Catherine

I tell clients, "I'm not a lawyer, and I don't even play one on television," and follow that with "and it's illegal for me to give you legal advice - you need an attorney." With advice not to stop asking questions until they understand what they are being told.

My first ever accounting related job was updating the pages as corrections came in. My dad would bring those binders home from work (a few at a time) with the new pages, and I'd swap them out. For a pittance, but it was my pittance!

Please note it says "completed the corrections" but doesn't say "has sent out additional refunds." Those might still be in the works. But soon, now!

Or might get melty and yukky when baked! Good move.

Contact of mine in financial services sent me a query: "How would you suggest categorizing a 401k plan forfeiture in Quickbooks? I have customer with a 401k plan that which has a small credit due to forfeiture. That forfeiture is being used to reduce what the employer is obliged to contribute for this one pay period. The bookkeeper needs to enter this, but it hasn't come up before, so she didn't know where/how to classify it." I have some ideas (one easier for a bookkeeper to enter correctly, another more detailed on flow of funds in case there are questions three years down the road), but figured I'd ask for opinions here before I send him anything concrete.

The recipe on this page (scroll down a ways) would make a cake big enough for ALL of us to have a couple of pieces! https://randombitsoffascination.com/2023/01/06/closing-out-the-holidays-with-twelfth-night/ For those who don't click links (emphasis added): Take four pounds of flour dried and sifted, seven pounds of currants washed and rubbed, six pounds of the best fresh butter, two pounds of Jordan almonds blanched, and beaten with orange flower water and sack till fine; then take four pounds of eggs, put half the whites away, three pounds of double-refined sugar beaten and sifted, a quarter of an ounce of mace, the same of cloves and cinnamon, three large nutmegs, all beaten fine, a little ginger, half a pint of sack, half a pint of right French brandy, sweet-meats to your liking, they must be orange, lemon, and citron; work your butter to a cream with your hands before any of your ingredients are in; then put in your sugar, and mix all well together; let your eggs be well beat and strained through a sieve, work in your almonds first, then put in your eggs, beat them together till they look white and thick; then put in your sack, brandy and spices, shake your flour in be degrees, and when your oven is ready, put in your currants and sweet-meats as you put it in your hoop: it will take four hours baking in a quick oven: you must keep it beating with your hand all the while you are mixing of it, and when your currants are well washed and cleaned, let them be kept before the fire, so that they may go warm into your cake. This quantity will bake best in two hoops. (whatever those are!) ~Hannah Glasse (1784)

That's why I said almost.

Sending a 1099 is almost never wrong. If some entity gets a 1099-K as well as a 1099-NEC for the exact same income (unlikely) they can report both, and back one out as "reported on 1099-K and 1099-NEC but only received once" or something else that makes sense.

January update is available for download. State programs, Eng Ltrs, etc.

And the wait for parts can be a lot longer too.

A blessed, happy, and healthy year in 2023 to everyone here!

One blogger stated at some point that if you cannot stand in front of it and defend it, it's not real and/or not yours. She had (still has) a point.

I noticed a lot of changes, many due to increased security protocols. Medlin (on the general forum) mentioned something about database structure for Drake, too.

Have a dentist appt of your own? Go to your own booking site and book out the time you'll need. Can be faster than logging in to edit the page. Recurring meeting on Thursdays at 2pm? Block it off from setup, in perpetuity. Even the free version is pretty doggone configurable, and the paid versions get even more fancy, with options for multiple calendars (you, your assistant, your colleague in the same office, etc).

Look into it here: https://youcanbook.me/pb-fp I have the booking link on the home page of my web site. Anyone calling or emailing for an appt (except the ancient clients) is told to go online.

A number of years ago I started using the free version of you can book me. You set up times when you are available, and people can see all the times free and choose what they want. Confirmation goes out to them including a link to change it later if needed. Highly recommended! Looks like this:

I had a client who mined bitcoin (briefly, for one year) some time ago. He did not track electric usage, and only got a few coins. Basically ran his computer overnight on it. So yes, bitcoin mining can be a hobby.

That is not a good thing, and I'll watch Drake carefully as they move forward. Since I am slowly scaling back, it may be worth sticking with them just so as not to need to deal with a new program and vendor for fewer returns every year. Plus any new vendor may also get bought out by non-acctg, non-tax, buyers.

Way I heard it, the "confusing" aspect was going to be computer letters and taxpayer calls and responses in advance and after those - when they still have millions of unprocessed returns in stacks on tables.

I noticed that as well.

If I recall correctly, my method of reporting 1099-K transactions that do not affect taxes and are solely to prevent CP2000 letters (or state equivalents), came as a suggestion from either an IRS or state tax agency employee, when 1099-Ks were new. Their interest is "is there taxable income here?" only. If the answer is no, they don't want to be bothered with someone selling off their personal used work shoe collection.

This one is very hard. You need to talk to husband first. Get him to authorize, in writing, a third party (adult child? friend? attorney?) someone else to contact and discuss the situation if it gets out of hand. With the lady, perhaps sit with her and husband and suggest it's time for husband to take over tax papers. But you cannot contact anyone outside your clients without their written permission.

I think you are misunderstanding me. This method obviously does not apply to gamblers, or hobbyists, or an asset sale not reported on a 1099-B. Think of the person cleaning out their closet after quitting a corporate job. Never going to wear the "sensible pumps" to an office again, or the fancy suit either. Sells them on eBay, over the course of a year, one at a time as she gets around to it. None of the items are recent enough that she recalls where she bought them or what she paid for them, except to know she's selling for way less than they were purchased for. Gets a 1099-K for $610. None of that belongs on Sch D - they're extraneous possessions, not assets. Basis? Not recoverable. the only reason to report is to avoid any chance of an IRS nastygram two years from now when no one remembers anything about the transactions. I think that in such cases reporting on one line "1099-K from eBay, $610" and on the next line "personal items sold at a loss, -$609" represents what really happened, in a way that does not ask for a CP2000 letter, and without affecting taxes or adding forms and complications that just really don't belong and do not in any way affect the correct tax liability of the taxpayer.

Thank you, my friends here at the ATX Forum, for being such a wonderful group and such a wonderful resource for yet another year. May you all have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends, and a terrific year in 2023.

That method doesn't work very well, @Sara EA, if what you have is someone selling little bits here and there on eBay and otherwise has no need for a Schedule D. Over a year it adds up, but also it doesn't even add up to a hobby let alone a business. Since I charge by form, adding in a Sch D/8949 charge when I could put it on the "other income" line and back off all but a buck (and that just to make the detail transmit, which it does not when it zeros out completely) is not fair to the customer and does not properly present the situation. I should think that reporting on a 8949/Sch D also opens the client up to IRS queries about why a 1099-K item was not then reported on a 1099-B instead.