Lion EA

I really hate temporary provisions!! (Like built-in obsolescence in appliances.) More moving parts to account for when tax planning.

Hubby uses Dashlane and loves it.

I've never gotten into it. Still very old school with a book on my bookshelf, a generic-looking file on my desktop computer, and a few cryptic reminders on a post-it note on my desk for software/app passwords that have to change every 30/60/90 days.

Yes, my point exactly.

The OP has a client where NO Forms 8332 are used. This leaves his client at the mercy of her ex and open to a position that will take a lot of time working with the IRS to clear up/validate her return/receive her potential refund or confirm her balance due payment.

OP seems to want a 8332 each year, alternating which person signs/provides. This is not the way either. Identify the custodial parent first.

Your 2nd paragraph is a great solution. However, your 3rd paragraph shows why it's not a one & done. Maybe that's why OP wants to see an 8332 every year; however, it's even years only if his client is the noncustodial parent.

No matter what, he needs to identify the custodial parent first.

[me] "Did Jack give you an 8332?" might not be the next question to ask...

Exactly. But the OP seemed to want a 8332 each year for the one claiming the dependency that year -- when it's the custodial parent who's qualified to claim the child for all purposes but can give the dependency via 8332 -- in the OP's scenario, every other year. The dependency can go back and forth, but the custodial parent is an IRS qualification and not due to a divorce decree. So who gives (or refuses to give) the 8332 doesn't change (unless the child's living situation changes). If his client is the custodial parent, she will never receive an 8332. She can choose to give an 8332 in odd years -- in the OP's scenario. If she's the non-custodial parent, she can request an 8332 from the custodial parent, again per the OP in even years, and hope her ex doesn't also claim the child in even years.

If your client is the custodial parent, per IRS rules, then she gives Form 8332 and does NOT receive it.

Farmers do have a special way to report livestock sales if more than usual sales in a year due to drought, etc. (Don't have any farms with livestock now, so haven't looked up how to report, just remember that there's something about reporting it over 2? years.)

Is the tax ID # his SSN? Or, an EIN XX-XXXXXXX ? If it's an EIN (not your client's SSN) then have client check if Charles Schwab is filing any required Form 990-T.

I think B#TAX is right about the $1,000 threshold, but that includes UBTI from ALL income sources within that IRA.

https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay-help

All of my doctors use different systems, so the questions are basically the same but in different orders, on different forms, and worded differently -- so you can answer Yes to one and No to the same info but worded as did you ever instead of did you never. You have to read carefully and read every page. I'm 78 and can NOT remember when I had my last period or when I had my tonsils out (3rd grade? how old was I in 3rd grade? what year was that?). And if the form is seeming too easy, it's probably because I already responded to the email so now the text is a duplicate!

Definitely use a current officer. (Just like if they moved, you'd use their current address and not their old 2024 address that's no longer theirs.)

I don't answer my home phone unless I know and like the name on caller ID. I do answer my office phone, but if there's a pause before someone speaks, I set the phone down. People answer texts, but I won't use texts for tax information or any PII. I end up texting clients to check their email or my portal or to call me, depending on the issue. Or, some will answer if I tell them to expect me to call the week of May 5th, for instance. But, calling the IRS or states or large companies or insurance companies or...!!

The QR Code doesn't take you to a website. It pairs your cell with your software's MFA for one, and only one, purpose. A 6-digit number on my cell changes every 30 seconds. When I type it in the screen after the password screen as I try to open my tax prep software, my software opens. No one could open my software without my frequently-changed password AND my cell.

Search and you'll find that some preparers have used an authenticator on their desktop instead of on their cell, if you don't want your cell involved.

MFA is not your WISP anymore than your left sock is your entire outfit. But the MFA is one part of your WISP. I think our software companies are required to use something like these authenticators, probably to gain IRS approval of their software. So, we're going to have to get used to it.

I had trouble setting mine up, even with CCH's help and my IT guy talking me through it over the phone. Tried 3 different authenticators. He stopped by my home office and had it up and running and me at ease with using it in a minute or two!

Another moral: always owe a little bit, so you don't have to wait for your refund...

You'll want to wait for someone who works with MD/WV, but I do know that most reciprocity agreements are for wages only. So, do some research on the WV website while you wait. Good luck.

Send him to IRS's Direct Pay immediately. He gets an instant confirmation of payment. You can calculate his P&I to pay, or he can wait for the IRS letter with P&I.

On 4/14/2025 at 9:00 PM, Catherine said:

For reference, this home based business does use water, including a steamer table that uses quite a bit.

I think you should've led with that !! Dan really sums it up.

The IRS instructions tell us to round like we learned in school, up from .50 AND down. However, the IRS truncates numbers at the decimal point, essentially rounding DOWN ONLY. They make the rules, but they do NOT follow them!

SEP can be contributed up to biz return deadline, including extensions. It's an employER contribution. The ability to make contributions through 9-15/10-15 is one of its benefits.

Solo 401K employEE contributions must be made by 12-15. Is there employER matching allowed that can be contributed through the return deadline?

No matter, if your client and his retirement provide have a year-end deadline, then you're working with that info.

I have a couple TN returns with the same questions re the November 3rd deadline.

IR-2025-47

Our clients can spend their money foolishly. But their record-keeping better be accurate and organized, so I can make sense of what's deductible.

A client walks through the livingroom to get to the OIH, but we can't use the sq' of the LR as part of OIH. Regular and exclusive. My clients can use my hall bath, but it's not part of my OIH, so I wouldn't allocate the bathroom part of my water to my OIH.

I keep changing sides on this. Probably 'cause I'm too sleepy to read the code. 

And if he parks it at the house (commuting) or uses it to haul his daughter's furniture to her new apartment or stops at the grocery store on the way home or...he still better have a log to document biz/farm vs personal/commuting use.

Tex explains it well.

Any required fees/books/equipment?

Is Westrock the current/successor company? Their investor relations department might have historical data, including a program or spreadsheet that works back through mergers/acquisitions/splits/etc.

Remember all the Baby Bells before covered trades?! They had (have?) an online app that let you start from when you sold taking you back to the date you said you bought/inherited and took you through the mergers and splits. You could also start from when you bought/inherited, so it took you through from that direction. I had to use that a few times with clients.

Was it only the pipes that were replaced? And only up to code, nothing fancy? No pump or mechanical equipment or holding tanks or anything inside the house? Not all or substantially all of the plumbing?

Then, I'm on the side of Repair.

You can elect to Capitalize, if they expect their income to be higher in the future...