Gail in Virginia

If you don't fill in the box for country, it won't flow this year. You can use either Unknown or OC in that box, but something has to be there.

I agree with Jack that your best bet for legal advice is to consult an attorney. However, my personal opinion is that the probation officer should not be able to look at your files or materials that belong to your clients. To convince them that it is irrelevant to anything connected with your son, I would think that you would need to show that your son has nothing to do with it and therefore a lock on the room you use as an office would be a good idea just to be able to say that you son does not have access, therefore the probation officer does not need access. BUT, if there is any reason to believe that your son could have hidden somthing in your office that would be a violation of his probation the officer will probably maintain that he or she has the duty to search your office as well as any other room in your house.

Even though their taxable gains may not meet the filing requirements, quite often the gross sales amount does. In that case, a return is required to show that after subtracting basis there is no taxable income. It is not how many transactions are on the 1099B, but the amount of the gross sales that will trigger IRS interest.

My biggest concern is that I want to be an advocate for my clients position. I don't intentionally file an incorrect or fraudulent return. I won't ignore information that I am told. BUT I also do not want to be an unpaid auditor for the IRS. Sometimes I feel like the current due diligence requirements are leaning more and more towards making me make my clients prove their income and deductions to me.

It may be that you will just have to paper-file this return. My suspicion is that the date of death doesn't match because the iRS database has not been updated recently enough that they have any date of death on record. It seems to me like I have had problems in the past when the spouse's date of death was after the tax year end, or even late in the year. I don't remember the exact error message that I got, but I am wondering if this is your issue.

Thanks for the laugh!

I don't know if that is true. Most of the time, the reference is to a "CPA" rather than to a Certified Public Accountant. Not everyone knows what those initials stand for (although more people know that than what EA stands for in my experience) but they seem to all know that a CPA is some kind of licensed accountant or tax person. I think EA's need a better lobbyist/publicist to get the word out about who we are and what we do. In that respect, I agree with Bulldog Tom.

Then it was obviously a foundation expense!

Life continues to happen during tax season. I am fortunate this year that I don't have any situations to compare with LInda or Randall - I am closer to NECPA. My son is 20, and my husband is continuing to have atrial fibrallation which the cardiac ablation last fall does not seem to have helped at all. But my heart goes out to you Linda and Randall, and I will add you to my prayer list.

We all get a bit fried this time of year, and usually if I go to bed earlier, it just means I wake up earlier and start worrying about the work undone so I go in earler. I just can't make the day longer by cutting time off one end and tying it on the other. But it only runs at this pace for a couple of months, and then I go back to the "normal" stress level. :spaz:

Well Done, Kea!

IMO, Roth is definitely the way to go since the contribution will be non-deductible. But if they insist on using a traditional IRA account for non-tax reasons, remember that the 8606 is required not just this year, but every year from now on to track the basis that they have in the traditional IRA.

Way to go, J-Ron! I am sure the compliance will be no problem for you.

I have tried that too, Randall, but invariably that turns out to be a mistake because this is the year the person who has always filed a short form turns out to have a mess. But sooner or later we manage to wade through it all! :spaz:

Good to "see" you again, and we completely understand why you can't be with us as much as you used to. But please post something once in a while just so we can be sure that you are alive and well, and stiil the kc that we know. We miss you, and wish you and Don well. Love, Hugs, and Prayers.

It will not increase the tax liability if you complete form 8889 to show that the distributed amount was spent for medical bills. The fact that contributions almost entirely offset the distribution is irrelevant to the taxation of the distribution.

If you claim credit for taxes paid to another state on the Birginia return, or if you exclude non- Viginia income, Virginia is going to insist on a copy of the return filed with the other state showing the raxes paiid or income reported. Usually if I e-file, I fax the copy of the other state.

I agree with Margaret. Most LLC's are either partnerships or single member, so I would tend to send an LLC a 1099 unless I had evidence to the contrary. I feel much safer sending an unnecessary 1099 than in not sending a required 1099 (after all, these companies report all of their income regardless of whether or not they receive a 1099).

I do too or they don't stay my clients!

If state boards are required as a conidtion of receiving your degree (such as an associates degree for a dental hygienist) can they be included as part of the education fees for the American Opportunity Credit? The way I read it, the fee would have to be paid to the college instead of the state licensing agency but I wondered if anyone had a different opinion. The college will not graduate the student until they pass their boards.

This is a forum for tax professionals who use ATX software for preparing returns for other people. From your question, I am guessing that you are using a do-it-yourself software for your own return. In entering your information into the tax program, you should not change the information provided on source documents such as W-2's or 1099's unless you are a professional and understand the consequences and meaning of such changes. So the short answer to your question is enter it just like you got it - do not mark it corrected.

Personally, I think Chardonnay makes a nice flotaion device - and if it doesn't work, you don't mind so much.

If you check out the ATX home page, under Find Forms, you can look at what forms are currently available, and which ones are pending approval, etc. and their approximate release date. As far as the 1116, that is showing installed on my program.

I haven't done any from NC yet this year, but I had the exact same problem with VA for about the first week or 10 days of filing season and it finally went away with one of the updates. I always use the manual update, but I don't know if that makes a difference. Good luck!

We deduct it annually. Even though it will run indefinitely on our computers, the main use of it is in one year, and it must be replaced every year (if not with ATX, at least with some tax product.)