Margaret CPA in OH

Anyone here use Leapfile? It was mentioned in JofA. The price seems reasonable enough and I don't have to monkey with my website.

I think Teddy is adorable! I had no idea a porcupine would be so vocal.

Thanks, Max! The letters just arrived in my mail today. They are, indeed, CP523's. I think that the amended returns showing, mostly, additional tax due, IRS claims the entire tax wasn't paid. As it happens, she did pay the balances due for 2 of the 4 years and has a refund due for one year. From May 2012 until January 2015 she had been paying $550 per month but in 2015 her extra outside self employment dried up. She negotiated on her own a decrease to $200 per month faithfully paid through September. There is no way she can pay $30,000 within 30 days. If I use the 72 months you mention, the payments are $417, probably manageable though tight. In any event, I will be on the phone tomorrow and let her know about OIC as well. Stay tuned!

Thanks for the replies. It sounds as if options are available and I will research when the paperwork arrives. This is a first for me in all my years of practice. Guess I've been pretty lucky with clients. There have been some wrinkles along the way but this is by far the most expensive situation. I took her on last year as she is engaged to a long time client who finally convinced her she would do well with professional assistance. Hope I don't disappoint! And hope I get paid... (I will, no worries, but it may be a while)

A client owing back tax for several years primarily due to now ex-spouse's undeclared income had an installment agreement before I became involved. We had to amend the last 3 years for a variety of reasons (errors, self-prepared, etc.) and have finally had all those accepted. Now IRS has cancelled her installment agreement and states (in her email summary, I will receive the letters in a couple of days) that her balances for each year are due immediately, a total of nearly $30,000. I do have POA for all years for her on file but want to be prepared for some action in her favor. She certainly has nowhere near this amount of money, her ex, a homeless druggie now, has no money to pay his share, and she has been paying monthly since May 2012, over $18,000. They applied her payments to the most recent years thus driving up the accumulated interest for the earlier years. I've never had a client in this much tax trouble. What's a suggested route? Is OIC an option? Any advice would be appreciated. She so desperately wants to get this behind her but the accruing penalties and interest on the tax and penalties are crushing. Thanks for sharing suggestions.

Dear MsTabby Kats, I am so sorry to hear of this development. I certainly pray for the outcome predicted and congratulate you on your decision to step away from unneeded stress. How wonderful that things with your practice worked out so well and so quickly! Sometimes it seems this was just waiting in the wings and right choice. I do hope this doesn't mean we won't still be hearing from you. When you are back to normal, do let us know and let us support you on the journey. And let the buyer know of this great group, too. Hugs from afar...

Sales tax collection is a fiduciary responsibility. The money did not belong to the client, it belonged to the state. Client was personally responsible as a fiduciary, money never belonged to the client so cannot be a deduction to the client. There likely should be/have been an adjustment to gross sales leading to net profit or loss, however reported. Unremitted sales tax and payroll tax has been the problem with many small businesses that use that cash as a personal cash account.

Thanks! I guess I was using the wrong search terms, not for the first time. So will do this even though the 'business entity' was just a sole prop. Thanks again!

A client sold her rental property and no longer needs an EIN for Forms 1099. I don't think there is any way to 'disable' or end its life but thought I would ask. I didn't find info in the instructions. Eventually I'll need this, too, when I stop working. Ideas?

Yes, one of those annoying things designed to aggravate. There was some discussion about this a few months ago. One could tack on another user fee or prepare them in the software and use a free efile method, I think. Not for the first time - retirement looks better and better...

I have a client managed by Merrill Lynch advisor paying 1%. The advisor is, in my opinion, doing a lousy job of actively managing the portfolio, however. I have 6 clients with portfolios managed actively by a local advisor who charges 1% for up to $1,000,000 in value, 0.75% for $1,000,001-$5,000,000 and 0.5% for over $5,000,000. Another client with a different local advisor is charged 1% and with a portfolio held with USBank pays a graduated fee like the one above. Both of these are actively managed. This is, of course, different from whatever internal mutual fund fees may charge. It isn't clear if your client's advisor is charging this over and above the internal mutual fund fees and is not actively managing the portfolio. Nonetheless, in my opinion, this seems high. Perhaps it's time for the client to interview a few other advisors. Then again, what has been the total return on this portfolio? Sometimes higher fees result in better performance.

I loved both of these! I'd seen the Aging one before but this was so timely today. My husband's 65th birthday is next month so I want to have this ready to run when we gather for the singing thing. I decided to have a picnic buffet at home so this is perfect! We recently attended a 50th party that involved a scavenger hunt for the brought gifts. First time for me but so fun. Great idea to share the other one with teachers. How wonderful to see the creativity of so many folks!

