Richcpaman

Jack: I just reread all my posts on this topic, just to be clear, she is going to PAY the TFP in full, via payment plan. We will OIC the remaining balance. If possible. My concern was what happens if she agrees to the the TFP, and does that close any doors, or open her up to more liabilty that I haven't considered. Rich

Jack: Nice soap box. And I am glad to know that you are not interested in helping certain clients. Just like I am sure you are handling folks I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. But they have a different forum for those debates now. She is going to pay the TFP. I just want to be sure what happens to the rest of the debt, if she signs the TFP document, has she signed away other rights? Pretty simple really. This isn't my first OIC rodeo. Rich

Jack: I don't like folks who don't pay thier taxes either. Sorry about your experience. However, I need to help my client, just like you would/should. The taxpayer has been compliant since coming to my office, and will continue to do so. Or, I will fire her. I just want to make sure that I am not signing up my client for something without knowing other ramifications of that. I would rather her write the check for the full amount. She ain't got it, and she probably never will. She will pay something on the balance for the rest of her working life if needed. But the IRS isn't interested in that. Rich

Michael: That is some of the information I was looking for. $47k was the tax due for the S-Corp. $44k is the penalty and interest for the Scorp on that tax. Thay have not assessed the sole-shareholder owner personally, yet. And what they want to assess is the $13,700 in Trust Fund Penalty to her personally. They can't get more than that, that is the calc by the IRS agent. So the point you are making, and I like to hear, is if the taxpayer agrees to the TFP on the $14k, than the other amounts, ($47k and $44) go away if the corporation closes or folds up. Becasue the IRS assessed what it could and the rest is gone. If the business continues, then we have to OIC or Payment plan those 47k and 44K amounts. Rich

Not making any payment. The IRS just ignored the problem. Really. It started slow and built up. And the IRS missed its opportunity to assess those earlier periods for the Trust Fund penalty. Which I fault them for. Client is underwater. We filed the 433-A and 433-B. Agent was a all bluster up front, but backed down as soon as we provided the 433A-B. Cleint no longer has employees and only paying herself. And has been compliant for over a year. Client will set up a payment plan to pay the $14k Trust Fund penalty. But to pay that, does that mean that she still owes the other $91K? I can do a OIC on those periods and years, just to clean it all up. My original plan was to get to Non-Collectible status, and then do an OIC for xx amount and clean it up that way. But the agent threw this Trust Fund Penalty out there, and I wasn't sure what the angle was. I can surmise, but I was interested in a much more collective opinion might be. Yes, it gets the taxpayer on the hook personally, and the IRS can do all the other collection activities against her. I understand that. But what would be the other reasons to do the TFP on the taxpayer? Rich

Have a client that owes $47k in Payroll Taxes, and $44k in penalty and interest to the IRS. The IRS has really fallen down on the job on this one, the liabilities started in 2005. Mainly the owners payroll, but other staff earlier. I have gotten the local agent to agree to put the case in non-collectible status. However, she is asserting the Trust Fund Penalty, for a total of $13,700. Becasue of IRS delays, the agent can't assert for 2005, 06 , 07 and 08. So, here are my questions: If the client pays the $13,700, the remaining balance of $77k will still be due, or, is this a whole NEW liability, and the client owes $105K total ($47+44+14)? While the client is in NonCollectible status, how often does the IRS check? Or do they do nothing? Can we file an OIC for the whole amount and end the Trust Fund Penalty Issue? Any other thoughts from some who have gone thru this? RIch

Jack: I would like some improvements in the Return Manager: Ability to track Multiple Status's across the period oftime the return is in the office. We have ONE Status block. Give us five to ten. So I can have the Date in, Date entered in computer, date asked client for info, Date Reviewed, Date Completed, Date delivered, Date Efiled, Date Final, etc. Let me control the titles.. Allow us to have the appointment Date and time on the Return Manager, so I can use the return manager to track appoinments, and then have those in the organizer. Bring over formatting of the Client letter from year to year so I do not have to spend three hours recreating it. Make it work on a network. Allow me to save the "Dear "client name" formating from year to year. Make all the "Jumps" work if you click on them. YOu ahve a number you don't understand where it came from and the "Jump" link doesn't work... Well, that's a start. Rich

