Catherine

Thanks, Judy. That helps a lot. The other twist is that what he paid is NOT what's on the 1095-A, so I have to make that correction as well.

In theory it is possible - my software (Drake) specifically asks if the bank is located in a foreign country. However, there is another question here: is this *really* the last US return they'll need to file? The rules say that if you are subject to US taxation, you file a return based on world-wide income. That applies to US citizens *and* to permanent legal residents (green card holders). Don't let your clients be so sanguine about "we're outta here; no more US taxes!" quite yet.

Client got marketplace coverage and a whopping $300 in advance PTC. However, family income hits 401% of poverty level so the whole $300 will get paid back (added to his taxes for 2016). So far, so good. Or at least comprehensible. Client is working for a small employer that does NOT offer health insurance. How much of the premiums he paid out-of-pocket can I deduct on Schedule A? The entire amount, or do I have to adjust by $300 for the premium tax credit that he will be paying back? If the latter, do I have to remember that $300 to add to 2017 insurance costs? I've researched and found all kinds of info on self-employed and semi-retired and on and on but nothing that pertains to this situation.

Well, yeah - but you know that is NOT what they mean...

You just can NOT save some people from themselves.

ff buckets of bits on the bus, ff buckets of bits, take one down, short it to ground, fe buckets of bits on the bus! fe buckets of bits on the bus, fe buckets of bits, take one down, short it to ground, fd buckets of bits on the bus! We made the mistake of teaching the girls to count in hexadecimal, and they proceeded to sing that song on the way up to VT on vacation one year. We were astounded at how far they got before losing interest. We think it was the challenge of keeping track in the new counting system.

Thanks for the reminder to look for these! I wonder how it's going to work when clients upload photos or scans of their W-2's that are not *quite* in focus. It's hard enough, sometimes, to see the wages and tax figures!

I'm with you there. But I have found that there is a huge difference between being happy with the pretty new light fixture and being disgusted with the tax returns that are now completed. The latter brings very little satisfaction, and it has to be done every year, taking tons of time you could spend doing other things you enjoy more. Plenty of my clients came the first year saying, "I'm only going to come this year because of special situation X; hope you don't mind" who later (usually on pickup) then say, "This was SO much easier - may I come back next year?" They realize they did NOT waste three lovely Sunday afternoons wrangling with the doggone forms (that of course took me about 45 minutes total), and that the fee I charge is well worth the missing headache(s).

My personal favorites are the "Can I ask you a simple question?" ones where the "simple question" is "How do you do payroll?" Yeah, the *question* is simple - but the answer takes three weeks! lol

Maybe, but they do NOT do enough to strip bad "advisers" of their licenses - or even "just" penalize them with some type of preparer-penalty analog. I have myself seen several utterly egregious cases where the family lodged formal complaints against bad advisers, and NOT ONE of them was made whole and not even ONE adviser even got a blemish on their U-4 record. Disgusting; utterly disgusting. If any of us pulled the type of shenanigans I have seen over and over again, we would have our EA or CPA licenses rescinded and multi thousand dollar preparer penalties assessed.

Sounds like a good candidate for a hug.

Any time! You know where to find me.

I thought about that, but it's just too simple a return. Wages, $1 interest, social security, capital loss carry-forward but no brokerage transactions or dividends. That's it. It's close to a 1040A and I'd gag trying to tell her she owed me $375 for that return.

My husband keeps telling me that. New client this year paid $750 last year to [big box store which shall remain nameless] when my fee for that same return is about $280. It only took me a half hour; I felt bad charging that much - until I saw the prior-year bill.

Client sold stock options, and the overall transaction took several days as shares were released and sold in chunks. So the statement from the brokerage has wash sale adjustments listed for the first couple of transactions, limiting the loss. But does the wash sale rule really *apply* here? Yes, technically, shares were acquired about three days in a row, and sold either same-day or next-day. But it was all the same NQO activity, that just happened to get fully transacted over a couple of days. It could easily have all been done on the same day (and no one knows why not). We're only talking about $45 in loss here, no huge hairy deal - but it got me wondering. When I looked it up, the Tax Book says "buys" and "acquires" (identical or substantially identical) shares but nothing about one elongated transaction. Thoughts?

I really detest it when shysters sweet-talk the elderly into doing *stupid* things with their money. Couple years ago a client got convinced that converting her IRA to a Roth IRA was the cat's meow. Oh, she and her husband got *slammed* with tax that year. But the shyster got his juicy commission so what does he care?

I have a client who used to bring me all her documents in one of those tins they use to sell Dutch butter cookies. *Everything* smelled like butter cookies - but there were no cookies! So I told her she had to start leaving some cookies in the tin - or bring stuff in a folder. Sure 'nuff - folder. Piffle. I was really hoping for the cookies. In fact, maybe I'll have a piece of shortbread now.

I believe the gift limit is still $1,000,000

FDNY has it right but I'll chime in as well. State pensions are taxed when earned - so in the working years, the state income if higher than the federal income on that W-2. And there is *always* a Mass warning that the "state income is higher, please check your entries" - so annoying. On the interest entry screen in Drake, there is a box at the bottom called state-specific information. Pick MA from the drop-down and enter the full state interest. $100 is exempt per filer per year - $100 for a single person, $200 for a couple. ONLY for banks chartered in Massachusetts. So not Bank of America, not Citizens, not Santander, but yes Salem Five or Middlesex Savings or any of a zillion other small banks and credit unions.

@Elrod - just WHERE do you find these wonderful clips?!?!

My office is a mile from my house. I usually work shifted hours because of traffic; 10AM to 7PM - at which time, it's about three minutes in either direction. If I tried to get here at 8AM, it would take at least an extra fifteen minutes due to the backup at two nasty left turns (even though I go right at one of them). On the rare occasion I have left at 5PM, I can sit at the end of the parking lot for 4-5 minutes waiting for traffic to clear to let me turn out - but the way back only has one less-than-nasty left so that doesn't take more than ten minutes. Two winters ago, when the snow piles were too high to see safely at the corners, I took the (very!) long way around and that's an easy fifteen minutes with traffic, lights, and extra distance - it takes a route around a golf course and conservation land, so it's more like 5-6 miles.

Guess I am the odd one out here - I absolutely *detest* all-caps and stay away from it as much as possible. I find it exceedingly hard to read and annoying to deal with. But that's just me.

Thanks for the warning! I am going to share with my local professional society.

Happened to a client of mine; employer had one digit wrong and the employee only caught it at year-end in the W-2; AND it was in the first three digits. He would never have seen it if the full ssn had not been there.