schirallicpa

usually when the previous tax preparer has a low fee, there is a reason - and that usually means you get to do some amending.

we use suppliesoutlet.com and buy 6 toners for the cost of 2 for brother. sometimes they run out fast, most of the time they are just as good as buying name brand. They take paypal and they ship pretty fast.

LOL at the farmer papers remarks. I have quite a few little farmers. they all smell the same. But I cannot complain to much. See the little guy in my picture. He peed on someones w-2 once.

If the estate has not sold the home that is being rented, then the rental activity is reported by estate, not individuals. It is then passed thru - with anything else - on K-1. No- you don't need the bank balances on the 1041. Nor the value of the homes. Keep in mind that you need the values of the homes at DOD for gain/loss calcs later on when estate sells homes. If no activity in 2012, don't need 1041. Depends if you had income or not for 2012. Interest and dividend are reported on 1041 and passed thru to individuals on K-1. Sale of stock in 2014 is also reported on 1041 and passed thru to the individuals on K-1. Remember that at DOD, estate is created and everything (income and assets) are the estates, not the beneficiaries' until distributed to the beneficiaries. Remember also, that estate generally takes everything at current market value, so this saves on many cap gain issues. It gets confusing to the client because they are receiving all this money from bank accts, etc and they think they owe "inheritance" tax on all that. They will basically only pay tax on interest, dividends, stock gain/loss, and net rental income that passes thru.

I never saw the popcorn before!!

It would be nice if the software would put a way in the fixed assets to allocate pieces of an asset to different schedules. Run into this with vehicles sometimes too. Part used for business, part used for farm, some Sch E travel, etc. Yes - became commercial property. I agree with your logic.

Just did a theft loss and worked thru the theory. I wanted to deduct from income (this was a schedule C) so he wouldn't be SE taxed on it. But - heres the thing. It is earnings. Whether it was banked, lost, stolen, whatever - it was earned and is SE taxable. The loss goes on 4684. In my case we had a copy of the police report and used that figure. And he also received about 1/2 back from insurance, which offsets the loss on 4684. And when you efile the 4684, for some reason it requires both pages of the form to be attached.

Has it been a bad winter or what. I always put on a couple pounds during these months - sitting on my fanny so many hours. But this year is worse than ever. That many more lunches ordered in. That many more exercise sessions skipped. That many more walks not taken. It has been sooooo cold for soooo long, that I have hardly been out. I personally don't want it to get warm too soon. I need my sweaters to hide in for a while....... Only to be given a box of Niagara chocolate bars to "sell" for a fund-raiser this morning.

I did my cousins return a few years ago and put down her maiden name as the last name. I don't think her husband appreciated much. Didn't do their return again.....................

Ok - he's been collecting this pension for a little while and this is the first year that I am working with him. Looks like we need to contact the previous tax preparer....... thank you!

The closer we get to April 15th, the stiffer the billing becomes. I charge a full bill on most clients - for each and every form or schedule we work on. Then give a "courtesy discount" on most. Those discounts go away after April 1st. I raised my basic rate 15 this year after 10 years. My secretary is great at pointing out that its been 10 years........

I see this topic was briefly discussed a few days ago. I have not had much experience on this. In that pension simplified method section, a: how do I know what the death benefit exclusion is? b: whats the deal with the combined ages question c: what are they looking for for box 6 amounts previously recovered after 1986.

I hate the new home office worksheet.

do my complicated ones on the weekend when no one is here to bug me. only phone calls are from my kids, and they have pretty much learned by now to leave me alone by this time of year. Then on those days when I have headaches, (such as appointments) then I fly thru my easy ones. But by this time of year, all the good gravy ones are long gone.

My client went to Cancun to have procedures done that are not available in US. It seems to be a bit grey. Or gray. But I am finding that if the procedure is illegal, then it is not covered. Well, there was nothing illegal about it. Just not available. Ok - so therefore it is not FDA approved. And therefore his insurance won't pay for it. But does that mean it is not deductible? Finding conflicting stuff on internet - of course. And what I have dug up so far in basic pubs and reference doesn't seem to go far enough to discuss treatments like this. Sadly - the procedure didn't help anyway. Any thoughts on this one?

