Terry D EA

Well I totally agree with quality controls for tax return preparation as well as we can't be responsible for everything the client tells us. However, i wonder about the statement by HRB. I worked for them in the middle 90's and remember being told to do what the client said and not to worry about it. I quit within two weeks cause I couldn't stand how they treated their clients. Maybe this was an isolated incidence in that particular office. Nevertheless, I couldn't put up with it. I am still in agreement there needs to be some type of regualtion of tax return preparers and continuing education as well.

I agree with taxtrio completely. Get the letter with the appropriate language from the church. Do confirm the receipts or cancelled checks. BTW - a client stating what they have given is never considered as any type of verification or confirmation for purposes of filing a tax return.

After speaking with my client further. The University has admitted the 1099 MISC form was generated incorrectly and has not and will not be submitted to the IRS until the February 28th deadline. Form 8919 does NOT solve this problem as the software calculates the amount entered as subject to social security and medicare tax and treats it as though these were amounts received as wages where withholding taxes were not properly withheld. The University has also stated the amount on the 1099 MISC has been included in her W-2 wages and using form 8919 would double dip the withholdings. So, I have asked my client to get a letter from the University stating the details of what has happened here in the event they accidentally transmit the 1099 MISC. I see no reason to trust that they won't transmit the form because of the mistakes already made.

Thank you Mr. Pencil and I agree totally. You did refresh my memory regarding the form 8919 which does correct this problem.

(The hospital does not have to send 1099's till Feb 28th, they can delete the Info before efiling on the 28th....) Agreed but we really don't know if they have or have not sent them. I use a third party filer for my 1099 and W-2 submissions and they have already been filed with the IRS. Its not that I don't know how to do the write off but I do question creating a fictitious amount for the off set. I think the statement from the employer as to what has happened with detail of the income recorded on the W-2 form is the place to start. I will also ask my client to ask her employer what reimbursement expenses are they including in her W-2. Just for the internet or are there other items. If there are, then I can see using the full amount as an offset.

How would you make this a legitimate write off? Remember there is SE tax as any amounts in box 7 should indicate self employed and Schedule C. Only way I would see is actual expenses with separation of personal and business use which may or may not result in a wash. The internet expense totally in this area is approximately 39.00 per month or 460.00 per year. Now separate it out. Hmmm, doesn't look like the best choice to me. Just to add, the employer claims the 700.00 was already included in the W-2 income.

I am enjoying the conversations this year regarding different positions one would take with given scenarios. So, here is another one for everyone's consideration> One of my client's received a 1099 MISC for amounts they received for use of the internet in their home. This tax payer is a medical transcriptionist. The employer (University) incorrectly issued her a 1099 MISC in the amount of 700.00 for the internet service in her home. I advised the client this should have been included in her W-2 wages and the consequences of the 700 being included in box 7. She contacted her employer who stated the 1099 was issued incorrectly and she should not include this in her taxes and just disregard it. Hmmm, did they send this to the IRS?? I don't know. Should we include this as income anyway simply because the 1099 is in my hands? My first position is to include it in income and complete the return. Second thoughts are to have the employer put in writing their mistake so if the IRS questions later which I feel they will when they do the income matching thing, we will have a defense. Another twist, even if the employer states they never mailed the 1099 MISC to the IRS do we trust them? We are looking at about 300.00 in income and self employment tax on this. It will be interesting to see what the crowd has to say with this.

<<<<<<<this person makes 250K+ a year. they bought florida lot for 500K and its only work 200K now with the equity in home I am sure they were insolvent>>>>>> Insolvency is determined by the FMV of the assets directly prior to the issuing of the 1099C or prior to the event as compared to the liabilities. If the liabilities exceed the FMV of the assets then yes your client would be insolvent. This means all liabilities and all assets. I agree with David1980 on this. I am afraid somebody misunderstood something.

Just did one of these the other day. The employees portion is included under the DD code. It is necessary to ask and verify if the amounts the employee paid are pre-taxed or not. If it is, then no deduction.

Ah yes, those were the good old days. I too miss them both.

Apparently is was an alignment problem of some sort when the returns were transmitted from the OneDesks servers. Dan said it would be fixed and we would see NC ACKS. And that too appears correct as I have received them as well. I am beginning to like the software more and more. Based on the general discussion, I am glad that I didn't choose to go with ATX this year. I did consider it but quickly chose not to.

Okay after speaking with Dan this morning, the NC problem is not as NC says. If it is indeed corrected as quickly as Dan says it will then I will be extremely impressed.

