Medlin Software, Dennis

Are you preparing the W2? That implies you are the payroll processor. If you are not, and the W2 is not correct, get the corp to fix it. From the payroll side, the amount the corp pays direct has other consequences, such as likely increasing WC wages. Also, my position is a proportionate amount (constructive receipt) should have been added to every paycheck, to ensure proper withholding. (Yes, the amount is deductible to the employee, but tax agencies get their withholding up front. I get the argument that it should not alter withholding quite often.) The amount should have been reported on 941 forms as well (not just the "add it to a W2" method). The employee should receive the benefit of higher reported wages, such as if they needed to claim UI, WC, FFCRA, apply for a loan, etc. And so on.

I go with whatever is on sale at costco (or similar). The return policy is good, as is their support. Once you get past 30 days of good use, the new drive should last several years (the drive is usually the item which, small chance though, could fail right away). I went with surface pro the last time. Probably the best consumer level security built in, and can be used portable, or to drive a desktop monitor and keyboard.

Fortunately, it sounds as if the estate has enough funds on hand to make the estimated payment, which might lead to a conclusion the estimated payment is not too much of a hardship... --- Trying to close two probates right now. One depends on the other (one is an heir of the other). The real property involved is in escrow, but the buyer is said to have covid. The perform date has passed, with no one getting response from the buyer (only the buyer's brother), so I have had to send a 3 day perform notice to see if that will shake things loose. I am actually fine if the buyer needs more time, and have a substantial non refundable deposit, but business is business and I need to hear something soon or I have to move on to the backup buyer before (if I have not already) lost the backup. Both estates have no cash on hand, so I have had to fund out of pocket. With the mess of selling the real property, I will be petitioning for extraordinary payment for selling the property, which my attorney says is not an issue, but in all their years, I am the first client to do so.

Most understood the forgiveness would eventually not exclude the expenses from countable for tax return, but it was wise to plan for this not to happen. The last I saw was the new PPP would require showing a certain percentage loss of sales compared to a specific time. I like it, as by now, all can see the actual effect and such qualifications make perfect sense. I could be in the small minority, but I have nothing against the first round being based only on stating a possible or likely effect, since the program was implemented before anyone could have hard numbers to go on (for an entire quarter). Yes, money was lost to fraud, and since all could likely state they might be impacted, some received funding who could have made it without. The timeline was simply too short to catch even some of the obvious fraud upfront, and it appears as if there is an effort being made to catch at least some after the fact. The next wait and see is if FFCRA will be extended or not.

The clergy person might be directed to the denominational training for clergy finances. This should have been something no clergy person should miss. There could be other things being missed in their personal finances. (Not that any of the personal finances are the employers issue...)

Of note, the draft Q1 2021 941 has space to handle FFCRA (assumes it gets extended). If FFCRA is not extended, those lines will likely change to "reserved for future use". Amazingly, the form designer(s) elected to not make major changes to spacing and print locations! You can always search/find draft forms at https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/draftTaxForms.html. Keep in mind, just because it appears in the draft list does not mean they have not already posted a final version on the regular forms list.

What an excellent reply! The "young staffer" tip is likely a game changer. Finding opinions which make sense and are accurate is always a challenge. There are so many who post things to get ad money, so a good amount of the information returned via any engine search is simply wrong. Of course, I am long in the tooth enough now, that unless someone backs up their opinion with money/insurance, I investigate it myself.

Cat out of the bag! This is something I discovered years ago by accident. I now always try to have a modest balance due. Like any business, the IRS seems to process profitable envelopes first.

For the good news, one of our kids, in the health care field, will get a vaccine this month. He has been living in a self imposed bubble, as he sees and deals with the death, and cannot bear the thought of bringing the virus to anyone outside the hospital. I doubt he will pop his bubble, as he reminds us the vaccine has not been tested to see if it stops the recipient from spreading. Many in the health care field are doing the same as he is. What they are doing for the rest of us reminds me there is good in the world, even if we do not see it among the bad. Yesterday, for instance, they had 200 staff out sick. They have had over 200 staff test positive. And this is in a major facility with the top safety protocols... Remember, all the available bed count numbers have nothing to do with space available, it has everything to do with the number of staff who can strap up that shift. As odd as it is to say, if those working at the IRS have to slow things down, so be it. They have families too. It is our responsibility to handle our "business". If we get in a position of balance due, or balance owed, it was our own fault, and we should not complain at the consequences.