Have spent have the season deleting state and bringing it back again, and then just printing them separately. Finally they have learned to get along again.

Ok Kea: that's what I am thinking, and thank you for confirming that for me. IF is always the case, and unfortunately it is not likely that I'll get sound records, but it's worth a stab. thanks again

And while were talking about NYS/ PA I just had a client throw a fit because he has to pay NYS tax this year. He worked in PA and paid PA tax. Why should he have to pay NYS tax too. And you can tell them til you are blue in the face, and they just don't get it. NYS taxes are more. The credit doesn't suck it up. You do.

If Sch C has loss, your input on Page 1, line 29 transfers to Sch A.

We have a casino not too far from us. When you cash out the night you are at the casino, you get a little yellow W2G with your ID # on it, their ID on it, and the amount of your gross winnings. It's kinda small, and usually gets tossed out with your atm receipt. At the end of the year, if you are a registered guest at the casino, you get an annual win/loss statement at the end of the year. "dear valued patron........the following information is for your records only and details the NET RATED amount of your winnings and losses for the 2013 calendar year." And gives you a figure - usually negative (those places aren't built on winnings). Attached is a listing of your jackpot wins, which matches the yellow W2G that you probably tossed in the trash when you came home that night all excited about your big winnings. The attached also details the date and the wager type (example "slots"). But it gives you just the gross for each night, with no detail as to how it came up with your net loss. My current client has 10 of these W2Gs totaling about $38000. With the statement showing net annual loss of $6000. Now - Can I or can I not (depending on the info I can obtain from the client) treat each of these 10 items separately. And can I or can I not then show each at the net winnings for that night. So maybe on one night he won $5000 and spent $1000 to get it so I have a net win of $4000. but on the next trip he won $1000 but spent $2000 to win, so that is zero income for the night, and the loss is Schedule A for that one. The third trip he won $3000 and spent $5000 so he has zero income , and the $2000 loss goes to Sch A. Etc. Am I making sense? The difficult part will be how well he can tell me how much he spent in January of 2013 to win $5000. Or February 2013. Or March 2013. I can't remember how much I spent on lunch. I just want to make sure my thinking is correct. I have a friend tax preparer who wants to put all $38K on the 1040, and then put $38K on Sch A and be done with it. I know the chances of the conversation happening before are pretty high, so if there is a link back to something that I didn't find, let me know. I appreciate any one's help on this. thanks.

I'm in western NY - not on the map. South of Buffalo, just a stones throw from PA. Just paid my Jan taxes - late because it takes me awhile to accumulate $5400. No doubt NY stinks when it comes to taxes. Just take a look around and the continuing exodus. I know a lot of people around here who hop over the border and live in PA just to avoid some of the tax. And many people who drive the few miles to get cheaper gas or fuel, cigarettes and even clothes. It's nuts.

We have recently been invited to a birthday party for a friend turning 50 and we are supposed to dress like the 80's. Good thing I still have that REO Speedwagon t-shirt. Hopefully it won't rip when I stretch it out to fit.......... Looking forward to some feathered hair and grape HubbaBubba

wow - that's very helpful. Never saw it before. thanks!!

oh? where? where? where? I don't see it.

In our little church, we take the collection to the back office right after church, record the donations, add up the cash, and drop the deposit at the bank on the way home. But we are pretty small. I have a couple clients now that are churches and they are putting each and every receipt into quickbooks. Seems terribly cumbersome, and makes for a huge pile of data. I have another excel template that I am trying to get them to use. But excel can turn into a "dragon" that just gets too big too. Also - they do not count the cash or record the donations until Tuesday. So after church, they are putting the collection in a fire-safe box in the church, then taking care of it Tuesday when they come in. They have activities after church and have a hard time finding a private area to count money. And they get a lot of donations. A ton of checks each Sunday. No one wants to take it home on Sunday. (A year ago when I started with these guys, they were putting it in the trunk of the treasurers car til Tuesday!) I know there's a ton of internal control problems here. That's not entirely my concern. I am curious as to any other methods of handling this situation each week. Whats the best way to collect donor's info? Is there a better program than QuickBooks, but as simple as? Any thoughts or suggestions on this would be appreciated.