kcjenkins

CFS Tax Tools has trial balance and financial statements. ATX does have a Trial Balance program, btw. http://www.atxinc.com/accounting/trial_balance.aspx

I could see the IRS taking the position that the difference was 'compensation' to him for working the farm for them. And thus subject to payroll taxes and reporting on a W-2.

Very cute.

Yes, thanks Margaret, it's a useful template.

Not in my humble opinion.

Well, as you say, if someone else got 20% "for nothing", I'd ask the client " WHY the other guy was given 20%", and that answer would then direct my response. If he contributed ANYTHING, "connections to potential customers? Ideas but no know-how? Space to store parts?" then the 20% should have been treated as "compensation", which opens up other issues your client probably does not want opened at this point, like payroll taxes, for example. That aside, once the 20% loss was "distributed" it belongs to that person, whether it is used or suspended, it's still his. There is no way he can just take it back years later. HE does not have any 'suspended' loss to take now, those belong to the other guy. But explaining to him the proper way they should have handled that 20% assigned to the other guy should be enough to make him see the wisdom of letting go of those losses.

I never had one claim zero tips, in fact I'd have been insulted if someone told me that. However, I sometimes suspected that they were a bit light on their totals. However, after they realized, as was normally true in my area, that they got a larger refund with more tips, the numbers got more reasonable in future years.

If the transfer of property between spouses is pursuant to a divorce or separation instrument and the transfer occurs not more than six years after the date on which the marriage ceases, the transfer falls within I.R.C. § 1041. The implication here is that only transfers that are made pursuant to or under the obligations of a written instrument fall within the I.R.C. § 1041. The statute, however, does not appear to require a written instrument (generally described as a writing containing material settlement terms), which may be set forth in a divorce decree or, more typically, is referenced in a divorce decree as a separate agreement or a written separation agreement. Another troubling aspect of this rule is that the transfer must be made within six years or else the presumption must be rebutted. Property is often transferred after six years, for example, where a house is retained to raise children of the marriage. After the children reach a certain age, the parties dispose of the house. If the disposition of the house occurs six years after the termination of the marriage, the exception has not been met, and the presumption must be rebutted. We don't know if the 6 years was up before the sale or not, but even if it is, the presumption can still be rebutted, but in such a case I'd advise getting an attorney involved in preparing the grounds for the rebuttal.

My question is how could the other person actually be a "stockholder' if they never invested anything? If your guy 'gifted' them some of the stock he bought, that's one situation. If they got their stock as 'compensation' for their labor or such, that's another situation. But I have a real problem with the 'advice' he supposedly got. It just does not work that way. More details, please.

Citing “resource constraints,” the IRS is cutting back tax preparation services at their 250 walk-in offices and is, instead, directing qualified taxpayers to more than 13,000 volunteer partner sites across the country. No word yet on the exact definition of “qualified” since that likely depends on the specific volunteer sites (which means it will vary) but free tax preparation is generally limited to those taxpayers in a few categories: low income, military and seniors. New “Get Transcript” Service The IRS has been struggling with how to be best provide transcripts for taxpayers and have now announced a new online request option called “Get Transcript.” The service will allow individual taxpayers to instantly view and print a copy of tax transcripts. Five types of transcripts will be available: tax account, tax return, record of account, wage and income, and verification of non-filing. The service is not yet available – look for it in early 2014. Where’s My Refund? Speaking of online services, the IRS is promoting the use of the “Where’s My Refund?” tool on their website. And by promoting, I mean really promoting. In order to conserve resources (translation: they want you stop calling them everyday), the IRS will not answer any questions about refunds in person by phone if you call within the first 21 days of filing your return. You’ll have to use the “Where’s My Refund?” tool – available online through irs.gov and via the automated telephone service. There’s a mobile app for that (IRS2Go). Employer Identification Numbers Go Online Beginning in 2014, the IRS will no longer issue new EINs (employer identification numbers) over the phone. You’ll have to make all such requests online – which apparently folks are doing already. The IRS says they processed more than 4 million such requests online last year compared to 588,000 by phone. This year, however, online is your only option. Practitioner Priority Service Is (Gasp) For Practitioners Only Okay, folks. This is the one change/stern warning from IRS that confounds me – and not because of the actual change so much as the fact that IRS felt the need to issue a statement about it. The IRS has something called the Practitioner Priority Service (PPS). Now, I know this sounds wacky but the line is for – wait for it – practitioners. In other words, tax professionals. That’s the number that folks like me and an army of my colleagues use to dial straight to IRS to resolve specific taxpayer client account issues: it’s like our version of the Batphone. According to the IRS, “[o]ver the past few years, a growing number of customers who were not tax professionals used this service.” Now, the IRS is cracking down on those folks and making it clear that you’ll be referred to other resources if you try to use the number. Before you get all huffy, let me explain why this matters. The IRS staffs call centers and offices according to need based on specific services. The earned income tax credit (EITC) folks answer the EITC questions. International folks answer the international/FATCA questions. There’s even an entire criminal investigations (CI) department available to deal with criminal questions. And the folks that answer the PPS? They are specially trained to handle practitioners’ accounts questions. They’re not ready to answer your refund question or dig out your transcript. They’re prepared to explain to your tax professional why you received a certain notice or whether they can pull or pause a levy. If you call this number instead of the correct number, the folks at PPS have to route you somewhere else. In the meantime, other taxpayers are inconvenienced. So to be clear: stop calling the PPS unless you’re a tax professional. It’s tacky. It’s like getting on the staff elevator when you’re not staff. Get off the elevator – I mean, the phone. These are just a few of the changes on tap. Keep checking back as tax season heats up. Want more taxgirl goodness? Pick your poison: You can receive posts by email , follow me on twitter (@taxgirl ) hang out with me on Facebook and check out my YouTube channel . You can also subscribe to the podcast on the site or via iTunes (it’s free).

Last one today, but this was fascinating to me.

That is a good link, thanks for sharing it. I hereby cancel my previous advice! Serves me right for not researching first. I would just add that if a 1099S is issued by the transfer agent, as frequently happens, I'd report it, as non-taxable, just to avoid the later automatic CP2000.

I would probably report it as a sale on sch D of a personal asset. Whether it is subject to the home sale exclusion depends on timing, but since his basis would be $96,500, I would not even bother with raising that issue. If there is a 'gift' involved, it would be from him to her, it seems to me, since he's accepting less than FMV. That's the thing I'd want to research before making a final decision.

WOW, that guy was clearly a "Whale" to get that kind of comps. Of course, the real lesson is that even if you haave millions to play with, it's still a fools game! You can bet that they don't give out comps for more than a small percentage of what you spend. Free drinks are the LEAST of it, they will give those to anyone who is playing, but they don't even track those. It's the free rooms, meals, travel, and gifts that are tracked. High-Roller's get them of varying value depending on how much they spend. But the 'house' always wins in the end.

I always assume those are just their way of touching base, making sure you are still in business, etc. It's sort of nice, really, lets you know they are still counting on you.

Kittens learn physics 2 minutes Newton's first law of cuteness: An object that's adorable will stay adorable even when acted on by an even more adorable force! Those objects are kittens and they're learning Newton's laws of motion in this cuter-than-cute video.

Read these tips before buying a new printer. http://reviews.cnet.com/printer-buying-guide/ Here is another pretty good review source. http://www.pcmag.com/reviews/printers

I can wiggle my ears, but not trill the rrrrs. I've heard it said those who can wiggle their ears never go bald. BTW, it's impossible to hijack this thread, it's's all over the place already!

While that is usually true over time, it's not the facts given. And people who go only occasionally do sometimes win and take it home. Even some who usually lose may, in a particular year, win more than they lose. Sure, it's usually because they won it on 12/30 and did not lose it until 1/1, but you must report based on the records you have, and the time being reported.

It depends. If you buy it just for 'just in case', it is personal. HOWEVER, if you have some specific medical condition that your doctor says means you need it, then it would be deductible. So the client should ask their doctor. If he gives them a letter saying it's needed, that counts as 'a prescription'. I've gone through an audit on that, with no problem, since I took the doctor's letter with me.

Agree, you can paper file a 1040X anytime.

Do you mean like this ? Or like this ;~) ? The first is by clicking on the smilie in the formating icon bar right above the box where you type, which opens the menu for all of them below the box. The second is just made with punctuation keys.

Not to mention they cost less. Both seem like good investments for anyone with a frequent snow or ice problem.

I agree, you are right, it IS 4,300.

It always seemed like the ones who caused the most payroll problems were also the ones who never felt like they should have to pay for the extra work their screw-ups caused! I totally understand you.