JohnH

My thinking follows along the line of jainen. It's been a long time since I had a client's check returned, but when it happened in the past I gave them the benefit of the doubt. As long as it was made good, I didn't bother hassling the client with more costs. The bank charge I paid was just a cost of doing business for me. The client was already embarrassed by the returned check, so I felt it honored their dignity not to treat then like a little child who needed disciplining - that isn't my job.

My condolences KC. Will be praying for peace and comfort for you.

Aren't all parties who issue 1099's simply conduits? - Just sayin'

Given that the lawyer is dispensing such low-quality tax advice, the church may want to have a knowledgeable lawyer review all the work he did for the orgnization and scrutinize it for other serious flaws. I'd be concerned that his legal exerptise might be as defective as his tax knowledge.

The church is not required to issue a 1099-Misc unless he shows up unexpectedly again and the total for the year exceeds $600. However, the minister is required to report the $500 honorarium on his personal return irrespective of whether or not a 1099-Misc is issued. But that isn't any business of the congregation's - it is a matter between the minister and the IRS (although the minister's Boss has a position on the matter which He explained in Matthew 22:21)

KC: You and Don will be in my prayers.

Thanks for the offer Marco. I have the forms in ATX - I had sent the link to a friend who wanted to prepare their own. When I tested it I discovered the issue, and the friend had the same problem. Maybe they've fixed it by now, or maybe it is related to the browser. I may try it again tomorrow to see if it's working now.

Form 1041 and k1

Yes, that's correct. Is it something I'm doing wrong?

I downloaded a pdf and filled it in. It misaligned whenI tried to print it. I tried again today and got the same result. They still have some work to do.

Same here. I discovered the huge benefits of dual monitors from the fine people on this forum (actually its predecessor) several years ago, and now I can't imagine working without dual monitors.

I'm not in the habit of double-posting the same question on two forums, but in this case I'm making an exception. A client who is a German citizen has funds in his German retirement system (rentenversicherung), to which he contributed before coming to the US and also while working for his German employer in the US under the "totalization" agreement. Now he has left the German employer and is paying into the US Social Security system. His balance in the German system is assumed to be over the reporting limit, but the IRS chart appears to give him an "out" where it says reporting is not required for funds held as " ‘Social Security’- type program benefits provided by a foreign government." The total of his only other foreign accounts is well below any of the threshholds. So we are almost ready to file the return and then we discover a couple of web sites (apparently reliable), which advice filing the 8938 anyhow, even if your only foreign accounts are of this type. I assume they are just recommending this as a CYA, but the potential penalty keeps bugging me. Does anyone have any suggestions on whether or not this client should include the 8938?

Before writing anything, I'd call IRS (with the client conferenced in on the call) and inquire about an abatement. I've been pleasantly surprised by what the person on the phone could do on a few occasions. Sometimes it's a matter of getting the right person when you call - if you get a jerk it's usually easy enough to find an excuse to end the call and then phone back later. If that fails, then there's still the opportunity to write a letter. Maybe something that was said on the phone might even help in getting the wording in better form. If the letter fails, there's always the opportunity to write another letter (or more), adding a few more details. For $600 it might be wortwhile to make a couple of phone calls and write 2 or 3 letters before completely rolling over.

It probably came by way of Harry Reid.

Just a matter of time - it's coming. They've already turned tax preparers into pretty good data entry clerks - may as well take the next step.

They sure chose an appropriate name for their company. Are we thinking double entendre here?

I agree with Jack. I've never seen a good outcome when someone returned a check to IRS.

I agree to the extent that you did a great job of illustrating your point. Nothing useful to add, no ideas of your own, just a snarky comment denigrating everyone else in the thread who are just trying to help out a friend. Congratulations on demonstrating a fine example of an "internet troll" comment..

When we were on vacation last week, Professional Wrestling came on the TV. I usually just click right through this stuff, but my 10-year-old gransdon urged me to return to the wrestling channel. As the wrestlers shouted into the camera and generally acted up, my grandson was giving me all the details about each one. He knew their names, their backgrounds, their girlfriends, etc. While this was going on, my daughter turned to me and said - "WWE is soap opera for little boys." I always wondered where it gets its popularity - now I know. :)

I'm out of ideas as well (unless there was a state estimated tax payment which was accidentally sent to IRS, but that would probably have shown up already via a state underpayment notice). Generally I'd be inclined to follow Jack's approach to cash the check and then forget about it until 3 years elapse, but given all the other info you provided I can see why you feel you need to get a resolution to this.

I suppose you've ruled out a $2,500 overpayment from the prior year being applied to current year estimated tax. And you've ruled out withholding that was missed. Did you look at the checks themselves? It's possible a check was processed for an amount different that what it was written for, or the numeric entry and the handwritten entry on the check are different. It's amazing how many people don't balance their check books. I can't think of how a $2,500 error could result from a misplaced decimal, but maybe I'm not guessing right. (For example, $2,700 would result from a $300 check being processed as $3,000) If you want to post the amounts of the estimated tax payments, maybe a possible error would jump out and give you a place to focus.

Margaret: The best tips I've ever seen for managing email are found in "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. His whole approach is about getting all these inputs out of our head and into a trusted system which will bring them back up at the appropriate, actionable time. His ideas about keeping an empty "Inbox" are great - the "Waiting For" concept extends not only to the email inbox but also across the board to all inputs we have to deal with every day. His book is worth reading, and he has a pretty good web site as well.

If you set up a "Waiting For" email folder you can better manage that process. Rotate your reply into that folder as soon as you respond to the client (assuming you are waiting for a reply from them) and simultaneously delete their last email from your inbox. This action will also remind you to delete previous emails in the "Waiting For" folder related to the same thread as you move the "sent" email into "Waiting For". Then, when you are satisfied the issue is settled, you copy the final email from your "Inbox" to the client file and simultaneously delete the last email you sent to the client from the "Waiting For" folder. Not a perfect system, , but it works pretty well for me.

Wow, I'm just the opposite. I wish all my clIents would email their questions instead of calling. I try everything I can do to get them migrated over to email. I can respond at my leisure and the written communication forces them to be more precise. I'll rey to an email within an hour or less, whereas I may not return a phone call until the end of the day. And I make sure all my clients know this. Even if the email response is simply "I need to think about this (or look something up)," they are usually very patient in waiting for an answer. Also, I text with several of my younger clients . That's simply the mode of communication for this next generation - get on board or get left behind. As for the people who walk up and ask questions, I know this bothers many of you. But I take it as a compliment, plus I have gained new business from having off the cuff conversations with clients while someone else was present. And if the question is too difficult or involved, it's easy enough to tell them we need to discuss it later and in more detail. Most situations like this revolve around your taking control of the conversation IMO.

Well, with there being something in the range of 10,000 large prisons in the US, it would be possible to electronically flag returns claiming refunds at those addresses for additional review. Might it be worth $12 million a year in savings to take this extra step? Nah, probably more trouble than it's worth...