Julie

:bday:

Happy B'day!

Why would we lose this board, Mike?

Me, too! What exactly is going to happen?

I used the TaxWorks product from TRX and found it....definitely quirky. One minor issue was that I couldn't print the California 8453 until after I put in the 5-digit code for the federal 8879. For a return which is to be mailed to the client and the signature sheets returned, this is a nuisance. Second: I couldn't see any easy way to duplicate the return. I needed to change the dependents between the federal and state return, and could not do so without damaging the federal return. Result: I printed paper copies for my office records. Something I never do. Overall, I'm not entirely happy, but I'm renewing with TRX ...the price was irresistible. I much prefer ATX software, but for half the price, I can put up with some quirks. I never had to call tech support for anything, unlike the last two years with ATX where I kept losing my ability to log into their website. If I had 400 clients, I'd be back with ATX before now. The time wasted would be more than the price difference.

Thanks. It's been a while since I checked in here. I guess I just realized I missed you guys.

I've always understood that an author's or artist's royalties went on the Sch C because he created the value. At any rate, that's his livelihood. He was in the business of being an author. If you bought or inherited the rights, you would put the royalties on the E.

I resisted getting married....we lived together for eight years first. When we finally signed the papers, it was almost with a sense of resignation. 22 years later, I realize that I never really wanted anything other than what we have.

I think I'm interpreting this the same way as jainen is. This decision allows some of the loss to show up on line 21. I read this as saying they should put $1100 on line 21, and ($2264 limited to winnings) $1100 could have gone on Sch A. "But because petitioners have elected the standard deduction, they are not entitled to itemize their deductions." (page 5) Elected is a key word here. They could have elected differently. I can't draw KC's conclusion from the decision. I tried.

I second the Spidell recommendation. I buy their handbook every year and most years I also attend their update classes.

Well, I ran into a problem like that last year. I couldn't get approved by any RAL banks because HSBC wouldn't give me the necessary report. So I didn't do them at all last year. Looks like I won't this year, either. I'm with you....I wish they didn't exist and that clients didn't want them.

Awww! You remembered! And I've been neglecting you all for months and months! Sob!

In Firefox Ctrl+ enlarges the font (and Ctrl- reduces it), but for some reason I can only post if I go into IE tab, where that doesn't seem to work. Don't know if this is true for others.

Okay, I know I was being sloppy above by making it 75% (although the varying room dimensions are still an unknown). I didn't intend to suggest ignoring other aspects of the law which might make for a different percentage, but presenting a way to apply the percentage. With the facts given, I agree with Joan and jainen that the common areas must be excluded.

Thanks. I think this is the relevant quote: Although the tax code regulations provide that one spouse may sign for another spouse in the case of injury or disease when oral consent has been given, 26 C.F.R. Sec. 1.6012-1(a)(5), an agent can prepare a tax return for one or both spouses only when a power of attorney has been executed. Id. No power of attorney was executed in this case, and the tax preparer lacked petitioner's authorization to sign for her. I may need that one, if it comes to that. In my case, the wife, although separated, would probably have given her husband the okay to sign for her, but not the tax preparer, whom she said she never trusted. Yes, lots of "I told him.....!!!!"

Thanks. I knew the stuff jainen referred to, but I knew you meant something beyond that. This is new to me. Doesn't apply directly to the problem I have now (because the tax preparer apparently forged BOTH signatures) but it seems like something I ought to know about.

Well, first, as icount said, you need to separate out the land. If you've already done that, and this is just the building: The part of the gain attributable to depreciation is going to be taxed at a higher rate than the part of the gain attributable to the appreciation of the property. Make sure your 4797 is filled out correctly for sec 1250 property. I'm a bit confused by your entry about Deprec Recapture and 4 mos deprec? What was recaptured? You might get more reliable results by using the sale page of Asset Entry in ATX, like RoyDaleOne suggested.

Lacking further information, I would expect that the person who filed his own tax returns probably took care of the house payments, property taxes, etc. too. If she's competent to have a business, she knew that her taxes could not be filed without the business information, and she could have looked at the tax returns herself at any time. It seems like the client is taking advantage of having you all to herself, to tell her sob story to. I'm not strongly inclined to believe it. But, K.C., you said something intereting here: Can you give me a cite for the comment that it is legal for one spouse to sign for the other?

I've used PES a couple times, and I like the books they use. I would buy more from them, but sometimes I have to go cheaper yet. If you just need to fill in your hours, FunCPE is cheaper, because it just uses IRS pubs. I've also used ClientWhys. One nice thing about online/mail-in CPE: if you're good at taking tests, you can probably finish the course in half the time.

It's not a vacation home. Vacation home rules do not apply to this situation, and don't make sense here. Like several people have said already, it's a regular rental of 75% of the property. Claim 75% of all expenses as rental expenses. Including the interest. Put it all on Sch E like normal, but only 75% of it. The remaining quarter of interest and taxes can go on the A--personal use. But some other considerations come to mind: Is the fair market rental of the house more than 1200? If they're charging below 3/4 market rent, why? Daughter's friends? There are some loss limits on rentals below market value. Pay attention. Are they charging enough rent to make this project make sense in the short term (that is, how much of a short-term loss are they taking?) If that's $1390 of interest, plus $250 utilities, plus property taxes and repairs, against $1200 rental value, this might require some thinking. (I'm assuming the daughter's portion is worth another $300, not that she's paying it, but that's a value the parents are receiving in not having to rent her a room elsewhere.) At that point, you have to consider investment value, as KC mentioned. Is the value of the property in the future going to make it worthwhile? In some areas, maybe. In others, not.

:bday:

Or maybe he just has a thing for pink?

Single, no kids? 13k is too much gross income for EIC.

Sounds good to me...although it would be best if it then tinted all the entries purple (estimated), but let the extension fly as is. (So we don't assume that those numbers actually go on the 1040.)

You mean there's a way to look it up? I've always relied on the client for that. Try this combo while you wait for an intelligent response: first name, skip second (middle) Use first four letters of first surname, then space, then second surname.