***Filing the Identity Theft Affidavits with the IRS*** Seems like a good idea. Because the nusiance factor with the IRS for our clients is going to be pretty high. If the badguys file returns for ALL of your clients, which, appears to be the case here, then, it at least puts the onus on the IRS to at least PROTECT your clients. Rich

Have a read at this one: http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/Identity-Theft-Cautionary-Tale-Tax-Preparer-Colleagues-67437-1.html?taxpro And the worst part? When she contacted the IRS, they said they could do NOTHING about it. She TOLD the IRS that 500 (my estimate, it could be more or less) taxpayers Names Addresses and SSN's have been compromised, and all the IRS did was shrug. And then issue the refunds to the crooks. Wow. Rich

J; That is my point. What makes you the "Sponsor"? I have a client that is being told they are the plan sponsor for an HRA with 9 people in it. It seems to me... If your are required to file a 5500 for the plan, then you might be covered by this fee. I would also think, that we would have been told/advised/taught that this requirement needed to be met by our clients somehow. And it isn't part of the accountant/tax world to do these things. Maybe the Insurance world. There was a ruling, seemingly overbroad, that can require the payment of the PCORI fee for the same individuals from multiple providers. Seems to me, that if your set up a HRA, thru an insurance provider, that then the Ins Co would be the filing party, and not the employer. Rich

Has anyone else been recieving info from thier clients regarding payments of PCORI fees on IRS Form 720? I have a client with a HRA that the provider has sent them info that the client has to file the IRS From 720 and pay $1 per enrolled employee, Next year it goes to $2. It seems to me, and my research that the Insurance Company should be paying this fee, or who ever is filing the form 5500 for an insurance plan. Thoughts? Rich

Ocwen is a loan servicing company. Does quite well at it. It has shipped all the processing jobs to Brazil and India. If your client is not making thier payments, ocwen will contact them, and "try" to get them back into compliance. They will also try to refer you to HAMP and other programs, but they really suck at it. And if your client is in a good equity position, I think Ocwen can be very aggressive about the foreclosure process. Rich

I wonder if the EEOC has gone after Air Traffic Controllers. They *have* to retire at 56. They can work elsewhere at the FAA, but they can not work the screens. That is a mandatory layoff age. But they are going after Accounting Principals. Glad to know that the Government is consistent. Rich

1. Yes 2. Yes 3. Yes 4. The taxpayer. He went from a restaurant seating 60-75 to one seating 240. And operated the entire time. The Corp would pick up alot of tax if he sold it. All improvements would be considered to a restaurant property. There is nothing else besides restaurant. Corp paid for everything. Rich

He thinks he is going to owe $200k. And he has it to pay it. My goal is to minimize it. And he spent all those $$ fixing up the restaurant. In the past, it would be 7 year property for equipment, and 39 for everything else. But they have the 15 year "Qualified Rule" for Leaseholds, Retail and Restaurant improvements. I have the related party issue, that sort of blows out using the LH bonus depreciation. For the restaurant Improvements, I can use that for complete buildings, so I am good there. And the other improvements, but I am stuck with 150 SL deprec. Trying to see what leeway I have. Any thoughts on that? Rich

