Lion EA

Pull transcripts.

When I was a single mom with a young son, I discovered that it was cheaper to take vacation time when my son had school breaks and take us both to DisneyWorld (airfare from CT/NY and onsite hotel and meals and...) than to pay all-day daycare. We did that about every other year (couldn't always get time off work) over his winter or spring break or long Thanksgiving weekend. Both of us had fun. And, it didn't cost me any more than if we were home and I was at work. Of course, it meant planning ahead to get the best deals, but it was worth it !!

Raise their price $40 and give them a $20 discount.

This gal does list, so lots of different things were donated, furniture, clothing, sports equipment, books, etc., and using the Goodwill calculator, the whole mess was just under $2,000. So, no risk of a group of similar items being over $5,000. Had a guy donate his record collection to a symphony in his home state. They paid for the appraisal and sent him the paperwork which we efiled as a .pdf with his return. $15,000 or so!

I tell them the standard donation amount is zero, or in TN southern talk Zee Row.

I do that Abby, for one or two receipts. But, for 13? And, one of them was that pet stroller for $120 when new. (Did any of you every stroll your pet?!) 13 X $500 X 33% bracket = $2,145. I don't know. They did downsize. Then hit them hard with Rita's education next year.

Had one today. They did sell their house and downsized. 13 Goodwill/other receipts. Some listings, such as oak end tables, 6 leather purses, that kind of detail, but NO dollar amounts. (Pet stroller donated to Humane Society, letter received, used once, paid $120 !!) I emailed her. Same thing, wanted standard amount, $500 she asked? "Good will , I gave them so much due to move - I say the value should be what ever the guideline is. $500? You choose. The stroller was only used once I paid $ 120.00" She's an artist, so I don't think I'll get much more out of her. I know they downsized, so I may sit here with my Goodwill list and her lists (which are short, so I might actually do this) and give her some conservative numbers. And, charge her a bookkeeping fee. Otherwise, I've been doing zero or $10 per receipt or whatever my mood dictates when clients don't respond. If they don't make any cash donations, church or whatever, I go with zero for Goodwill if they won't commit. At least this couple did give money to a couple of organizations.

I do exactly what Sara does, because I seldom see basis listed for the fractional share. If Terry has the brokerage breakout with basis assigned to that fractional sale, then I would make the tax return match the 1099-B.

I thought maybe you were preparing the tax returns. Then you'd want to look at bookkeeping modules that import well with your tax prep software. Did you check if your tax software has a bookkeeping module?

Do you prepare the business returns? If so, does your tax software have a bookkeeping module? Otherwise, look at the professional bookkeeping programs. Sage?

Yes

One of my reasons for using email (I agree with yours re too much time on phone and liking the hard copy) is that I work late into the night when I have fewer interruptions from ringing phones and hubby barging into my home office, so I can send emails full of questions before I go to bed and frequently have answers by the time I get up.

Or, Form 3115...

Did you get transcripts of those prior years? Was there a Form 1099-A?

On Pi Day?! What a nice hubby.

It's tax season. If we don't vent about something, anything, we'll explode at our family or hug a client and have to lug him to the workshop at Rita's. This forum is our steam valve.

Oh, yeah, my long-term memory is waaay better than my short-term memory.

I don't have any of these, but when you dispose of the residence before paying it all back, aren't you liable only for the remaining payback -- up to the profit from the sale? Your client probably had no profit. Do research it. You might be a real hero if you can get them refunds from amendments in the off season.

Are you looking for NY Form IT-112-R? The instructions are pretty good: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_forms/it/it112ri.pdf

Over the weekend I filed three extensions for returns due 15 March, because they don't have everything. I probably have all that I can handle right now, but I have been saying 15 March for personal returns. The weekly Nor'easters have had clients rescheduling or delaying drop offs! Some years I say 1 March, because so many are missing something when they drop off. I already had one client go elsewhere, because she wanted to bring me everything at the end of March and get it done on the spot to file before her ex -- who probably filed way back in January, so why should I go out of my way?! (Two new clients replaced her.) And, I have some prior year returns, including 2014s which need to get done. So, no promises after 15 March.

Yep, either CT cast a wide net in hopes of catching some working under the table or (more likely) a computer hiccuped. Another preparer told me to have my clients call, that calling wards off further action. So, far my clients who call have been treated kindly and not asked for any proof. Even my client who actually did NOT file 2013 (out of the country, house robbed, recreating 2013-2014 data) was treated kindly. One had moved in 2012, so had filed a CT 2012 PY return reporting his last date in CT; he still received a 2013 letter. 2013 letters for personal tax returns and 2012 letters for OP-424s are what I'm seeing so far. Gotta be costing CT a fortune to answer all the telephone calls. And, I'm not enjoying answering all the questions, either!

Thank you, Catherine and all. NY may try to hold on to them. But, if they do sell their house, I'm going to suggest they use the mail drop idea and change as many documents as possible. They just want to be rid of the house before the roof and furnace break down!

Me, too!

They don't care if they change their residency or not. They just want to sell their house. So, they want to know if they need a physical presence in the US for anything: banking, FAFSA/college application issues, DL, etc.

I added a cyber security rider to my E&O this year via NAEA. File is a pain to get to, but it was what was offered. About doubled my insurance, but I didn't pay much and know I'd better have it no matter what the cost.