Catherine

Thank you all, very much!! And no, "flummoxed" is not contagious. That would be "flux" (as in old name for intestinal distress, not the soldering supply). Catherine

Hi folks -- I'm brain-dead today; started with a small headache that got MUCH bigger after a long conference call with the IRS on an outstanding matter, so when it came to this little question I'm flummoxed. Client (self-employed) issued W-2's to employees and now wants to know if they did it right on one of them. Has a SIMPLE plan and some employees defer, matches for all, yadda yadda. Client hired under-18 child to do some work (real work, qualifies as work, not subject to FICA, not a heck of a lot of money for the year; under $1K). Child decided to defer ALL pay to SIMPLE (why not as parent was gifting the money to do just that). W-2 shows $0 in box 1, 3, 5, and the total deferred amount in Box 12. Is that right? Or does the total go in Box 1 as well as Box 12? Put the client off saying I'd double check and get back later. Tried to think it through myself and have managed to think myself in circles. TIA, Catherine

I have had THREE clients in the past year try to buy houses in what the Realtors termed "short sales", where the amount offered DID cover the outstanding unpaid mortgage plus outstanding property taxes, etc. TWO of those sales fell through because the banks COULD NOT BE BOTHERED to approve the sale before the offer expired -- even when both of those sales extended the offer date at least twice each. The third sale eventually DID go through, when the buyers extended the bank's "respond-by" date FOUR times and finally the President of the small local bank that was going to be giving the new mortgage loan called the big-box bank's local VP and reamed him a new one (politely). That finally got big-box-bank to approve a sale they should have approved the instant they knew their costs were covered. Perhaps none of these were "short sales" in the exact definition of the term -- but all were TREATED as short sales by realtors and banks alike. So for all intents and purposes, they were indeed short sales. Or, would have been, had they gone through. Catherine

Margaret -- mainly my husband or my cousin Norma find them (or they get sent to them) and then they forward to me. So I get all the credit for almost -none- of the work. ;)

Amazing video. Some people have _way_ too much free time on their hands. They keep us entertained & amused. Zen magnets

Keep getting a recurrent error on a mass 355 (regular corp return). Says Schedule E Line 26 NOL deduction has been calculated incorrectly and/or does not agree with the amount from Schedule E-2, Part 1 Line 8. Except that the NOL -HAS- been calculated correctly, -DOES- match the Federal (except for the adjustment for Mass corp min tax), and -DOES- agree with the amount on Sch E-2 Part 1 Line 8. Suggestions? Comments? I am seeing the guy today and was hoping to get e-file signatures and have now spent about three hours chasing this chimera. (Hmmm, maybe I can still do that and fix this miserable error before submitting.) Catherine

And by "Uncle Sugar" you mean you, me, our kids, our grand-kids, and _their_ kids and grand-kids.

I hold the state return until I get the Federal ack, in case there's a problem. Until ~ April 10th, when I just stuff 'em all through as fast as I can. Once or twice a season the Federal gets rejected (mostly for something the client forgot about) and I can fix the state before the initial filing.

My engagement letter states that I charge by the hour for any additional accounting and bookkeeping required to get the books in order. Track your time, and charge for every minute! _Plus_ the return cost. He'll either learn to add, pay up promptly, or go elsewhere next year. In all three cases you probably come out ahead.

You do like to make a ruckus, don't you, jainen? Where did I say that a bank _should_ care? I stated that they don't, and nothing else. The piece I don't understand is why the banks don't care about getting a decent price for a "toxic asset" and converting that asset from a near-complete liability into a zero-or-very-small written-off loss and move on. So many people I've dealt with have tried to buy houses on short sales for at or _above_ the outstanding loans -- and the bank can't be bothered to give permission. Many of those sales then fall through because the buyer needs a place to live and moves on to more amenable sellers after the expiration of the approval time. Were I a shareholder in some of these banking companies, I'd be putting up a royal stink about that.

I believe so -- and lots of times that 1099-C comes after the individual is no longer insolvent, so they end up paying tax on the cancelled debt. But there is no rushing the 1099-C. The banks just don't care. Just like they can't be bothered to approve a short sale and get the bad asset off their books.

Thanks to all for confirming my thoughts.

Rita -- have I mentioned recently that I love you?!?! I have a bunch of folks who are now on my brand-new "call at 6AM Saturday" list for next weekend.

Just got the paperwork from a client for his brother's estate/1041. Paperwork assigning TIN says "file Form 1041 by 06/15/2010". So should I use the 2010 version -- or go back to the 2009 version? TIA, Catherine

I got E&O insurance ~2004 and paid about $200/yr for $10K/$20K coverage, which slowly crept up to about $230/yr. This year, just to compare, I got a quote from the NAEA-deal folks and they said $500/yr for $100K/$250K coverage. My old company wanted $800+/yr for $100K/$200K coverage and their legal defense coverage wasn't as good either. It also covers claims going back to the original coverage date. While I don't have tons of assets to protect, I have some, and it doesn't take much to run up disgustingly high legal bills.So I jumped ship to the new company (Placer via Travelers or Travelers via Placer - whatever).

Days like this indeed -- I've been sitting here quietly going mad while working like the Furies. THANKS for the wonderful laugh; I SO needed it!! :spaz:

Thank you, Margaret!

Emailer (whom I told in mid-December that I _might_ be able to help him provided he got me ALL info before Christmas): I almost have my partnership papers ready to bring in. If I get them to you by Wednesday the 16th, can you have 2007 and 2008 ready by Tuesday the 22nd? The IRS guy says he won't wait anymore. Me: (nice letter formally withdrawing from any tax prep work).

I waited until last evening to submit, and today those returns are marked "Transmitted to Agency".

That's just horrid. Why don't they take the people trying to get blood out of turnips (e.g., two separate clients of mine, both out of work with NO assets, who owe some back tax) and put those agents to work on EITC fraud?! It would be a _much_ better ROI for the IRS and the country.

I like it, too -- but I note that no one called his office inquiring about him, either. He must have "kept to himself" at home, as well.

The IRS now has a special Identity Theft unit -- contact them. ID Theft - IRS

The North Dakota Department of Labor claimed a small Bismarck farmer was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to investigate. Department of Labor employee : I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them. Farmer : Well, there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board. Then there's the mentally challenged worker. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night so he can cope with life. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally. Department of Labor employee : That's the guy I want to talk to...the mentally challenged one. Farmer : That would be me.

One of the chronic problems with ATX is the slow form approval -- and this year it is worse than usual, thanks to Congress.

From Ray Stevens; very cute. Juanita and the Kids