Lion EA

Or, to make payments from joint accounts or to keep payments matching ownership of asset or...

Sometimes only one name prints on the 1098 but both are on the mortgage. You'll have to ask your clients. Or, explain the rule to your clients and have them tell you who qualifies to take the deduction -- in writing. Is this couple divorcing, or just filing separate?

She has to be legally liable for the payment, as well as make the payment, to deduct the payment. She can give him the money to make the payment if he is liable for it; then he can deduct it. Are not both names on the deed and the mortgage?

Same down here in CT. I'm OK with sitting in front of my bright computer on a day like this. Yesterday I kept walking clients out to their cars to linger in the beautiful, sunny, mild spring day outside and kept postponing returning to my corner inside!

You're not allowed to start the steps until after tax season. And, to celebrate, you have to send fresh-baked goods to all your fellow New Englanders.

There have been court cases allowing exceptions for beneficial ownership issues, but that's not your question. You have to be legally liable to make the payment and actually make the payment to deduct the payment. If he owns the property but she makes the payments and they file MFS, then no one gets a deduction. That said, certainly they've agreed in the past. Do they put funds into a joint account to pay for joint living expenses? That would give them more flexibility to divide deductions they both qualify for after the fact when they see who would benefit. As long as one of them is not reporting a number higher than was reported on a 1098 in that one's SSN, then how could there be flags. If only one owns the property, then you get into nominee situations or you do raise red flags? Have you discussed the advantages and disadvantages of MFS vs. MFJ with them lately?

I haven't had your situation, but others have recommended TimberTax.org

Report each sale on each date and match up the corresponding purchase date and price from your client's records or the year-end statement if everything was purchased during 2008. Your total sales proceeds should add up to the $1 mil plus amount on the 1099-B. He may have invested only $100,000+ initially, but you said there are many buy and sell dates. He bought $100,000+ of something(s) and then sold some/all and bought something else or more of the same and sold and bought and sold and...until he'd sold over a million dollars worth of whatever. Of course, he also bought. Line up each sale and let your software do the math.

You mean I can tell my family that I've been baking?!

Whether or not or when debt is forgiven is a separate issue from the sale/dispositions/abandonment of the property. You'll get a 1099-C when the financial institution decides they will not be able to collect on the debt or maybe never.

But not at the same time. I'm the one that does the laundry. Those of you that work at home -- have you noticed that as soon as you go to put in a load of laundry, a few clients call?!

I think it's just interest. Might have withholding. Usually they get a 1042-S if they have a foreign address. They need to notify the mortgage company of their US address -- which might be the same as the house they're financing and known to the company, but the computer didn't figure that out.

Sex takes too long, but food can be fast. Time is at a premium during tax season. Let us have our fantasies!

It was only 61 around here, but the sun was shining!

Call off the dogs. She found her issue with a child, a particular code that ProSeries uses, something like D vs. L. So, software accepts dad as HOH and all is well with the world -- for a few minutes, anyway.

Friend just called; uses ProSeries Pro. Father from Mexico living here with ITIN and children with SSNs. Software not allowing HOH, just Single with dependents. Can't find anything re HOH that disallows for ITINs.

Good. Don't make this look too easy. You'll weaken our reputation!

Warmed up here, and the sun's shining.

You get to bed before 3 a.m.?!

Using the gains/losses schedule, can you match the sales proceeds to the number on the Form 1099-B? That's your start. If you're talking commodities like silver or soy beans, you can see some big losses.

sticking my papers together. especially a problem when the paper on the bottom doesn't belong to the same client!!!

Thanks guys. I prepared the 1120S, think I handled those situations. I do NOT prepare the payroll nor the owners' (H&W only shareholders, one more employee also on SIMPLE plan not a shareholder) personal returns. But, had a call from owner/client while he was in his preparer's office getting the joint return done. It's been about a month and many not S-corp returns since I prepared this S-corp, so answering questions via telephone from home was difficult in my sleep-deprived state. I think the health insurance was right, on the S-corp return and as handled by payroll, and so was my advice to them tonight. The employees wrote checks/the company wrote checks near year end for the SIMPLE, and the payroll company said it was too late to include on W-2s (they did the health insurance, though), so I don't think that was handled right by payroll. I reported the S-corp expenditures on the cash basis, so return reflects what happened but not what should've happened. I guess I need to advise my client to have payroll correct the W-2s, last quarterlies, annual payroll reporting. After tax season. Why can't the complex ones happen in January before I'm this tired?!

More than 2% shareholder/employee of an S-Corporation: 1.) Health insurance premiums paid by the S-corp add to employee W-2 wages box 1 only? Deduct as adjustment or on Schedule A? 2.) SIMPLE Plan. Add to W-2, boxes 1,3, & 5? Deduct as an adjustment? What if payroll company did NOT include SIMPLE on W-2? No further action?

You want the building owned by an LLC that is NOT taxed as a corporation, even an S, or owned by the two individuals splitting income and expenses. So, you need to know which your clients think they are. As has been suggested, you can get an EIN immediately on-line if they don't have one. Put them on extension!

Thank you, Gail, for posting the results of your research. I bookmarked the pages you provided. With the ones I had coming from Roth IRAs, I had the luxury of treating them as from contributions and not taxable. But, it seems it's a more widespread issue than I could've imagined.