Gail in Virginia

Thanks, Catherine, that one is one of my favorites! :P

Patton staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy. He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Kathleen. He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step. As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful. Managing not to yell, Patton sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his bum was cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.. He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.. In the morning, Patton woke up with searing pain in both his head and bum and Kathleen staring at him from across the room. She said, 'You were drunk again last night weren't you?' Patton said, 'Why you say such a mean thing?' 'Well,' Kathleen said, 'it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly ..... it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror.

I know there is a lot of uncertainty about estates and stepped up basis right now, but it might be to his son's advantage to inherit the business IF stepped up basis is available at the time that the father dies.

This is not a personal residence for client or son, if I am reading post correctly. Therefore, you must be talking about taking this as investment interest on the schedule A. If the father is not the one who will profit from the investment, I am not sure he can take the deduction even though he pays the interest. Instead this appears to be an additional loan to the son.

Shooting from the hip, Catherine, I think that mortgage companies only report points on original mortgage, not on refinances because the points on a refinance have to be amortized over the life of the loan. Also, a hardship withdrawal from a 401(k) should be defined within the plan documents and refers to the ability to withdraw the money without a separation from service. It will still be subject to taxation and penalties for premature distribution even if the plan document has a provision allowing her to make the withdrawal as a hardship. Someone else might be more knowledgeable, but this is my opinion for what it is worth. :dunno:

:bday:

This is the first year that Virginia has accepted business returns at all through its e-file program, and so far they are only accepting C corporations. However,while CCH and Taxwise have both qualified to efile business returns, ATX has not. I was rather disappointed in that, and I do hope that it is not a sign of what we can expect over the next few years. <_<

Try page 2 of form 8853. Most likely, the cost of the nursing home was more than this amount and it will not be taxable but this form should answer that question.

I use the client # field on the return manager to help identify information. For example, if I file an extension on a return, I type EXT in that field.

He looks mostly beagle - how big will he get with the 1/4 lab added in? Should be a smart, trainable dog with that mixture.

I don't see why not.

I am not familiar with PA returns, so I am assuming from your posts that PA allows multiple forms 2106 but ATX does not. Have you tried putting a suggestion in to the suggestion box about this and explaining why it is a problem? I don't know how responsive they will be to this, but I have seen others post that suggestions were sometimes acted on right away. What have you got to lose?

Yes, the withholding is included in the amount distributed on the 1099R.

:bday:

:bday:

Pub. 529, page 3, gives an example where an employee makes a loan to the corporation he works for in order to keep his job as being a business bad debt. It all depends on facts and circumstances, but this is an unusual situation and would require meticulous documentation to claim, IMHO. Pub 529

Actually, Virginia returns begin with federal AGI but they can be filed alone because Virginia allows that. It is not where the data comes from but how the state processes e-files and what they allow.

A belated to you.

Now I am curious, since I posted before about windows and doors in new construction and was told the credit was not available. I knew the instructions say "or in the case of costs connected with the construction or reconstruction of your home, when your original use of the constructed or reconstructed home begins." But I thought the code limited the credit for windows and doors to replacements. Which is it?

On the options tab, the first option under page 4 is to complete schedules L and M1 even thought the response to Sched B, Line 8 is yes. Try that.

:bday:

:bday:

Sounds like investment property to me - capital loss on Schedule D.

That explains a lot. I wish I knew who was sponsoring the prize - I would like to give them a "prize" of their own.

Seems very appropriate :P