Bob Hoffman

Hey there-

Are there any other rules besides the hobby loss which would prevent someone from taking Sch. C loss to reduce overall income. I have a client where Husband and wife both make good money but tjhey want to creat a loss (with a photography business no less). Of course it sounds like a hobby but are there any other rules I'm not thinking about? Thanks for any input.

Julie

I'm not sure you need anything other "rule" but hobby loss restrictions. Is there a reason you need another? They have all but admitted to you that it will be a hobby.

Oh...Oh...

I am just throwing this out because I am interested, not because it applies to anything (or maybe it does).

We know that in the year a spouse dies, survivor can still file MFJ. Can the non-minister survivor in the year of death take the same tax treatment for housing in the year of death?

Here is a more specific what if - H&W filing joint for 20 years. H is minister and excluding 10K per year Housing. H dies in Jan. after recieving housing allowance for the entire year. Can W file MFJ and claim housing exclusion of 10K.

I know, who has time at this time of year to think about made up crap like this? Sorry if it is stupid.

Tom

Lodi, CA

It's not stupid; that is exactly what I did in 2006, the year he died. 2007 she is filing single. Thanks for your input.

I checked my Church and Clergy Tax Guide 2007 by Richard Hammar. It states that retired ministers are elegible for this if certain conditions are met. "However, the surviving spouse of a deceased minister is not eligible for the exclusion unless he or she also is a minister who otherwise qualifies. IRS Publication 517 states: "If you are a retired minister, you exclude from your gross income....However, a minister's surviving spouse cannot exclude the rental value unless the rental value is for ministerial services he or she performs or performed." So maybe check the Pub. 517.

Thank you, Margaret.

Unfortunately the exclusion for the H&U allowance for a retired minister does not extend to the widow. I wish it did, as I prepare returns for several widows of retired ministers and when the husband died they effectively saw a decrease in income and an increase in tax liability simultaneously. If you or anyone else should turn up anything to the contrary, I'd be grateful to learn about it.

John-

Is this a federal reg or just common sense in your mind. I'm having a hard time finding any sites that speak to the issue of housing allowances for widows of ministers.

In the past a retired minister client of mine received a pension from Concordia that included a provision for housing (up to 100% of allowable housing) He has passed away. I'm just wondering whether the allowance is still available only for his widow? I will be investigating further; just wondered whether anyone had any experience in this matter.

Thanks in advance!

Ithought that you should see this site that I believe was posted on this board.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VPYNCHON

That should answer your inquiry.

Good luck

Mike Dubin CPA

Classic!

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we are being pranked!

My client has medical expenses exceeding the 7.5% amount. Her W-2 has an explanatory section with additional info, part of which is that her box 1 income has been reduced by $504 for a Medical FSA. That info doesn't show up in box 12, just in the supplemental info section for the employee.

My question is should I put that amount on line 16 in the Sch A Med worksheet in the box for "insurance reimbursement for above medical expenses"? Otherwise it would be double dipping, getting the funds into the account with no tax, and then reducing taxable income income again w/ a Sch A deduction.

The W-2 supplemental info also lists $1,408 as a reduction in income for "Other Cafe 125". I'm not sure if I s/ do anything with that at all..

Section 125 is informational and provides a reconciliation between gross wages and taxable wages (just like 401 (k), 403 (B ), etc)

Does anyone out there know about this or at least have an opinion?

Uh oh, that was probably the wrong question. Many of you have opinions about many things, all interesting and erudite, no doubt. What about this particular topic?

Margaret-

I have had situations where multiple years worth of non-deductible contributions were not 8606'd (if you will) in prior years. I have included the sum total of them - after corroboration from the broker on the amount of contribution- and attached a note to that effect on the tax return for the year of reporting the withdrawals.

You were not dealt a perfect hand as far as prior years reporting but it certainly more likely than not that youy are on the correct path.

Same problem here

Most rollover, some don't.....Strange!

I know marginal tax rate and effective/average tax rate......but I have a client who monitors Total Tax - divided by - AGI.

1. Is there a "name" for this?

2. What's the significance of monitoring the result of this calculation?

It isn't marginal tax. Sounds like average tax rate to me.

No, Rob, unfortunately you cannot to my knowledge create anything other than the cumbersome Organizer that they have left us with. I know that several ATX users do create their own organizers through Excel, Word, Works or some such word processor. Of course, I know of no way that the prior year numbers would carry forward. I have found myself apologizing to nearly everyone who came in with the current Organizer that I had sent out. Hardly anyone had put any numbers on it. The MINI was so wonderful for my middle-of-the-line clientele.

I agree. The Mini Organizer was a very useful tool for thise of my clients that wanted it.

Why would CCH eliminate this item? I cant believe in the interests of program size or such.

I would keep it simple. Report the total sales price on the Schedule D; determine the basis needed in order to give your client 1/3 of the loss. Prepare a schedule for your client to give to her siblings that shows their 1/3 interest in each of the stock sales for them to use on their tax returns.

Maribeth

My client received only a 1099-B to report the sales. Are you suggesting that no official reporting be made to the siblings? Is there such a thing as a 1099-B nominee forms?

Hi, everyone.

I am confused about the proper way to handle (report) the following situation:

My client was among three siblings who inherited a brokerage account that included stock. I know the proper valuation of the stock issues as they were sold several months later (in 2007) for a loss. The problem is that my client went and registered the account in all three names as a joint account but used her ss#.

Well, the broker has reported all of the proceeds to her and she (and I) wonder how to get the proper information to her siblings. It seems that they should all get the proportionate loss.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

For what it is worth, I have seen no difference in performance between PDF factory (which I kept from 2004) and the PDF selection in the printing section.

Heh..heh..heh

Does anyone remember AMTAX? I thought at the time it was a perfect system. Who ended up buying them out?

Count me in as well. I would be very excited to hear more as this acorn of an idea grows.

Bob Hoffman

Mine arrived today as well. :rolleyes:

Great Idea!

Thanks, Taxbilly

The willingness of people on this forum to share resources and expertise makes this one of my favorite sites.

I stuck with MAX for this year. It still serves my needs.