If I follow, your client is an heir. The value of the estate seems to have been set. Since then, the estate value has dropped. Your client likely needs legal counsel. If you client is an executor/administrator, they may be liable for not managing the estate in the best interests of the estate. If your client is simply an heir, they may want to pursue action against those managing the estate, even before settlement. With the given scenario, the estate's goodwill value drops daily, the longer the former employee has no "competition" for the existing clients (assuming as written, the remaining employees are not really competing). If the current value of the business is truly just sale of equipment, then whomever is allowing the business to continue accruing salary and other expenses is clearly not acting in the best interests of the estate. (Makes me wonder if the aunt is running the estate, as she is the only one who seems to be benefiting from the "business".) On the other hand, if the restructure was some form of the executor/admin "selling" the business, then there are a larger number of worms to deal with, especially if your client is one of or the only buyer. --- I would not touch any part of this estate process at all. I would refer to a probate/estate attorney, who also has probate/estate expert accountant/CPA/EA's on staff. If your client has already taken on former estate assets or liability in some form, then maybe deal with that on its face, but only if your client is accepting what they have done or allowed to be done, and is not interested in getting a second opinion (which seems not to be the case).

I use voipo.com for "virtual" numbers for fax, text, and voicemail. The fax process works well, as do all of their functions.

"The only way this would make sense" Add never insert or access any removable media. I hear this one often "I do not connect to the internet, I just use CD/USB media to install software and move data to another computer, so I cannot get anything nefarious."

Whether or not you agree, the maker of W7 says it is unsafe. You are likely beholden to keep data as safe as reasonably possible, and possibly to an even higher standard. Defense is expensive, and using a known unsafe OS is impossible to defend, even if it is just one machine connected to your network. You would not likely find an arbiter, judge, or jury which could be convinced W7 is safe. Much cheaper to stay current. I doubt you will find any tax software vendor which will give you explicit instructions to use a known unsafe setup. If you do, document their instructions, and pass it by your E&O insurer for approval.

"and they will be available to help out with any questions for the first two years" I am not sure what help could be provided past encouragement to stay in yr 1, unless you are using them in a quasi or actual employee manner. Yr 1 retention may be somewhat higher, as many will simply not want to make the effort to go elsewhere. Year 2 may be more important long for long term retention. I would consider 50% of year 1 and 50% of year 2 as my likely top amount, and would not want an all yr 1 based figure. I would want some sort of no interest payment plan over enough years to make the work pay for my time even in yr 1. Likely, a business transfer/succession attorney's retainer can include helping with negotiation.

Yep, the IRS had to say the existing law is the law :).

Personally, I switched to a surface pro as my main computer. It has a setting to keep the battery at 50% for situations where it remains plugged in all the time. Gives me several hours after a power outage to get my generator running. Sleep/suspend modes works well for overnight.

Likely sign and submit a simple document to the county (or whatever entity handles the property records). Probably a net zero taxes and all other issues. Dealing with two estates at present. Title of property has one name, passed away in '71, the other passed away about 5 years ago...

Your address can be randomly spammed, it can be grabbed from someone's address book, and so on. (AOL was notorious for having their address books compromised.) For business use, there really is no perfect filtering, other than manually setting up filters, and reviewing your spam folder. If you need the easiest solution, gmail likely has the best filters (you can wash your mail through them via forwarding if you do not normally use their system). I used to use mailwasher, and it is a decent product. Caveat, gmail, and other online filters, do read your messages, and use the content to make money (serve ads).

