Gail in Virginia

I have a client that uses a separate payroll account for confidentiality reasons. They use QuickBooks for their accounting and several employees have access to it for different reasons. They hired us to do the payroll, and want the payroll account that shows up on the accounting at their location to only reflect totals as opposed to showing each individual paycheck. We keep the detailed records here and reconcile the checking account for payroll. I think they could accomplish much the same thing with the proper use of passwords and assigned authorities within QuickBooks, but they prefer doing it this way. :dunno:

My guess would be that PAL stands for Passive Activity Loss, but without knowing the situation that is just a guess.

:lol:

I think that is interesting information. Can you provide a web site or other source of information where we can look at which states owe how much in UI debt? I am curious now that you have raised the issue.

If I remember correctly, ATX won't let you mark both boxes on the same return ( or at least it wouldn't the last time I tried.) In that case I normally just mark the final box assuming that the IRS will know from when they issued the EIN that it is the initial return, but won't know it is final unless I tell them on the return. Besides, on fiduciary returns you don't get the standard exemption on the final return so that box is really important in the calculation as well as the information.

Not sure I am clear on what happened. Did the son win a prize for a Grand Champion steer he had raised, or did he win a prize which was a grand champion steer?

Marilyn, S corporations are a funny animal. Normal employees can exclude their health insurance from their income and social security taxes before they receive their pay - the corporation either pays it for them or they pay it pre-tax. However, an S-corp owner who owns more than 2% of the corporation must add the amount of health insurance premiums back to his or her taxable income on his or her W-2. Therefore, they are allowed to deduct it on page one of the tax return.

I believe that 2009 was the last year that you were allowed to carry back NOL's for 5 years. And because it was statutorily extended the normal three year limitation on claims for refunds did not apply to a claim due to an NOL. However, some states (Virginia among them) did not allow the extended carryback period even though the federal did. So yes, you are correct that you can only carry it back for 2 years.

Investment income would count as unearned income, and according to the instructions for form 1040, if you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return, and you have unearned income of $2.350 or more, you must file a tax return. The fact that once this goes on the schedule D there may be no income to speak of or even a loss does not mean that the child does not need to file.

The main reason I bought the Pro and Ultimate versions of Windows 7 rather than the Home Premium is because we are networked. If I am not mistaken, the network requires that we upgrade from Home to Pro.

If anyone wants to read the article, it is available on line. I just read it and it looks wonderful, Lion! Congratulations! I will try posting the link here if anyone else is interested: My link I hope that works. And since it is their public available website, it should be legal!

Jainen, I would laugh at your post if I weren't paying for that kind of taxation. What a commentary on our system! :wall:

I couldn't have said it better. Happy Easter and Happy Passover to everyone, and I hope you will check in throughout the year. The season may be over, but at least around here the fun continues! Thanks everyone for contributing! :spaz:

When you roll the returns over, you must then open the return in the 2010 program. If you don't open it, then when you go to roll it over next year for 2011 the program will tell you that you don't have anything in the 2010 program because the return was never opened. I would also compare the return's depreciation with what the other firm used while you have it opened to check for assets added or removed or any discrepancies in how the depreciation was handled. I hope that I understood your question correctly.

ATX is not supporting Windows 7 for 2007 and 2008, but like Taxbilly, I am running both of those years in a network environment without a problem. I have Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Professional on my newest computers.

Thanks for the information! I heard it here first. :)

I agree.

I think you are on the right track - it is a business rather than a farm, but a barn is an agricultural building.

Actually the attorney should have issued a 1099-S, Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions, for this event. Unless the attorney had some reason to think that this was a personal residence sale, they should have issued the 1099. The fact that the Sch. C results in more taxes is not the reason to rule it out. You need to look at the facts and circumstances surrounding this transaction. Jainen has a point, although I think most of us would have put this on a Sch. D without much thought, and I think that Jainen's point is that we do need to think about everything related to the transaction when we prepare a return.

If she contributed nothing, then she has no basis, and yes the payments would all be taxable.

Has she received all of the disability payments she is going to receive yet? Or will she get more this year? How much is she entitled to or is it a matter of how long she is disabled that determines how long she receives payments? It appears from the information above likely that she has a basis in her disability payouts of $5,108. Since she has a basis, the payments may or may not be taxable. Since she got this on a 1099 instead of a W-2, I am inclined to think that the basis is applied to the payments. But without knowing more about her disability insurance plan, I really can't say for sure.

I am assuming that the employee is to buy the gas for the vehicle, and then take employee business expense for the miles driven? Pacun is right that commuting miles are never deductible. Does the employee go to more than one job site in a day? If so, he might be able to take a percentage of the gas based on the miles driven between job sites versus the total miles driven for commuting and personal. I would hesitate to take mileage because normally that includes depreciation, repairs and other expenses. I am not sure mileage is even available since the employee does not own the vehicle, but after removing commuting miles from the equation is it even worth it?

One of my favorite clients had his 80-something year old mother call to let us know that he had put his tax information in the grill on our patio one year when the office was still in the house. Gotta love 'em. By the way, it was April 15 when he did that.

I have not noticed for a couple of days - and around it here it has been changing almost every day, sometimes two times in one day. But the last I remember it was 3.659 for regular. I drive a Chevy Impala and get about 24 miles to the gallon.

According to Acronym Geek, it stands for "Doggies Do not Track Bigfoot". I personally find that hard to believe. And not very helpful.