Lion EA

Agree. Here's the CPA Tax & Compliance Advisor explanation of the Tax Court's decision: http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/11314800/think-twice-about-once-a-year-ira-rollover-rule?utm_source=CPA+Tax+%26+Compliance&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CCSN140218002

I try very hard to charge more than HRB, because I'm worth it.

I color code the years. However, I try NOT to have a prior year return that is completed open at the same time as I'm working on current year, just so I don't accidentally change something in the prior year that was already filed. If at all possible, I use the .pdf of that prior year so I don't trash the actual return in my stressed, sleep-deprived state. Sometimes, I really need to see where I entered something last year, so then open the prior year return -- but close it as soon as possible and replace with the .pdf instead. I always display the prior year to the left of the current, chronologically, to help me keep my place. I might need a trust/partnership/s-corp and a 1040 open or the children and parents all for the current year. In that case, they have different names and sometimes different entities, so those types of things are less prone to entering in the wrong return. I tell my clients NOT to bring last year's taxes. But, I really need to scan everything so I can point to a 1099R or 1098 HELOC, for instance from last year. I'm scanning a lot but not everything yet. Hoped to get to that point this season.

My point is not to make it more simplistic than it should be. The higher income is not automatically HOH. It depends on what that income is spent.

If the mother actually spends more than half of the upkeep of a home for her child, she CAN be HOH. But, document, document, document. Maybe mother pays the housing expenses and is HOH while father pays for clothing and college savings and poker with his buddies. Do the worksheet before you deny mother HOH.

Linkedin has some QB discussion groups. I was on one titled Successful QuickBooks Consultants QB Online Cloud Accountant CPA Bookkeeping Accounting Bookkeeper which seems to cover just about everything QB.

No. Mother does NOT have to provide more than half of the support for her child. The child can NOT provide more than half of his own support. That's for the dependency. (If you're talking about HOH, then mother would have to pay for more than half of the household expenses to file as HOH.)

Don't assume. Ask him to bring in his SS card.

Oh, I agree, KC. My point was it's not just wives; husbands support their returning servicewomen, too. I've seen that video a lot and am very glad the service dogs are being trained. I grew up during Viet Nam and watched friends come home to no services and no support and maybe families and spouses that had had no support while their loved one was away. One of our church members who trained guide dogs and then trained a breeder and then were able to keep her into her retirement, brought her out of retirement to train her as a court dog. They take her to court when a child has to testify; Lumina sits at the child's feet so the child is not alone in the witness box.

And husbands. And mothers.

Just like an adult with a stock sale, file the return to report the basis, and in this case loss. You can put on parents' return if interest and dividends ONLY, not for stock sales.

There is always an estate. The estate might not have a filing requirement. But in that case, you're probably filing due to the portability of the estate's unused deduction so it can go to the surviving spouse and not be lost.

The first few years of moving to CT, my then-husband /or I had auto accidents every 15 January. After about three years or so, I refused to leave the house on 16 January. I had an auto accident on 16 July!

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. Also, Glary Utilities. Maybe Microsoft Essentials.

If we knew when we are going to die, then it's a calculation with a "right" answer. But without that piece of information, it's a choice; and I hate to make decisions without full information -- which is most of life.

Our situation is me 66 file and suspend. Hubby 62 draw on my account. Me at 70 draw on my account with increased benefits; hubby at 66 draw on his account with full benefits. He'd worked this out with a financial advisor. Neither of us has done the legwork to check it with SSA and actually do it. He's a retired teacher and I'm busy, so this will be his project now. Also studied the draw and then pay back strategy in a CE course one time. My grandmother lived to be 103, so I hope to collect for a long time. On the other hand, my mother died at 67. But, daddy was nearly 80 as was my grandfather.

Come here as often as you need for whatever you need. We're all in this together. I'm a huge fan of extensions. I also think mileage is deductible to bid on jobs, to pick up equipment and workers, to bank, for any business purpose, whether he's going from his OIH to any of those or going between his various activities/locations. (Just don't pick up the dry cleaning on the way!) As long as he is "on business" it's business mileage and deductible with an OIH.

I know. I turned 66 with a younger husband. I just haven't take the time to go over to the SSA office to work it out. (I'm so afraid they won't get the Suspend part right.) I'll then wait for 70 to restart drawing, and hubby will wait until 66 to draw on his own but have mine to draw on for a few years. Can you do it online? How long before you see something in writing or definitive that it's suspended? Happy Birthday, John!

I have one client who writes his own checks but didn't want it to look like it. He developed a Word template that he uses to input three checks on a page, so he can feed the page of checks from his checkbook through his printer. The beauty of it is that it's Word so when he starts typing a vendor, such as me Dollars & Sense, LLC, he doesn't have to type the whole name or risk typos because it auto-suggests my company name by the time he gets to Dol. He used to fax me the pages before he'd separate the checks and mail them. (He finally has a part-time administrator who does the QB input, but he still prepares his checks the same way!) You could set up his template one time, then he's not handwriting. I would really work on him to use online banking to save time, money, and hand cramps.

HOH goes to the one who paid more than half to keep a household for a qualifying child. With a low-income couple, logic would suggest that the higher income parent would claim HOH. But WHO paid the household bills? If she paid the rent and utilities and bought food and he bought booze and motorcycle parts and rode with his buddies to Miami Beach or maybe paid his own tuition at Harvard or has huge child support and alimony payments to his previous family or.... You have to ask questions. And, yes, if I thought the lower income parent might be the one paying for the household, I'd document, document, document, knowing the IRS would take some convincing.

Inherited property is defined as long term. If child didn't live in home, then were they investment property in her hands? If so, a loss is deductible. Do you have the cost basis at date of death or alternate valuation date?

KC already posted a cite above.

In chilly CT, many people pick out their retirement homes while still working and better able to qualify for a mortgage. Many use it as a second home, some as a vacation home, and some as a rental. Eventually (unless one passes away, and sometimes because one passed away) they move to that warmer clime. They usually continue to send their tax documents to me. I currently have clients in FL, NC, VA, and coastal CT. I have lost a couple to preparers in AZ, but their prior year returns contained the depreciation schedules, etc..

TImberTax.org

My phone goes to voicemail while I'm with a client. And, my front door is locked (office in home). I have a large mail slot in the front door for drop-offs without an appointment. Usually, my clients don't take calls. There was the one with a mother on a tour in India who broke her hip!