kcjenkins

Now, Jack, those of us old enough to know what the term "pipe dream" means could take exception to being accused of drug use!

Almost Half of Americans Don’t Realize They Must Report Health Insurance Status on 2014 Tax Returns December 08, 2014- -A new survey reveals that almost half (48 percent) of Americans are unaware they are required to report their health insurance status on their upcoming 2014 tax returns. A new survey reveals that almost half (48 percent) of Americans are unaware they are required to report their health insurance status on their upcoming 2014 tax returns. With the start of the tax-filing season just weeks away, the Intuit (Nasdaq:INTU) TurboTax® Health Survey, conducted online by Harris Poll among over 2,000 U.S. adults age 18+, shows Americans are still largely unaware of the connection between their health care and taxes. Under the Affordable Care Act, 2015 will be the first year that Americans must prove they have qualifying insurance when filing 2014 taxes, or face a tax penalty. While most uninsured Americans (62 percent) are aware that those without any health insurance will be required to pay a penalty, 87 percent do not realize that the deadline to avoid a tax penalty for 2014 has passed. Health insurance purchased during the current open enrollment period, which extends through Feb. 15, 2015, will apply to returns filed in April 2016. A majority of those without health insurance (56 percent) were also unaware that uninsured individuals who meet certain criteria may qualify for an exemption from the Affordable Care Act tax penalty. Nearly half (45 percent) of Americans are not aware there are discounts called premium tax credits designed to make health insurance less expensive for low-to-moderate income families. “These numbers indicate that even with open enrollment in full swing many Americans still do not know the correlation between their health care and taxes,” said Sacha Adam, the Affordable Care Act product leader for TurboTax. “We are committed to bridging this gap by providing taxpayers with free, easy-to-use tools and resources that help them realize how their health care decisions affect their taxes and household finances.” To help Americans understand how the Affordable Care Act applies to their individual situation, TurboTax, the nation’s leading online tax preparation service, developed a free online resource at TurboTaxHealth.com. With TurboTax Health, anyone can determine if they are eligible for a low-cost health insurance plan and what the tax penalty would be if they haven’t purchased insurance. Additionally, the website offers TurboTax Exemption Check, a free online service that helps people without insurance determine, in just a few minutes, if they qualify for an exemption from the ACA penalty and then apply for that exemption. Other key findings for the Intuit TurboTax® Health Survey: Nine out of 10 Americans have health insurance. Those who live in Southern states are less likely than all other regions to have health insurance (85% insured in the South vs. 94% insured in the Northeast, 93% insured in the Midwest and 90% insured in the West). Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of Americans who purchased a health care plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace last year plan to renew it for next year. Those who purchased health insurance through the Marketplace during first enrollment are significantly more likely to be aware of premium tax credits than other insured groups. Americans who are covered by their parents’ health insurance plan are less likely to be aware of tax penalties (55%) than those who have health insurance through an employer (70%). The full report is available upon request. Methodology The surveys were conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of TurboTax from November 6-10 among 2,022 adults age 18 and older and November 13-17, 2014, among 2,014 adults ages 18 and older. The online surveys are not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Yes, clearly they are still keeping both going

Ah, the importance of Punctuation!

I have to agree with that. Just because they 'say' that now does not bind them at all. The 'law' says otherwise. Protect your clients and yourself by assuming a strict interpretation.

Wolters Kluwer, CCH Small Firm Services has enhanced its ATX software for the 2014 tax season with a streamlined user interface and “more robust” research content, including an ACA library. Among the enhancements for ATX: The user interface has been redesigned based on user feedback, to simplify data flow and increase productivity. The new release system continuously delivers product updates. A central contact center gives preparers access to up-to-date information. Content now includes a new integration with the Master Tax Guide Reference Book, interpretations and line-by-line explanations at the point of need.

Gee Rita, you sure made that one easy!

OK, I have to do just one more, because this one made me laugh out loud. Do you get it? wait for it....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . A group of crows is called a "murder of crows." Since there are only two of them, these guys are just an attempted murder.

Raise your hand if you wish this too.....

I am assuming [yeah, I know] that he wants to get current and stay that way with just the one old debt, which he can make payments on. New unpaid can jeopardize a payment plan.

Yes, but have him be VERY careful how he pays the 08 and 13. They need to be paid by check, with the year being paid clearly, carefully written on the check. Court has ruled that IRS must honor that. I'd make that a certified check or a money order. Example, in the "For____" space: SSN #___-__-____ Form 1040 yr 2008 Any electronic payment you can not prove what year you intend to pay.

might check out this link http://www.atilus.com/what-does-a-website-cost-web-site-development-costs/ or this https://www.designcontest.com/website-design/

Well, I took a SLIGHTLY different tack, in that I used the son's address, but not as the t/p address but as c/o Xxxxx Yyyyyy 123 Easy St. Anytown, State, xxxxxx Never had a problem, they can see at once that it's "in care of" address.

Washington. D.C. (November 25, 2014) By Michael Cohn The Internal Revenue Service has issued a notice, regulations and other guidance related to the Affordable Care Act, including information on getting a hardship exemption from the individual mandate for health insurance coverage. Notice 2014-76 provides a list of the hardship exemptions that taxpayers can claim on a federal income tax return without obtaining a hardship exemption certification from the health insurance marketplace. Under the Affordable Care Act, for each month beginning after Dec. 31, 2013, Section 5000A of the Tax Code requires individuals to either have minimum essential health coverage for themselves and any nonexempt family member whom the taxpayer can claim as a dependent, qualify for an exemption, or include an individual shared responsibility payment with their federal income tax return. An individual is exempt from the requirements for a month if he or she has a hardship exemption certification issued by the health insurance marketplace certifying that the person has suffered a hardship affecting their ability to obtain minimum essential coverage that month. The IRS simultaneously released Revenue Procedure 2014-62, which announces the indexed applicable percentage table for calculating an individual’s premium tax credit for taxable years beginning after 2015. The document also announces the indexed required contribution percentage for determining whether an individual is eligible for affordable employer-sponsored minimum essential coverage for plan years beginning after 2015. The same Revenue Procedure cross-references the required contribution percentage, as determined under guidance issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, for determining whether an individual is eligible for an exemption from the individual shared responsibility payment because of a lack of affordable minimum essential coverage, beginning after 2015. In addition, the IRS issued TD 9705, finalizing its regulations for minimum essential coverage and other rules regarding the individual shared responsibility payment, also known as the individual mandate.

So there were 200 acres in all? 160 crop land and 40 for home and pasture for pets? Did she sell it all? Did she sell to related party?

There are a number of reasons that people do this: Economically, one or both might not be capable of supporting himself, the divorce itself might be too expensive, or they might not be emotionally ready to formally and permanently split. Often, they have agreed to sell the home, their primary asset, but have not been able to sell, and without that they can not afford to set up separate homes. But remember, the IRS considers alimony tax deductible only for couples who are not sharing a household.

How long ago was it that he stopped farming as a business? Horses and donkeys as pets is not 'farming'. And if the father was the only 'farmer', and he's dead, then his heirs inherited the property and the issue is whether the heir or heirs have used the property as a residence, and for how long. May, depending on the details, be fully excludable.

And you are correct, the IRS will not question it as long as only one claims it. I had a couple to whom the credit was significant and they jointly agreed, after discussing it with me, to reduce the amount he paid in childcare by half of the credit amount. She got more credit then, by paying more, but they both felt they were reaching a fair division.

Several years back, I had this issue come up with a new client. He got a letter from Arkansas, we were able to get his Corp reinstated, basically just by filing and paying the back taxes. After that I started checking the SOS Website each Dec, making a list of any clients with franchise tax issues, so we could get that corrected. One great thing about ATX is that they have all those forms included. It's extra income for the preparer as well as better service to the clients.

