Abby Normal

Be warned, ATX doesn't update the 2848 in prior years software. It's nuts that they don't and I've suggested several times that they start updating at least the last 3 years. But I'd prefer they push the form out to the last 10 years for nonfilers.

I know my HOH friends were screaming bloody murder when dropping HOH status was proposed, but if they could pay less tax with a higher standard deduction and higher child tax credit, eliminating HOH would be a good simplification of the tax code.

You still have to navigate the W4... unless you claim 19 allowances to have zero tax withheld and then put down additional amount desired. Back in the day, the 0% bracket represented the standard deduction. Now, for a single, weekly employee, the 0% bracket is $71. Time 52 = 3,692. So if a person claims single 1, they exclude 3,692 + 4,150 for the allowance which totals 7,842, and not the 12,000 standard deduction they are entitled to. They would have to claim 2 to get to 11,992. I would rather my low income clients be over withheld than under, and logically, the IRS would rather issue refunds than chase balances due.

Here's the WaPo article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/01/11/its-going-to-be-a-nightmare-some-bitcoin-investors-are-in-for-a-rocky-tax-season I can open on Android phone with Firefox Focus browser.

Sorry, I don't see that.

My understanding is that meal provided to employees for the benefit of the employer are 50% allowed (used to be 100%) but all other meals are not deductible at all.

A employee picking a flat rate is not necessarily higher than using the tables. A table calc could give you 10% average rate and the employee could decide they really only want 8% withheld.

I don't get it. They're pretending like we get a 4,150 personal exemption on our taxes, just as a way for people to have less withholding? Maybe I do get it, but it seems illogical. I'd be much happier if they just let us enter a flat % that we wanted withheld. When clients call up they ask what % their withholding should be and I tell them. Then they ask how they go about achieving that, and I ask if they have a friend in their payroll department. If not, I send them to paycheckcity.com.

Monies reinvested in the next project are not available for wages. Also, he had an initial capital investment and is due a return on that investment. I'd take some % of distributions as wages, but not all.

A guy from the Washington Post wanted to interview me about crypto-currencies (because I moderate reddit.com\r\tax) but I told him I didn't know enough about it. One of the other mods stepped up, thankfully. Wish I had know more. Would've been cool to be quoted in the Post!

Question 3 is a yes/no question. You don't enter the days anywhere.

It's on the new 2848 that ATX just released today.

Yep, and exclusion of cancellation of debt income for a principal mortgage.

This is why some people pay for 3rd party front ends for the eservices site. https://www.google.com/search?&q=irs+transcripts+-gov

IRS can't finalize forms until Congress gets its act together and either passes or rejects the extenders bill. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2256 There was this article today on Wolters Kluwer: Extenders Could Move Soon By George L. Yaksick, Jr., Wolters Kluwer Jan. 11, 2018 federal Tax extenders and the state and local sales tax deduction continue to drive discussions on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed support for extending the expired tax breaks. At this time, talks have surfaced that the extenders could be part of a government funding bill. Extenders In December, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) introduced the Tax Extender Bill of 2017 (Sen 2256) (TAXDAY, 2017/12/22, C.1). Included in the bill are many expired energy tax incentives. Support for extending the energy incentives comes from trade groups active in biodiesel and renewable energy. "Acting to extend these expired tax provisions will allow businesses and individuals to make important planning decisions. Allowing these tax provisions to remain lapsed creates confusion and effectively increases taxes," several industry groups, including the National Biodiesel Board, National Corn Growers Association and National Renderers Association, recently told lawmakers. Along with extending many energy tax incentives, the bill would also extend the higher education tuition and fees deduction, Indian employment credit and mine safety training credit. These incentives expired after 2016. Comment. The impact of these provisions on IRS forms and instructions for tax year 2017 remains a consideration as the filing season gets underway on January 29. Funding Bill The federal government is currently operating under a temporary spending bill. Without another extension, funding lapses later this month. According to Hill staffers, some lawmakers have floated the idea of extending the expired tax breaks in another temporary funding bill. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., appeared to express optimism recently that the extenders could move soon. However, Thune acknowledged that "not everybody is going to have the same interest in the same extenders." It is unclear if GOP leaders in the House share the same views about renewing the extenders. Deduction Changes made to the state and local tax deduction by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) include capping the deduction at $10,000. After President Trump signed the Act on December 22, 2017, many taxpayers, especially in high tax states, rushed to pre-pay their 2018 property taxes. The IRS later stepped-in. According to the IRS, whether a taxpayer is allowed a deduction for the prepayment of state or local real property taxes in 2017 "depends on whether the taxpayer makes the payment in 2017 and the real property taxes are assessed prior to 2018," (IR-2017-210; TAXDAY, 2017/12/28, I.1). On January 9, several lawmakers asked the IRS to rescind IR-2017-210. According to the lawmakers, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is "silent" on the pre-payment of property taxes. The lawmakers called on the IRS to "reverse course." By George L. Yaksick, Jr., Wolters Kluwer News Staff Tax Extender Act of 2017, Sen 2256 Letter to Acting IRS Commissioner Kautter Regarding Prepaid Property Taxes and IR-2017-210 Show Metadata ©2018 CCH Incorporated and its affiliates and licensors. All rights reserved.

It will be ready next week... we're told.

Transcripts. I have clients that can never tell me what estimated payments they've made and others who lose their tax documents or never receive them. Of course the missing documents ones have to wait until as late as summer before the IRS has the documents posted. I also have client business clients with prior balances due for payroll taxes and I need to track those until paid off.

This is the first example of a global currency. It was inevitable.

It seems to me that with the existing W4, and the personal allowance now at zero, choosing single 0 or single 9 will give you the same withholding.

Other than a few sites problems over the years, I've almost never had a problem logging in, but then I login several times a month.

I guess I'm in the minority who doesn't mind verifying my Social Security number and birth date (which they already have) with the IRS to decrease the chance that someone is using my CAF to talk to the IRS.

I wonder if the new W4 will ask about your kids ages and factor in the 2,000/500 per kid tax credit. Now that exemptions are gone, your withholding is not affected by allowances, unless credits are considered. And they had better eliminate the married checkbox, because if a newly wed couple makes the mistake of both changing their W4 forms to married (happens every year), they're going to owe 12%-24% (or more) of 24,000. Then they'll be screaming about an nonexistent marriage penalty. Instead of the married single checkboxes, they should add a yes/no question: "Do you have a spouse who does not have any income?" Answering yes will tell payroll to use the married withholding tables.

Just tell the employees that the withholding tables changed. As long as they're getting more, they won't complain.

I bought an older version (1.0) of Nuance Power PDF Standard for $30 on ebay. It is marketed as a lower cost alternative to AdobePro. I also use it to add headers and page number to organizers, and to make the organizers fillable.

Try Paycheck City's calculator: https://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/salary/