Lion EA

That's fine, Marilyn. Always like to hear about generous clergy. And, Mike, I'm on for your party! How about Friday 16 April so I've gotten some sleep before driving to LI. We toured Chamard in Clinton, CT, and tasted and purchased some of their wines. They grow grapes here, but grow most of them on LI; so maybe you have some Chamard wines in your bar.

IT-203-B Part-Year Resident Income Allocation Worksheet (also, NR and College Tuition Itemized Deduction).

Use e-Services to get past information reported on your client. There's a limit on how far back it goes.

Yeah, and different ages for different credits, etc. A pain to keep up with, but as you say, even more of a pain to explain to clients. It's time consuming to explain to clients that their return was done correctly, that it's the laws Congress passed that created the different handling of children for different purposes.

Do you have communion wine for your clergy clients?

No support needed for EIC. Work through the support worksheet for dependency. Is mom receiving any notaxable income, child support, etc., that she spends on supporting her daughter? We don't decide these issues; we ask questions and compute. EIC, HOH, and dependency, each have their own overlapping but slightly different requirements. Work through them one by one.

Can the brokers provide you with spreadsheets that you can import or copy/paste?

Helpful links, KC. I'm grabbing a couple of the paragraphs. Need to give a couple clients something in writing to open a conversation, let them air their objections, start them thinking this year. Then I'll follow up after tax season.

Well, since I AM the administrative staff, I do prefer e-filing to lighten my load and let me get to preparing the next return faster.

I like Mike's system. I don't get much in the way of tips. Had one guy who always brought something from a bakery. And, flowers one time and personalized post-it notes this year from two different women. Have a colleague who gets lots of bottles. Maybe, it's a male thing. But, I do get all the referrals I can handle, so that's the best tip.

I have no intention of pushing an opt-out if available. I may just tell them e-file is all I do (it is all I want to do and might be all that is legal to do) and let them return to do-it-yourself in one case. The other case has never done it herself, and was sent to me by our mutual broker who sends me most of my new clients; so I don't want to lose the broker recommendations. Or, add the $100 or more paper fee, which might make them leave, also. However, money is not a problem for either of my holdouts. And, even though an extra fee received would make it less painful for me, it might not make it legal if there is no opt-out. The ones that would return to DIY are a bank president who has seen what can go wrong and will not e-file nor DD (he's the one who calls in his own payroll, and he uses only his own bank's accounts and credit cards so he can track transactions with a phone call to his contacts and never has to go online) and his wife who's a real worrier, an older couple. The other holdout is an elderly widow. I might convert her if I take the plunge and start e-filing trusts, since she has two trusts as well as her personal return. CT has some bizarre system that is totally unlike how they receive personal returns, so I just haven't taken the time but should this off-season to get ready.

I e-file almost everyone, but have a couple of hold-outs. Thanks for the help.

I tried searching on my favorite boards and the IRS site. Does anyone have a link to a short and sweet announcement re mandatory e-filing for the next tax season? I have a couple of clients I haven't been able to convert yet, and want to give them a one-pager to get them considering e-filing ahead of the implementation. I thought the IRS had one of their Quick Alerts or Tax Tips or whatever they call those short topics. Thanks for any leads.

A very :bday:

Oh, how I miss See's chocolates from my decade in CA.

My sister had a huge infection following a surgery. She was very sick, but the intravenous antibiotics eventually did the trick. She's home and trying to build up strength to have the next surgery. Not at all gun shy. Hope Barbara's situation clears up even faster. She (and you) remain in our prayers. Tonight when it's late and you're lying awake worrying, record some poetry, rfasset's prayer, etc., and take to Barbara on your next trip. Then, she can listen to your voice and positive thoughts even when you're busy with clients. Take good care of yourself, so you can be strong for Barbara.

I've put small amounts like that on D for ST as easier to track all the pieces and explain to the client where it is, and the bottom line tax comes out the same from ST gain as from interest or other income. I had one myself that was actually my IRA, but my broker and hence my IRA had moved, meaning I needed to send the check back to the fund to be rewritten. It was less than $10, so I put it in my personal checking account. Obviously, I will not receive a 1099-R. I think I'll put it on line 21. Make sense?

Does the debt precede the marriage? Would injured spouse apply? Is that the right form? You know what I mean. That would allow them to keep the MFJ if it's a tax savings. Has he looked into consolidating his loans at a lower interest rate. Could he at least catch up so no refund is applied to loans. Why doesn't he want to pay them off, by refund or other means, now that they have income and a tenured job?

Amen!

The greatest invention was venetian blinds, because without them it'd be curtains for all of us. That was actually on a sociology exam I had in high school.

In CT, you cannot receive unemployment unless you are physically available for full-time work. That eliminates most traditional students from collecting unemployment benefits. Thank goodness your student gets to eliminate her first $2,400 of unemployment from her taxable income. A full-time worker going to school part-time, on the other hand, could earn enough (plus student loans, maybe) to provide over half her own support and not be responsible for kiddie tax.

Research whether Sch E page 2 would be appropriate for expenses to close out the business of the S.

I just received a brochure from the MA SEA for their annual conference at the Resort & Conference Center at Hyannis on June 12 for 8 CPEs plus a dinner the Friday night before. It ends with "dancing to the music of the Anytime Band" after the final banquet. Cape Cod is usually lovely in June if that's not too late for you.

Although the tax benefits go with a given child as a "package" except in divorce, you do have to work through the qualifications for each benefit separately. For instance, the person who paid over half the cost to keep a home for a qualifying child may file as HoH. That might or might not be the highest income person in the household. It's the person who actually paid over half and has a qualifying child.

Are you sure she didn't retain the right to use the house without the ownership changing until they both sold the house? Was he still an owner, just without the right to live there? Don't you hate it when lawyers try to write down things that affect taxes?