Washington. D.C. (November 20, 2014) By Michael Cohn The Net Investment Income Tax, which was included as part of the Affordable Care Act, will be hitting taxpayers and practitioners alike this coming tax season. One of those practitioners is David Kirk, executive director of personal tax services in the National Tax Department of Ernst & Young LLP in Washington, D.C. He brings a unique perspective, having worked at the Internal Revenue Service as an attorney in the Passthroughs and Special Industries division of the Office of Chief Counsel helping develop the forms and instructions to implement the tax before joining EY in March. The IRS recently finalized Form 8960 used for filing the NITT and the associated instructions. The NIIT, which took effect Jan. 1, 2013, subjects taxpayers with incomes over $200,000 per year ($250,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly) to an extra 3.8 percent tax on the lesser of their net investment income, or the amount by which their modified adjusted gross income exceeds the applicable threshold. “I was brought on to the NIIT project in November of 2010, so I’m looking at four years of my life that I’m not getting back,” Kirk joked in an interview last month with Accounting Today. “From the moment I started, it ended up taking two years, two weeks and two days for the proposed regs to come out. Those were 159 pages, and then 50 weeks later there’s the final regs, with the companion package that came out totaling 300 and some odd pages. What I could speak to is what we did up until February 28, which is when I left, so I’m not really privy to what they’re doing anymore. But I can tell you how it developed and give you a perspective on the form. We designed the form on an Excel spreadsheet. Then we sent it to Production to have them put it in form style, where it gets assigned an OMB [Office of Management and Budget] number, it gets assigned an order to put it in a tax return.” The IRS Chief Counsel and Treasury help develop rules for the tax, while other parts of the IRS have the job of administering the NIIT, as well as developing the necessary forms, publications and instructions. “Within a few months of getting the project, we started to assemble a team,” Kirk recalled. “Because everybody is so compartmentalized, we had to get the computer programming people for e-file and we had to get forms and instructions people, and we had to get the auditors and the examiners. Because it was health care related, the health care people had to be involved. So it was hub and spoke. Every little constituency had to be represented because the last time there was a brand new tax system that rolled out was in the late ’70s with the AMT [alternative minimum tax].” He pointed out that even the generation-skipping transfer tax, or GST, layered on top of the existing estate and gift tax system. The NITT represents a new tax system in the sense that it has own set of taxpayers, tax rate and tax base. “The idea is we had a brand new system on our hands, and it was up to us as sort of the ivory tower to build out the infrastructure,” said Kirk. “If you think of a system as a building, you would have the architects come in and build and make sure that the structure itself is sound, and then you would have the interior designers come in, and make sure that the experience of the building, the usability of the building, makes sense and is functional, it flows, it works with the existing environment. You can see how on a major project that would work. We view Chief Counsel and Treasury as the architects of it, and at the same time Chief Counsel plus the IRS were the interior designers working with how the form works because that’s how people are going to interface with the system. They’re not going to interface with the studs in the walls or with the I-beams. They’re going to interface with how the system operates. I was kind of dead in the center of it all, because I ended up designing the forms, but it wasn’t just me. You can’t do anything with just one person. It requires an army. Writing the instructions, writing the forms, how do we bolt this on to an existing system without changing the existing system so much that it would cause disruption? We had gotten comments asking what is this going to look like for pass-throughs, partnerships and S corps? Are they going to have to issue a second Schedule K-1 to everybody because you have a different base on it? In other words, what is NII and what is not? Are you going to duplicate everything? That’s what AMT has done, intentionally or unintentionally. You can see the tax returns doubling in size. The IRS’s goal was to not do that.” In a sense, the IRS wanted to do as little harm as possible to the existing tax system, but it still needed to be able to generate enough revenue to meet the projections from Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation for funding the Affordable Care Act. “It absolutely is ‘do no harm,’” said Kirk. “If you look at who’s affected by this, you have maybe 3 million people with 1040’s. If you look at the revenue mark for this tax, it clocks in somewhere around $200 billion over six years [according to estimates from Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation]. But it doubles between now and the end of the estimation period of, I think, 2019. There are a couple of reasons for that, I would suspect, though I was never part of the estimation. One, the brackets or the threshold amounts for individuals over $200,000 and married couples over $250,000 are not indexed for inflation the same way AMT wasn’t indexed for inflation, so you’re going to inflate your way into it. And the other piece is that as people start burning through their capital losses that they have from the Great Recession—and if you’re just the average two-earner couple with a stock brokerage account, you probably have some capital losses that are sitting on your Schedule D from bad years—well, if you’re just your average guy who holds mutual funds and gets capital gain distributions over a series of years, you’ll eventually whittle that away and then at that point your capital gains are going to start ticking up. And that’s one of the elements of the NII base. So when you add the inflating your way into it with that aspect burning out, you can kind of see, OK, maybe this is why they envisioned the revenue doubling because the tax rate is not going to double, so that means more people must be in it.” The IRS wanted the system to be usable by taxpayers—along with tax professionals—and relatively easy to administer. “Designing the system, the main goal of the Service—at least this was my goal, being in the center of this all—was to make it administrable and usable, for the two-earner couple that will do it on computer software at their kitchen table, and also the people with the $60 million AGIs that are the titans of their industry,” said Kirk. “That the average person that has this type of income, whether they’re two young professionals or whatever, can do it by themselves, and at the same time not be so easily manipulable by the higher echelons of the socioeconomic stratosphere, that it would cause the people in the rank and file to not believe that the system has any integrity. Generally that is the goal of tax administration generally, that it’s fair, it’s equitable, that no one can abuse the system too much. So that’s what we tried to do.” Now that Kirk is on the other side of the fence, dealing with the NIIT at Ernst & Young, he is seeing that the tax is not so straightforward after all. “I think that there are growing pains for the year,” he admitted. “I mean, this year was the first year that people are seeing this. Everybody involved is going to have some growing pains. Even us, dealing primarily with the higher end of the scope of people, are having to almost relearn tax, about how mechanically things work, because the rules for Net Investment Income are based off of what the mechanics are of the regular income tax system. We need to understand how those mechanics work. But at the same time, we have seen, and being part of the AICPA, we’re seeing it from other areas, that the software people are learning as well.” Kirk pointed to the seeming simplicity of the form itself. “It was a one-page form, with 12 lines, to compute Net Investment Income, but it is a lot more difficult to compute than just 12 lines,” he said. “The idea was to make it only 12 lines so that it is not overly intimidating for the people doing it at their kitchen table. That was our [way of] trying to balance it. We could make it look like a six-page form, but that would be too daunting for the middle-class folk that tend to be coming up against the [$200,000 per year for individuals and $250,000 for married couples threshold].” In contrast, the instructions are 20 pages long for Form 8960. “The instructions were actually very difficult to write because we have 300 pages of regulations that are hyper-technical,” said Kirk. The instructions also had to be written to achieve a certain level of readability to make it understandable in plain English. “It has to be consumable, it cannot be overly technical, it cannot be littered with citations,” said Kirk. “That was the hard part, translating this incredibly complicated system into 20 pages that are consumable by the masses. We got both compliments and criticisms about it. That’s what you expect. But at the same time, the compliments and criticisms were saying the same thing, that it’s 20 pages. Because in order to really do it and fully explain it, you’re probably at 50 pages, but then that’s not consumable. So that was a very tough thing that we struggled with.” Now that he is at EY, he can see how taxpayers and practitioners are dealing with the brand new tax. “It’s kind of like releasing your baby into the world, pushing it out and seeing how it goes. Hopefully it doesn’t fall off a cliff,” said Kirk. “That was sort of my time to come out and see how it’s being applied. Landing at EY was the place to see if it actually works. So it’s been really rewarding, being here, to see how it works.” Working at EY, he sees a few adjustments that could have been made back at the IRS. “I’d almost, if I could, want to go back into the Service for just a couple of months, just to fix some things that I’ve seen on the outside that could be better clarified and improved, areas that I’ve gotten too many questions on,” said Kirk. “I’m still in contact with the people I’ve worked with in the past on this project, and I’ve sent them suggestions, but now I’m just a regular CPA. I’m just like anybody else that calls in with an idea or a question or a suggestion.” At EY, Craig is more likely to deal with high-income taxpayers than the average Mom and Pop at the kitchen table, but he still feels a responsibility to make sure the tax works correctly. “The problem for me is that I still have to sit at Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws,” he joked. “So if I screw that up, then I’ve got bigger problems than the guy with the $60 million AGI. So I worried about making that work for them as much, because they know where I live. Just because you have a $60 million AGI does not mean automatically that you are more complicated. Your $60 million could be a W-2. Granted, that’s a very nice W-2. I would very much like to have such a thing. Or it could just be interest and dividends. You could be a massive shareholder in a single company that pays dividends and you could have that, or a giant bond portfolio. That does not make you complicated. But it’s some of the people that have all of these pass-through interests that when one partnership is good, four is better, or 16 is better. And that’s where it gets complicated.”

Yes, it can be a problem sometimes. Tax professionals seem to attract legal questions, estate planning questions, marriage counselling questions, and business development questions, in addition to tax questions. Heck, we get software questions too. Besides referring them to proper specialists, where appropriate, I always just hiked the fee and ranted to Don.