Roberts

In a very simplified manner it sounds like they dug a hole, filled in the hole and now want to claim it increased the value of the land?

Just off the top of my head because I think I've only had one of these: Isn't box 10 free of federal tax already and the 2441 is just showing the IRS that you used it for child care? You don't get a credit when the money was already tax free? I could be completely wrong. The one I had of these - the ex claimed 100% of the child care because the child lived with her so he was sort of screwed and got mad at me. Again, it's been a few years so it could be wrong.

It isn't our job to verify the income. It's completely reasonable for tip income to not show up on W2s as not all tip income is required to show up there. You aren't liable if the client lied to you. It's not wrong to refuse to do their return. As Catherine said, if it feels bad in your gut, don't do it. You aren't under an obligation to work for them. When I hear someone wants to file MFS so that they can avoid making payments on a loan does the same thing for me.

Lynn the website says you can do all three sections in the same year. Think that is reasonable? (they don't recommend it)

I use Libre Office. One spreadsheet I use needs MS Office but a really old version is perfectly fine so I use it on an old laptop.

Oh and there was previous argument that a K-1 doesn't include any info on whether the income qualifies - WRONG! What do I do if the K1 doesn’t have any information in the new QBI codes? If the taxpayer gets a K-1 that does not have any info in the new K1 codes, but you believe it should be a qualifying trade or business, the taxpayer should request a corrected K-1 from the partnership, scorp, or fiduciary. If the QBI info is not recorded in the codes, the IRS will assume it is not a qualifying business, so the taxpayer will not be allowed to take the deduction from the pass-through entity.

In the IRS guidance, one of their examples under SSTB is an attorney and how they will qualify for the deduction. I thought for a long time the fields were an automatic dis-qualifier regardless of income. I'm just going to assume that all of these rules are going to be completely different in 2019 because this is amazingly complex.

Hours of work is a bizarre method. As an example my sister in law didn't show up to a family event a few years ago and I asked my brother why. He commented that she was doing her father's tax return and I said that couldn't take very long. His response was that it was a 3-4 hour job that was now in week 3. My Bro and SIL were at one time CPAs.

I've had multiple people contact me or come into the office but it isn't the tax law. They've all been upset with their previous professional and were essentially referred to me. Congrats on your increase in business.

Has anyone gone through the steps to be a Fellow? Is it worth the work and cost?

The CPA journal did an article on engagement letters many years ago (I received it off of a forum like this in about 2005) that said engagement letters are almost completely useless as a legal liability tool in court. Their goal is to dissuade clients from taking action like Black Bart's letter tries to achieve. I have one similar to Abby's but honestly I don't think it'll do much in an actual court case. As the journal of accountancy article linked above mentions, you need a very extensive letter that is highly personalized to offer any real help. You can't just write a single letter, give it to every person to sign and think you've done much. Of course, that's exactly what I do.

The IRS and Congress have given us information to make an informed decision. Realistic possibility of success. Considering multiple experts have given an opinion, outlined their reasoning and I think it makes sense, we haven't taken a frivolous position. One of the reasons tax courts exist is that not all choices are specifically outlined or addressed by IRS rules.

All I've told people is that my interpretation is that we can use the QBI deduction unless the IRS specifically gives us an opinion otherwise and as of right now that hasn't happened but it could at any time.

I've never had a federal government employee before now. He told me he'll get paid but in the mean time they have to pay all bills from savings. They have about 2 1/2 months of expenses saved and he's not sure if it'll be enough before another paycheck shows up. The wife is really worried about it and they are taking steps to get the paperwork completed so he can borrow from his retirement plan if needed. If you are a paycheck to paycheck type family, it's a serious issue.

You sure about this? Line 20 instructions for code z Code Z. Section 199A qualified business income. Use the appropriate worksheet to report your portion of qualified business income. • Qualified Business Income—Simplified Worksheet, line 1. See the Instructions for Form 1040. • Pub. 535 Worksheet. If a specified service trade or business, see Schedule A; if you are electing to aggregate this trade or business with another, see Schedule B; if any of your qualified trades or businesses generated a net loss, see Schedule C; otherwise enter information on lines 1 and 2

As Oprah says: You get a deduction You get a deduction YOU GET A DEDUCTION!!!!!

Like this one because it goes back and forth. In the end they have a reasonable opinion. Opinion Nevertheless, when the Internal Revenue Service, tax accountants and tax attorneys throw around the term “Section 162 trade or business,” what they really mean is an activity that the courts and the Internal Revenue Service in past decisions count as a real trade or business that generates legitimate Section 162 business deductions. These court and IRS decisions, by the way, all sort of work the same way. And if you happen to be interested, probably your best place to dip toes into the water is the Groetzinger v. IRS Commissioner decision. Groetzinger summarizes nicely what a Section 162 trade or business needs to look. The activity needs to be continuous and not sporadic. And the activity needs to be conducted with regularity and with a profit motive. And then here’s the really important point for real estate investors. The Section 199A regulations explicitly say that except in one special case situation, direct real estate investment doesn’t–does not–necessarily rise to the level of a trade or business.

The point was that their business is rental properties to qualify for the QBI, do they have to pay SS and MEDA? If it's a business and not just an investment, FICA and MEDA may apply? But yes, strictly having rental property has historically not made one subject to SS and MEDA. I just got a new tax client because the previous preparer kept insisting the investor must start paying SS and MEDA even though he's 100% just maintaining his investments.

I'm behind the curve on learning some of these new rules. I've gone through multiple webinars but they just confused me more it seems.

When they then have to pay into SS and MEDA?

When I've had such a problem, generally it was a dirty roller and not a dirty piece of glass. Don't know how that printer works with double sided scanning.

83 year old mother - file a return. Enter the 1099 as a sale on your schedule D and use a cost basis of the amount of the sale up to the exclusion portion.

Someone get me a pole.

Merry Christmas Adam.

I've been getting that solicitation for at least 3 years. Saw a company on Facebook advertising that they were looking for EAs and CPAs to do expat tax returns and some offer in compromise work from home. They wanted only full-time type workers and they paid you a portion of what they collected (something like 30%). It was a good hourly rate that they "predicted".