Catherine

1 minute ago, BulldogTom said:

I just hope they get it under control

Amen!

1 minute ago, BulldogTom said:

My first thought is not income

Depends on the character of the property. If it was a bank savings account, I'd agree. But wages are still wages, and includable as income if not claimed in the year earned (which might have been done). Stock proceeds sounds capital, with basis lost to the mists of time. Dividends is income. 

Probably Texas, too, with the fires.

As for your specific case here, @Corduroy Frog, check the account numbers and if there is a print date. Does the client have (or can they log in and get) monthly statements for tracing what they received in reality? Or, just wait for corrected forms. Discuss with client whether to double-count dividends for the purpose of filing extension determination of whether a tax payment is needed.

This is a fun one! Deceased taxpayer has a couple thousand dollars' payment from a state for an unclaimed property payment. Per the state document, most of it is "stock proceeds" (which I believe means the state sold the stock and was just holding cash). From the tp's residence and knowing what I do about the client (hoping to get more info from executor tonight), my guess is that the claim was from the estate of tp's parent some years ago - but the whole process took long enough that the tp's estate got the funds. Property details listed by the state just give an ID # they assigned. 

Ordinary income for the lot of it?

Capital gain income for the "stock proceeds" and ordinary for anything else? 

Other?

What questions should I ask the executor aside from "what, if anything, do you know about this mess?"

That brokerage may still be that messed up; elderly clients passed on, which stopped the issue for them.

On 2/27/2024 at 4:10 PM, Abby Normal said:

But I've also never seen worth amending for.

I had one client who, for 6-7 years, got corrected forms in mid-May that were always major corrections. That client got put on extension & we filed after corrected forms arrived. 

15 hours ago, Christian said:

I always have them mail them in so no problem there

Nah; they'll likely still claim they "never received" the 1310. They're really awful about those (less so with Form 56, if that is needed, but still not good). I wish you & your client the best, but don't be surprised - and warn the client, just in case, so they don't think you did something wrong.

You can try, but for the most part they mail checks. 

Also please note that the Form 1310 has to be appended as a pdf, but they *still* claim they never got it, about 2/3 of the time.

Well, woodpecker deterrents should be useful to my younger daughter and her husband. They had quite the problem last summer with woodpeckers trying to make holes in their house.

We send out a document checklist.

There is ONE client who requests (and fills out) an organizer. Almost anyone else who ever got one fills out a couple of tiny items, then writes "see attached" everywhere else. I want the original docs, so that's what we request.

For anyone who still uses ATX and is on the "official" forum, feel free to pass the info along there.

I was going through some old (old!) storage areas in the office over the weekend, and came across ATX installation disks (including the final, archive disks) from 1995-2012.

Anyone want any of these? I can't see that I would ever have any use for them. Should I ever need to go back that far, Drake (my current software provider) makes all the prior-year programs available for free via download.

Else I'm just gonna toss the lot.

Thank you all.

But the executor still needs to report the income, yes?

And yes, I've already looked it up at IRS dot gov, and got all manner of interesting tidbits but nothing about executors, trustees, personal reps, or the like. Directors, yes. Whistleblowers, yes. Post-death wages, yes. And many others, too, but not trust or estate administration.

Just found out the Executor of an estate was paid $10,000 from the estate (huge amounts of work; frankly it's low), and now I need to get a 1099 out pronto. 

1099-NEC, subject to SE tax? Or 1099-MISC? Or something else entirely? Executor is NOT in the business of administering estates for fun and profit. 

I wouldn't do a thing on this return unless and until the son agrees to cooperate. 

That said, should he agree, there are ways to reconstruct likely expenses and income, yes.

If he won't help, there's not much you can do - except to tell him you cannot prepare the final return based on air and wild guesses. You are not letting her down - he is. 

On 2/16/2024 at 12:50 PM, artp said:

I guess I am getting old..missed that.  Thanks

Not necessarily. Those details run and hide until you ask for help, at which point they come out of hiding as if they had been there all along. 

Yes, basis is exercise price plus the ordinary income reported.

2 hours ago, Gail in Virginia said:

i happened to call back and found out he was answering the phone, "This is Ryan, I can't help you."  

Gail, at least he wasn't answering, "This is Ryan, and I'm beyond help!"

When my girls worked for me, they quickly learned to identify themselves immediately - because the three of us are utterly interchangeable on the phone. They would answer, and people would instantly launch into their complicated questions only to be told, "You'll have to talk to mom; hang on she's coming." 

The flip side is when older daughter had her first job, they handed out the W2s in January. Her response was, "great; thanks!" and the other kids were asking "what is this and what do I do with it?" She started explaining and next thing she knew, she had the entire shop surrounding her as she explained the data fields and where the information went on the federal and state forms. She told me later, "As I was talking, I was thinking to myself 'I sound just like mom...'" 

21 hours ago, BulldogTom said:

As soon as he decides to cash out the surrender value of the policy is nearly equal to the face value of the policy and 100% of all contributions have been returned as non-taxed distributions of premium.   Something does not add up.

I agree that it sounds odd indeed. Talk to an insurance person not connected with the client or his insurer, and ask how these things can work. See if you can get anything that says the type of policy that it is.

I'd rather pay for a burger than install an app.

But now I want a burger, too, doggone it all.