? I would think that if they own property they should have a capitalization policy and depreciation even though they are exempt. And if they don't own any property, what would they have to capitalize? Sorry I don't have a good answer for you. I don't personally handle any condo associations.

Ms. Hawkins seems to have re-considered her statements at the Forum. It is my understanding that the most recent webinar she did about ACA she recommended that preparers keep a copy of the insurance cards for out clients to show we had done our due diligence about their insurance status. Now personally, I don't think a copy of the card proves a thing. It usually only has an effective date, and is issued early enough that the person may have never actually paid the premium and therefore may have not really had coverage at all. But at our most recent EA meeting, someone who had watched the webinar told us that Ms. Hawkins made that recommendation and that she said she had reconsidered her earlier position.

I just tried it, Judy and it seemed to work for me. I put in my zip code, a taxpayer age 55 with a spouse age 50 and got a bronze plan rate of 686.90 per month.

Couple of points: if client is accrual rather than cash, then if the money is ever coming out of the bank he should definitely go ahead and take the deduction in the year it was incurred. Assuming that he is a cash basis taxpayer, items charged to a credit card are deductible when charged, not when the payment for the credit card clears the bank. I would not see this as much different if the bank has paid the check without deducting it from his account but intends to deduct it at some point. So that leaves they have paid the check out of someone else's account and are really not interested in tracking and correcting the error, and therefore your client is never going to pay this money. In that case, it would be best to not recognize the expense since it will never really be incurred. That's just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

Is there anything else included in the bill? Often what keeps a perfectly sensible piece of legislation from passing is that something totally unrelated gets tacked onto the bill because it otherwise doesn't have a chance of slipping through and then you either pass something stupid to get something reasonable or you vote against something you might want to pass. I would say there ought to be a law, but we already have too many to keep up with.

Actually my husband's battery for his pacemaker is very close to the surface. I don't know if they have always been just barely under the skin, but his was put in last summer and I can feel it easily. So that is not so far fetched, Eric.