mcb39

Dear Client..... Thank you for ruining my entire afternoon. When you called at 11:30 AM and told me you needed about a half hour of my time, I told you to come at 1:00 so I could have some lunch. You finally left me with my headache at 3:30 after going over and over nearly every business deduction that you should have had posted correctly in the first place. Also, thank you for calling me one half hour after you left to let me know that you are thinking about switching from mileage to actual expenses on your big truck; since I was stupid enough to tell you that was a consideration. Thank you for finally leaving so that I could try to soothe my headache with a cold can of beer, so that you could go home to a nice warm cooked supper while I still have clothes to get off the line and the lunch dishes still on the table. Sincerely yours, Out OF Commission.! :mad:

I listened to that entire song while I was looking for an exception to a 401K early distribution. So many of those this year. In some cases the words to that song could apply to the IRS. (I always did like George Strait).

I agree with the "love and respect" statement. That has not, however, always been the case in my 51 years, but pretty close.

I did two of these several years ago and several things came into play. There is a special form for "hot assets" and if there is inventory involved; some of the income is ordinary income and some of the income is CG. Get the Partnership PUB and read, read, read.

WI = 39-1864821

Isn't that the truth? Rita has it covered. Why is it that this particular week of the year everyone decides to call and ask if their taxes are done. I am beginning to sound like an echo saying "There are forty ahead of you!" And.........they just keep coming.

Amen to HV KEN.! I have no interest in being anything other than a respected tax preparer. We are supposed to be professionals on this board. I, also, have fixed returns prepared by all sorts of designees. That does not make me perfect, nor does it say that I have never made a mistake. I just happened to catch some errors that others had made. Please, let's help each other here. I am still agonizing about the RTRP test; not because I am afraid to take it, but because I have to travel a long distance to take it. That will be the only title I will ever want or need; and only because it is mandatory.

You sign on with your customer number. User name is "admin". Then create a password if you don't already have one. You are missing out on a lot of info if you are unable to access the ATX Home Page.

The only thing I can think of offhand is that there was a mandatory update today. Shut your program down and then reopen it. You should get the box that says that the program requires an update.

I don't understand your question. F11 is the classic shortcut keystroke for enlarging your screen. Are you trying to import a file from another drive into the Program Manager?

Yes, it is scary as well as strange. Thanks for letting us know you are OK Margaret. Prayers going out for all.

I have always worked from home and would not wish it any other way. In fact, if I decide to take the testing and continue, I am going to add on to my office. However, clients can be downright rude and thoughtless. It is Sunday at 1:20 and I just had a call from a client wanting to pick up her return. Not only did I not answer the call, but after letting it go to voice mail; I unplugged the phone. I am going to take a nap with a good book and my husband is going to watch Nascar. Life is too short to allow clients to name your hours and days.

I am so tired that I don't even sleep well when I do sleep. They just keep coming. Have appts booked halfway through March; a large box of returns waiting to be done and many clients I have not even heard from yet. I have made a firm commitment to make my office larger asap and have room to put a helper next year. At the moment I just have my little space to sit in and two chairs for clients. When I see them coming with children, I just have to block it out. I wonder why we do this to ourselves even though I know that most of us actually enjoy the challenges and friendships we have made over the years.

Thanks for the information. I wish I had it behind me and am very happy for you. :read:

The education credits always follow the exemption.

Thank you so much Linda.

Jainen, I was hoping you could help me. If I put nothing in Column g; Nothing goes anywhere. Is that because he is in a 15% tax bracket, or should some gain be calculated on the Capital Gains Tax worksheet? As far as the 2 year clause, I believe it is still in existence because I just read it in a 2011 book. In fact it is referred to in Pub 17, page 107. No, it is not a 160 acre homestead. It was 3.5 acres and the State took one acre for a roadway. Is it too good to be true that he would owe NO tax? I only put the gain in colume g to see what would happen. If I take it out, as I said, nothing happens and the sale of the land doesn't even come into play in his return. Is that correct?

Have a client who sold a piece of land to the state unwillingly. We are trying to build some basis in it but it will not be a lot as it has been his and before that his parents' homestead for many years. He acquired it in 1988 and the state took it for part of a highway. He received $73200. He is normally in a 15% bracket which means no CG tax. Instructions for 8949 say to leave columns b and g blank as he did receive a 1099-S. If I do that, it leaves him with no gain. If I put the amount of the gain thus far in column g; the tax is then figured on the CG tax worksheet. Am I thinking correctly that some of this gain should be taxed or is it possible that he really will owe no tax. There is also the possibility of deferring the gain as it is part of his homestead which he has now listed for sale as they took a large portion of his yard and the road will pass nearby his house. There is also that inherent clause that states if you sell land that is part of your homestead either 2 years before or 2 years after the sale of your main home; you can defer the gain. Can one of you wizards give me some guidance on this. I have read every book and Pub to the point where I am second-guessing myself.

My experience has been the same as Margaret's. Required when you request a direct debit. I have never had a client balk at having their phone number on their return. The IRS usually won't call them. They would rather send a letter and create mass confusion.

I think what Cathy is saying is that there is a checkbox in box 7 on the 1098T for amounts that were paid for an academic perion beginning in the current year. I have seen this in the past. Monies were paid in December for a full year of tuition in the following academic year. They are then used for credits in the year the student was actually in college.

If he is a general partner, how does he have no basis? Obviously if he has Guaranteed Payments, the partnership already deducted those as an expense; so no double-dipping allowed. He is liable for tax and SE tax on the Guaranteed payments. How can the loss be recognized if he has no basis? Seems odd to me.

I have a client who has never had anything other than a PO Box and it has never been a problem. (Lives in a very small town as indicated above). I just never thought about it.

I believe the amount that is on the 1099 SA. Whatever is on there is what I use. From what I understand, they have to use their card when they pay for these charges. My biggest problem is with who made the contributions. I don't worry about the distributions. If they aren't in excess of the contributions, I don't question it.

Sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't. If they are not pretax, the client gets the credit for his contributions on Line 29. In many cases, only the taxpayer knows for sure. Many times the W2 is coded wrong. Over the years, I have found the 8889 to be somewhat of a guessing game, but think that I have finally figured it out since there are so many of these coming in. It helps if they bring in their last check stub, which will often help clarify who contributed and how much. And, of course, by the following year, you forget everything that you learned about HSAs the year before.

I was happy to see two of them sitting idle in their kiosks in the front of Walmart yesterday!