BulldogTom

What are the assets of the estate? Could any of them throw off income (interest, dividends, rents, etc) that the client has not told you about? I take the position that you file the return to let the IRS know that you know that they know that there is an entity out there that may or may not have a filing requirement. Tom Newark, CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)

Kicked me completely off the leaderboard with this update. Tom Newark, CA (soon to be Modesto, CA)

This is just a rant about California FTB Client is a non-filer for several years. FTB has been zapping their bank account based on SFR's for the non-filed years. So we get the bookkeeping done and prepare the tax returns for the 5 years in question. 4 returns show a balance due and one shows a refund because the FTB levies were applied to that year (we took this off the FTB transcript). FTB has accepted all of the returns that show a balance due, but sent a notice concerning the refund year. The notice says that to prevent identity theft, they cannot process the return unless the taxpayer provides all W2's, 1099's, year to date paystubs, social security cards and driver's licenses. All five returns were sent at the same time, but only the one with a refund was selected for Identity Theft additional screenings? Bull$hipt! It is not an Identity Theft issue. It is the state dragging their feet on paying a refund (which is not going to be paid anyway - it will just be applied to the balance due). Rant over. Tom Newark, CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)

I logged in and it was there for me as well. The processing fee is just a tad higher with the $0.30 per invoice charge added on. I think it will be worth it for the 5 or 6 times I might use it during the tax season. Thanks for your help Lynn. Tom Newark CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)

Yep, I know how it works because I have seen it. My question was if it was hard to add that feature to your Square Account? Or is it automatically there somewhere on the website when I log into my account online. Hope I am making sense? Tom Newark, CA (Soon to be Modesto, CA)

Lynn, How hard was it to set up the emailed invoice option with Square? I have the reader attached to my cell and that works fine, but I have some out of the area clients that would like to pay by credit card and I would like to do the emailed invoice through square for them. Tom Newark, CA

The answer depends on the area the wages are being paid and the type of pay the employee receives. For example, you may be able to pay salaried workers biweekly or bimonthly, but hourly employees might require weekly payments. Union bargaining agreements may spell out different requirements for payments to workers. Some government contracts require weekly payment of wages. Sales commissions might be paid quarterly or monthly or biweekly or weekly (or weakly). The answer is not just that simple, especially with the limited information provided. Tom Newark, CA (soon to be Modesto, CA)

Wrong, you are like in 4th place. Everybody likes you too. Tom

I never saw that page before. How is it that Eric is so far down the board that I am ahead of him? If I can get 2 more likes I can get past Elrod. Not like I am begging or anything...... Tom Newark, CA (Soon to be Modesto CA)

Dang, when I saw the title of the post, I thought you were going to ask which QB you should draft in Fantasy. Can't help with that one either. Tom Newark, CA (But moving to Modesto soon)

OK, so I try really hard to keep my political opinions out of the posts (well not really, but I try to disguise them). Sometimes though, the motives of upcoming tax law are topics of discussions that can provide insight on what is coming down the pipe from the IRS. Just look at the ACA to understand my point. The IRS enforcement and rules were very much politically motivated, and the recent change in the White House has more political motivations in what the IRS may or may not due in regards to the ACA. If there is even going to be an ACA in the future. I love this board and I don't want to get kicked out for my political views, but I think there are some times where the politics of the tax laws does bear on our practice of tax preparation and we need to have the freedom to bring the political motivations into the topic discussion. However, there is no place for the extremes that we have seen before on this board and the items we have all seen in other forums. I get that and I don't want to be part of anything like that on this forum. So, am I being a little to sensitive to the tone of Eric's post, or can we slip in a little bit of the politics behind the actual tax laws? Tom Newark, CA

What if he was a renter at that property? Something seems out of place here. Even for the IRS, this level of stupidity is unusual. They had to check the title of the property they are putting a lien on. Tom Newark, CA

