Lion EA

I agree with you. Assessments probably. HOA fees, no. I have a few clients in CO, but no one in a condo, so I haven't researched this issue. However, CO does follow the feds.

Don't you love realtors who give tax advice?!

I love real books. We felt it was one of our missions to keep small independent book stores alive during Covid, so we bought lots of books. Still do. Give books to grandkids for every occasion and any reason. (Another mission was to keep our favorite restaurants alive by doing take-out every Sunday; we're still doing that.)

However, we both have Nooks, and hubby has the Nook app on his tablet also. Sometimes the Nook is lighter, plus it doesn't require an external booklight to read at night. And, I don't have to wear my reading glasses in bed, because I can adjust the font. (I've bent and broken a few reading glasses by laying in bed reading.) I just got a cover that has an elastic hand-hold-thing, because I usually drop my Nook on the floor when I fall asleep in bed. As well as preferring the Nook for reading in bed to unwind so I can fall asleep after working late (unless I'm reading a lightweight book that holds my booklight without flopping), I prefer it for travel to take lots and lots of books with me in one compact, lightweight package.

Right now, I have one hard-cover book and my Nook on my nightstand; hubby has a tall stack of books and his Nook on his nightstand and his tablet in the living room.

...or, if she sold personal property at a profit. We report ALL worldwide income from ALL sources unless specifically exempted by law.

Agree with jasdlm.

Also, your client received the toys as gifts, so she didn't owe any tax upon receipt as gifts. But that's as far as their status as gifts goes. She didn't give them away. She sold them. It sounds like she sold most of them at a profit.

Investments? Form 8949/Schedule D.

Business selling toys for a profit motive? Schedule C.

Facts & circumstances. 

Yep, some income to report. But, hey, she's getting a free college education, including R&B, for just her tax rate X about 8K. Pretty good deal. And, it set her up for a major shoe brand deal...

IF she still qualifies as a dependent, she can take in an extra $4K income so her parents -- if they're at a higher tax bracket -- can take AOL. Or, if she's NOT any one else's dependent but still in a low tax bracket this year, she can maximize scholarship vs AOL. This all assumes her scholarship can be used for other than tuition & fees, but you say it can be used for board/housing.

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2019/mar/education-tax-credits.html

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2017/08/15/four-tips-for-maximizing-your-clients-education-benefits/26651/

If they haven't formed a state entity (SMLLC or MMLLC or whatever your state allows) and are H&W and are filing their first return for 2023, they can choose between a QJV and a PTS. (IF in a community property state, can choose QJV even with a state entity.)

And, you may have some amendments to prepare.

Can a GA resident file a Protective Refund Claim just in case she finds out later that she was pregnant?!

A good primal scream out in the backyard works too.

I do tax returns for a lot of states, but thank goodness I have NO and never had any and will NOT accept any Georgia clients.

Someone told him about the 72(t) rule that can avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty if the distributions are determined as a series of substantially equal periodic payments, and he heard it as "avoid tax" and never made it all the way to how the payments must be determined !! You can bang your head against the wall or give him a Rita hug, but he knows he will "avoid tax."

He has CA sourced income and would file a CA NR return to report his income and withholding. CA wants their tax at their very high tax rates!

I started with HRB years ago, so did a face-to-face interview; NO organizers. Because most of my clients followed me, they weren't trained to use organizers. Some new clients have brought in their organizers (from last year's preparer) over the years -- but lots of blank pages and missing government forms, so really weren't trained to use them, either!

I give document/information lists to a few, and 1-2 ask for a list each year. My software helps me identify missing documents/information, because it's all continuing clients, almost never a new client. (No time for any more clients.) I'm totally virtual now (so many clients moved all over the country even before Covid, and others don't want to take the time to drive on these congested roads) so portal, telephone, email, even Zoom make picking up missing information easy. The most frequently missed item of CT clients is car tax, but it's a benefit in only some circumstances, and almost every CT town has paid property taxes online.

https://www.revenue.wi.gov/DOR Publications/pb503.pdf pages 5-6? If that's what you're asking about, did she qualify for those years or not? Does her estate qualify?

