kcjenkins

I think you do have to paper file in that situation.

And Tom, don't forget he could pre-pay you.

Order yourself some on the phone or online, let them deliver them to you. Problem solved. You too, Cat.

Yes, still eligible to be dependents, no matter where they live or he lives, as long as they meet the normal tests.

File it correctly or let him walk. Don't let him turn his problem into yours. Plus, the 'other guy' might have done it that way 'before' based on mis-information he provided, but that was then, this is now, and you have to go with the facts you know.

I'm with JM on this one. This is not a change in method, just correcting a math error. Keep good notes and don't worry about it. Just don't forget to add a bit to your bill to cover the likelihood of a CP2000.

OMG you both bring back so many memories. Like frassett, mostly funny AFTER THE FACT.

Ditto to Cat's answer. But Micheal is really right, not as much fun, but clearly this one is a PITA SQUARED. No price is enough to make you like seeing him coming in.

If she rents them, then taking depreciation is the correct thing to do. From the IRS Topic 415 - Renting Residential and Vacation Property If you receive rental income for the use of a dwelling unit, such as a house or an apartment, you may deduct certain expenses. These expenses, which may include mortgage interest, real estate taxes, casualty losses, maintenance, utilities, insurance, and depreciation, will reduce the amount of rental income that is subject to tax. You will generally report such income and expenses on Form 1040 (PDF), U.S. Individual Income Tax Return and on Form 1040, Schedule E (PDF), Supplemental Income and Loss. If you are renting to make a profit and do not use the dwelling unit as a personal residence, then your deductible rental expenses may be more than your gross rental income. Your rental losses, however, generally will be limited by the "at-risk" rules and/or the passive activity loss rules. For information on these limits, refer to Publication 925, Passive Activities and At-Risk Rules.

Remind the callers that, thanks to ACA and other significant changes, it's complicated many returns, slowing you as you work carefully to be sure you provide all your clients with the best in professional, proper returns. And that accuracy is more important than speed, because you don't want your clients to ever overpay.

In that case, there is really nothing to put on line 21, as long as you are treating it as a hobby, rather than a business,

Think of it like MFS, you 'elect' it by doing it.

You don't enter anything on line 7. It's Part 1 that you enter the info that lets the software compute 7. 1a should say CT, 2 should be CT 12/21/2014 4 should be CT.

Clearly, medical measurements should be ___lbs ___oz, not rounded at all. But when it comes to money on tax returns, I really think the difference if $97.50 is rounded up [as it should be] or down, is not going to change the tax in more than one out of a thousand cases, Or maybe one in ten thousand!

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/02-0020.pdf Generally, meals at the taxpayer’s regular work location are not allowable under § 162. The courts have held that daily meals are an inherently personal expense. See Moss v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. 1073 (1983), aff’d 758 F.2d 211 (7th Cir. 1985), cert. denied 474 U.S. 979 (1985), (deductions for frequent lunch meetings taken by a law firm disallowed). You drew our attention to the instructions for Form 2106, specifically the instructions for Line 5 and Line 9. These instructions use the terms “allowable meals” or “business meals.” An expense for meals is allowable only if it meets the requirements of § 162 described above.

Wow, Cat, that's a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

With today's IRS, no telling.

I did this frequently over the years. Never officially 'advertised' it, but did tell new clients, plus those who would tell me about a family member or friend who they think is over-paying, that I would look at the prior 3 returns, at no charge unless I found them more money by amending. Surprising how often I did, especially self-prepared returns. Of course, that was before the accessibility of computer prepared returns. It was my policy, if I found a change of less than $100, since I'd already input the info, I'd still give them the return, but free. Got a number of nice new clients that way, over the years.

I'd like to see uniform sizes that are readable, plus NO DECIMALS ALLOWED, ALL NUMBERS ROUNDED. That would avoid a lot of errors on both ends.

No. If he did not work in CA at all in 14, then he should file as a resident of the former state for 2014, no CA return at all. Or file a CA 540NR return, with zero CA income. The CA schedule CA will let you fill in the relevant dates, and then the CA income should go to zero.

Funny thing is, in 35 years of business, no client I set up the books for, or 'modified' the ones they already had, EVER asked me what WITTB meant, they just accepted it and used it.