kcjenkins

It could be that the home was sold, and the proceeds applied first to interest, but I'd sure question the issuer of the 1098, to be sure. Perhaps at the same time you can get info on any canceled debt?

Based on the facts as stated, he can claim her.

Gee, why couldn't the jerks go ahead and state that late returns would not be penalized? Since it is THEIR problem, that seems to be a basic fari play. I'm glad I don't have to file any NY returns.

Jonesboro, AR: 1. The city is known as the city of churches as it has more than seventy five churches in it. For a city of 55,515, [as of the 2000 Census]. 2. Also, the Islamic center of the state is located here. 3. Home of Hattie Caraway, the first woman to ever be ELECTED to the US Senate. 4. Birthplace of the author John Grisham . 5. Birthplace of Rodger Bumpass - the voice of Squidward Tentacles on SpongeBob SquarePants. 6. In the 1950s, Jonesboro was home to the Bartleby Clown College, an institution for the training of circus performers. The college ultimately proved unsuccessful and closed in 1959. The founding president, Steven Teske, went on to take a leadership position with Ringling Brothers Circus.

I remember when Coaco Beach had a sign the advertised "Coaco Beach, 12 miles form Confusion" Confusion being the big town of Cocoa, FL. At that time, Merritt Island was not even a town, really, just a wide spot in the middle of the causeways. The causeways had wooden bridges that opened up to let the shrimp boats through.

Each software has to get it's forms approved, and rightly or wrongly, most states do tend to work the 'biggest; programs first. On the other hand, they tend to all get approved pretty fast, after the first few get done. I expect that you will be able to file very soon. Some of the smaller states just don't have the staff to process everyone at once, they take a little longer. On the other hand, the ATX forms are in PATS status, which is the very last step, and expected to be approved some time today, so keep checking, could be anytime now.

No, we are responding to Elfling's "It made me laugh".

That is right, If you made timely deposits in full payment of your taxes for a quarter, you have 10 more days to file timely.

You can write it off using a 3115. Look at Rev. Proc. 2007-16 and §1.446-1(e). An automatic change is allowed if changing from an impermissible method to a permissible method. Also, in 1.446-1(e)(2)(ii)(d)(2), it states that a change in the treatment of an asset from non-depreciable or non-amortizable to depreciable or amortizable, or vice versa, is a change in method of accounting.

No fees, except the $15 per that they deduct from YOUR Fee. So if your bill is $200, and you want to get paid $200, you have to bill the client $215. Which many will see as a bargain to not have to pay you up front.

DON'T.......PLEASE. UNTIL YOU READ THIS..... Here's the deal. After you customize the form, any new forms added will have the changes, and any returns rolled over after it will have the new form. Ones you are already working on, the only way to get it is to delete the 4562 and re-add it. And that means you lose the work you've done so far, if you roll them over again, or you lose all the assets, if you delete the 4562 in the return you are working on. In some cases, it might be easy to just delete the one you have now, and re-roll the return. But in most cases, it's better to just live with it on the few old ones, and have the nice new look on all the rest of the season's returns.

Basically, all those things you mention are also common to Sch C, D, and F as well. So starting off with a new corp, with a single owner, is ideal for the first return, IMHO. Everyone starts somewhere, and I'm of the group who thinks it's better to start with a brand new corp, than to take over one that may have been messed up by others, before. As long as he's going into it with care, and getting good advice along the way, [which is why he's posting here], I think he will do fine. It's the folks who charge blindly in without even thinking about it that scare me, not the ones who ask for advice and council at the start. By the way, Taxguy, where are you located? Might be some state issues that could come up, so knowing will help us help you.

Sorry that I misunderstood your post, Jacksorn, but if you reread your original post, I think you can see why I got the impression I was responding to. You were questioning the description, for good reason. But you did not explain that it was the CPA's description that you were questioning. I sounded to me like you were suggesting that wording be used on this year's return. I'm sorry that I sounded like a smartaleck to you. I was just concerned that you sounded so confused. I now think it's just a case of the client being confused, and you being a little too brief in your post so that you left out the item of WHO wrote the description, etc. And this is something we all see from time to time. Heck, even our own clients sometimes quote us wrong, don't they? We tell them something, and they only hear, or at least remember, the part that they want to hear. As the CPA set it up right, and took the $3000 and showed the correct carryover, I expect the client just heard 'You can use the rest of the capital loss next year" and he 'forgot' the phrase 'rest of'.

Well, if the dog 'found' them, she has no cost basis to deduct, does she? As for the on-going expenses, which I now assume is your real question, I'd say no to taking those, since it is staying at the family home, not in a separate business location, right? While the expenses of a 'working dog' can be taken, such as a guard dog that lives at the business premises to protect them, a dog that lives with the family and whose only 'work' is to play with the kids, I would not be able to justify.

Me too.

OK, then you can do what I did, and customize the 4562 master form. Once it opens, go to the report tab and at the very top of the page, you can move the column size just like you would adjust an excel spreadsheet. I made several columns smaller, as some of them are wider than really needed. Salvage value, for example, is the same size as Cost, when clearly you know it will be a smaller number. Recovery Period is way wider than it needs to be. Asset code can be narrowed a bit as well. I also deleted the default "X" in the columns that I almost never print. I can always go back and X any column that I do need to print. After you do this, be sure to open a new test return, add the 4562, add an asset, then print the reports, and be sure you did not make any column TOO SMALL. If you did, it will print ##### in the field, to indicate that the number is too large to fit. If that happens, just go back, customize it again, and widen that field a bit.

