Catherine

Get the assessment from the town/county. Somewhere (usually once a year, sometimes every bill) there will be a breakdown of land value versus building value. You can usually go back a few years with the online databases. If you find the split, use whatever percentage it was on the original sales price.

Trap? Nah; it's all pure quicksand!

I am VERY happy to take the "blame" (and to share it with JohnH) for a good deed!

Are penalties in CA not assessed based on the tax due? (They are here in MA.) If based on tax, then if the tax figure changes, should the penalty amount not also change? If what you say is true, then anyone who files in CA needs to be super-careful as the state could then impose a truly vicious penalty for any minor inaccuracy - with almost no taxpayer recourse. Or did you just mean that pleading ignorance and asking for a one-time-promise-I'll-be-good penalty waiver is a waste of paper and toner?

While this is usually (although not always, sigh) true, it is also true that no matter HOW compassionate the doctors are, NONE of them care as much as you do about your health.

Mwah hah hah!

@JohnH - don't apologize! Over the course of time, I have learned TONS from rabbit trail discussions. Instead, thanks to @jklcpa for splitting the thread.

I don't think they are that clever or that competent. It's my belief that they set their computers on ultra-fussy and then apply algorithms to look for low-penalty amounts and send those out first. Low effort, and likely gets in the most money. Higher penalties people will fuss over. $30, $50, $75 -- too low to hire someone to fight it, no idea how to do it themselves, amount is annoying but not onerous (for most). That's the sweet spot.

YES! And then you have a perfectly normal questions left completely unanswered.

I think this is happening; I've been watching it for years. Also in my experience people pay up in fear. I've also asked people how much they want to fight a $50 unfair penalty - enough to pay me $75 or $100? No, they are banking (literally) on fear and on those fines being lower in value than the money it would take to fight it. To my mind, it's extortion on the order of "You've got a nice little business there, it'd be a shame if something were to happen to it" and about that level of immorality. It's also to be expected when states are chronically hungry for any and all money they can get their grubby mitts on.

I just renewed my PTIN. Also took a peek at the returns e-filed under my PTIN, and I was surprised at how high the number is. Then on thinking about it I wasn't as surprised.

I have some clients who use cryptos, and one that dealt a little bit in it. Considering the quality of the records I've seen, I don't want to specialize in it, for sure!

Two points. 1. It's not a far drive. and 2. They exist to do it. I detest the pubs; try to find ANY simple piece of information.... blarg!

Yes, I will see what my un-indicted co-conspirator plans for QBI. Good thinking.

I did not have that on my list - thank you! No streaming video to my knowledge. Jack, that was both funny and mean. The "angry" response is totally tongue-in-cheek.

Nope. No more corporate AMT. A bunch of credits repealed (DPAD among them). Acctg method tweaks. Interest. Fringe benefits and all manner of things got changed. After I give the talk, anyone who wants can have my slides as a pdf; PM me and I'll make a list. OK. Gloss over the major changes and spend my hour on QBI. Whimper!

Hi folks, I am working on a CPE presentation for the TCJA changes for c-corps and partnerships (someone else is doing s-corps and sole props). I only have enough information to fill seven or eight of the one-hour slot I actually have... so I need to streamline and trim. What are YOUR opinions, my friends, on where I should spend the bulk of my time? Depreciation? Fringe benefits? QBI? Credits? If *you* were going to be attending, what do you feel OK about me glossing over (under the heading of "that's enough for me to know what to look for myself") and what I should dig in to? For example, I've seen so much about QBI that I can't decide if it's been beaten to death already or if it's a huge spend-twenty-minutes-here topic. I thank you, and the poor unfortunates who will listen to me in January also thank you.

Well said, Rich! I have also won the lottery. I am an American, EA, married to a wonderful man. I have two amazing and wonderful grown daughters, one of whom is engaged to be married to a very nice young man who almost deserves her. I have friends, a good church (some overlap there), and know that my life has purpose and meaning. Oh, yeah - I also have enough money to take care of myself and my family, with some for good causes, too. I am wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of my childhood, in everything that truly matters.

Good luck, @FDNY! I would step up my current giving to various missions, humanitarian groups (especially those working to rescue/rehabilitate trafficked girls in Asia and elsewhere), and churches. Veteran help groups. Some medical research organizations. I would also set up an active gifting program for my girls, in ways they can get to but with effort. For example, one step would be to fully fund their Roth IRA's every year. Basically, any group I would otherwise leave an amount to on my death, I'd rather give over time while I'm alive. That way, as organizations change, I can change my giving too. Which reminds me - @Eric is there a way to set up recurring donations to the forum?

Judy is the best!

I miss burning the leaves in the fall...

Everyone else already said it all, so I'll just say "Ditto!"

A client dropped off his info this afternoon.

My CAF number has an "R" at the end, as well. Sometimes on the phone they take it, sometimes they tell me I don't need it.

Buried deep in a folder, I found my 1982 tax returns a few years ago. Talk about a blast from the past!