Robbie

Last year, as I am approaching complete retirement, I "retired" my extension clients. Same story, they waited until October to get their papers to me despite me contacting them and advising them that I needed to be finished by Sept 20 as my daughter was visiting for the first time since Covid changed everybody's lives. My daughter arrived and I was still processing returns on the last filing date. This year I noticed some of my "timely" filers were much later than usual. There was illness to blame for some of that, but I do believe that the community is still suffering effects from the last three years of living with covid. They just seem to be functioning differently. That said, reducing my work load so that I am finished by April 18th is great. I have a couple of returns that need a K1, but no voluntary procrastinators.

I print a pdf of the letter and the tax return for my files after I have created an efile and use that to print or email to the client. So that isn't a problem. The problem is after doing that and closing the file, the next time the file is opened on ATX the federal and state estimates are different from what I transmitted. I've never had the file change before after creating an efile without the original efile being flagged red. Weird. The first time it happened I was afraid that the incorrect numbers were transmitted to the IRS but I am told that didn't happen. Nevertheless, I will monitor those clients and confirm that the direct debits for the due dates are accurate. It was a lot of fun to lose an hour or two of uncompensated time.

On the last two tax returns that I have efiled, the client letter changes the direct debit amounts for each of the quarterly payments to a wrong number after transmitting the efile to ATX. I just spoke with a representative at ATX who, after half an hour, told me that it is a problem with ATX and they are working on it. I was told the efile transmittal to the IRS used the correct numbers, not the incorrect numbers appearing in the client letter after I have filed.

I am in California and semi retired this tax season. This year I eliminated my out of state tax returns and eliminated the procrastinators who wait until October as well as the clients that I just didn't want to interact with any more (high maintenance). Last year was difficult for me, so reducing the work load to a very manageable schedule is working out well. I am four years in remission from my cancer, but that nasty beast will come back in the future. Now my client base has been cut in half it will be easier in the future to close up plus I don't have the stress of getting the "I don't know...let me explain!" answer to a simple yes or no question. Simplifying one's life has a lot going for it!

Check the Ca 540 NR instructions for "Do I Have to File". It could be that your CA source income is below the threshold for filing. Ca source income would be income only from your Ca residents. https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2021/2021-540nr-booklet.html

First time abatement penalty can be used again after four years. Alternative is reasonable cause for a penalty abatement. However I requested the FTA and includes a reasonable cause abatement request due to illness for a penalty on a 2019 return. Both were denied for no clearly stated reason and I have filed an appeal. Covid shut down has prevented any action other than denials of the request for abatement. So every 90 days or so we get a letter saying they need more time to process the appeal. It's ridiculous. The FTA is statutory and shouldn't be discretionary on the part of the agent, but they can't seem to get that fact through their thick heads.

Thanks, Abby. Pretty much lean and mean, and frequent reboots, but it hasn't crashed for several days (cross my fingers) since I changed the allocation of resources. Thanks for the information.

Ok: I haven't had to use LAA. I figured out yesterday that my computer wasn't configured correctly, so a few changes to optimize my memory usage seems to have done the trick. Ah, slow learner.....

Thanks, if the problem persists, I'll give it a go

Well I have this problem. Go to print and ATX 2022 disappears. Used chat Wednesday for the response to open taskmaster and close ATX 2022 down, which works, so now I know to do that to get ATX 2022 to load back up. (spent about 3 hours yesterday trying to fix this) - wasted time. So now to really fix this, I should go to large address aware website and load a program that I know nothing about, and do some configuration, so it will fix my ATX 2022. Sorry, I am old and confused. I retired half my clients this year so I could breeze through my tax season. That's not happening. Robbie

same problem. I've got one out there for almost 24 hours and all processed this morning are still showing as transmitted, so you are not alone. The returns filed two days ago took a day to get processed, so it started this week on Wednesday Robbie

My thanks to the responses to my original post. I believe I had arrived at DANRVAN's position myself. In a further discussion with the client trying to tie down the date it originally became available for rent, and after hemming and hawing on the client's part, particularly as to how much personal time he was going to spend it the house during 2022, I have advised him that it is a rental property and not a second home subject to the vacation home rental rules. Thanks for everybody's input!

