schirallicpa

If there are any NYS experts out there. Wondering if NY requires the recapture of credit similar to the Feds when you receive 1098-T for line 4 the following year. I don't see anything, but I know how sneaky NY operates lately. thanks.

gotta love it. knee deep in tax season and having to go back and re-create efiles for a billing invoice. I've had that happen a couple times too.

Client has "always" had rental property and taken income/ expense on Schedule E. Come to find out, his property has always been held jointly with his daughter. She has never showed any Sch E. Now - he wants to transfer the real property to his daughter. Lawyer was supposed to take care of this past summer. Not recorded yet at the county office. No money exchange took place. If on paper its a done deal, does it matter if it is not recorded in county office yet? But client (and daughter)still wants to keep the income and expense on his return and pretend nothing happened. Any suggestions as to how to handle this? I have another situation where a client owns commercial rental property and she wants to keep ownership of the property and give income and expense to her brother-in-law who manages it. Kind of the same situation. Not sure of best way to work this out. Any suggestions would be great!

ah-ha! You are awesome. I hadn't come across this. Thank you!!!

There is a really neat old train depot just down from me. The property is currently held by a private individual. I have a client who is interested in it but wants to make it into a business property, while still keeping the basic structure and idea that it was a train depot. However, it is listed on the national historic places, and I am wondering if any one knows what restrictions that imposes. Can it be renovated to be a viable business building, or would it only be allowed to be a replica of a train station? I tried googling this but didn't really come up with anything. Thought maybe someone out there may know. Thanks for any input.

I guess I was thinking that you could ask for a % of contested penalties. You are saying no to that? (Sorry - I have read more conflicting info since my original post.....)

I have a client who should have filed a gift return in 2005. Although I do not have details, I believe they are at $1,000,000 level, and the return would make a difference. Can a return be filed now? Or would that cause penalties and open cans of worms that we don't want to deal with? Thanks for your help.

I have recently read an ad from another CPA (non-NY) who charges contingency fees for contesting penalty and interest charges, and for filing returns based on taking a stance where there are open/ undecided cases in tax courts. I have read what I could find on line regarding NY rules, but I can't really find an answer in English! Does anyone know? And can they explain in simple terms?

Question #1 Lady sell her old house and makes deal with young couple to buy a new house with them. They are first time buyers. They have applied for and received credit. Now lady wants to know if she can get a credit too. All 3 names are on the settlement stmt. I believe they should have made an allocation to begin with, but I'm asking for any others' opinions. And would they have been limited altogheter to her credit or $6500? Question #2: For a newly constructed home how is the "purchase price" determined? In this case, he's a contractor and has built his house as he's been able to, and has not kept good record. (As would be the case with most contractors, right?) Anyway - he gave me an estimate. Has anyone been in a situation where they had to come up with proof yet?

I was told once that the biggest abusers of the bankruptcy laws were the lawyers. They go to school, run up lots of debt, buy your household items on visa, don't get married, don't buy real estate, sign for a job, and file bankruptcy before the job begins. A lawyer told me that. I wonder if he played that game himself.

But a mobile home is never affixed to the ground. That fiberglass sheeting isn't really foundation. So I'm still on the fence. I have another tax preparer telling me that they are going to be eligible for the first time credit. I definately agree with the $6500 credit, but not necessarily the $8000 credit.

We always have about 20 on extentions - some of those because of corps on extention. I knocked my socks off over the weekend to get everything done, so today it doesn't matter if ATX is down!! Gotta plan ahead for the software or internet NOT to work. We actually paper file any last minute extentions. I'd rather have the post mark than wait for the computer to confirm acceptance. On to the 990s!

My husband used to work for the railroad. Gee - does this mean I should go back and amend for some mileage!!.. Just kidding. Commuting is commuting. Anyway - most of these guys probably wouldn't have enough other deductions to get any benefit from it anyway. They just yak. Railroad workers are notoriously full of it. ( Remember what the railroad guys were like on "Polar Express" - the chubby one and the skinny one with all the hair. The guys my husband worked with looked just like that. My kids got a real kick out of it)

If someone lives in a mobile home (house trailer )on a rented lot, do they qualify for the first time credit? They own the trailer, they rent the lot. They are buying a real house. In reading the info on the IRS website, I am getting confused. They are saying that the credit is available for someone buying a mobile home: "Q. Is a taxpayer who purchases a mobile home and places the home on leased land eligible for the first-time homebuyer credit? A. Yes. A mobile home may qualify as a principal residence and it is not necessary that the taxpayer own the land to qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit." which - if it qualifies as a principle home on the purchase end, then presumably, it is a principle home on the other end, and disqualifies as first time homebuyer credit. But, 1 question later it contradicts: "Q. Can an individual who has lived in an RV qualify for the credit? A. For purposes of the first-time homebuyer credit, an RV with a built-in motor is personal property that is not affixed to land and does not qualify as a principal residence. Accordingly, someone who has owned and lived in an RV within the past three years may still qualify as a first-time homebuyer." So now I interpret this to mean that a mobile home is not a principle residence, because its not physically attached to the ground. Anyone else had this question? thanks. Hope everyone enjoys their day off tomorrow!!

Now you are awesome! I really appreciate your help and insights. And have a wonderful Easter, while you're at it.

AH-HA - page 12. In the entertainment section. I was in the meals section. THANK YOU!!

Thanks for the link. I had checked the pub and it - of course - doesn't have the 80% rules, or anything about the 100 miles from home. I'll google further. Thanks again.

I'm glad you posted what you found. I didn't find that earlier in the year when looking for it. Now I can't remember what the client was doing - buying land, or buying a house on contract, or what ever got me out in that direction. Now I will have to back track....But really appreciate your posting that!!

This guy drives within the state, and sometimes is overnight if he has to wait to be onloaded. He has given me his days out- sometimes 24 hours, sometimes 17 or 18, and then a few that are 7 hours, and few that are only 4 hours. He gets a W-2, but is not reimbursed. I'm trying to get my head around all the rules: (If someone could confirm:) He only gets the 52 or 59 rate if under DOT regs(?) OTherwise he gets 39(?) He only gets meals if he's out greater than 8 hours(?) and he only gets meals if he's traveled more than 100 miles from tax home(?) I'm surprised I am not able to google and find this info a little more cut and dried than I do. I appreciate the help!!

Clients daughter started college in Fall 05. Took Hope on 05 and 06, then Lifetime for 07 and 08. Finished college in Spring 09, which is still the 4th year of college. Can we take the Amercian Opportunity? What do you think?

A lot of veterns benefits stay under the IRS radar. Good for them. God bless the veterns. I doubt anything is reported on it.

Thank you so much! BTW - in NYS we get a deduction for contributing to 529s....... We also get governors who use our money for their own play time, but that's beside the point.

Client had put money in 529 years ago, with before tax money. Doesn't remember any benefit tax-wise for making contribution. Regardless, has taken money back out, but not for tuition. 1099Q shows a small loss. I'm finding info telling me to report this loss as misc item deduct, but I think that's only after the proceeds are used for tuition. Since it wasn't treated by the client for tuition, then does it get reported on Sch D as just an investment that lost a little money? Thanks.

Client is school librarian and takes trip to South Africa thru People to People. The trip included her touring various libraries and sharing with them how US libraries are managed. The trip did fulfill her 40 hours of professional ed credits. The trip cost her around $6500. I'm thinking, perhaps an allocation of the cost, at best. But this trip wasn't really ordinary and necessary. Can someone give me their thoughts. thanks.

ATX has continued to improve its product. On a NYS corp return you must indicate what state the corp is incorporated in. And if it is not NYS, you must indicate when you started doing business in NYS. (This I think is a new error popping up on NYS corp return.) Anyway - new client. doing business in NYS since 1997. The state of incorp is Delaware. They have a very small oil extraction outfit. I have no idea why they are incorp'd in DE. In fact, i don't think I have ever come across a corp in NY that wasn't incorporated in NY, so I had not stumbled across this before. There is a $300 fee for a "foreign" (non-nY) corp doing business in NY. Otherwise, the fee would be $25. But the $300 fee doesn't come up until I put in the date started business in NY. The thing is - they have always disclosed on the cT-3 that they were Delaware corp. And it is blantantly obvious in reviewing the return and 1099 that they are doing business here. They have never paid the $300 fee. In fact, last year, they inadvertantly paid $100, when they otherwise should have paid $25 (well - if a NY corp) and got a refund. So someone in Albany must have looked at something, but no one has noticed. my question? I don't know....I just don't want to tell them that they have to pay this. Let alone they should have been paying it all along, and maybe they should amend, or maybe they will get caught. Am I understanding this right? Any thoughts out there.