Redneck

I did forget to mention one requirement for using this back up. When backing up your entire hard drive you have to have a floppy drive because the program puts some files on the floppy that are needed to recover the backed up files. I have never used it for anything other than full hard drive backups so I don't know if a floppy drive is required if you are only backing up some selected files.

Windows xp has a simple back-up command built in. To get to it: Click on START > PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > BACKUP. Once you have BACKUP highlighted > Right Click on SEND TO DESKTOP (Create Short Cut) This will create a short cut on the desktop so afterwards you only have to click on the short cut. This tool gives you several options as to what you want to back up, one of which is to backup the entire drive. I use it and have had no trouble with it so far. You don't necessarily have to have two hard drives of the same size to back up the entire hard drive. But, of course, the drive to which you back up must be large enough to hold the contents of the hard drive from which you are backing up.

If the taxpayer's trading activity rises to the level necessary to be considered a business, and the Marked to Market election has not been made, then his business expenses are reported on Schedule C and his trading activities are reported on Schedule D, and thus his gains would be capital gains and not subject to SE tax. Meeting the rather stringent tests to be considered in business as a day trader might be difficult though.

Hmmm - I didn't remember from where I had gotten that website, but it is the same one I posted already.

Also this website might help: http://www.costbasis.com/stocks/cashtoboot.html

I haven't used it myself but the attached .pdf file purportedly shows how to figure this out. This is the first time I have tried to include an attachment, so I hope it shows up.Cash_Stock_Merger.pdf

The employee receiving tips that exceed $20.00 in a given month is required by the internal revenue code to report them to the employer. It doesn't matter whether the employer requires the tips to be reported. Granted, if an employer doesn't want to be bothered with it, it puts the employee in the position of risking his/her job if he/she complies with the reporting requirement and the employer is incovenienced by the need to meet the employer requirements imposed by the revenue code. However, I believe our responsibility is clear. Once we have been made aware that the client received tips that should have been reported to the employer, we should advise the client to complete Form 4137. If the client declines to do that, I would decline to complete the tax return.

It's they who are missing something - not you. There is no such deduction.

I don't have time to check it right now, but I think the answer to your question can be found in the US/UK tax treaties. You can find them at: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/internationa...=169552,00.html

If there is no one left to tell you why they did it that way, you'll probably never know. I would let sleeping dogs lay and do the return correctly this time. If the minister won't let you do it the right way then you have to decide if you want to have him for a client.

The thread is actually called "minister of the gospel"

I'm not Mike but I can answer your question. Yes, normally 100% of the housing allowance is subject to SE tax. The "lesser of" computation is done only to determine how much, if any, of the housing allowance will be subject to income tax. There is a thread a little farther down the board called "ministry of the gospel" where Mike has given an excellent explanation of this.

Page 11 of Pub 537 has a pretty good explanation of this.

Would this not require a Casualty Loss, Form 4684? I don't think you can just report it on Schedule D only.

Never mind. I downloaded the large (130MB) file and apparently it is an update file, which Winzip can't open.