OK, Stop me if you heard this before, but I think the OPR of the IRS should regulate all Federal Tax Practitioners, including those at the IRS. It should be an independent body that ensures the competence of the preparer, as well as the auditor. It should have full authority to remove the privilege of practice before or for the IRS. It should be the watchdog over both sides of the tax practice equation. I have said this for years, but I will keep saying it until we get more competent "professionals" at the IRS. Tom Newark, CA

This is interesting. My first thought is that a cash basis taxpayer has income in the year they received the cash. That would then control the timing of the taxable event. I wonder what code section I am missing that would change my mind? Tom Newark, CA

I respectfully disagree with SaraEA. You should call the IRS and let them know what the situation is. They will probably take a look at his record and see if they have any open years on their books. They will tell you how many years they want you to file. I had two of these types of clients, one they wanted 10 years because they had open items that far back, in the other, they wanted 7 years because they had no earnings records at all for the client. After you get the IRS to tell you what you want, you can buy some time to get the returns prepared and filed. Then you can pull the transcripts and see what the IRS has for W2s and 1099s for the client. Just filing the open years will get the refunds if there are any, but those other years are still open for audit because the statute does not start running until the return is filed. You need to protect your client from that audit exposure. Still love you SaraEA, and I think you are very smart. I would just take a different approach to the situation. Tom Newark, CA

Client bought a bunch of equipment, some of it small tools, some of it light equipment, some heavy equipment. Financed it through a leasing company in 2014. Did not read the lease and did not realize there was a residual buy out or an automatic renewal of the lease payments. The prior accountant expensed the tools and capitalized the equipment at the purchase price. The lease was recorded as a loan with the total rent payments less purchase price equaling interest. When I picked up the client, it looked like a loan that was being properly amortized and the equipment was being properly depreciated. I never asked for the loan docs from the client because they had an amortization schedule on what they called the loan. Everything was fine until the "loan" was paid off this year. Here comes the bill from the leasing company for the residual buyout or continuation of the rent payments. The client paid the 70K residual payment rather than getting stuck for continuing rental lease payments. What would you do if you inherited this? (I know, the client should have read what he signed, and we have had that conversation). Tom Newark, CA

Thanks for the info. This has been one of the things that has pissed me off since they implemented it. Glad they lost. Tom Newark, CA

1. Good For You 2. Great for you I paid 525K for a 1230 square foot fixer in the bay area and got a steal, but that is not paid for yet. I wish I was Rita. Tom Newark, CA

Stop it. Just spending an hour with you would be worth $225. If he is too cheap to pay what you are worth, let him go. You offer more than just filling in the amounts, you offer your expertise, your time in the off season, a reliable professional to give good advice all year and planning for future years. If this guy can't see that, it is his loss. Tom Newark, CA

Personally, I would prepare the amended return to see if there is a refund after changing the status. If there is, I would file the SS8, including the DOL letter, and then file the amended return showing the SS8 application and the DOL letter. I would not want the statute to run out on a refund. If the amended return shows a balance due, I would probably advise the client to file the amended return but leave it up to them to decide. Tom Newark, CA

How many tries to pass the Exam? Very impressed with you. Please fill in the details. How did you prep. How hard was the exam. I am thinking about going for it as well. I have never talked to anyone who has taken, much less passed that exam. Tom Newark, CA

Yeah....whatever. Like I said, talkin' bout me right to my face now and laughing 'cause I don't get it. I am going to get my kids read this and tell me how to respond.... Tom Newark, CA

The problem was I was too poor to have someone do my homework for me....my grades in high school will attest to that. Tom Newark, CA

Y'all need to start typing in English. This stuff makes me feel like you are talking about me behind my back. If I am not a nerd, that would mean I am one of the cool kids on the block! Tom Newark, CA

California has a very convoluted tax system. And the appeals process is even worse. Having an employee in the state working is an automatic way to require a business tax return. You can't just do the PR tax returns to the EDD. The EDD shares information with the FTB. From the original post, the company had an employee working in the state, which gives them a presence in the state, which triggers the business tax return filing requirement. The penalties and interest will be applied and will not be abated. The tax returns need to be filed and the taxes, penalties and interest paid. Tom Newark, CA