LindaB

So...if they inherit stuff, their basis is the FMV when they inherit, and if they give it right away to Goodwill, the value of the donation is the same as their basis, so there is no deduction?

They will borrow and add it to the huge national debt of almost 9.4 TRILLION dollars.

An elderly parent dies, the taxpayer and spouse clean out the house and donate a lot of stuff to Goodwill. Can they take the deduction on Sch. A for noncash contributions? Part of me thinks no, it is not their stuff, but part of me thinks yes, it is theirs because they inherited it.

No, the government doesn't have the 350 million, they have to borrow it. It will end up costing our children and grandchildren much more when they have finished paying the interest on the borrowed money.

Taxpayer received a final K-1 from a partnership in 2004. It included net rental real estate loss of 2500 and a net section 1231 loss of 87k. The sec. 1231 loss goes to form 4797, then to line 14 of the 1040, other gains or losses. This loss is more than other income, mostly wages. Do they lose the benefit of this 87k loss, i.e. can't carry it forward or back?

Does the Sch. NR separate out the MI and WI parts of income, and only include the MI part on the 1040CR? Instructions say for part-year residents to only include income received as a MI resident in household income. If you are only including the MI parts of income, I would take out the gain from the sale of the WI house. And make sure they lived in MI a full 6 months to get the credit.

I would not do this. Pub. 1345 states that "Refunds may be designated for Direct Deposit to qualified accounts in the taxpayer's name." (And in this quote 'taxpayer' does not mean the parents.) It also says that if a direct deposit is refused, it may take up to 10 weeks to issue a paper check.

Loan proceeds are not to be included in household income, according to the instructions. I had a similar one last year, I ended up having her mail it with a statement, as I couldn't find in the program a place to add a statement to the MI efile.

There was a thread on the other forum that said the 4136 can't be efiled until March 3.

From pub. 17: "If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for the whole year for filing status purposes. .... If you remarried before the end of the tax year, you can file a joint return with your new spouse. Your deceased spouse's filing status is married filing separately for that year."

When you're in the return, after you have created the e-file and on the screen with e-file info, click on the tab at the bottom 'e-filed forms' and see if it lists the statement. If it's listed there, it will go.

Same here.

From page 7 of the IT40PNR book, Indiana income includes Indiana riverboats and lotteries, so I would file the PNR.

From IRS Newswire IR-2008-021: "For now, taxpayers in this group filing a tax return can only file a paper copy of the Form 1040 or Form 1040A. The IRS is working to update its systems to accept electronic versions of these limited-information returns for taxpayers who otherwise have no need to file a tax return. The IRS is also working with the software community to handle these returns electronically at a future date."

This might be helpful for you: http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=179073,00.html Also pub. 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets.

They can't split the benefits. The child is a qualifying child for both of them, and they must decide which one will claim the child and everything that goes along with it. He could file HOH, get dependent exemption, CTC, (no EIC, income too high) and she could file single, no dependent, no EIC. Or she could claim the child, get dependent exemption, CTC and EIC but I would still file her single if she didn't pay for more than half the cost of the home. Then he would file single with no dependents. Try it both ways and see which is more money for them. (You can only split the benefits in the case of divorced or separated parents)

I saw an article that H&R Block has said they would charge $35 for a return, when the person is not required to file except to get this rebate.

Here is another article, "stimulus Payments: Instructions for Low-Income Workers and Recipients of Social Security and Certain Veterans' Benefits" http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=179096,00.html

It might be taxable if the amount of scholarships/grants is more than the 'qualified education expenses', which include "tuition and fees required to enroll at or attend an eligible educational institution, and course-related expenses, such as fees, books, supplies, and equipment that are required for the courses at the eligible educational instutution. These items must be required of all students in your course of instruction." (Pub. 970) You should find out if the $10250 included books, etc. If some is taxable, it goes on 1040 line 7 with the notation "SCH" in the line.

I had an email notice from the IRS this morning that storm areas are extended till the 26th.

It's probably the same child for both errors. It could be either the last name or the SSN. If they would give you the field sequence code you could tell which one, and which child if there is more than one child.

Are you sure the foreclosure (house I assume) was part of the bankruptcy? If it wasn't part of the bankruptcy, any COD from the foreclosure could probably still be excluded if the client was insolvent. Take a look at this article from IRS, it explains foreclosure/gain or loss/cancellation of debt very well. (Skip the first part, it's about state tax refunds) http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq4-4.html

The foreclosure is reported as a sale, and there could be capital gain or loss. The COD is not taxable if the debt was discharged in bankruptcy.

Use the 8453 and attach a copy of the POA.