kcjenkins

I had a lovely heifer from just such a situation myself. And the next year, a nice little bull calf. sold the cow that year, so we could stop fixing that fence.

Hey, I once came behind a CPA who had put bush hog on the farmers livestock depreciation schedule, but had ALSO [i swear this is true] put a bulldozer there!!

Remember, as long as they file the MFJ return by 4/17 it is a SUPERSEDING RETURN, and will be treated as if it was the original return. You can still do it on the 1040X, but write [i do it in RED] "SUPERSEDING RETURN" on the top of both pages.

By all means, feel free to add your 'laugh' to the thread, I do need them more these days.

TR, you are right, but if the client does not want to file the states, you have to decide if you are going to fire him over it, or file it as all earned in MD. I'm assuming he's a new client, or else he never told you the details before? I do not think you should file a return that you KNOW to be incorrect, but on the other hand, the Fed return is correct, and the MD return is correct, so you have to decide how you feel about him not filing the other two returns.

We're never that old.

Recently on a routine police patrol parked outside a local neighborhood bar the officer noticed a man leaving the bar so intoxicated that he could barely walk. The man stumbled around the parking lot for a few minutes with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five different vehicles, the man managed to find his own car which he fell into. He was there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car, switched the wipers on and off (it was a dry night), flicked the hazard flasher on and off, tooted the horn, and then switched on the lights. He moved the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a little, and then remained stationary for a few more minutes as more patrons left in their vehicles. At last he pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive slowly down the street. The police officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up his patrol car, put on the flashing lights, promptly pulled the man over and carried out a breathalyzer test. To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence of the man having consumed alcohol at all! Dumbfounded, the officer said, "I'll have to ask you to accompany me to the Police Station. This breathalyzer equipment must be broken." "I doubt it," said the man, "Tonight, I'm the designated decoy."

What did the tired chess player do? He took the knight off

Yes, they can, IF the customer gives them the data. However, to be fair, the new broker is not just going to take the customers word for it, they have to see some documentation to back it up, and my guess based on many years experience is that often the customer is not going to have that documentation handy, [if they kept it at all....] and thus we are still going to see 'Various' a lot for some time, years at least.

Cat, while I understand your frustration, it is not fair to blame ATX/CCH for not having that info that you have about the actual dates. IF you have to be mad at someone, be mad at the broker that just used Various instead of inputting the correct info. They are the ones who screwed you up. The program is just doing what it has to do, which is 'assume short if date is not known'. You can either edit the excel file, before importing it, or you can edit the forms within the program to fix all those Various entries. Which ever is easier for you.

On the taxpayer info tab, you enter the date of death. On the 1310 you enter the info that will properly complete the return as to the rest of it.

If you are going to efile it, you need to be on the efile info. I don't know of any way to efile without using your ERO info etc. How much you charge, is your business, and has nothing to do with it.

Joel, in a perfect world that is what would happen. But don't expect it to happen soon, or all the time, so keep on protecting your clients until then. My guess, looking at your pic, is that you will retire before that happens. Wait until you stop getting new clients who bring in a CP2000 for such sales for at least a year or two, before you trust that the IRS matching will work. Remember, that basis reporting only applies when the same brokerage handled both the buying and the selling. If the stock was bought by the client from X broker, then later moved to Z broker, it will not have a basis. But t/p will assume that it does, probably. LOL

Tom, you are so very, very right about this. I personally knew of one case where a preparer had exactly that happen to him. It took him two months and the aid of his Senator to get it corrected, almost put him out of business for good. And it was all over a mistake on the IRS end, too. May sound paranoid, but give one agency the power to control who can deal with that agency, and they can be as dictatorial as they want to be.

Yes, you have the ability to delete your own posts. Just roll your cursor over the bottom, and you should see 'delete' as one of the options, as well as 'edit', etc.

By all means do that. The IRS computers should have no problem with it at all. [The program should not either, but hey, not worth stewing over, just split it and move on.]

Lion is right, Tom. Don't fire them, but DO raise their price significantly. It will either run them off next year or make them worth your time, either way you will feel better about them. And are you using those neat little coupons that the ATX program has built in? Giving them to all your good clients is a great way to build your practice.

John is so very right. If they get a letter, they will assume that YOU did not tell them correctly, and thus it is up to you to fix it, at no charge to them. Plus they will tell their friends and family that YOU made a mistake! It's not worth it, Steve. I know you are trying to be nice, and not have to charge them if they don't need to file. But you have to look at "Total money coming in" [which is what we call Gross Income] not taxable profit. Because the IRS default assumption is that every taxpayer has zero basis, in all stock sales. Plus, even if they have a net cap loss carryover, the IRS computer does not even net that with the cap gain income for this year. So you are not overcharging them, you are PROTECTING them by filing that return.

The total amount of sales income is part of 'Gross Income', and if that total exceeds the limit, they have to file. The amount of the limit varies based on filing status and age, of course. But when in doubt, always file. It never hurts to file, it can hurt a lot, several years later, if they do not file when they should have.

LOL

ROTFLMAO PS: another good reason not to live in NY!

I agree with Gail. It's not the net taxable gain or loss that will cause trouble, but the total sales amount. Unless that is less than would trigger a need to file, you still need to do the return. That return is what lets the IRS know why the total sales amount is not all taxable income.

Now I know Mike is kidding, just pulling chains, so please do not start flaming him. Actually, we all know that the CPA designation has relativity little tax requirements, and lots and lots of auditing requirements, as it should. A CPA's primary purpose is to be the eyes and ears of the the Public who owns stock in businesses that they are not personally involved with. Tax work is what SOME CPAs specialize in, but for many CPAs it's a small part of their business, which is primarily auditing companies. EAs on the other hand, specialize in tax work. Thus many of them are much more knowledgeable about TAXES than some CPAs. But no one can generalize about either group.

Click on the line, it will bunnyhop you to the worksheet, and at the top, if the client is subject to DOT rules, he gets 80% If not he gets 50%, but the worksheet calculates it for you, automatically.