ILLMAS

Super odd, but yesterday the first time I logged into ATX2016 I received a notice that my password would expire in 10 days, I logged back in the afternoon and the message went from 10 days to 1 day, I just logged in today expecting to see a message and nothing, what's going on?

I would just mail a complete copy to the address on the letter or mail it directly to the processing center.

What do you do when a mileage log doesn't exist? My associate will be leaving a vacation and asked me if I could work with his client that received an IRS letter requesting support for employee unreimbursed expenses (all mileage in this case), I gut feeling is that the client doesn't have one.

I believe the presenter is correct, the presenter in the annual tax training seminar I attend had a similar case, I just pulled out my training material; moms bonds stopped earning interest in 2007, mom died in 2012, in 2014 the two daughters found the bonds that had fell to the bottom of the dresser and cashed them. Presenter amended the deceased mother 2008 tax return, daughters paid the tax, on the daughters tax return he submitted a disclosure about an election that was not made and that bonds were included in gross income (mothers after amending) in the taxable year in which the obligation is finally redeemed or in the taxable year of final maturity, whichever is earlier. I wish I could share the material, but I just discovered the presenter forgot to black out information.

Let's say a single member elected to be treated as S-Corp and it was approved, during the year, someone wants to be part of the S-Corp, would a new election have to be submitted to include the new member? Or just prepare an additional K-1? I am trying to figure out if we have to give notice to the IRS. Thanks MAS

If you know the cost of an inherited property, but you want to take the step-up basis do you have to get the property evaluated/appraised or can one just estimate the FMV? Thanks

Hey guys, I am a consultant who is a resident of IL and travels frequently to other states. Come tax time, I am required to file as a non-resident in those other states and as a resident in IL. Correct My issue is, when I file as a non-resident in those other states, those other states are not giving me dollar for dollar back. On top of that, IL says I cannot claim a credit for taxes paid to those other states (Schedule CR Form) because my base of operations is IL and I take direction from my company's office in IL. Non-resident sates are not going to refund 100% of the state withholdings, you have to pay something because you earned wages in different states. If you are following me, you can see I am essentially getting taxed twice on the same income: first by the non-resident state and second by IL. Your not, IL should give you a credit for taxes paid to another state, however if the rate is lower then IL, you will owe the difference, but the state of IL is not going to refund you the taxes paid to another state either. I understand IL is a full reporting state but how can I get around the double taxation that I have been losing out to for so long? Appreciate any input! I don't think the person who posted the question is a tax professional and if probably preparing his own taxes returns.

Edit: At first I had only read his question and assumed he was self-employed, but in his follow up responses I notice he works for an employer in IL, but if the employer is withholding taxes for the different states, then he should be entitled to the credit, however IL has reciprocal state tax agreement with IA, KY, MI & WI, if the employee were to work in any of these states, he would still pay IL tax rate even though he already had withholdings, for example if WI tax rate is 3% and IL tax rate is 5%, he would pay an additional 2% to IL.

TP home base is IL, therefore all his income should be subject to IL state tax, he needs to amend all the other state returns, get his money back and pay it to IL. Now if he had offices in the other states he filed, show proof of a business license, lease etc.... the state of IL would definitely give him credit, because that is income he earned in a different earned in a different state, the 1099 would probably show a different address.

Thanks, I did read the instructions and I called the department about the first year exemption about how to claim the exemption and they weren't very helpful, the agent I spoke basically said it's either the $800 or 8.84%, where can I make the election to waive the $800?

If a foreign corporation had no income in the state of CA but is subject to the franchise tax, does the corporation pay the minimum franchise tax or is the franchise tax based on the federal income? Thanks MAS

Try to see if you can get a blacked out copy of one of the worker amended return. I believe I wrote before about a former client that told me what another tax preparer was doing for people at his work. He asked me what I thought about it and if he should do it, I told him no, it's fraud etc.... about two year's later (he did not return as a client) out of the blue he called and thanked me, I said for what I haven't done any work for you in a while, he said no, for telling me not to amend my returns, everyone at his work got busted by the IRS, out of curiosity and I asked him who was this preparer, he gave the person location and name of business, the word Mama was part of the business name.

I'm wondering if these folks are being told they qualify for an exclusion, but the truth is their inflating their itemized deductions.

I started answering them and don't give them a chance to talk I yell "remove my number from your list!!!" they say ok we will remove it. Since the end of May I've been getting between15-20 calls to my office.

Does anybody have a telephone number to report phone scammers to the IRS?

Please post source.

Not my client, but my associates' client received an IRS notice stating they didn't report two 1099's, however they did report the income but the IRS adding it as additional income to a Sch C, I know this can be solved with a call or writing in to the IRS, but could this be the result of the issuer not submitting 1099's on time? TP didn't receive a 1099 at all from the issuer.

^^^ Good points from all, FYI I am on good terms with the ex-client, have their permission to answer any questions and provide any information necessarily for a smooth transition and I have been cooperating. I didn't give them a direct answer, I said it's hard to give an exact amount because it's been a while I haven't done work for them, and I also provided other services besides the preparation of the business tax return, but yes if they look at the accounting fees they can get an exact idea of what I billed that client for the year.

What would you say if a former tax client new preparer calls you and asks how much did you charge the client?

"If you want to quickly sell inherited real estate, the case for a 1031 exchange weakens. If your goal is to unload the property within a few months, it may not appreciate much (or at all) in that time. The taxable profit above the stepped-up basis may be small or nonexistent, so capital gains tax may not be much of a concern. If you decide to hang onto the property for a couple of years, then the case for initiating a like-kind exchange grows stronger." https://www.fergusonfinancialinc.com/

I am wondering if the notice is just informational and nothing else to do. Maybe the employer got busted for treating it's employees as subcontractors, this was very common with temp agencies.

The prior preparer was probably charging less and figures his/her return is the same and it's not that complex and expects to pay the same fees, your fees are reasonable and I would probably charge the same or more. This year I had a client ask if I was going to charge them more since last year I had increased my fees, I told them absolutely, my fee is going to be higher this year. When someone tells you "oh it's easy" or "it's similar to last year", it's best to let them know it's going to cost more this year.

I believe there is an incentive to the seller from the government in this case.

I'm helping a friend on this one, I requested a copy of the settlement statement and the seller gave the buyer a $80K closing credit, initially I had thought the buyers closing cost was $80K and the seller simply gave them the credit to bring it back to $300K contracted price, but now it seems the buyers basis is $220K or should it be $300K and report $80K as income?

I need help with accounting for this transaction, business bought a building for $300K, the seller gave them an $80K credit = $220K, I am trying to figure it out if the basis of the building should be $300K or $220K and how would I offset the $80K if the basis should be $300K? Thanks Marco