JJStephens

They say a fool and his money are soon parted. The rest of us wait until April 15. Oh. That’s soon, isn’t it? Hmmm.

Wow. Judy.That was a very helpful article. Thanks! I spent a considerable time googling for answer but that never came up.

Zero? Wouldn't there at least be some basis in the land portion of the original purchase? He's heading to the courthouse on Monday to see what he can find. Computerized records go back only to 1998.

Client is a math teacher. His income went down 2k last year. Doesn't understand why he owes more. I explained that his wife made 9k more in self-employment income (they refuse to make quarterly payments)--that not only way more than offset his decrease but there's SE tax on top of that. His reply, "Oh, I didn't think about her income. I thought it was just based on mine." April 18 cometh.

This might be simpler than I'm making it. Hope so. Fifteen year client sold a house in 2015 he never told me owned (deep sigh). It was originally his mother's house but (he says) Medicaid 'made' her do a life estate back in '98 that included transferring the deed to the house to him. She quit-claimed the real estate to my client at that time (no money changed hands); he was obligated to transfer to her 48% of the proceeds of any future sale. He also had a verbal agreement with her to provide each of his two siblings $3000 on demand (he paid off those obligations years ago). He has no idea what her basis in the property is (he's going to the courthouse on Monday to try to find out what he can). The original house was razed and a new house was built (by the family) 40 years ago--he has no idea at what cost. I don't think he qualifies for a stepped up basis because technically he didn't inherit the property (she's still alive)--or does an LE qualify as an 'inheritance-in-advance'? If not, does he acquire her basis? Was a 709 required somewhere in the past/present? Any insight you can offer will be immensely appreciated.

Hey Rita. I agree completely. I enjoy the board and need a break every once in a while. Plus I think it is insensitive to send marketing mail this close to tax day. I just got a chuckle from the realization that as I was sitting there agreeing with what everyone was saying that I had spent twice as much time as that goofy email would have taken.

You do know, don't you, that all printers have a built in sensor that detects if a tax preparer owns it and if so, it is programmed to fail sometime during late March or early April? Same thing with confounded-puters. During the past ten years I've had one or the other (or both) go out in early April five times! I just replaced my printer about two weeks ago (deep sigh).

I got my second renewal e-note from Drake today. I agree with all the above. They could at least wait until I have time to see straight. BTW, it occurs to me that I spent twice as much time reading this one thread as it would have taken to read the renewal e-mail I'm griping about.

This is how many years in a row? I know sooner or later the string will end, but it sure is nice while it lasts!

I'm kinda late getting to the party on this one and (true confession) didn't read every reply so someone might have beat me to the punch on this. When they show up for the refund explain what you did and why and then ask them in view of all the work you put in on their behalf how much of the refund they deserve. Ask them to put themselves in your shoes and then state how much they think they should give back. Then watch them squirm. First to speak loses.

I got one a couple days ago purportedly from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp. It said an installment due by March 2 had not been received. I represent about 25 payroll clients--no idea who this was for. I replied using a junk e-address I have asking which client and noting that I was uneasy about phishing. I got a scathing reply that the address I replied from was not in the BWC's data base, that it wasn't phishing, and that I was expected to reply from my actual e-address. I replied from my regular address and again asked which client it referred to. I've heard nothing since. Still not sure about that one!

Thanks. Helpful to know!

Thot I'd followup on this from forever ago. As I mentioned in my OP, I made the jump to Drake last May. Garsh, I wish I'd done this years ago. Sure there have been a few learning glitches but now that I have the hang of it I'm finding that my prep time is about 50-60% what it was previously with ATX. Further, the software has worked flawlessly. Both the last two years I ran into a serious bug that ATX software engineers took two days to figure out. Get this. On Feb 27 I got an e-mail from someone at CCH offering me 2 years for the price of 1 if I'd come back to TaxWise. I've never used TaxWise! I did use ATX (and its predecessor) for more than 20 years. On Feb 27. I guess they thought I was waiting for mid-March to start preparing returns.