When there are dueling siblings, it's often better to step away. Unless the monies involved are large enough to cover lawyer's fees, you'll do better leaving it to the PR. It's tax season, so you have more productive returns to prepare than prior year returns for which you won't get paid by a brother who doesn't value your work. The PR has your opinion and the returns you prepared; he also has a CPA and can engage for returns from that source. Take a deep breath. Take good care of your clients who trust your work.

You can always vent to us. We love you!

On 2/25/2024 at 9:34 AM, Pacun said:

"I would have bought but I didn't because I was a polo or I didn't have the money"

What's a polo?

2 hours ago, BulldogTom said:

Q1 - Do you have my retainer check?

Q2 - can you give me a call when you have my retainer check?  

Gotta remember to ask those two questions more often! Although, I've started using the term Deposit to make it very clear that I will very likely ask for more before we're done.

Hey, Frog, don't you love it when the statement shows custodial fees of $7,500 but the client whines about your $750 fee?!

We do what Frog does. Been with our gal a very long time, and she's seen us through the ups and downs of the market with our retirement monies and with our investment accounts, and now with our RMDs, too.

This client has little to nothing in cash/securities. She buys a house, lives in it with her fiancé, perhaps does some fix up (fiancé's in construction), mostly profit by buying in improving markets, and sell in a couple years. Both high income from day jobs. My client works for a company with a great defined-benefit pension building for her.  (Not familiar with fiancé's finances, because he was my client for only one year when he started a side gig at the very beginning of Covid. His construction biz rebounded quickly with outdoor projects in FL during Covid.) They've lived in FL for years, but want to sell that house and move to SC in an area they've identified for their needs. This time both will purchase house together. High earning years for both, but starting to look to how things will change in retirement, or how things could change if the one in construction has an injury/illness. The houses they purchase are not expensive compared to Greenwich, CT, where she lived when she first became my client (NYC commuter back then). So they do have disposable cash, over and above the house purchased for cash and her building pension and whatever her fiancé has. They want to be more diversified and intentional than just their house buy/sell method. Or, they might expand their RE holdings. They want some guidance in their long-term planning, but it might not lead to traditional portfolio of financial investments at a brokerage. Therefore, their request for a FA who has no profit motive in their next steps, just charges for planning services. 

Did he contribute for 2023 but during 2024? Then he could work with his broker to make it a 2024 Roth contribution instead.

Or, 2023 non-deductible Traditional IRA, followed by a back-door Roth.

Or, remove with earnings by the due date.

(I think. It's late, and I'm tired.)

She could afford Cadillac, but might not want to. Again, fee-only, one-off, so maybe she will. Let me know his contact info. If he's Cadillac and private, you can message me.

Anyone have a for-fee financial advisor you love and trust and recommend?

My favorite FA works for Morgan Stanley and isn't right for this particular client. Looking for one of those consultants who helps design a financial plan. Probably one-off.

Oh, darn, one more thing to watch out for! Thanx for alerting us to that, Frog.

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc421

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970#en_US_2023_publink1000178003

Yes, annoying. Can't remember the client now, so it may've been one of those brokerages that doesn't send consolidated 1099s until March and then sends corrected forms in April or later. I guess I can see how the CP letters go out before all the underlying forms are entered into the tax payer's account. But, still annoying. And, the client thinks we did something wrong!

I do about what Tom does, file a return for the child. I too have seen IRS letters based on Proceeds, even though the major brokerage reported Basis to the IRS. It's so much faster and easier to file the return for a child than to respond to an IRS letter.

Filing for children (and the elderly) also can prevent ID theft, or in one case with a client, uncover ID theft early.

Even though if it's only interest/dividends and can go on the parents' return, it has saved my clients a bit when reported on the child's return.

Years ago in my HRB days, we got an IRS letter looking for a child's return when the interest had been reported on the parents' return where the child was a dependent. Time-consuming to deal with. And, unhappy clients getting an IRS letter!

I charge a flat amount for children, sometimes separately and sometimes on the parents' invoice.