Janitor Bob

...aside from the fact that MFJ is wrong?....I guess nothing except that

Yes, KC...Thanks...I will be reviewing the divorce decree in more detail this afternoon to see just what happened, but this is also the divorce decree where it is stated that they must file MFJ for the year...so My I do not have a lot of confidence in it.

It does no matter when the divorced was filed...it matters when it was FINAL...was it FINAL in 2007?

That was my first thought....would she just report that or should I do a 1099-Misc or similar form. I am doing both his and her returns...so I will report properly on each return....but did not know If I should formally have a 1099 showing the amount that went from her to him....never had a return with alimony before.

Couple gets divorved in 2007....She has a retirement annuity....per divorce decree, the annuity must be distibuted between the two of them....So she does that and husband gets half of the $40,000 (so she tells me). The 1099-R is only in her name and SSN and is for the full $40,000.00. Now she tells me that since husband got half of that, she does not want to report the full amount...only $20,000.00 Is there a way to make both her and IRS happy on this?

Client just dropped off a copy of her divorce decree...final in April 2007...There in the decree plain as day...it states "Chad & Jennifer will file as Married filing jointly for tax year 2007" How could I possibly file them as MFJ when divorce is final 04/05/07? How could the attorney base their entire divorce decree on this?

I received the following in an e-mail from the attorney....."Just file Alice's taxes as if she were still alive." WHAT THE HELL?!

Thanks....How can I file son's taxes if they may be getting a K1 from the estate when the 1041 is complete...and that not complete until 09/15?

What is JTWROS? How do I know if an estate return (1041) is needed. I just assumed that the attorneyd took care of all this last year. ....As you can tell...this entire area is new to me

client's mother dies on 06/05/07 and farm rental income (1099-MISC) was reported in his name and SSN only because he was the heir....How do I "nominee" part or all to her return?

Client's mother had farm rental income and expenses (have been doing her return for a few years)...mother dies in 2007...now it is time to do client's taxes and taxes for deceased mother...Expenses (very little) are in mother's name...but income (1099-MISC) is in client's name and SSN...how do I report? This does not seem right.....if deceased mother reports income as she always has, it is almost all non-taxable...but if reported on son's return it is all taxable! Please help...I have never dealt with this particular situation before.

This is what I thought as well...and I almost posted as such....But publication 970 seems to point clearly in the other direction!

Oh this is no joke...this is life in Sidney, OH.....the population is basically divided into three groups.... 1) Rich doctors and lawyers...well...maybe not so much rich as deeply in debt 2) Normal upper middle class people like myself that have almost all of our teeth 3) What I call "one-toothers" that basically delight in living in ways that de-value all properties around them...they are also usually the most freindly and the source of most of my colorful posts.

From IRS Pub 970 (pages 13 and 22), it appears that Yes...If the parents do NOT claim the children (even if they are entitled), the the kids are the ONLY ones who can claim the hope or Lifetime learing credit. On the 1040, make sure the box is checked to claim their individual exemption (since not being claimed on parents)...and make sure their birth date is entered correctly.

...So Jarvis's son stops by today and sez..."Hey there, I'm nuckle..my pop Jarvis said you need to do my taxes"...After confirming that Jarvis had indeed sobered up and accepted the fact that taxes need to be filed, I told nuckle (I assume not his real name) that I could do that and to bring me a copy of last years taxes...Oh...I aint never filed taxes before, I been too busy killing pigs.....I did not ask...I don't think I want to know. ,,,,Man, it is too late in the season to be dealing with these people!

It is actually 85 shares sold at $11.77/share for gross proceeds of $1,000.00....But I see your point. I am just interested in doing it correctly because that is what I do. I can go back on last two years taxes (that I prepared) and get the amount of dividends reinvested....but not any further back. As you mentioned, the end result is a small affect on client's taxes, so this is why I was simply going to use the average value of the fund since inception ($8.65) as the cost basis if acceptable. ...However...I still not sure I understand even the single-category method of averaging....Since I do not know how many shares he owned at the time of the redemption

Because the client is an 81-year old man who can barely hear you in person when you shout...let alone talk to broker on the phone regarding this issue.

The client has only been with me for two years so looking at old returns will not work. There may have been an initial fund purchase (client does not remember), but I know that over the years it has been through dividend reinvestments that happened without her involvement. I was once told that in cases like this it was acceptable to IRS for preparer to get an "average" value of the fund ($8.64 in this case) and use that (mutliplied by the number of shares sold) as the basis.

Client redeemed 85 shares of Van Kampen Pace Fund A in April 2007. He does not have a clue when he purchased these shares and he does not know what the cost was. Is it acceptable to use average value on these shares? Client is elderly and getting them to contact Van Kampen will be yucky

%53.8*((

Much freindlier here....I have not handed out one "BITE ME" this season!

You are correct...MFJ this year....surviving spouse signs forms

Make sure the 5329s are marked at the top for "Filer" and "Spouse" appropriately.

Doing this just causes my screen to scroll up and down...does not turn upside down at all.

Jarvis stops by my house/office today. I do not open the door because he smells like old whiskey and urine. He states (quite loudly) "Bob...you git out here so eyes can kick your ass!" "No, thanks...why do you want to do that?"I asked "Cuz you haz been makin me pay taxes and I dont need to cuz willie sed that I am past the statue of Limousines!" I said "Well, Jarvis...why don't you go home and get some sleep and I will check into this for you." "he states (even louder) "I anta gonna pay no mo taxes cuz I am past duh statue of limouzines.!" He then proceeds to throw up in my mail box. Wow...I love my job