Gail in Virginia

I prefer the live updates as well. I usually attend meetings of our local chapter of EA's, at which I sometimes teach the topic we are reviewing. For me, having to prepare to teach about something is the best way to learn about it. I also have attended the VIrginia Society of Enrolled Agent's conferences, the Virginia NATP chapter's meetings, IRS tax forums, NCPE's seminars on Individual, Non-Profit and Corporate/Partnership, Thomson's seminars,etc. Some speakers are better presenters than others, but most are knowledgeable about the subject they are discussing. And quite often they are willing to answer questions that might come up after the seminar and will provide contact information for that purpose. Plus many times IRS or Va. Department of Taxation employees participate in these educational forums, and I have the opportunity to network with people whose assistance I might one day need. Plus it is fun to get out of the office and associate with other professionals to exchange ideas or just gripe about the ins and outs of the tax business.

Thanks for all that you do!

Happy thanksgiving to all of you! And Margaret, I am sorry for your loss. Sometimes holidays can be a bit sad when it is the first since the loss of a loved one, but I hope you (and KC!) will be able to remember the happy times without letting it overshadow the good times to come. God bless you all!

Sounds a little rough, but it could have been worse. I am glad you made it through the storm, and are getting back to normal!

It is hard to say what the unemployment commission will decide - sometimes their decisions are reasonable, but they tend to weight in favor of the employee. However, is the self-employed TP in the construction business? Did the worker provide his own tools, set his own schedule, provide his own insurance? Were there any sub-contractors involved? Who hired them? Who got the building permit and was listed as the general contractor? Was this the same kind of work that the worker was doing for other people? When the TP and worker decided on $15 per hour, was any mention made of whether or not he would be contract or employee? Was any written contract drawn up? I think I would ask at least some of these questions in order to be prepared to present a case for my client.

Thanks, Eric! In my experience, it usually is more complicated, takes longer, and costs more than your expect - whatever it is! We appreciate all you do to provide this forum for us!

You have to use a really good eraser. I like Pink Pearl.

It is more of a nuisance than a real problem as far as I can tell. Once I get into a post everything looks okay, I just can't navigate the way that I usually do. I am sure it will be fixed soon.

I am glad. I am not familiar with the site, and while I thought that the time involved was longer than absentee ballots are available, i wasn't sure. Figured someone on this board would know. Thanks, Kea.

If this story is true, this is just totally unacceptable. If anyone should have the right to vote, it should be our military and veterans. http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/11/military-absentee-ballots-delivered-one-day-late-would-have-swung-election-for-romney/

Amen. I particularly see this with lawyers who insist on setting sole proprietors up as corporations. Sometimes they have good reason, but they almost never explain to the client how much more complicated their taxes will become and how important it is to completely separate their personal transactions from their business transaction. Communication is so important!

I think that is one reason that I liked math class. Normally, there was only one right answer (rather than something subjective) and even if I made a mistake as long as I showed my work I could usually get at least partial credit. Ignoring ordering rules in math is like ignoring the qualifying child/qualifying relative rules on tax returns. And we would never do that!

But I think that the ordering rules mean that even though no parentheses are shown, the correct way to view this equation is to do all of the multiplication first, which gives you: (4x4)+(4x4)+4-(4x4) which equals 16+16+4-16 which equals 20. Math class was a long time ago, so I am willing to be corrected.

But will that still be the case in 2013? Or do we know yet?

I hate to sound stupid, but what does "CWOS,LOJ" stand for?

I must be really popular. I have gotten those messages, plus the one from Amazon, ones from PayPal, Ebay, UPS, the IRS, etc. The only one that even came close to getting me to bite appeared to be from Intuit. Since I use QuickBooks,, I almost clicked the link. Scary how realistic some of these look.

So if in 2013 and future years the IRS will be monitoring CE before issuing or renewing PTIN's, does that mean you will not be able to renew your PTIN until you have completed all of the required CE for the year? Or at least the 15 hours required for RTRP's? I usually renew my PTIN early, even if I still have a class or two to go to meet the 26 hours that I need.

Personally, I kind of like the Popsicle that come on sticks that interlock. But you have to eat a lot of ice cream to get enough sticks to build anything. What a shame!

If you are talking about the ATX seminar in Kennesaw on Dec. 7, I will be there. If it isn't worth the effort, it will be my last trip for an ATX seminar. Many years ago, I went to a TaxWise seminar that was extremely helpful in teaching how to use the program more efficiently. But we went to an ATX seminar shortly after we started using ATX,, and it was the next thing to useless. So we will see.

In figuring the exclusion of interest from savings bonds, you have to use adjusted qualified education expenses. That means you have to reduce the tuition by the amount used to calculate the American Opportunity Credit or LIfetime Learning Credit before calculating the exclusion for savings bond interest. So while the interest exclusion does not affect the credit, the credit might affect the exclusion. At least that is how I read the instructions. See Pub 970.

I am glad that they were with him and he was with them one final time. You have my heartfelt sympathy in this time of loss.

Love, Hugs and Prayers, KC.

Wow!

I don't understand what is going on either. If I put your numbers on a 1040EZ, and then replace the EZ with a 1040, I get the same answer once I add a Sch M and answer the EIC questions. Is there any other relevant information - did he receive a previous payment on the Making Work Pay credit based on his income the previous year? I also use ATX Max

It is interesting, and raises some very good points to think about. I wonder if these questions will ever be asked of candidates for office, and the answers made public?