Have a client that has not filed the C-Corp return for 5 years. First year, operated a restaurant from a building owned by his mother. He bought the buiilding from his Mother at the end of year two. The building itself is probably 70-80 years old. The building is is Disregarded Entity owned 100% by the individual taxpayer. Then he spends $600K over the next three years redoing the building, and adding a new kitchen, enlarging the second floor for more seating and other improvements. He funds all of this out of the profits from the restaurant during this time. Reading thru the 15 year property rules, the taxpayer can get bonus depreciation for Qualified Leaseholds, but he can't be related (?), and they can not be to expand the space, so he can get that for some parts of the work. He can get 15 year depreciation, however, if it is Restaurant Property, which it is. And of course, the equipment part is 100% from Sec 179... Am I reading this right? I am getting a breakdown of all expenses from the architect/contractor so I can allocate properly. He has made some income, we need to shelter as much as possible to minimize penalty, late filing and interest. The restaurant operated thru this entire process. My reading of the statute supports some 15year restaurant property with full bonus depreciation, and then 15 years for the build outs, and whatever the equipment is. Expanding the related party issue is important, what if the Corp owned the LLC? Would I be wrong in this analysis? Rich

Well, It just got more interesting. The IRS Contracting officer involved with all this has plead the Fifth: http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/IRS-Deputy-Wont-Testify-Congress-Awards-Friend-67266-1.html?ET=webcpa:e7313:272947a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tpt_062813&taxpro Rich

It doesn't matter the Administration. It just matters that they start doing something about it. If you watched the linked video, you see where this guy goes from $250,000 in annual revenue to $500,000,000. That is amazing. If you look at the iRS, budget, it would be $12b. So that $500m would be 4.1 % of the total IRS budget. And if you review the operation and support line item, you have $4.083B so he gets 12% of that. http://www.treasury.gov/about/budget-performance/Documents/CJ_FY2012_IRS_508.pdf He may be the most wonderful provider in the world. But he fudged a non-military injury to claim to be a "war disabled veteran" and he never served in uniform. Sorry. It smells and it smells bad. Set asides have their uses. but this is fraud. Rich

I stand behind my returns as well. But when the IRS asserts something that is wrong, or even right, in some cases, I get paid to deal with it. I might charge alot, or I might charge very little. But I am going to get paid. A taxpayer responds to a CP2000 letter for a return I prepared and gets it all screwed up. Who has to untangle it? Should I get paid then? Certainly. Your billing practices are your billing practices. I prefer to make money, so I bill folks for what I do, and for the knowledge that I possess. Since I *know* how to respond to a CP2000, they need to pay me for that. Out of the woods? No, you are not. A RO is asking you to resubmit all the paperwork to her, so that she can review and then resubmit it to the proper IRS channels. Sounds like your client is out of the woods with that. But it ain't over till you get the letter stating that. And her asking you not to send it to "Appeals" or for "reconsideration" may have nothing to do with something being wrong with the original process, it just may mean that she doesn't want the waters muddied until after she finishs what she has to do. JMVHO Rich

Tabby: This: "BTW...My fee to the client...$0." Why? Sorry, two or three hours of my time? Even posting here for clarification/information? $500. Your not out of the woods yet. Rich

Speed isn't the issue. Crashing, rebooting, and not having the belief that the program will run while you are with a client, that is the real issue. Not having the ability any longer to link multiple computers in to a common client database is inexcusable. Its tax software, not rocket science. I now have client files on three different computers, with no way to put them all together in a logical way. We are looking at Drake at thier seminar on Tuesday. Rich

And can't the Excuter of the estate go from a MFJ filing to a MFS? Could the Wife get of the taxes for the earlier years? Rich

I would say no. Had client with same sitch. Husband owed $350k. He filed his MFS, and signed them, then he fell ill, and died. Wife picked up the house and a rather large Life Insurance policy, and the IRS was out of luck. Filed the Estate return, and a couple for years later, when we got the notice from the IRS for the deceased husband past due taxes, sent a copy of the death cert, and the estate closing letter, and never heard from the IRS again... In your particular case, I would make sure the allocations were good on the MFS returns, but otherwise, if there was no assets in the estate, there is nothing to claim. Rich

I can't wait that long...

Why would anyone ever do that?