What I was wrestling with is the 15 day rule which states the rental income is not reported as income if the dwelling was rented for less than 15 days during the tax year IRC 280A(g). For 2021, the rental usage is zero. For 2022, the usage will be 61 days. I know prepaid rent is taxable for a property which is in fact a rental property, so that wasn't the question. To not report the income at all obviously isn't correct, but to report the income in full in 2021 and not be able to deduct a portion of the property taxes during the rental usage seems unfair. Particularly as there is no benefit on Schedule A to the client for additional state taxes. It seems more logical to interpret the 15 day rule in this situation as allowing the rental income to be matched with the period of usage.

Client received rent for January and February on his second residence at the end of December. So, it is prepaid rent and taxable in 2021. There was no rental use of the vacation home during 2021. So used zero days for rental - so this isn't taxable in 2021 under the vacation home rules?

Thanks, Tom. I was exhausted at the end of tax season and entirely missed that change. Thanks for advising me. I do appreciate it.

No I didn't override. I held the returns with unemployment compensation until the program processed the exclusion in the recommended manner. Community property state? Don't understand the question. The 1099G was in spouse's name etc. There is only one exclusion. Or on separate returns, each would get one half.

Client just received a refund check. The IRS adjusted the return to deduct and additional $10,200 for the unemployment compensation exclusion which shows on the original return on line 8 of Schedule 1. I held returns with unemployment income pending a resolution as to how to report the exclusion amount, so the exclusion was reported correctly on the original return. Has anyone else seen similar refunds? I have a number of clients who benefited from the exclusion and I am wondering if I should advise them not to cash the refund checks, as they are erroneous.

I am speechless. My client filed their 2018 return in January of 2020, three months after the extended due date. I requested a waiver of the penalty for medical reasons. My client has a chronic, progressive motor neuron disease, and I have watched him struggle over the past three years. In 2019, during treatment for this disease he suffered tremendously, physically and mentally, and as a result, we were not able to file timely. My request for relief from the penalty attached a letter from his doctor describing the progress of the disease and the effects on his physical capabilities and upon his physical and mental stamina. This was the basis of my argument that he had reasonable cause to file late. The IRS responded, after thirteen months that "the..taxes were not taken care of in a timely manner because the taxpayer is impaired and is no longer able to attend to their personal business. However, if a taxpayer continues to maintain responsibility for their own affairs, they are responsible for taking care of their own taxes." I did not state in my letter that he was no longer able to attend to their personal business. What I did say is that the onset of the disease created a struggle for him to prepare his paperwork in a timely fashion, but that he was ultimately able to do so while learning to live with the limitations imposed upon him by his disease. The final insult is that I also requested an abatement of the penalty using the First Time Penalty Abatement Waiver. They denied it as they said a review of his account history shows that 'we have charged similar penalties in the past'. They have not. I will take this to the Office of Appeals, but I am very angry. Is this simply the IRS, overworked, denying all requests for a waiver of penalties? It took them over a year to respond, with them sending correspondence saying we need another XX days to respond. My client will be confined to a wheel chair soon. He has filed 2019 and 2020 timely, but I am aware of the weekly decline in his ability to handle his affairs. What a sad situation and it is amplified by the IRS's illogical response. It is illogical in my opinion, but I am not sure how to argue about their position. Obviously he was ultimately able to handle his affairs, he simply could not get it done in a timely fashion.

The provision also allows all individuals to postpone estimated tax payments due from the date of enactment until October 15, 2020. There is no cap on the amount of tax payments postponed, and any individual required to make estimated tax payments can take advantage of the postponement. This delay should increase the available cash flow for individuals experiencing cash shortfalls as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. From Section 2101 Or maybe this isn't law yet, I don't know. I am confused.

So is the program going to update the payment dates for tax due 4/15 and for estimates due 4/15 and 6/15. My clients are concerned about conserving funds as long as possible, want to file on time and want to defer payment for their tax due on 4/15 and for their estimates, as allowed by Notice 2020-17. Seems like it would be simple to get the dates changed for these payments to the 7/15 date. Or do I have to do paper vouchers and tell them to sit on them for four months? That is a pain.