Jack from Ohio

Agree with Jainen 100%. This is far too basic information to be confused about.

The only difference between the two, at time of audit, are the size of the holes that let the water out.

In order to claim child tax credit, the dependent must meet the requirements for qualifying child, which include a relationship test. Unless the dependent is related, the dependent cannot be a qualifying child. ATX sees "other" as not related, which in this case is correct. Read up on the dependency qualifications. This is pretty basic since the change in 2008.

I am taking all bets for a Banana Split on this one!! And I will NOT welch like the salesman at CCH did on me!!

Until I hear someone post that they have seen it survive audit scrutiny, I will continue to hold my position. form instructions hold no water when an audit is in action.

Curious if your position on this has survived audit inspection. I have to agree with Jainen on this one.

Even with all the info, you have a better chance on the LOTTO than getting either institution to give him anything based on... Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda. When the error was made, there was no way to know what the interest rates would be when it was finally discovered. That is out of the control of the banks. So proving that the error caused the client to lose interest is a long shot on thin ice anyway. If the interest rate had stayed up (again out of the banks control) he would have lost $0. I think I have a Banana Split at your local Ice Cream place that says he will get $0 over this.

Don't forget a third party appraisal will be required as well. For a donation of non-cash this large, there should be an itemized list showing What, original purchase price, date of donation, FMV at time of donation, and the method of determining FMV.

DITTO!!!

Good luck getting either institution to give him anything. Proof of who or how the error was made will be difficult if not impossible to find or prove.

Mine is still open, and I do take prepaid gift cards....

Agree with Jainen. No mileage record, no vehicle expense deduction. I challenge you to find anyone who has won in audit with no mileage record.

Agree 100% with jainen. Qualifying child, and qualifying relative are important differences.

Find a knowledgable competent computer guy. Jack Tax Preparer I.T. Technician

From NAEA September 28, 2010: The wait is over! The PTIN application is now live at www.irs.gov/taxpros. Please keep in mind that this registration is required of every paid preparer who prepares all or substantially all of a tax return—even those who currently have PTINs. The new, annual PTIN user fee is $64.25. Of interest to enrolled agents, the IRS website states that IRS is recalculating the $125 enrolled agent renewal fee and a reduced fee amount will be announced in the future. NAEA has vigorously advocated for a reasonable offset to this additional fee and will, of course, continue to do so. According to an IRS news release: If you currentlly have a PTIN, you will generally be reassigned the same number.Receipt of a PTIN will be immediate after successful online registration.If you don't have a Social Security number, you'll need to complete a paper form (Form W-12) and an additional form (either a Form 8945 or 8946). These forms are available online.Should you require any technical support, call 1-877-613-PTIN (7846).The Service has attempted to address the myriad questions surrounding the new PTIN application with an overview and an updated series of FAQs. Should you have any questions, NAEA advises you to consult the FAQs, which address a variety of places where one could run into trouble. A word of caution: neither the refreshed PTIN (for those of you with existing PTINs), nor new PTIN (for those of you who don't have one now) is required until after January 1, 2011. IRS is not awarding gold stars, brownie points, or get out of audit free cards for those who march through the online function today. Programs of this sort, even though they are tested, often reveal glitches in the first few days, so you may want to wait until any kinks are ironed out. For instance, a number of members informed NAEA that CAF numbers do not fit into the field provided for it. (A subsequent conversation with IRS National Office indicates that until the vendor can fix this issue, those wishing to complete the online application may do so by leaving the CAF field blank.) Looks like I am 1/3 of the way to earning a banana split!!

Don't need to brag about being the "early" crowd. Too much experience tells me there will be at least 2 maybe 3 major changes in the next 3 weeks. I got a banana split from Dairy Queen on this! Any takers?? My day to register may be December 28. But we will see..... I prefer to do it only once, and be sure that all the information flows properly.

Refer to the following previous posts....

I will wait until after the second system crash and update. Probably January.

Client was just audited for 2005 & 2006. Results went to appeals. Appeals officer accepted more information and made changes. Client owes $4K in taxes and $3k+ in late filing penalties (both returns filed after extension dates) and about $1,200+ in interest. The client is single and mid 40s. Now my question. Her father called us and asked if the appeals officer could make any changes in the penalties and interest. Never having faced this question in any manner I could not give him (Daddy) an honest answer and told him I would investigate. Now I throw this question out to all the great and experienced tax preparers on here hoping that someone has dealt with this issue before. I am not losing sleep over this, because the increase in audit was caused by taxpayer not having documentation for business expenses reported in the given years. However, I did promise to investigate. Any wisdom or experinces you have would be greatly appreciated.

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NO I took the bait one time. Just buy the software, and don't necessarily buy it every year. I am currently using 2008 and have NO customers even uptodate that far. Most are 2005-2007. Anything you purchase above the software price is just marketing hype and more profit margin for Intuit. We do use their payroll service which we update every year, but are taking hard looks at other possiblilities.

There are resources available every year that will have all the state information. Still, as it was brand new in 2007, my instinct was to check every state and see. The software producers and writers are not current tax preparers so they count on input from us to make sure all the little "quirks" are correct. The number of revisions to forms each year speaks to their process of keeping things up to date. Sorry, but if you do more than one Minnesota return, you should have checked and made sure. Especially since states are not as quick to allow deductions that lower AGI.

I will wait 30 days after the opening bell. That will give the IRS geeks time to "patch" their software to make it actually work the way it should. Then the IRS will change the rules midstream and we will have another giant boondoggle of a mess, then the geeks will have to patch things again, and then the IRS will.... Maybe I will wait 60 days.....

Agree 100%