Lion EA

I put it on the return. Quick and easy.

Agree, but only relevant if the parents doing the gifting are your clients. Or there are any international issues.

She is a teacher in her day job, and she does this every year for the same company. She gets paid; she's not volunteering her time.

Schedule C. Or line 21 WITH SE.

But, you also have the ownership of capital percentage. Is that still 50%/50% or did one partner buy out the other's capital ownership? The profit percentage does not have to be the same as the capital percentage.

For tax purposes, if Mom meets the other requirements for HOH and the child lives with her more than half the year (counting nights), then she still is HOH even for the years she signs the dependency over to her ex. Dad cannot be HOH unless he has another child living with him. He can certainly be MFJ if he remarries. But, his filing status does not change Mom's filing status once they are divorced. Are you OK with which benefits Mom keeps as custodial (for IRS purposes) parent? And which benefits follow the dependency to Dad in years when Mom signs it over?

But, please don't tell that to my grown kids!

Is he still and undergrad at 24? Or, a graduate student?

Yeah, partners can still have capital at 50/50 or whatever but gain/loss at 100/0 or anything, as Catherine said. Maybe not enough to pay a guaranteed payment or one easing out of biz. I have a partnership where one has been inactive for a few years and just now has early-onset dementia, so they will probably redo their usual 50/50 after healthy spouse's GP to keep taxpayer's newly won disability.

And, you can't really match them up by number of shares, with some shares held back to pay taxes, the splits/mergers/whatnot that happened over time. It's a nightmare matching the paperwork for when received to paperwork for when sold.

I just told an entire family, including the kids with part-time jobs, that they're going on extension, because they're leaving for Barbados by 12 April. Anyone not available through 15 April, probably through 11:59 p.m., is going on extension! Probably because I'm jealous that they get to go on vacation while I work. But, to them, it's the new tax law and forms, the shortened tax season, blah, blah, blah. I did prepare the partnership return for the parents' biz on time. And, I'll get them their ES amounts this weekend, so they can pay those before they leave. But, really, don't tell me 30 March that you'll be out of the country over spring break! I used to tell them to watch for my emails and deal with it in their hotel's biz center, but now it's just extensions, no arguments.

No, but 2018 gap in January forward is affected by 2017 end-of-year gap.

It's the lower of FRV or adjusted cost basis at the time of conversion to rental, without land, for depreciation. So, the apartment is one whole thing, including everything done to get it in shape to rent. You'd break out appliances and other things with different depreciation lives, of course. Then, any renovations after renting would get a separate line on the depreciation table as Renovations.

Start by reading the partnership agreement/operating agreement.

Box 14 is CAN be just information that's not needed this year. But, it's on your client to bring you documentation.

My software says, "Dependent of another."

Hopefully, your client got a statement at the time of the transaction. Maybe Box 14 is stock he did NOT sell this year. Or, stock held back to pay the taxes that are in Boxes 2, 4, and 6. Or,...ask your client for all correspondence re those two blocks of stock. He may have to go to his HR department or something, but it's up to him to provide you the information you need to file.

Yes. You divvy up the dependents, deductions, etc., and the IRS calculates. Although, it's been a few years since I've prepared an 8379 myself.

Terry, I provide Jolly Ranchers in my office, because I don't like hard candy. I never provide dark chocolate, because I'd eat it all. But, I prefer clients NOT come to my office. I can work in my jammies and fuzzy slippers with no make-up. I can work late and maybe sleep late and not shower until I can take a break and comb my hair once in a while. I have FileShare on my website and eSign and a large mail slot in my front door.

I'm waaay behind on returns prepared. But, the drop-offs started much, much earlier. January was my blizzard of drop-offs that's usually not until the end of February. I'll end up making calls, putting clients on extension that I normally finish preTCJA. I'd offer a discount, but need to increase prices this year. I'm going to have some unhappy clients.

Make sure the POA specifically give power over tax matters, signing returns when necessary, planning, anything tax related.

If the daughter did NOT pay more than 50% of her own support and meets the other requirements to be a qualified dependent of her parents AND files MFS, then the parents can claim her. If the daughter files MFJ, then the parents can claim the daughter if the filing was ONLY to get back their withholding. But, that's not the case described in the OP. The parents would ALWAYS have to state to you (and show you, if you had reason to doubt them) that their child did NOT pay more than 50% of her own support, and that has nothing to do with being married. If a three-year-old child actress supports herself more than 50%, then the parents can NOT claim that little darling. Yes, you can file the daughter MFS. But, you say she wasn't your original client? Who IS your client? If the "kids" that got married are your clients, advise them what's in their best interest, which often is MFJ. If the boy's parents are your clients, it doesn't matter. If the girl's parents are your clients, then advise them what's in their best interest, which might be to claim their daughter. If more than one of the parties are your clients, then you have a conflict of interest. Disengage from one or all of them. It's a family matter. If the family works it out and you still want to keep one or more of them as your clients, then do what's in YOUR best interest. Until the next family feud. See Pub. 17 pages 28 and 30 for Joint Return Test and page 29 for Support Worksheet.

The Forms 1098-T have seldom been accurate and probably will stay that way. When they reported Billed, we knew we had to have our clients get the bursar's statement. Now that they report Paid, you'd think they'd be better. But, apparently, colleges don't all use the same definition of Paid. Sometimes Paid is from all sources, sometimes after Scholarships &/or loans are applied. We still need the bursar's statement PLUS have the parents/students add up what they paid out of pocket. And, there's still separating what our clients paid for tuition from R&B and other expenses. And, yes, these are the folks teaching the next generation. Employers can't use a loose definition of what they Paid their employees. We can't be sloppy with how much we Paid for our business deductions. Rant over.

If the married kids file MFS and the potential dependent otherwise qualifies, then the potential dependent still qualifies to be a dependent of her parents. If the married kids file MFJ but have NO filing requirement, file only to get a refund of their withholding, then the potential dependent still qualifies to be a dependent of her parents. (NOT your scenario.) If the married kids file MFJ because they HAVE a filing requirement, then the daughter does NOT qualify to be a dependent of her parents. The parents can file withOUT their daughter as a dependent. OR, the married kids can amend their MFJ return to MFS for both, and children and parents mail in their returns. Or, as has been suggested, you can send the whole family to HRB and move on to more appreciative clients!

It still has to do with the rental. Does it subtract from the basis? Reimburse for renovation costs? Reimburse for repairs &/or maintenance. Is it a contra-account of an expense account? Would he have received the grant if he didn't rehabilitate the property on his Schedule E?