Roberts

It's perfectly reasonable and normal to use a person's SSN for their living trust while alive. When they die, the trust becomes irrevocable and an EIN is required. File the return with the EIN, you don't need to inform them of the SSN. Check with the attorney on the dated date. Typically it's considered a new trust and the dated date is now the date of death.

I have another 1120S who's owner died and the wife inherited the business. We'll close that business when they sell their primary asset so that she can take advantage of the share price bump up in cost basis.

It's already on there as he's been renting it out for years. He just really wanted to get rid of the 1120S for some reason - don't know if it's because he thinks my bill is too high? It isn't. He's a really nice guy, getting old and barely doing anything anymore as far as work. He's not in the best financial shape and his kids are sucking him dry. Several years ago he about broke down crying in my office when I told him he owed taxes because of a large IRA distribution.

There likely wouldn't be much of a gain if sold to the client but I don't see the purpose of doing it.

The purpose of the S-corp wasn't to hold rental property, that was sort of an accident that happened 20 years ago - long before me.

Client has an 1120S where the only thing left in it is a building which he is renting out to someone. He'd like to disband the 1120S and move the asset to a Schedule E. Is there anything special I need to do to make that happen? I'd just roll over the depreciation as it is I'm guessing. Other than finalizing the 1120S, is there a form to declare this move?

If you are going to claim the 1099-misc is the reality, I think the QBI is justified. The 1099-misc could be completely justified, we don't have enough information. Years ago my wife looked into doing something relatively similar - it was 1099-misc and it was a major employer. I think one of their justifications was that they expected you to work 8 hours within a 13 hour period. From like 6am to 9pm at night you had to do 8 hours and they didn't care where you were - you just had to work within that local time frame. Does the Intuit Proconnect service they keep advertising to me (where they hire CPAs and EAs to answer questions) pay via W2 or 1099?

IRS says they'll never call, wants a phone number on your return. IRS says they'll never email, wants an email address on your return.

It's an IRS requirement but some software programs link the activity to the computer itself, not the software. Don't know if there is a software program which allows OLTPRO to stay active. Things like Mouse Jiggler will keep a computer from going into sleep mode.

I'm guessing mine is 100% for those who are adults.

Foxit Reader is a free pdf viewer that allows editing. It works very much like Adobe. I access a website for work that for one application requires Adobe. That's the only problem I've ever had with it.

I don't have any jerks - fired the 3-4 a few years ago. I literally enjoy speaking / meeting with every client. LIfe's too short to be miserable.

Since moving to Windows 10 I just use the Defender Antivirus that is included with it. I haven't had any problems. 2x per year I'll download Avast and do a bootscan. That caught a virus one time so I do that - I then uninstall once it is done. I typically do it in May and December. I have Malwarebytes also. I haven't had a virus nor malware in probably 5 years I'm guessing. (knock on wood)

Does anyone know of a solution to stop the software from timing out from inactivity? If I get a phone call, it pretty much always times out and I have to log back in which isn't a massive problem but it's annoying. I've tried software which keeps the computer from timing out but that doesn't seem to impact the program. I always keep it in the front my primary screen (my primary laptop screen isn't the one I use the most) Thanks

I have a weird one. Lady in 1960 dies and her land is in a trust for her daughter. The daughter receives a stepped up basis in 1960. In 2019 her daughter dies with the land still in the original trust and the granddaughter now inherits the property. Does the granddaughter also receive a stepped up basis? Seems to me she receives a stepped up basis only if her mom included the asset in her estate valuation. If including the farm would have generated an estate tax so it was excluded, the granddaughter doesn't receive a stepped up basis. Is that wrong? It isn't a bypass trust because the daughter was the beneficiary and owned it completely and could have sold it for her benefit.

I used to argue that jerks go high increases so that I was okay putting up with their jerkiness. About 3 years ago I fired all the jerks (only a few really) and oh my goodness life is more enjoyable. I can't think of a single client I wouldn't want to sit down and have a beer with. Have a client who did freak out that I had a 1099 on his tax return for a dividend. It was a mutual fund he insisted he didn't own and had no clue where it came from. About a month later he called to apologize, he'd found it. How does one forget a $50k account?

If your client base is the person who's return takes 15 minutes and it's Schedule A and B - you might be in trouble. If your client base is schedule C, E, F and 1041s, 1120S, 1065s..... you'll always have a client base. It's like accounting, for many small businesses doing the books is ultra easy and you don't really need a professional. When it gets complicated at all, they likely will need help. Just got the books on a long term client and I'm reminded about this. His revenue is a negative expense account and he deducted his principal loan payments as an expense. This guy is EXCEPTIONALLY bright.

I used Drake for a few returns I handle and while it can be exceptional, it can also be bewilderingly complicated on something new. There are times it isn't intuitive at all when it comes to entry because of all the different tabs. For example on a trust trying to attribute a fee between taxable income and non-taxable took me 2 hours to figure out the first time - I needed to do an override. It was easy once I figured it out but it was completely mind boggling to figure it out that first time. If you do something once, keep really good notes for next year.

The S-corp rules are up to Congress to change. I don't have a bunch of S-corp clients but when they come through via other firms it's always amazing to see the "paycheck" the owners receive. Had a guy who's company was 3 people. The owner, another salesman and a secretary. The owner worked 40+ hours per week and claimed a paycheck of $30k per year. The company had a profit of $400k per year. Nobody saw that as a problem. I have a friend who started a company 2 years ago and while I don't do his taxes, I'm sure he's doing this stuff. He has a profit of over $10k per week he's told me before his most recent expansion.

Honestly I"m not sure how the S-corp tax advantages are still allowed.

Other than when destroying the computer, what is the actual benefit of overwrite / shredder software? If the disk is encrypted, it would take a significant amount of knowledge and time to access it anyway. I'm not worried about the FBI accessing my hard drive to see files I've deleted.

I use Windows Defender as my anti-virus and haven't had a virus since. I do download free programs occasionally to scan and they never find anything either. Avast BootScan was always the way I found my viruses in the past so I download and scan it occasionally. I use Hasleo Bitlocker Anywhere to encrypt my system and a few MicroSD cards I use for storage. $14.95 There are free options but I liked their ease of use and small size. I use SanDisk SecureAccess to encrypt my USB drives. Free

The SECURE ACT is almost certainly going to be passed this week as it is tied to the spending bill to keep the government open.

For me, Pro gets you Bitlocker to encrypt your hard drive. I paid $14.95 and bought a piece of software that did the exact same thing. Remote Desktop Connection I think is the other major benefit but that's not something I need - I turn off my laptop or take it home when not in the office.

Can they call the previous plan administrator and ask? I think you were telling us they switched. Just say something along the lines of we want to make sure we follow the same policy. Can you look at past payroll and see how it was handled previously with contributions? I don't have documentation but my understanding was that tips which flow through the paycheck are included, anything else isn't. If a tip is received in cash, it can't be included in the equation. Credit card tips are included and cash tips that are pooled and paid via paychecks.