File IT-1040 and check the part-year box. If the taxpayer lived in a taxing school district use SD-100. If you need to file a city return use the Ohio Generic City return. Here's a handy site to determine if a taxpayer lives in an Ohio taxing municipality or school district--just enter the address and it does the rest: https://thefinder.tax.ohio.gov/StreamlineSalesTaxWeb/AddressLookup/LookupByAddress.aspx?taxType=taxsummary

Thanks. That all makes sense ... now that I hear it come from someone else!

I did an IRS webinar about six months ago on which this question arose during the Q&A time. The presenters said that the new rules generally require the new roof to be capitalized. However, they acknowledged that the facts and circumstances might occasionally allow for expense treatment. They emphasized those would be very rare exceptions and that IRS is trying to force it to be capitalized.

Most of my client base is not the typical 'kiddie tax' crowd so I'm not real familiar with it and a couple hours' research hasn't turned up an answer to my dilemma. Taxpayers are MFJ (28% marginal bracket). Two of their kids are now FT college students (ages 19 and 21 at 12/31/2015). Sales of stock from UTMA accounts in both kids' names resulted in LT gains totaling a bit over $6000 for each 'child'. If I understand it correctly I can only report interest, dividend, cap gain distributions and Alaska Perm Fund dividends using Form 8814 on the parents' return. I take 'cap gain distributions' to be amounts reported on Form 1099-DIV. I've searched but can't find anything that defines that term differently. Since this situation does not involve a cap gain distribution but rather realized cap gains and their income exceeds the unearned income filing threshold I believe the kids will have to file their own returns and include Form 8615 to determine the kiddie tax. Am I on track? TIA for any illumination you can offer.

The bulk of my practice is clergy returns. I just PM'd some info to you. Perhaps it will be helpful

Thanks for the info ... but I'm even more confused. I guess I'm going to have to read up on the severance tax. (Can you tell I don't get this very much?!?).

I've been there for a long time. Been where?

Client is a trust that receives mineral extraction royalties. One of the 1099s indicated a gross royalty payment of $25,521 but client reported to me they received only $18,802. I had them call the 1099 issuer and was told the $6719 difference was for tax deductible gathering fees. I've never heard of gathering fees so I googled them. I think they are fees assessed by the royalty payer for extracting/transporting the product. All I found was a vague reference that they're deductible on Schedule E. My guess is they would be treated as an 'other expense'. Anyone have any idea if I'm on the right track?

My tax practice is predominantly clergy but I do have a smattering of others including a handful of small business types. For 28 years I've operated on a trust basis. I give my clients an invoice and they almost always pay within a reasonable time. Almost always. I know most of you expect your fee COD but for those who do accept deferred payments, do you assess a late fee? If so, how much? I'm contemplating 1.5% per month with a $5 minimum after 60 days (that gives them more than adequate time to get any refund they might have coming).

I wrestled with those same thoughts. It is a gift to the tenant, but it is a payment of a fee to the landlord. That would mitigate in favor of a 1099. However, it was a substitute payment on behalf of an individual who is not required to issue a 1099 thus mitigating against needing to issue one. In my mind, the second argument is more compelling. I've spent more than an hour searching the net and about half a dozen IRS pubs for some guidance and found nothing. I think I'm going to go with your counsel & my gut. Thanks, all!

Back when I first started preparing taxes I had a retired client who waited until the final year to cash in a bunch of stock he acquired through an employee stock option program. It resulted in a total tax due (federal & state) of $120k. He called to ask how it was going. I hemmed and hawed and told him I had figured it six different ways. He replied, "I'm sure you did a good job. How much do I owe?" I again dithered and assured him that I had applied every trick I knew. He again thanked me and asked how much he owed. I finally told him $120,000. He practically screamed, "$120,000!" I again started trying to explain all the work I had done to minimize it, but he just yelled again, "$120,000!!!" Then he said, "How did you do that? I thought it was going to be at least $160,000! How did you manage to get it down to $120,000?" Every once in a while, I love getting to be a hero. I just never thought it would happen when I told someone he owed $120k!