BulldogTom

The issue is they are possibly going to try and keep some of the properties and make another go at the business. So the bankruptcy may not cover all assets. That is where the COD might take place in a workout on some properties and BK on others. It is a mess, and I am trying to figure out what their options are. They are meeting with the BK attorney next week. Like all clients, they don't put the whole team together (attorney, bookkeeper, tax preparer) and go through a complete plan, they talk to one and tell the others, or not. The money from the re-fi's went into the business mostly. Re-fi one to keep up the payments on the rest. They don't live a lavish lifestyle from what I have seen. We will see what they come up with. Thanks for your input Tom Lodi, CA

When you get the representative on the line, if they don't have it in the CAF file, ask if you can fax it to them while they are on the line. It has worked for me. Tom Lodi, CA

Does anyone else find this case troubling? It seems to me that the IRS has gone too far. I understand that many taxpayers have taken advantage of the charitable contribution rules in the past and congress wanted to tighten up enforcement, but when a judge says "I believe you made these contributions and they are for charitable purposes", shouldn't that be enough to justify the deduction? We are not talking about a transaction that can be cast in various forms to produce different tax results (ie like kind exchanges, installment sales). We are talking about a factual situation. Did the taxpayer give cash to a valid charity? It seems to me that if the taxpayer can prove that point, the deduction should stand, regardless of the wording on a letter. I am having a hard time with the logic on this one. I also understand that it is not precedent for other cases, but if the IRS is going to enforce this rule in this manner, and the court is going to uphold the rule, there are going to be alot of unhappy clients in the future. An auditor would be silly not to look for the documentation on that deduction immediately if there are any other issues on the return. Tom Lodi, CA

Gomez_Case.pdf Trying this out. Sorry for the duplicate post of the document. Thanks Eric Tom Lodi, CA

How did you do that? Tom Lodi, CA

This case has to do with charitable contributions and substantiation. Looks like the IRS is truly going to get tough. I wish I knew how to post an acrobat attachment. What really has me interested is the tax court said they believed the taxpayer, believed the charity, and the taxpayer had all the cancelled checks. But because the receipt letter from the church was not provided prior to the taxpayer filing the return, and the letter did not have the required language concerning no goods or services provided in exchange for the donation, the tax court sided with the IRS and the taxpayer lost 6K in charitable deductions. I am planning to highlight this case to all my clients this year in my annual letter. Tom Lodi, CA

I think I heard they were getting out of tax refund loans. I use Santa Barbra Bank & Trust and got my letter the other day that I am accepted for next year. They are a good bank and I like working with them. But I think I only did about 7 transactions in total last year. Tom Lodi, CA

That is a classic. Bravo.

Why are you firing the client? Is it because they don't respond, they bring boxes of reciepts and don't sort them, they complain about the bill? Each reason has a different wording. Here is something general you can use: "Due to re-organization of my office staff and the changes to your tax situation, I do not have the resources at this time to provide you with the services your account requires. I would not feel comfortable with providing you less than exceptional service. Unfortunately, because of caseload and staffing levels, I cannot guarantee your account will get the exceptional service that I require to be provided to all my clients. I will be happy to forward copies of your records to your new accountant for a small adminstrative fee. Please feel free to call me to make these arrangements." Tom Lodi, CA

Hi all, I will be looking this up later today but thought I would pass it by you all for some comments before I start researching. My client owns several properties in his Sch. C business (he kept saying he was going to form a corp). The homes are used as group homes/halfway houses for individuals placed by the county. Mortgaged and refinanced several times. Same story for his personal residence. Long story short - bankruptcy and foreclosure on all properties including his personal residence. The client does have a significant retirement fund in IRA's and spouse has a state retirement and an IRA. When looking at insolvency to escape cancellation of debt income, how do you value the retirement accounts? Like I said, I will be researching this weekend, but was just looking for some guidance before I get started. Thanks in advance. Tom Lodi, CA

I think you might be making more out of this than you need to. If you give money at church to a designated missions fund, or a special benevolence offering, do you question the deductibility of the contribution? If the check is not going directly to them, and the organization is a legitimate charity, I don't see a problem with supporting a ministry that sends specific people to do the work of the charity. Another example - Christian Childrens Fund. They tell you who they are sending the money to. It goes directly for that child's benefit. Does that void the charitable contribution. There may be more than what you have posted to this story, but on its surface, I don't see where there is a problem with the contributor taking a charitable ccontribution deduction. Tom Lodi, CA

Be careful with that program, as CurrentWife1.0 is an antivirus program that causes multiple problems for Rich Boyfriend 1.0. Current Wife 1.0 has many additional applications at her disposal, including Private Investigator 24.7, Divorce Lawyer 100K, and Joint Accounts 2.1. These are particulary nasty programs that will convert Rich Boyfriend 1.0 into Why Are You Stalking Me 1.0 and will make the program I Still Love My Wife 9.0 run in a continuous loop until Rich Boyfriend 1.0 is uninstalled on every operating system attached to the WWW. Tom Lodi, CA