Jack I know that and do have the box 1b checked and the amount in line 2. Maybe I have read the Pub too much or am over thinking this but it seems there is a requirement for section II of the 982. Am I totally missing it?

There is one thing that I have discovered that I am not pleased with. I am in NC and NC is rejecting the returns due to the software has not been approved for e-filing. Through many conversations with Dan in support, this was never revealed to me. Now I want to know why I wasn't told this and when they anticipate the software being approved. I have not dealt with unapproved software since I left ATX 7 years ago.

I have read pub 4681 several times regarding the discharge of debt due to insolvency. My client is definitely insolvent and I have the appropriate boxes checked on section I of form 982. Section II deals with reducing the tax attributes. This is a discharge of credit card debt. Maybe I have read the pub too many times but I am lost as to where to put the entire amount in section II. If I am reading the pub correctly, because the client is insolvent, the entire amount is to be entered but where?

Wow! I never expected this many responses and the information is great. I just wanted to add that the square is working fine and seems to be one of the best decisions I have made regarding taking credit cards. Only quirk is the signing, get a good stylus.

As Mr. Pencil suggested, PUB 4681 will answer your questions. Detailed examples are given regarding the abandonment and the 1099-A. Here is a link for you. Look on page 12 or 13. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4681.pdf

I have just purchased the square to accept credit cards through my IPhone. Does anyone have any experience with this? it almost sounds too good to be true. No monthly fees just the percentage of the sale. I got tired of paying monthly fees for a machine, statement fees, and the high percentage as well. I did this as I just inconvenienced my first normal card paying customer and I hope it will work well. Opinions please.

Here is a couple of suggestions. Check your firewall within windows to see if it is possible the OneDesk software and live update are being blocked. I had to check mine and included the OneDesk software and Onedesk live update in the exceptions list. Other than that, Dan at support maybe able to get you help with this. I had this very problem but is now gone and other than setting the exceptions, I don't have a good answer. Here are the steps to add a custom letter: 1. Click on setup 2. Click on settings then manage/standard letter 3. Type the name of the letter in the space at the top of the window. 4. Minimize OneDesk 5. Open the template/document you have created and copy it and if you use key strokes Ctrl/C 6. Expand OneDesk and paste the template in the large window. 7. After the document is pasted you can move the items around, bold the font; etc. You can also put in items from within the program from the thumbnail window on the left 8. Once you have the document the way you want it, click ADD Letter at the bottom right of the large window your letter/document should appear in the side window under existing letters. 9. Now once you complete the return and click on print/view, your letter/document will appear there to be printed with the rest of the return. Let me know if I can help any further

Nellie, Are you aware there is a way to import your MS Word document into OneDesk? I didn't like their cover page and I felt the privacy statement was lacking a little so I put my own in there and they print just fine with each return. I would be happy tell you how to do this if you want. On another note, I am calculating my own depreciation and entering on the 4562. I am kind of anal about trusting software to properly carry the accumulated depreciation but thanks for the heads up.

I don't have any other software as a backup and so far, I haven't had any of the difficulties that the ATX users are having. Granted, each software package is different and has it's own quirks but there is something to be said about peace of mind and not having to fight or question the functionality each time you complete a return. The only issue I have had wit OneDesk so far is downloading updates. With that said, the issue apparently fixed itself and it is working normal now. Could have been my ISP or a possible port blockage issue on my machine. There is a manual work around but now it is not needed. I am looking forward to a (software) trouble free season.

I have been reviewing and have purchased the OneDesk software for this season. So far, I am impressed with the features and am still learning a lot. Just wondering how many OneDesk users there are here? It would be helpful if there are others that can collaborate together to help with issues as they may or may not arise.

I agree with mcb39. I am typing this on an XP machine that is still cooking along just fine. i don't use it for tax prep but for research and working spreadsheets you just can't beat it. This machine is one of the most solid machines I have ever purchased. It is now 12 years old, memory maxed out but still is as reliable as ever. I have an older laptop that is the same way. Neither of these machines can handle the new tax software but I just can't see getting rid of them. Both are Dell's and the desktop is the best.

I'm sticking with Jack on this one.

Ahh this is the story of my life. One street over a new dental office was built that contains the terabite light that shines brightly in our bedroom and the neighbor's dog runs the fence and barks when they fall asleep (death sleep I guess) and they can't seem to hear it. As KC mentioned there are light rules/laws here and the dentist laughed when I told them about their obnoxious light. Didn't want to push too hard when the dentist had the drill in her hand. I too have thought about the BB gun. I think I'll experiment with the finish nail issue sounds interesting.