Lion EA

STOP DOING THAT !! I use Distributions. And, educate the client. I've used Loan to Shareholder if basis is a problem, but want it under $10,000 and going down each year. Fire him.

I save and close each open return before closing ProSystem fx. Once in a great while, usually an unexpected shut down like a power failure, I try to open a return and get a message that it's already open or locked -- but it's just me on a stand-alone desktop. It does give choices, such as open anyway. I chose the appropriate answer. When it opens, I immediately save and close and reopen, just in case. ProSytem fx had some training webinars as late as February. Support is great. Try live chat for a faster connection. Or, the virtual chat for basic issues. Or telephone but ask for a call-back if it's a long hold time. Always start with their knowledgebase. If it's not urgent, open your own ticket and request an email or call. I do that from time to time -- type in my question before I stop for the night and have an email answer waiting for me when I get back to work in the morning. I prefer emails when I want to print instructions, but telephone when I know I'll have follow-up questions, need the back and forth discussion. They have a community message board, but I haven't used it.

For a young kid who hasn't filed yet, I don't push to have him file when he/she has no filing requirement. Once a child has filed, I do push for him/her to NOT miss a year.

Always get the bursar's statement. Forms 1098-T are notoriously inaccurate. (I don't know what that says about the colleges teaching our next generation.)

I always suggest filing to start the statute of limitations running. Does he need to file Form 8938? Is he required to check the boxes on Schedule B, or only if he has a filing requirement? Is he e-filing his own FinCEN Form 114?

Bulldog, is your client a US Citizen, green card holder or tax resident? Why hasn't he filed returns?

1. Only interest and dividends on parents' returns. But, as you say, why raise their AGI? With capital gains, all must be on child's return. 2. Yes. 3. I do. It starts the statute of limitations running. No return; no SOL.

Kiddie Tax!

I don't use ATX, so you'll have to ask ATX Support.

I think the IRS isn't accepting 2020 1040-X until sometime later in March. Is the IRS accepting 2019?

Yes, if the scholarship can be used for other than tuition/fees. Don't know how you do that in ATX. Basically, you apply the some of the scholarship to room & board or something other than tuition fees in your software's reconciliation worksheet. Your software will then move the excess scholarship that you didn't apply to tuition/fees to the wages line with the literal SCH. Now the student is paying tax on that 2K or however much the parents need to max out the AOC.

I think taxing over 3 years is the default. There's a box to check on Form 8915-E if you want it all taxed on this return.

I'm with you. I've used that line and the wages line to tie out to the various payroll reports. I've used distributions for non-payroll withdrawals. I can kinda see the point of using Sch C and SE to pay the tax if there was no payroll. But that should happen only once! I'd educate that client. If they continued taking money without payroll, they'd no longer be my client. Maybe that's what happened here. Why did they leave their last preparer? Do they seem able to be educated, motivated to change right now for 2021?

I don't think the states will reissue. Probably the states that stay coupled with the IRS for most/all items will do the same with UI benefits. The states that decouple are anyone's guess. The states that currently do NOT tax UI benefits probably will continue to do the same. I have two so far that I'm holding. They're both under the $150,000 threshold, so agree with me to hold. I want to know the definition of "household." If the dependent who has $12,300 in UI benefits lives with her parents who make well in excess of $150,000, then does that mean the dependent's household income is also over $150,000 and she cannot exclude $10,200 from tax? And, for Kiddie Tax, after excluding $10,200, is the next $1,100 also not taxable, following $1,100 taxed at child's rate, and excess over $2,200 + $10,200 taxed at parents' rate? Or, does the exclusion of $10,200 include the first $1,100 and the 2nd $1,100 and go straight to parents' rate for the excess over $10,200?

How'd you get $9 on line 25c? That's most commonly for FIT from a 1099 of some type, such as withholding from gambling, and can be from a pass-through entity.

I know, I have 13 states. This one is CA that does NOT tax unemployment benefits, but I have some in my stack that are CT that DOES tax unemployment benefits and other states that I have to look up. Every return has at least one new thing that takes me a few minutes. I am VERY far behind.

Judy has it pinned for us at the top. All Pinned Topics, then scroll down to Links to: States' Info.

In ProSystem fx it's OC for Other Countries in the drop-down list. (I just type OC.) It used to be V for Various Countries, but changed a while back; I continue to type V from time to time and get British Virgin Islands. I do have some heavy investors in Nestle; is that the Netherlands?

Households with income less than $150,000. I was just talking to a dependent/college student with over $12,300 in unemployment benefits; that's her entire income. (She usually earned $4,000 from Macy's in her local mall.) However, she's a dependent and lives with her parents while attending college. Her parents earn well over $150,000. Does the daughter's household include her parents when determining the taxability of her unemployment benefits?

Give them a bill. But if they don't pay it, don't fret. Give them back the documents they gave you and wish them well. You don't want clients who are shopping for the best outcome without planning with you before the year ends to improve their own outcome.

If he was over 55, separated from service, and it was a 401(k), I think that's an exception to the penalty. But that doesn't work for an IRA.

Is he taking "substantially equal" distributions? Is he having his financial advisor prepare his taxes?

Is this the final year of the trust? Simple or Complex?

I know, but I was a good straight man, walked right into that.

I sure worded that in a misleading way! He is younger than I am, but not by that much. 27th anniversary this June.