Lion EA

The 1098-T just tells you the person was a student. Your client, usually via a bursar statement and their own cancelled checks and letters re what the scholarships/grants apply to, must provide you with payment amounts and dates. Report what actually happened and keep your notes/documents/whatever. Do you think the IRS can interpret the 1098-T with their crystal ball any better than you can?! Tell your client that the IRS cannot interpret the 1098-T in isolation, and not to be alarmed if a letter arrives from them. Just notify you immediately so they can provide additional information under your guidance if the IRS asks.

Definitely a good one for an extension. You'll probably need the divorce decree, also. Did the rental go to her as part of the property settlement in the divorce? If so, the adjusted cost basis on that date came with it. So, she could file Form 3115. And, include 2015. (She's not trying to amend prior MFJ returns.) But, you need to start with the IRS letter, and her prior tax returns. Extension.

Wait, your client and her brother lived in the house? Then section 121 for $250,000 of profit, right? Sales price - basis at transfer/FMV if lower + improvements = profit. Unless brother paid rent, one flat was depreciated, other details I'm missing.

I can see why the colleges don't want to do bookkeeping on a calendar basis when they are on a fiscal year. But, they have to do calendar year for their own payroll. They are not unfamiliar with calendar year reporting! I try to get the financial transcript from the beginning of the calendar year that includes the freshman year to match up "due" to "paid" and then highlight when by parent or student loan as opposed to scholarship/grant. Sometimes, it works out best for the student to have taxable scholarship money on her return at a low tax rate in order for the parents to claim education benefits at their higher tax rate -- but that's a separate topic than the messed up reporting that colleges do.

I try not to give prices over the phone. That Schedule A could be mortgage interest and property tax or it could be unreimbursed employee expenses where you have to teach them about business mileage/clothing/lunches. Or "charities" as Catherine said. And oh yeah can you compare MFJ vs. MFS? I just rent out my Cape home when I'm not there, don't really try to advertise or anything, don't make any money on it anyway. And, I don't make any money selling cosmetics either. My wife and her girlfriend sell clothes but don't make any money on it, so you won't charge extra for that, right; yeah, they did form an LLC together. And.... If they ask, I say returns start at $500. That gets rid of most of the shoppers. If their real question was what can you do for me/help me with/plan with me instead of how much does it cost, then the conversation usually continues and the final price might be much, much lower.

I vote for unpinning so new posts are higher, don't require as much scrolling.

Yes, I do keep any documents provided by the taxpayer that I relied upon. If the client didn't provide any, my answer is yes. If I didn't rely on any, my answer is yes. I only have to keep documents provided by the taxpayer THAT I relied upon.

I agree. Really need to pick one of their many, many templates or upload my own logo, photo, whatever for the top. Thank you for the feedback.

From CCH's e-Newsletter last week: Partnership, Corporation, S Corporation, Fiduciary, Exempt Organization Officer ID - State requirements for electronic filing most state returns now stipulate the inclusion of an ID for the return signing officer. This ID is the social security number for the signing officer. States also allow for the federal employer identification number as an ID for the signing officer, if applicable. Number of W-2s - State requirements for electronically filing returns require the number of W-2s associated with any deduction for salaries and wages to be included for electronic filing purposes. All Fiduciary returns, Federal, California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas returns are not requiring this information and can be electronically filed without the number of W-2s present. Notes: If this information is not provided, your return will not qualify for export. The following states do not require the signing officer ID or the number of W-2s: California Florida Michigan Texas

http://www.dollarssense.com But I really need to pick a new template. I keep waiting until I design/have someone design a logo. Anyway, it updates for me so I can forget it during tax season.

I get woozy when I see blood. Can I take a cheek swab from my clients instead?

Check to see if you have a stray character in one of those fields. Delete the data in those fields totally, however ATX has you do that. Save.

You can subscribe to IRS e-Newsletters &/or read the email updates from your tax software company &/or attend a tax update class each December/January &/or experiment with your new software each December to see what's changed. This is year two, and more large payroll companies and large employers are required to participate this year than last year.

Used to be, if you watched the demo you did get to a pricing screen. But, every year is different.

I pay it annually so don't remember for sure. All-in with content, opt-in newsletters, FileShare, total choice over what content I choose, ability to change templates, colors, reorder/add pages, copy/paste my own content &/or type in any changes, or just set-it-and-forget-it and let it make monthly changes to keep things fresh with no effort on my part, I'm sure I must pay around $1,000. I remember it as pricey (maybe $800 all those years ago), but it was set up and ready to go without me touching it (salesman had my company name and info already entered for my free trial) so I didn't have to do a thing until I had some spare time after tax season that year. I did change templates some time back but don't like the one I'm using as much anymore (it shifted some things when they updated for mobile phone usage by our clients/prospects/shoppers, so I'll pick a new template after tax season or some sleepless night. Anyway, I liked my trial and paid the bill and keep renewing. I do very little except pay the bill. By the way, I get discounts on all CCH products, because I use more than one product. If I remember correctly, ATX users have a lower price for SiteBuilder than ProSystem fx users, so your cost may be lower. I have wonderful customer service from SiteBuilder.

I use CCH's SiteBuilder.

Now I see it -- the extra digits in the MFJ table. Yes, you were right to let them know, Abby. And, there's nothing like that new car smell, FDNY. I had a brand new (1,000 miles) loaner from the Subaru dealer for a few days and really enjoyed that new car smell.

Better than our Congresspeople!

Great idea.

Older NY licenses have the DLN on the front lower right corner in tiny print. Don't forget to deduct the magnifying glass you'll be buying for your office. Newer NY licenses have the DLN on the back, so if you client is uploading a copy to your portal, require the front AND back to be safe. The change was 28 January 2014.

I could do Facebook Live. I think I then can post the archived video on Facebook also. Elrod certainly deserves a large audience.

I'll share Elrod.

Definitely! Looking forward to it. I'm ready for your performance.

Elrod, if you get bored, you can come help me. I have a guest room. Hubby cooks. I'll pay you to be my employee: tax preparer or researcher or court jester, your choice.

We need you during tax season more than ever. Drop by each day to cheer us up, relieve our stress, make us smile and laugh with you.