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Lion EA

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Posts posted by Lion EA

  1. Does he have $3,200 in taxable scholarships? Or, are any of the scholarships usable against room & board? Or does he have any required books/equipment/etc.?

    Would it be to the family's advantage to use any scholarships available for R&B to free up $4,000 of tuition for AOC?

    Did he report the Starbucks scholarship to financial aid?

  2. If son (or parents) are lower income, he might not have much/any payback and can take a higher %. Try a couple different ratios to see what is best for both branches of the family as a whole. If not 0%/100%, then 1%/99% or 50%/50% or...

    • Like 2
  3. It's up to the bank at this point. If the bank accepts it, it'll be in brother's account. If the bank rejects it, it'll go back to the IRS who will issue a check.

    Hopefully the brothers get along!

    • Like 7
  4. Usually, WV where the money was earned. When you take a credit on your resident state return for WV taxes paid, you might be close to a wash. But if in your resident state you'll be in a much higher tax bracket, you'll need to increase your withholding or make an estimate to your resident state, also.

    First check on what happened to close the sale, because you might've paid WV income tax already.

    Also, I don't deal with WV, so check if it's a reciprocal state with yours, and if the reciprocity pertains to only earned income or if it might change how a property sale is taxed between the two states.

    Oops! I didn't read above the line. Jim already gave you answers.

    • Like 1
  5. Usually, WV where the money was earned. When you take a credit on your resident state return for WV taxes paid, you might be close to a wash. But if in your resident state you'll be in a much higher tax bracket, you'll need to increase your withholding or make an estimate to your resident state, also.

    First check on what happened to close the sale, because you might've paid WV income tax already.

    Also, I don't deal with WV, so check if it's a reciprocal state with yours, and if the reciprocity pertains to only earned income or if it might change how a property sale is taxed between the two states.

    • Like 1
  6. IRS Pub 970 and TTB Tab 12 will give you a lot of information. I start with the Bursar's statement to see the payments, scholarships, and tuition/fees amounts and dates paid to fill out Form 8863 to get the best results for the family as a whole. Form 1098-T is what it is.

    • Like 2
  7. I've stayed virtual, so if they drop off or mail/ship unopened envelopes, at least I can use my letter opener and rip them all open and toss envelopes in my recycle bin and flatten out their documents in a mad flurry, all unobserved. Thank goodness, I do have lots who use my portal. I guess that's one of my criteria for firing/selling clients.

    I remember a strange old lady at HRB years ago that reported me to our manager and everyone in ear-shot in the office and probably to regional/national supervisors/whatever saying I shredded her tax papers! I opened each envelope and put envelopes in my wastebasket under my desk. All documents remained in her sight ON my desk. Our office shredder was in another room, so if I were going to shred anything, I'd save it in a pile until that client was done.

    • Like 2
    • Haha 3
  8. I haven't had this situation, but it seems like 2 separate transactions: purchase of marketplace insurance, and then income from the union. Or, reimbursement from the union.

    Form 8962 would be filled out per its directions.

    Would the income go on one of the Other Income lines? Or, would it reduce any Schedule A medical deduction?

    Did the union pay the insurance company directly or send a check(s) to your client?

    • Like 2
  9. NYC taxes only NYC residents. NYS taxes NYS residents and non-residents; NYS taxes non-residents only on NYS-sourced income. FDNY sums up your situation well.

    (I don't like NY nor CA returns, and have been reducing those clients when I can, such as the client being a PITA and not just their NRPY returns being a PITA. Or the clients fleeing NY and CA. Finally got rid of my OH clients.)

    • Like 2
  10. What Catherine said. Plus I can make more money, and save my health & sanity, by working 11 months instead of 3 months. I actively encourage extensions. My 1st year on my own, I even gave a small discount for those, a bit like an overbooked flight. It helped me that year and going forward as I then had a core of clients who realize an extension is NOT a bad thing.

    Unfortunately, my biggest client is an S-corp who adamantly, passionately refuses extensions, plus I have to have their Forms K-1 in the hands of their personal preparer by that firm's deadline, due to no personal extensions, either. This year they're broadcasting out of the country until 20 March, so I'll have a bit more trouble getting their signatures when they have time to check the portal and when they get to a location where they have strong wifi. Plus CT redid their S-corp/partnership form and broke out a separate PTET form to learn. Not crazy about their bookkeeper, either; I just found mid-six figures under Taxes on the P&L instead of the BS Shareholder Distributions! (They take plenty of salary, so that's not the problem, just that their profit is a LOT higher than they are expecting.) I'm trying hard to get through this set of returns before Monday.

    The worst thing about a 15 March deadline, and others such as brokerages having a February deadline and also extensions to that, is that I just barely get into 1040s when I have to shift gears to biz entities, and then spend a month trying to pick up speed again on 1040s. It breaks my stride.

    Anyone get well into a return where you thought you had everything, only to discover that their Int/Div/CG seems way to little; they forgot to tell you they changed brokers during the year, and the 2nd set of statements isn't out yet? I hate to restart later but still need to review my earlier work and...

    OK, I know I'm procrastinating.

    • Like 5
    • Sad 1
  11. An email from Jean Mammen:

    "...it's the 7th.

    The tax code hasn't changed anything except the dollar amounts of things like the standard deduction - which the software knows.

    Those numbers the user can write over, if they want to see the exact number in the text."

    (She's looking for a new editor to replace the one who retired, so it'll be some time before an 8th edition is published.)

  12. I don't have any foreign clients, but I do know someone who literally wrote the book:

    1040NR? or 1040? U.S. Income Tax Returns for... by Jean Mammen, EA

    It's available on Amazon and all your favorite places, so you could have it tomorrow! 

    I think the 7th Edition is the latest version, so make sure you get at least the 7th Edition.

    Also, if your issue is NOT how to prepare the return but more how to prepare the return in ATX for e-filing, you may need to call tech support.

    Hopefully, someone with international clients will pop on here today to help you.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
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