kcjenkins

The IRS Genie... A modern day cowboy has spent many days crossing the desert without water. His horse has already died of thirst. He's crawling through the sand, certain that he has breathed his last breath, when all of a sudden, he sees an object sticking out of the sand several yards ahead of him. He crawls to the object, pulls it out of the sand, and discovers what looks to be an old brief case. He opens it and out pops a genie. But this is no ordinary genie. She is wearing an Internal Revenue Service ID badge and a dull gray dress.. There's a calculator in her pocketbook. She has a pencil tucked behind one ear. "Well, cowboy," says the genie... "You know how I work. You have three wishes." "I'm not falling for this." Says the man. "I'm not going to trust an IRS auditor genie." "What do you have to lose? You've got no transportation, and it looks like you're a goner anyway!" The man thinks about this for a minute, and decides that the genie is right. "OK, I wish I were in a lush oasis with plenty of food and drink." ********POOF****** The cowboy finds himself in the most beautiful oasis he has ever seen and he is surrounded with jugs of wine and platters of delicacies. "OK, cowpoke, what's your second wish." "My second wish is that I were rich beyond my wildest dreams. *******POOF******* The man finds himself surrounded by treasure chests filled with rare gold coins and precious gems. "OK, cowpuncher, you have just one more wish. Better make it a good one!" After thinking for a few minutes, the man says.. "I wish that no matter where I go, beautiful women will want and need me." ******POOF****** He is turned into a tampon. The moral of the story: If the IRS offers you anything, there's going to be a string attached.

Way to go, Atticus. Come on, folks, add your contribution to our thread. We all need to laugh more, especially this week.

A duck walks into a pub and orders a pint of lager and a ham sandwich. The landlord looks at him and says, "But you're a duck." "I see your eyes are working," replies the duck. "And you talk!" exclaims the landlord. "I see your ears are working," says the duck, "Now can I have my beer and my sandwich please? I'm working on the building site across the road," explains the duck. Then the duck drinks his beer, eats his sandwich and leaves. This continues for 2 weeks. Then one day the circus comes to town. The ringleader of the circus comes into the pub and the landlord says to him, "You're with the circus aren't you?, I know this duck that would be just brilliant in your circus, he talks, drinks beer and everything!" "Sounds marvelous," says the ringleader, "get him to give me a call." So the next day when the duck comes into the pub the landlord says, "Hey Mr. Duck, I reckon I can line you up with a top job, paying really good money!" "Yeah?" asks the duck. "Sounds great, where is it?" "At the circus," says the landlord. "The circus?" the duck enquires. "That's right," replies the landlord. "The circus? That place with the big tent? With all the animals? With the big canvas roof with the hole in the middle," asks the duck. "That's right!" says the landlord. The duck pauses for a moment with a confused loook on his face and replies: "What the heck would they want with a plasterer?"

As I understand it, §504 relates to the organization itself losing it's taxexempt status, but does not address the deductibility of contributions by the donors. I think you just have to check to see if the organization is listed in Pub 78. If it is, then it's deductible. If not, it's not.

Unfortunately, telling us was not enough, we have to listen to him before it does any good. These days, kids are only taught that he was the first president, and he cut down a cherry tree as a kid. That's about it as far as todays history books used in the schools go. We would probably have a much better citizenry, if all school kids were exposed to his writings and speeches, in full, during their formative years. He was a great leader, it's a shame he's been allowed to be diminished into just a symbol, rather than having our kids exposed to his thoughts and hopes for our country.

§170(f)(8) does not prohibit the deduction, it merely sets specific rules that must be met for the contribution to be deductible.

LS, what you forgot to do was to give him his share of the value of the contract.

On the 'Filers Info' tab, you put in the DOD. Then, even if there is no refund, I attach a 1310. If the person signing is not the spouse, I attach a copy of the court appointment

I don't think so, but don't have any cite on it. Just know it's not listed as one of the state taxes that is deductible.