Right. For tax purposes, there is no such thing as a 'stepchild', he is just a 'qualifying child'. Read page 12 of Pub 501.

My comment would be that there is a lot of confusion in Milwaukee, and some of it is yours. I think you need to do some reading, Jacksorn, because you sound as confused as the client. No, of course he can not take the entire loss again. He takes only the carryover, and for that he does not enter the sale on the D, only the carryover. Last year, when he inherited and sold the house is the only time it is entered as a transaction. And inherited property is ALWAYS LONGTERM, by law, Jacksorn. You should know that. And the description, in the year of sale would not be "Residence of the Deceased" it would be "123 Easy St" and date acquired would be 'inherited'. That will automatically make it longterm, as well as making it clear to the IRS where he got it. And the taxes paid should have been added to his basis, which I expect the CPA did.

Life doesn't allow many do overs, especially when it comes to financial planning. Most of us simply save and invest as best we can and hope that in retirement we run out of time before we run out of money. Until recently, financial planners tended to treat Social Security benefits as the arthritic component of a retirement plan: a predictable, if feeble, income stream with limited range of motion. But between ages 62 and 70, you can bust three surprising Social Security dance moves -- the reset, the file and suspend, and the restricted application -- which can significantly expand your planning options and supersize your benefits. 1. The Reset The reset, or do over, feature gives some flexibility to taxpayers who may have lived to regret taking a reduced benefit at age 62 instead of their full benefit at age 65 or 66, or the bonus amount by delaying retirement until age 70. It allows you to reset your benefit amount by essentially coming out of retirement by filing Social Security Form 521, or a "Request for Withdrawal of Application," repaying all Social Security benefits received to date with no interest or adjustment for inflation, then reapplying at your current age. You can do it only once, and it is irreversible. Once the Social Security Administration approves your request, which is almost automatic, you collect at the stepped-up amount for as long as you can fog a mirror. One added plus: Your spouse thereafter may collect spousal or survivor benefits based on your stepped-up benefit rather than your meager early-retirement amount. 2. The File and Suspend File and suspend allows married taxpayers who retire at different ages to collect optimal benefits. Here's how it works: Let's say Jack has reached his full retirement age of 66 but plans to work until 70 to collect his delayed retirement credits, which can increase his full benefit amount by 32 percent. Let's also say Jill, his nonworking spouse, just turned 62. He can file for Social Security benefits but request an immediate suspension of his benefits, which allows Jill to then apply for her Social Security at his benefit level, without locking him into a lower payment for life. He won't receive any checks and will continue to accrue delayed retirement credits for himself. His wife can then apply for benefits on his record and begin receiving checks at a higher amount than she would have received on her own employment record. With a little planning and saving, Jack later may decide to reset at age 70, which would increase not only his own lifetime benefit but Jill's spousal and survivor benefit. 3. The Restricted Application Let's juggle our Jack-and-Jill equation a bit. Jack is still 66 and wants to work until he's 70. Now let's say Jill is also 66 and looking to retire, but her career has earned her a full benefit on her own record. So she won't be drawing on Jack's record. In this case, Jack would not file for Social Security but would instead do what is called "restricting an application" to Jill's benefits only. What does that do? It allows Jack to file as spouse on Jill's record and earn half of her full benefit while still racking up delayed retirement credits of his own. That means if Jill earns $1,000 a month, Jack will receive $500 a month on her record while he continues working, increasing their family benefit amount 50 percent. When Jack retires at 70, his delayed credits will bring a higher benefit amount, which would mean a higher survivor benefit for Jill should she outlive Jack. Social Security Administration spokesman Mark Lassiter admits there's nothing terribly new about these program features. The reset has been around as an escape clause since the dawn of the program for people who wanted or needed to return to work, while file and suspend was enacted in 2000 as part of the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act.

:bday:

Part three is only used when the t/p stops being a qualified individual. It does not sound to me like that applies in this case. Read page 6 of the instuctions to be sure you need to use part III.

Start with Pub 542. Of course, to file a consolidated return, you would need each of the subsidiary corps to file an 1122. But I am not at all sure that is really what you need to do. Just because they have common ownership does not mean that they automatically have to file a consolidated return.

Two things for you to do. One, deduct the $19K of interest actually paid. You keep a copy of that report, and if the IRS questions the deduction, you have your proof right there. Put the $17300 on the line for 'interest reported on 1098, and put the rest on the 'other interest line. Second, tell the client from now on, on every payment, to write clearly on the check, "excess to be applied to principle". Then they have to do it right. He's getting charged extra interest if they do not reduce the principle, instead holding the extra as 'prepaid interest'. That's a rip-off.

Well, I am sure you have already had the talk about "no SSN, no check without 30% withholding", right? So now, if he does not respond to the W-9 in a timely fashion, send him a copy of his 1099 with REFUSED in the box for his SSN. Include a cover letter telling him he has 5 days to send you the number, or it will go to the IRS that way, which is a red flag to the IRS, who can easily find him from his name and address. I bet you get the W-9 back promptly.

Tell your printer to print that page only and then change the layout to landscape. Or you can go into the 4562, and then go to the detail report, and remove unneeded columns, which is what I like to do. If all the conversion codes are HY and no special allowances were taken, why waste space printing those?