Lion EA

I continue to use CCH's eSign. I like it, and my clients have been able to use it. The eSign license is free and then it's, I think, $5 per set of returns. (Haven't e-filed since November, so haven't received a monthly bill yet.) That would be husband/wife/federal/CT/NY/CA for $5.

Hey, Terry, I see you have SC listed in your signature. I have a retired client in SC. Is it a SC thing that I can't e-file her return yet, or is it likely my software?

Hubby and I haven't been in the same room at the same time for a month! Do we have two separate households? Am I considered unmarried if we keep this up through 31 December? (Tax season would have to be July to December for this to work for us, but I have clients where one of them moves to their vacation home for months on end when busy.) I'd qualify for RRC3. Sweet.

I have client tell his broker to provide me with an Excel format of the gain/lost statement. Or, use CCH's Scan & Flow. Or enter the summary per Schedule D Instructions pages D-10 to D-11. This is particularly easy when you meet the qualifications listed. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sd.pdf

Are you sure they didn't cohabit for a weekend or night or afternoon delight or...at any time during the last six months of the year?

I looked on the IRS's newish "gig" page and that directs to the usual IRS Pub 463 for car expenses, which could imply the usual commuting parts are not deductible. However, Pub 463 is being revised currently. Maybe to update for the gig economy?

Sure. Form 8888, but read the instructions re what could happen if refund is a different amount than anticipated/which account gets adjusted. https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8888#:~:text=Use Form 8888 to directly,savings bonds with your refund.

I agree with Margaret. It doesn't have to be the FIRST four years. And, it doesn't have to be four CONSECUTIVE years.

The IRS words it on their online "assistant" as...Has the student received four years academic credit for postsecondary education before the beginning of 2021? Of course, you still can take it only four times, so the five years or longer (part-time, stop and restart college, for example) you still have to count/keep track of how often a student used it. I've amended a student who took it her first year/fall at a community college and then transferred to a much more expensive college to use all four years of eligibility at the more expensive college.

Military have special rules. IIRC, he's still a CA nonresident for tax purposes until he officially declares he is a resident of another state. I think he pays to no state, with the combination of states you say. Military will use their station in a non-income-tax state or a state that doesn't tax military pay to declare their change of residency and then remain a resident of that state until they retire. IF CA doesn't tax military pay, then he has no reason to change. Military wives have special rules, also. See IRS Pub. and Pub 4940.

Ditto. We all understand, but we know your client doesn't always understand. Apologize for being rushed, but don't apologize for giving a too-simplified answer while rushed. Because, human...

Same EIN? Yeah, go back to employer.

Hubby could claim one child and still get the credits, because he didn't claim the child last year. Obviously, claiming both children will get him more! If wife's income is high enough to have to pay back, try each with one child to see if the household as a whole does better. We're spending more time on each client. I'm going to get some pushback on my fees this year!

They might be eligible for the non-refundable portion of AOC if they meet all the other requirements. Or, the LLC. If they can get the same amount from the LLC (it'll come down to tax liability of the student, which might be small) save the AOC for another year, because it expires after four uses per student. You know the family's situation, so do the best for the family as a whole.

If your client had only one employer who withheld SS, then he must go to his employer. If he had more than one employer that withheld SS, the excess is claimed on his return, as you say.

Wait, now the $600 charitable deduction is reducing AGI? Wasn't that 2020 only for a maximum $300? Doesn't the 2021 charitable deduction NOT reduce AGI?

I look up each state's filing requirement, and then let my client make the call. This gal invested a lot, so I expect some of the states to be substantial. And, when clients sell and have profits in a few states, they'll be happy with their former loss carryforwards. A few of these PTPs have NY nexus, so my NY commuters must report to NY; I don't let them make that call.

Form 8915-F when it's available.

Do you have any clients owning EDP? Or any of those energy companies with multiple passive activities and multiple states? (I used to, but not for a long time.) How much more do you charge due to the EDP K-1 -- new forms, schedules, states, etc., needed in the return -- than without that K-1? I have a client who wrote, "stock that generates a K-1. Do you charge to do the work for a K-1?" Less than your financial advisor!!

That's all correct, Randall. Someone else can confirm how the repayment protection plays out in ATX.

Years ago, when People's Bank started online banking, they offered a nickel for every online transaction, maybe for a year. I made some money paying all my bills online and transferring between my savings and checking accounts, probably for direct deposits, too. And, I saved monthly fees for decades by having direct deposit (you could also eliminate monthly fees by keeping a certain balance and maybe another option or two). But more recently, People's added a $3 paper statement charge, so I now download my monthly statements also to avoid that charge.

Wait, it has no effect this year? But Tax Day is NOT Friday the 15th of April but Monday the 18th of April, so that seems like a 3-day effect to me. Anyway, I was just bemoaning CT no longer filing via Andover so losing Patriot's Day and the move to Tuesday the 19th of April for a couple northeast states, but not for CT.

DC's Emancipation Day moves Tax Day to 18 April 2022. If you file in MA, such as MA and ME, then Patriot's Day moves Tax Day to 19 April 2022.

Maine and Massachusetts this year get 19 April. CT used to file via Andover and got the MA holiday, but no longer.

Had a grown child (parent had been my client, not grown child) call me frantic, because in her mother's (now deceased) retirement community apartment that "the kids" were cleaning out there were multiple IRS letters that said she hadn't reported her winnings from Mohegan Sun a few years before she died. But mother had stopped coming to me a couple years prior to her winnings, apologizing but saying she really didn't have to file any longer. "The kids" had already divvied up mom's bank accounts and things. How were they going to pay for that, the GC whined. I no longer knew mom's tax situation, but if she'd been filing returns it might've been past the SOL. No longer my problem. So, make sure your non-filer clients didn't take up gambling as a retirement hobby!