Well, we still do get a number of disks shipped to us, plus, depending on your choice of package, some books, etc. We need at least the original disk, and the final archive disk, plus whatever books we want.

Glad we could help. Make sure you explain to the client that if he is going to operate a business, he needs to do it in a business-like manner. Keeping the necessary records is simply part of that. It may seem like a pain, but frankly, it's better in the long run. Because knowing how much he is spending is part of knowing how much he must charge to be profitable. You'd be surprised how many new businesses need to have that explained to them. They tend to just think that they know it, but when they start keeping better records, they discover that they have underestimated some things and overestimated others.

Does not matter if they do it now or later, it should be added to basis [capitalized] if it is a significant repair that extends the useful life of the building, which I would assume it would do. So when the house is converted, it is part of the basis that you will then start depreciating.

Well, it depends on whether this is an auto, a pickup, etc, or whether it is a V1 or V4 truck. Read Pub 463 page 17 where 'a car' is defined. A truck used to haul property is not one that you can use the standard mileage rate on. See the list of what is NOT INCLUDED as 'a car'. It is a trucking business, you said, so while a service truck might qualify, the truck used to haul things for payment would not.

An expense to 'make it rentable' should be capitalized, added to the basis that you depreciate when you start renting it. So they do get to deduct it, but not all at once.

Or he DID go back, did not like the outcome, and decided to 'shop it around' until he finds a more appealing answer?

Lucky for you, you are already a member, Don, so you don't need a lifeline. Good thing, huh?

Just one more point. The last one posted had some horrid pictures, which opened with the post. So if you don't want to dirty your mind with this crud, don't open them at all. You can click on the little check box at the far right, and then delete them all without ever opening them.

You are right, we're working on them. Taking care to hold my breath and wearing my hazmat outfit, of course. Please don't respond to any of them.

Good news, Don was able to come home on the 25th, exactly one full month in hospital, but he's home now. Not yet independently mobile, but gaining strength each day. I'm exhausted, but happy to be home at last.

Interest on this sort of loan is normal business expense, so I'd put it on the C on Line 16.

I'd just suggest that the up-front payment may not be impossible, if they really want the protection of the BK court. Because under current rules, they can NOT file without the tax returns, if you insist on payment up front, they will either pay you or go elsewhere. If you don't wish to do this pro bono, either way is in your favor, either you get paid or you save your time for something more enjoyable than doing a free tax return. Especially since those sort of returns are often messy.

If he carries the note, you would show the sale on Sch C, at the sale price, in the year of the sale. Then, do an amortization for the note he is carrying, and report the interest [only] on Sch B, as seller-financed interest. The principle portion will already have been reported on the C in the year of the sale. In following years, only the interest collected will be reported, and that will be on the B.

What I would do is to back up those old databases at least three different ways. On a CD, on a flash drive, and on some other backup device, such as a removable hard-drive. In fact, I'd do at least three CD's. Because you never know when you may want to refer to old files. Then, you can delete the old database. But do not delete the TAX PROGRAM ITSELF, because you never know when you might need to do somebody's delinquent returns for those old years. As for a new computer, it's a LOT BETTER to buy one before the old one dies, so that you can migrate programs over from the old to the new, before you have a crash. Believe me, that is a lot easier and even cheaper, usually. In fact, if you buy from a local computer source, often you can get that done by their experts, as part of the deal. Just a thought. I would, for sure, buy the new one BEFORE the start of the tax season, because having to deal with it in the midst of tax work is enough to drive you insane. You want everything up and running and tested before the Jan rush starts.

Thanks for that happy outcome news, JKL. Don is beginning to improve now, and he's been moved to the Transitional Care floor. Hopefully he'll be well enough to come home soon. Thanks to all of you for your prayers.

But the TOTAL depreciation can not be more than the 60% limits it to, so if it stays at 60% you might have no depreciation this year. But over it's life, you will get the full 60%.