OK, don't tell my wife I posted this...... Because wife did not upgrade to enhanced support, she only got the KB canned response to her question from an Indian call center. Had she upgraded support, she would have gotten a live, American Male technical support manager giving her the best technical advice for her particular situation. Here is the advanced support response. Wife needs to install CleanHouse3.1 along with BunsOfSteel6.9 on her own operating system. It would not hurt if she also installed HowtoMassageEgo4.0 and remembered to run program PerfectMakeupAndHair1.0 daily. Finally, if she were also to run FootMassage5.1 and BackRub2.0 on a regular basis, she would find that Husband1.0 makes BiologicalClock9.0 keep perfect time. By following these simple steps, the operating systems of Husband and Wife will actually communicate with each other. Tom (senior support manager) Lodi, CA

KC, I have not been on the board for a few days, but I too add my belated prayers. May God bless and heal Don, and give you comfort right now. I know God is still in the miracle business, and if enough of His people will pray, His heart can be moved to intervene. May He move in your life right now. Tom Lodi, CA

Would love to help you out, but the commute would be a little tough on the fuel budget. Tom Lodi, CA

Jainen is buying, the bar is open, and all of you are invited.

I can make that happen. I don't know a lot of places in Sac to meet, but if you can pick something along I-5, I am sure I can find it. Or, if you don't mind, we can meet in Elk Grove. I know lots of places because that is where I work. I think we should invite Jainen and stick him with the check. Tom Lodi, CA

I sent you a PM in response to your note to me. Did you get it? You can call me at 916-686-3700 ext 102. I am usually here 7AM-4PM. Lunch from 12-1PM. Tom Lodi, CA

As my hair is less than 1/4 inch long, I think I would have to wait until it grows out. Even then, I could not get the full mohawk because of "folical deficencies". OK, who knows all the characters. MR. T was BA. There was a guy named FACE. I forget what the leader was named, but I think George Preppard played the role. I think there were 1 or 2 others. Jainen will know. He brought it up. Tom Lodi, CA

Does that make me Mr. T ? If so, I need to make a trip to the jewlery store. Tom Lodi, CA

Jainen, I had my conference with the IRS appeals officer this morning on the 1099R issue on the disability withdrawal and the 10% penalty. In my response letter to the Appeals Officer, I focused on the Admin Law Judge ruling for 2 pages and made a passing reference to Rideaux in one paragraph on the last page. Our conference call this morning lasted a total of 3 minutes, just long enough for her to explain she did not have a case on point and would allow the exception to the additional tax. Thank you so much for your assistance on this. Rideaux was a very good case, and I did not find it until you pointed it out. Your advice was spot on as ususal. I wanted you to know that I really value your input on this board. You are appreciated. Tom Lodi, CA

The problem with commercially grown strawberries is they need to gas and ship them. You can't pick fruit at the most sweet stage because it will not make the shipping journey. That is why your local fruit usually tastes better. I worked in produce for many years. I used to go out to the packing house and take the fruit off the cull line for myself, even though I could take any box of fruit I wanted. I took a box of culled nectarines to my mom one time, and she just raved over how fantastic they were, and how she never tasted better. Then I told her this was the fruit we send to the dairy to feed the cows. She did not believe me. There was nothing wrong with the fruit, except it was too ripe to ship when I pulled it off the cull belt. Now, could you send me some ripe pineapples? The green crap they sell here in CA I won't buy. Tom Lodi, CA

Actually, blueberrys are not usually commercially grown in the central valley. They do more up in Oregon and Washington. I think it has to do with the humidity in the air. The central valley is a little to dry and the growing season is too hot for berries, which is why most are grown closer to the coast over in Watsonville, Salinas, Oxnard, and Santa Maria. We do have an early spring and late fall strawberry crop in the valley, but they are mostly commercially grown for juice or the local market because they don't compare to the coastal varieties. Even the Blackberries and Raspberries that do well in the valley are not as good as the commercial varieties from the coast. I am sure you can get better information about the varieties that would do well in your personal garden at a local nursery. I am sorry I can't help you with that one. Tom Lodi, CA

I saw a piece on MSNBC or something like that where the 4 Billion would go to communities to PURCHASE forclosed homes in high forclosure areas. The question was asked, what are these cities/counties going to do with the properties they bought? The answer was to help low income families purchase homes. That was were I got that information. It may not be a requirement, but it is where I understood the 4 Billion was going.

Have you updated adobe lately? It may be that you need a current version. I use pdf factory also and have never had that problem. Tom Lodi, CA