Not quite to that point myself, but I suspect there are cases where a grandparent would not be willing to give money to the parent directly, which is how it appears it should be done rather than grandparents contribute directly to parents 529. For us, we are appreciative of the ABLE account aspect of 529, and our main focus is figuring out how to max that out before our time is done. Can the plan be transferred from the grandparent to the parent? In our case, child attended community college, pay as you go, then transferred. We borrowed what we could, but only had to pay 2 years worth. Might have worked for a grandparent 529, if the ability to pay out during those last year or two would not be a negative sum process. Of course, he is now looking at med school, if it is cost effective compared to his current career path. FAFSA planning is good practice for medicaid and SS planning (I suppose)... and for many, needs to be a service bought. What I found online: Change account owner. If the 529 plan allows, the grandparent can change the account owner to the parent. This will minimize the reduction in financial aid the next time you file a FAFSA. Check to see if your state will recapture state income tax benefits if you change the account owner. Rollover 529 plan funds. Grandparents can roll over a year's worth of funds to a parent-owned 529 plan. If the rollover occurs after the FAFSA is filed, the funds won't be reported as an asset on the FAFSA (assuming the funds are spent before the next FAFSA is filed). Distributions will not affect aid eligibility because the 529 plan is owned by the parent. It’s important to note, the parent-owned 529 plan should be opened in the same state as the grandparent-owned 529 plan to avoid recapture rules when funds are rolled over to a different state’s 529 plan. Take a distribution later. If the student will graduate in four years, grandparents can wait until January 1 of the student's second semester of their sophomore year in college to take a distribution, after the student has completed his/her last FAFSA. This is because the FAFSA uses the prior-prior year’s income and tax information to calculate eligibility. If the student will graduate in five years, families should wait until January 1 of the student’s junior year to take a distribution.

Did my forgiveness app yesterday (lender portal). It was relatively easy, and I uploaded plenty of documentation to show enough proper spend. Lender sent off for SBA approval already.

I discussed the issue with myself yesterday (a reminder really), as I was filling out my forgiveness app. It was a nice break from chuckling at how the employee SS deferral keeps costing more for any employer (and now the employees who "benefited") who elected that option (having to issue W2, then W2C).

Thus the rub. At present, merely an interest free loan to employees, at great cost to employers, with zero benefit to employers. Even if there is some sort of forgiveness, it still does not benefit employers, other than watching their bank account lose, so there is no (now un) common sense reason for an employer to defer. Employers are already dealing with "on the fly" changes, such as FFCRA, retention credit, and PPP. Another change with only a negative revenue result was not accepted by the vast majority of employers. Out of all my customers, only one is known to have deferred, and it is a client of one of my customers who deferred even after being shown the cost and risk.

Small separate desk for the 9-5 work. Can be in the same room as the home office space, but the sqft must not be counted towards the home office usage. Employer should be willing to provide compensation for use of your space and utilities, hopefully accountable basis, or enough to cover your costs and the increased tax (if treated as additional wages). Or remove the sqft shared with the 9-5 use, and only claim the remaining amount (assuming there is some space not shared). If you can document less home office use, you may have a number to show your employer as to your "cost" of the space you are providing.

If the employer is not already doing business in MO, the employer will need to register in MO, get an SEIN, MO UI issues, WC insurance, local taxes if any, business license for the state/locality, etc. In other words, the employer is setting up business in MO, and needs to act accordingly, the length of time is not material. The business owner should have no concern with the employee's personal taxes, and withhold based on the employer's obligations, even if it means more than one state withholding based on location worked. The business owner should consider the costs of the new location before accepting the work (if they are new to the location). Covid has caused some states to create or lengthen work from home exceptions, and many employers simply ignore work from home in another jurisdiction situations anyway, but this sounds like a physical work location change into a new state for the employer.

I suspect you cannot allocate the same physical space to more than one business, unless you allocate the usage. Could it be logical :), as if you were renting a warehouse, and using it for two businesses, you would be allocating costs based on a formula, such as SqFt. I would not have a personal issue with using the deduction for the 9-5, since it is now your primary location for that business.