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D@mn, Lion made a good point with the MFJ and EIC. This is why I always look up the rules for both HOH and EIC to make sure I don't miss some one of the intracacies since I don't work with many of these returns. I still think you need to know grandma's income because isn't there also the possibility to that grandkids could also be her qualifying children if the kids didn't provide more than 1/2 their own support. If they are, then she could have possibly claimed the EIC.

Can the mom really use head of household? In 2017 did she live apart from the now-deceased father? If she lived with him and fails the lived apart for 6 months rule, isn't she required to used MFS that would disallow the EIC, or use MFJ? Even if she didn't live with the dead guy and trying to get to use HOH, she still might not quite get to the level providing 1/2 the costs of the household with her level of income compared to the kids' social security. Plus, you didn't mention how much money the Mother (kids' grandmother) is throwing into the mix to cover the household expenses.

It's a fake alert that causes a popup or tab to open. I had that one last year that talks, also on FF. Shut the browser down through task manager, clear the cashe and cookies and it should go away. Mine went away. If in doubt, run scans.

That bright light at the end of the tunnel is upon me, kind of like a speeding train that is about to run over me, but I am going to coast through to the 17th! I have only ONE return that has not been touched. ONE!!! I still have a busy but pleasant week ahead with those picking up, some extensions to process that are missing that pesky last piece of info, and the few that are awaiting signature forms. By the weekend I'll be a freebird! Here, here is a 9 minute earworm for your listening pleasure:

I report them the same as any other stock sale for noncovered transactions where basis isn't reported to IRS, and I enter the basis plus commissions/selling expenses in that box. No adjustments or codes.

I filed an extension for this! If you need a quick break from the paperwork, let's have some fun. This will be the final week has an extended due date of the 17th with voting through the next day.

I don't have a return currently that I could test on and haven't had your situation to deal with. The programs have to allow the form to be filed when it exceeds the 400% because it's required to file if they get a 1095A and that's the only way you can calculate and report the payback.

Another thing, for those where I'm not really doing full planning I've been eliminating the federal withholding entries altogether and taking the discussion only through the total tax line because I don't want to mislead anyone thinking that the bottom line bal due/refund is truly representative. I tell those clients that I'll be happy to help them project out or adjust the withholding starting next month.

I've been running a similar presentation even for those clients that don't usually get planning. Drake has a comparison report available in the planner that can be presented to compare back to the actual 2017 return. For just about everyone I've been hitting the highlights of the 10K SALT limitation on Sch A, the increased standard deduction, elimination of the personal exemptions, the change in tax, and that many are in a lower bracket. For those whose income varies, I mark it hypothetical so that they can see the effect *as if* the same level of income and deductions should occur next year, and use it to inform them of changes they might expect to see on next year's return. I'm also telling them to continue to keep receipts for itemizing since DE allows that even while using the standard for Federal, and our legislature will be meeting soon to work out the next year's budget because we operate on a 6/30 fiscal year. It meant extra time with each client, but I do think they appreciated the comparison report as an easy visual aid to see the effects on their returns so there aren't big surprises at this time next year.

I just realized that, if I recall the date correctly, it was 11 years ago yesterday the date that CCH shut the official forum down on us and led to the formation of this unofficial community. I don't know exactly when all of the details were ironed out for this site, but if we use Eric's join date of 4/9/07 as the anniversary date then the star award is all the more fitting. Thanks again, Eric!

I'm really, really tired with the end in sight of this torture. I'm being lazy and not working at the moment and decided to share random bits and pieces of my week for fun. Lots of people are now taking off their shoes when they visit my office. I may have to buy some new, pristine socks and take mine off too. That would be better than the client that showed up early when I was still wearing my slippers. I delivered and visited with a long time client and his wife that use to be one of my larger business clients, now retired. The wife gave me a giant chocolate bar with hazelnuts. He made the appointment for late morning because he knows I work late into the night. They had fresh coffee waiting for me too. Do they know me well, or what?! My state acks were really slow the last two days, some taking almost 48 hrs and I started obsessing over it. I know I'm not the only one. I'm playing the numbers game, checking how many more, how many extensions, how many days left. I know I'm not the only one doing that either. I surprised my husband by cooking breakfast for us this morning! I'd be living on instant food or microwaved frozen dinners if it wasn't for him preparing meals for the past couple of months. Next up for the day is laundry, because... well, you can guess why. Share some fun stuff if you are so inclined.

Since no one responded to the thread for the week of 3/24-3/30, I hope you all like my decision to make @Eric an Honorary Aficionado for putting up with us (probably mostly me bugging him at times), and I'm also awarding him a crown of golden laurels for keeping this forum up and running for the last 11 years. Thank you, Eric! If anyone that has benefitted from this forum has not yet donated to Eric, please consider doing that to help keep the site up and running. If you consider the time another member here may have saved you by providing answers not easily found in other reference materials or sites, or if this site has helped make your season a little easier or more profitable, I think you'll agree that a donation isn't too much to ask.

Thanks for that tip, Lion. I have only one and it's next on the list to work on.

Well, here ya go. ILLMAS took the initiative to start the post for this week after having to deal with a drunk client and the resulting bathroom disaster too. He gets the star award.

I looked at that too and it requires a log in. Why do they not at least put the generic instructions for their form out for us so that we can start to decifer this ship?!

If I said what was on my mind about some of the returns and a couple of clients, I'd rack up so many bad points that I'd probably have to ban myself!

Yes, it can be 0 and 100. So the kid is not part of the "tax family" and therefore the mom may choose to allocate all, some or none of each month's figures from the 1095-A. Because they are over the 400% FPV, they aren't an applicable taxpayer for the PTC (obviously) and will have the repayment, not capped. In that case, why not allocate 100% of all amounts to the kid? Does checking the box on line 9 of the parents 8962 make your computer stop screaming?

I could eliminate those points and take away your bragging rights if you prefer.

Did you see this page on MD exchange's site. It has its own worksheets to help the user determine the premiums, with specific instructions starting on page 4 and charts of the benchmark premiums by age, depending on the county. It's all I could find. Hope this helps: https://www.marylandhealthconnection.gov/assets/mhc_Form1095_Worksheet.pdf

Glad it's fixed for you all. We had a visit from one of our cchsfs lurkers looking at this post. Funny about that and how they never comment, but check us out.

haha, you know I have that broom that I fly on magic wand and fairy dust. Oh yeah, I can't forget to mention the crystal ball that we all have.

Check the instructions for form 8965 where it defines the members of a tax household to include anyone the taxpayer claims as a dependent AND anyone that CAN be claimed as a dependent but isn't. I think mom will pay a penalty for daughter not having coverage. If that is the case, mom may as well claim the dependent exemption to minimize the damage.

Interesting, and thanks! That kind of makes sense since he was born on a holiday, so they gave him the day earlier to make sure he wasn't harmed by the system making an erroneous calculation. Maybe that is what Rich remember too.

When did you sneak in and video me?

Yes, if one of the parties in the couple dies during the year, no matter if it was on 1/1 or 12/31, that person was alive during that tax year and died during that tax year, so a joint return is correct as long as the survivor does not remarry. I've never heard of the rule Rich mentioned about social security using 12/31 for someone dying on 1/1, and I don't have time to search through the maze of rules on SSA's site right now. If anyone knows, please chime in. We all know that benefits paid in a month are really for the previous month, provided that the person lived every day of that preceding month. So if someone dies on 1/20, the person is not eligible for the benefits that *might* be paid in Feb. If that payment is received, it must be paid back. Sometimes SSA doesn't get the payment shut off in time, especially if someone dies late in a month. But I don't think this is what Rich was referring to.