Lion EA

Most of my clients are used to HRB where the preparers almost never put anyone on extension so they don't miss out on bonus money. And, most of my clients owe, so I have to do enough to calculate a reasonable amount to send in now. (Last year I worked a return with round numbers that seemed to have over 90% of her tax liability covered with w/h; unfortunately it was actually only 89.3% so she was very unhappy with me.) It's my clients that aren't understanding of my shorter than normal filing season this year. I just wish when they go around handing out extensions to brokerages and colleges or vote new tax laws in December so forms aren't ready when the filing season opens, that they would have to extend the filing season. Obviously, the government doesn't want to do that since they want to receive their revenues in the usual time frame. But, there should be consequences to our elected leaders; we shouldn't have to bear the brunt of our clients' wrath.

My assistant just told me that BOTH the colleges her daughters attend had extensions until 20 March to mail the forms. At one college, the forms have been ready but the outside firm hired to process them is not going to mail them until the very last minute!

I want an extension like all the big brokerages got. Now my clients are bringing me their Consolidated Forms 1099 and year-end brokerage statements with less than a month to go to complete all the returns I usually do in 3 1/2 months! Remember when Intuit got an extension to electronically file returns? I want a tax preparer extension. I'm the one my clients get mad at since I'm the one they see last. Clients don't remember that they received their brokerage statements in March instead of at the end of January or that some IRS forms weren't ready due to tax law changes for the second year in a row. That's my vent for the day.

OK, so it was a settlement to the Roth IRA. Thank you for the translation. I'd sorted out all the other jargon but that. Now, if the client cashed or deposited the settlement check in their personal account, is it now a DISTRIBUTION from the Roth?

Unless it sold inside the bankruptcy estate and was reported there.

It's one of the smilies. When replying, click the icon that looks like Janitor Bob and scroll down for the birthday icon that KC made. I think she had to tell me how to find it, too.

A very :bday:

Charge them by the pound.

Clients received two small checks from Merrill Lynch re a legal settlement, pricing issues I think. Maybe $45 each to H & W. Thing is, with all the typos on the ML letter/check stub, it appears these were IRAs for the H & W. So, do I ignore the settlement because it took place in an IRA (clients have not been taking distributions, are way too young for RMD, and are no long contributing to their IRA due to retirement plans at their jobs)? Or, is it considered a DISTRIBUTION from their IRAs since they received and deposited the checks personally? Do I have to dummy up a couple of Forms 1099-R for these two receipts? Checks were made out to MLPF&S Cust FPO John Doe Rra FBO John Doe address... and similarly for his wife. Yes, they both said "Rra" which I'm guessing is IRA. They don't remember what they had at ML. They're new clients and recommended by long-time clients, so I'd like to do as much as possible for them this year and not send them looking for information that they have no more access to than I do for this class action suit. Hoping someone out there has had a similar ML check come across your desk this season.

I would convert the business auto to personal use. Then the client trades it in or drives it or donates it. I don't think biz auto and personal auto are like kind, so an exchange or trade in is not appropriate.

bumping this topic up again to the top with a post

Only a single member LLC is a disregarded entity, unless it elects to be taxed otherwise. The multiple member LLC that these children actively formed defaults to a partnership unless they elect to be taxed as a corporation. Can you still have an implied life estate when an entity separate from your children or family own the house? I can see where you could ask the children what they implied by letting parents live there. But, how do you ask a partnership and how does it show you what it implied? Probably by the partnership agreement saying it won't sell the house until the original owners leave or pass away. Now, it's written and not at all implied. Have you read the partnership agreement? The transfer deed?

But, the parents didn't give the farm to an LLC; they gave it to their children. The parents didn't retain much of a life estate if the children were free to (and FELT free to) transfer the house to an LLC. That's the part that concerns me.

A very :bday:

Tell him to cook during tax season, they he can eat any time he wants. And, a very :bday:

Scream?! Tax preparers? Never! I can't imagine such a thing. :dunno:

What a dapper son! Danielle, did you see the picture of Kerry as a pink princess?!

Does she have a good divorce lawyer yet?

MFJ with injured spouse or whichever form it is.

2007 if he no longer owned it, Goodwill did.

If husband is in your system from prior year, pro forma him to 2008 and prepare him MFJ. Then, call up the X, switch their names/SSNs, and type in her info from her original HOH return in column A. I'm having you switch the primary taxpayer and the spouse to get the one that's being amended listed as primary. However, you might want to research whether that's necessary. Maybe it's OK to have the one who's being amended as spouse; OK to file as primary taxpayer on an amendment the one who has NOT filed yet. Probably so, and then you save the hassle of switching names/numbers in your system.

BUMP just in case more of us CT preparers are running into this...

Hi, Danielle!

If you did NOT prepare either return, neither is in your software: prepare the return as it should be. Then call up the X forms, letting the new information go to column C and type in the primary taxpayers OLD info in column A. Your software should calculate column B, but proof it for reasonableness knowing it's adding the spouse's OLD info with some minor adjustments for the different tax tables, etc. Sometimes, you just can't duplicate in your software the original return due to their errors or rounding differences or whatever, so don't even waste your time. Just type in the taxpayer's software results in your X column A. If you DID prepare one or both returns, at least one is already in your software: call up one return. Then call up the X forms, NOT letting the OLD info go to column C, keeping it on column A only. Then re-prepare the return the way it should be done including the spouse's info. Now, your re-done return info is in column C and your software calculated column B.

A very :bday: