Terry D EA

Agree with both Catherine and SaraEA. Only thing to add, is your client insolvent? Also, get prepared, never ignore a 1099-C. I had a case several years ago where everything was checked and the IRS audited the return. Fortunately, my client had all of the paperwork from the bankruptcy that contained the schedule of creditors that were identified in the bankruptcy filing. This was a CH 7 bankruptcy and ended well. Just sayin.

I guess I'm a bit confused. As Rita said, the birth certificate only proves someone was born. In this case, the birth certificate will never prove these children are his. As a step father or step grandfather it seems he can still claim the dependents if all of the requirements are met. However, I think I would run from this as well. The waters are already muddy and it doesn't appear they will clear anytime soon. If you choose to take this on, take Catherine's advice. CYA at all costs, I might even go as far as contacting my E & O insurance if I really thought about doing this.

We all tossed this around last season and if you were like me, I processed returns for rental clients claiming the sec 199A because they met all of the conditions and it was unclear as to whether this activity would qualify as a trade or business. I relied on a lot of discussion and other codes sections to support my position should one of my client's get questioned. Now, the IRS has released revenue procedure 2019-38 clarifying that rental activities do qualify as a trade or business for the purposes of section 199A. Attached is the pdf of the procedure. I know some folks don't like opening attachments. I can post the entire document if anyone needs me to. Rev 2019-38.pdf

A client was denied the CTC and other credits due to his spouse's ITIN expiring. The IRS reduced the refund which I told him they would do. Now his spouse has renewed the ITIN. They received notice CP12A explaining why the refund was reduced April 22, 2019. This is somewhat new territory for me. The notice says you have three years to claim a refund. Because the IRS changed the tax return and refund amount, should I amend the return or is there another method to use. I looked at form 843 but that doesn't seem to apply.

I can still use all of my credit cards, existing credit; etc. You are correct, if I wan to buy a new car for example, I have to unfreeze my credit. Sorry for the confusion.

cbslee, the situation is under control. The only way this happened was thru freezing the credit. The best news is that I was not hurt financially and my credit scores were restored. However, I was advised that my SS# has made it to the black market, whatever that may be, by Experian. I have all the monitoring services available. It is still a PITA because I cannot buy anything without un freezing my credit. A lot of services tap your credit for information for identification purposes, I can't use those either. Once I complete the claim form, I wonder if I can claim time spent preparing the claim???

You know, I personally was a victim of identify theft three times in less than two years as a result of this breach. My credit is frozen and I have a 2' thick file of credit reports, documents, police reports an so on to support all of this. I do see you can order a form to file a claim online but am a little gun shy to expose all of this online or trust it to get to the right folks to handle the claim. Personally, the $125.00 is a slap in the face. Offer credit monitoring services from Equifax where the breach occurred?? Equifax is the worst and I mean absolute worse of the three credit reporting agencies to deal with and I would never opt for their credit monitoring services. My credit is frozen. I will suggest that if you have been a victim and placing a 7 year fraud alert will not help. My credit was stolen while the fraud alert was in place. That was done by Comcast who quickly (within a week) rectified things after being threated with a sever law suit for violating fair credit reporting laws. I want to know what the criteria is for the 20K? Take notice that nothing I read indicates if and when the claim will be paid. Don't really know what to do.

You are correct but am I on the right track?

In NC and being a State employee the first part of this is correct. However, due to some unknown magical scenario, a State employee with kids pays less premium than the employee with just a spouse. I know, my premium for my wife is $700.00 per month. She is just now receiving Medicare and we have her on a supplement plan that I was happy to pay for. Getting that $700.00 per month back was a blessing and was just a bit under my monthly mortgage payment. On another hand, her receiving that red, white and blue card was the official symbol that we are now old and have reached that plateau. I say we as I am only 9 months behind her. I kinda struggled with that for a while. Thank God we are both healthy.

Client's father knew of his impending death (passed 6 months after) and transferred 3 properties to one of his three sons, recorded the deed(s) in the son's name etc. All legit. The son who received the properties wants to honor the dad's will and "GIVE" each brother their portion. I think I know the answer but just want to bounce it around to be sure. When the property for each brother is deeded in each of their names and no funds change hands, their basis is the brother's basis who transferred the property. The brother's basis who transferred the property is their father's basis plus any improvements at the time the dad transferred the property. So basically, if dad paid 40K for the property in 2009, then the brother who receives the property now has 40K as their basis. No inheritance here and no step up as I see it. The only reason the dad did this cause he thought he was protecting the property from Medicaid should that come into play. It may sound cold but it is best things happened the way they did. In this situation had Medicaid gotten involved they would have had a much bigger mess to clean up.

Don't have a real good idea or answer here so just throwing this out. Could the LLC that elected to be taxed as an S-Corp be the "parent" company of the other S-Corp?????? Something else, if both of these companies have separate EIN numbers then there really shouldn't be any payroll concerns. It doesn't seem possible but do both of these entities use the same name???

I never said I wanted them to bend any rules. All I asked about was after the fact payroll entry and if their software provided a means to do so. The response was uncalled for and entering after the fact payroll is certainly not bending any rules and had nothing to do with whether my friend/client had any prior knowledge of payroll functions which they did.

I have been running Drake Accounting for the last year. I have two different payroll clients and have done live payroll consistently without any problems at all. I have filed all quarterly tax forms. I don't think there is a way to connect Drake to EFTPS and if there is, I might be a bit concerned. As long as I have been using EFTPS myself I have no problems. Nothing is late and everything reconciles. Recently, I started using the batch feature. Seems to work just fine. Also, I use Kotopay for the direct deposits. I must say that is functioning flawlessly. I do think there are some areas that need some improvement. I don't care for this as an accounting program. I don't like the vendor or customer setup. I renewed again for next year simply because you can't beat the price as a bundle pricing. I did use Medline a number of years ago and no Medlin doesn't efile any forms. Also, I recommended Medlin to a friend of mine who did not get good support. Couldn't call and all you could do was leave an email. That is a bit discouraging. I was in the middle of that mix and one of the responses from Medlin was if my client did not know what they were doing then they shouldn't be doing payroll. All I wanted to know was if they had a way to simply after the fact payroll to match records. Again, disappointing.

I have to jump in this thread. I too made the switch but not until 2015 and don't regret it one bit. Also, Drake has not increased prices since I have been with them and the early discount is awesome. Already renewed again this year before May 31 to save the 400.00.

As others have said, the 3115 with a section 481 adjustment will do the correction with the benefit of a four year forward window to spread out the payback.

I filed a 2017 tax return using Drake and no problems at all. Like others in this thread, I switched to Drake four years ago and have never been sorry.

I'm going to chime in here. The privacy issue is moot to me. The taxpayer keeps the worksheets and does not submit them to his/her employer. Number 3 below may ease the pain for current employees. However, for new hires, this will be a challenge. Due to the TCJA, a lot of folks can't itemize any more. The multiply jobs is an issue to me. I'll have to read further but two spouses, deduction amounts on the higher paying job, what does the lower pay spouse do?? . Why redesign Form W-4? The new design reduces the form’s complexity and increases the transparency and accuracy of the withholding system. While it uses the same underlying information as the old design, it replaces complicated worksheets with more straightforward questions that make accurate withholding easier for employees. 2. What happened to withholding allowances? Allowances are no longer used for the redesigned Form W-4 to increase transparency, simplicity, and accuracy. In the past, the value of a withholding allowance was tied to the amount of the personal exemption. Due to changes in law, currently you cannot claim personal exemptions or dependency exemptions. 3. Are all employees required to submit a new Form W-4? No. Employees who have submitted Form W-4 in any year before 2020 are not required to submit a new form merely because of the redesign. Employers will continue to compute withholding based on the information from the employee’s most recently submitted Form W-4.

I got to agree with Jack. You co-signed the loan your stuck. Same as any other loan that you would co-sign. From your post "The lender has indicated that because the amount of the forgiven debt is over $10,000, they report it to the IRS as income under all social security numbers involved in the loan." I also agree with the ex having to pay half regardless of what method you use to make that happen.

Wouldn't these items fall under the percentage of the space used as an indirect expense? I think the 39 years is a stretch. I have never seen an HVAC unit last that long. Not sure about the life of a whole house generator. I say 10 years is best for the HVAC.

Tom, I completely understand your frustration. I hope you or your client mailed the offer via certified mail with a return receipt. Underfunded and understaffed is no excuse for incompetence. It goes beyond comprehension as to how and why the IRS and some States loose documents or claim they never got them. I recently resolved and issue with NC where they claim a form was not included in the return. Totally impossible and I guess it fell off of some examiners desk. But.... they are never wrong and it is always what we or the taxpayer failed to do. Hang in there!

Client's spouse works in health care. She works temporarily in California. She does share an apartment with another nurse and pays rent while she is in California. Her residence has been and still is in NC. She does come home to be with her husband frequently. I am waiting for her to tell me the number of days she spends in CA as well as if this is will continue to be a temporary assignment or permanent one. She does not qualify for any of the 2106 expenses due to the TCJA. but I don't know how important it maybe to establish a tax home. I just need to know why type of CA return to file. Her employer withholds CA income taxes so my first instinct is to file a CA non-resident return to be able to take the credit for taxes paid to another on the NC return. She does file jointly with her spouse who is the main taxpayer. Any help or guidance here is appreciated.

My question as well, if this was, is or is being considered a Ponzi scheme. If so, there is a way to recover the loss.

Yes, I've noticed that at times, the simplified method is best.

No offense taken. Yes, our police officers deserve more than they currently receive. I have a lot of friends who are police officers and quite frankly, at least three in my client base. One is on bicycle patrol and checks on my office frequently. That is irreplaceable. On another note, and as with any profession, folks who are not in the trenches normally can't appreciate what all is involved in doing a particular job. Just like us, some folks don't have any idea what it takes to be a professional tax preparer. The last nonsense I heard was that only took you half an hour to prepare and you charge what????

Anyone have any insight regarding the renewal of the PMI insurance deduction. My efforts have returned still expired.