Abby Normal

Egad. That looks like it hasn't changed since the 50s!

A schedule E should file a 1099-INT to the recipient of the interest income.

Congrats! Being a grandfather is one of my favorite parts of my life.

How about, "I guarantee your refund will be right."* *If you're entitled to a refund.

Ctrl-F4 Ctrl-O Don't even let off the Ctrl key.

If I'm working on an hour plus return (as many of us are this time of year), I like to close it every 30 minutes (or less) to create a backup. That way, if something goes wrong or I do something stupid, I haven't lost hours of work and can go back to an earlier point. You can even flag the records so you know where you were at the time that backup was made.

Go online and see if you can get him a new EIN (work with me here) for his Sch C business and let the rest of the EINs die.

One question that is an ongoing debate is whether you can net or deduct the legal fees. I think the court cases have been split on this.

This is a pretty good overview: http://www.meehanboyle.com/taxation-of-judgments-and-settlements/ I would exclude some of it under the physical sickness provision. It's a shame that some was for emotional distress because Congress doesn't view that as a "real" injury. Bastards.

I think a negative orig fee just offsets other nondeductible closing costs. Ignore.

The ATX 2013 Server service did not start automatically when I started my computer, yesterday. I tried to start it manually and got an error message. Called tech support and they deleted this folder: C:WindowsSystem32configsystemprofileAppDataLocalCCH_Small_Firm_Services and it started right up. They didn't rename it or make a copy of it, just pressed delete. The only thing in that folder, down a couple more subfolders, is a small user.config file that, obviously, gets automatically recreated if it doesn't exist. I always wonder, when things like this happen, why programmers don't just auto-create these types of files every time to avoid such problems.

MD has two plans that they run and if you choose one of these plans, you get a subtraction (codes xa or xb) of up to 2500 per year per child. Read Administrative Release 32. http://taxes.marylandtaxes.com/Resource_Library/Tax_Publications/Administrative_Releases/Income_and_Estate_Tax_Releases/

To me the great thing about efiling during the last week (and especially the last day) is emailing the client the signature forms, having them sign and fax them back, then pick up their returns after the 15th. I encourage them to ask me to email them a copy of their return so they can review it before it's efiled, but less than 1% actually do.

I never change the date. I enter the date when I'm done and I create the efile. Even if they sign it 3 months later, I never change the date/recreate the efile. I've been efiling since the late 90s. If they ever want to talk to me, I'll explain the realities of being a tax preparer.

Sometimes, saving the return calculates the return.

I've found that the 8829 only shows the original home basis, not any improvements, but the total depreciation is right. Maybe the IRS wants it this way?

I use less than 2 toner cartridges a year because of working as paperlessly as possible and only printing the main tax forms for clients (1040,A,B,C,D,E). I skip the 8949, 1116, 8863, 8582 and any other form the client has no hope of understanding. We give them all of the forms, etc. on a CD but often only print 4-12 pages for the folder. I give $10 off if they accept just the CD.

I didn't think you were supposed to report the income until the year you actually received it. Here are the relevant 5329 instructions: 1. Complete lines 50 and 51 as instructed. 2. Enter “RC” and the amount you want waived in parentheses on the dotted line next to line 52. Subtract this amount from the total shortfall you figured without regard to the waiver, and enter the result on line 52. 3. Complete line 53 as instructed. You must pay any tax due that is reported on line 53. Line 53 is just the 50% tax, not the income tax on the missed RMD. What does 'RC' stand for?

Agree about the letters. I spend more time fixing them on almost every return. And we need direct access to the master letters without having to be in a return. And a default font, including size, that you choose for the letter text under preferences should be added. Often when I'm editing a letter it defaults to 10pt Arial or Georgia, neither of which I use.

The 1099R did not have the estate's EIN on it, so either way, the IRS is going to have to find the withholdings and move them to the right account. 1041 may be correct but 1040 with surviving spouse works and it's faster. I know. I've done it.

And the 5 year rule is only for Roth conversions, but older people have been being advised to do these conversions to save their heirs taxes.

My question is, if you use the "Other" section, is the pdf sent to both the feds and the states or just the feds. I wanted to attach some K1s with nonresident withholding to the state because the state always sends a letter asking for them but it's totally unclear what using Other does.

I'm not sending the IRS any broker statements this year as a test to see if they ask for them. I don't think they have the time or the inclination to check all those PDFs or paper copies. As long as the taxpayer's total sales proceeds equal or exceed the total in the IRS' computer, they don't flag that return. Eventually they'll be able to check basis too and they've already tipped their hand that they just want totals on Sch D for box A & D transactions. I put totals on Sch D for years before I learned that you're supposed to send the IRS detail sheets and I never heard a peep from them, so I doubt I'll hear a peep now. And if I do, I'll just say, Oh, did my office manager forget to send those to you? I'm sorry, she's new. Here you go.

I'm not using those boxes because I use the totals on the Detail page to tie to the 1099B(s), so I find those boxes inconvenient.

I charge $25 more for paper filed returns. Sometimes it changes their minds. Sometimes not.