SaraEA, so sorry you couldn't see the link. It shows the cat totally ignoring the cat door, reaching up to the regular door handle (lever style), opening it and strolling right in. Should your cat be so talented, the cat door would not be a luxury but an unnecessary nuisance. It would probably just serve to obstruct entry with the recent catch. I have one indoor cat with access to an enclosure outdoors and one semi outdoor cat. He's older now and prefers to stay in about 20 hours a day, sleeping for 22 of those. He hasn't brought in take out but did upchuck some chipmunk size bones once. When he goes, no more outdoor cats for me!

Amazing! I've seen many kinds of pufferfish and others on my dives but never anything so beautiful created by one. Thanks for sharing this.

No, don't remove it. It's good to know we all make mistakes and 'fess up to it. Especially the adjusting the screen thing. My screen is so adjusted, I no longer know what 'normal' is! Thanks, Rita, for making sure we know you are normal!

Now that's a beautiful thing! I will try to add the Schedule C pages and Schedule E pages as I have several of those folks. Thanks for all the hard work and especially for sharing!

Thanks for the link, Catherine. I will definitely check it out. Meanwhile, I was excused Wednesday until Thursday, Thursday until Friday, Friday until Monday but have to check in again at 4 pm Monday. I was called once when living in Boston and loved the idea of one trial, one day. This method is, well, nuts! I may yet be put on a jury next week for up to an indefinite time. Well, my civic duty... I will let you know more about Boston as time gets closer. Somewhere between 16-22, wedding is the 19th.

Thanks for the sympathy, Catherine and others! I begin jury duty tomorrow for 'two weeks or until dismissed' and know it will be even more challenging trying to get answers and process that last return for 2 German citizens who finally got his ITIN last month. I really don't need this. So I will be in Boston again in September for a week and a wedding. Maybe we can have lunch again and I can see your new digs. Stay tuned! Hmm, the above should have been posted Sunday, somehow I goofed. Meanwhile, the attorney and I finally talked. Her advice was to provide the information from the irrevocable trust dates (grandfather July 2010, no cg, no tax; grandmother September 2013, small cg, no tax) and reiterate that, until the revocable trusts became irrevocable, beneficiary was only potential beneficiary and had no right to info prior. And she could call the attorney or engage a UK-US trust tax specialist and convince the trust attorney otherwise. Beneficiary is vacationing in Italy now so don't know when the fit will hit the shan! Once again, retirement looks better every day...

That was amazing!!!

Again, thanks for the supportive answer. The trust lawyer is the grandparents' lawyer so knows the whole story beginning to end. I warned this beneficiary that I might not be legally able to comply with all the requests but I really like having her contact the attorney! Have a great weekend!

Thanks so much, Lion. She does have copies of HER trust returns for 2013 and 2014 in paper and electronic form and she has paper and electronic copies of the trust document. I was the trustee of the trusts and executor for the estates of the grandparents so of course have copies of all those returns. The estate was just under the federal filing requirement so only trust returns exist save the Ohio estate returns. I don't think she is entitled to copies of the grandparents' trust returns but have provided an extensive spreadsheet showing all income and payouts following the death of the second grandparent reconciling to the penny every account. Why would she contact the brokerage firm? I am fairly certain that they would not divulge information and, in fact, may no longer even have it as all accounts were closed as of March 2014. I think the best bet is the trust attorney and I do wish she would call me back! I will leave another message and may well suggest that the beneficiary contact her directly. They did meet at the service for the last grandparent at least. Thanks again! I am done with all these trusts in 3 more years but may well resign before then...

How great that 33 folks have looked at this to date but not a single suggestion has been offered. KC? Your legal expertise would be appreciated. Those with intimate familiarity with Cir 230? The attorney has not yet responded to my call and email so I suspect is on vacation. Liability insurance folks say to ask an attorney but don't think I should/need to provide anything prior to this beneficiary's actual trust funding. Anyone? I am back from my vacation so I know this one will be contacting me again soon asking for answers. Thanks!

I am trustee on 8 sub-trusts from long time clients that passed away, the last in September 2013. One beneficiary is a UK resident. Her UK accountants are requiring a lot of information in order to prepare her UK return. I am not comfortable providing all that is asked as some relates to when the trusts were revocable and this beneficiary was not my client, the grantors were. They want to know: 1. All capital gains incurred by the grandparent's trusts annually, from inception to the date that the assets were attributed to all the side trusts i.e. the capital gains in 2013 and prior years. 2 .All distributions made from the grandparent's trusts to beneficiaries, in excess of income, since inception. No need to specify beneficiaries, only the distributions. 3. Capital gains tax paid by the trustee in 2013 and prior years. Following that, I understand that the trustees elected for all income/gains to be taxed at beneficiary level and paid no capital gains tax at trust level. I have left a message with the attorney who drafted the trusts and with my liability insurer and am awaiting replies. Any thoughts here from the good folks here? It seems Circ. 230 would require confidentiality at least up to the point of funding of the individual sub-trusts but I can't find specific references.

Too cute, indeed! I could watch those things for hours and accomplish nothing but affixing a permanent smile on my face. Thanks for sharing!