Christian

I looked into this a bit further and have decided to go ahead and use the existing social security numbers. The Service will likely require verification from them and I am going to advise the couple of this. I feel certain this process is going to take time and they will need to be patient. They married last year and after reading the letter from the Service I came away with the strong impression the wife mistakenly filed a return herself and has now caused this problem. It never occurred to me to ask if she had filed a prior return. It takes all kinds.

A married couple I serve had someone file a a fraudulent single return using the wife's social security number prior to the couple filing their return last year. The Service just got out a letter to them which was received this week concerning this. They have returned it giving the information requested so the matter is in process. They have brought me their 2020 information looking to file their return. I am not certain they should file at this time as the Service may provide her with an IP PIN to use on her filing for 2020. I am wondering if we should sit back and wait to hear from the Service but I know full well in doing so it may prevent them from filing for an extended time. What do you think ?

What caught my attention was the wording of the ATX worksheet. My understanding was inline with yours.

A client I have cashed out a qualified plan to pay off credit card debt. She had operated a small business which she was unable to do because of merchandise supply issues so it looks as if she would not need to pay the 10% penalty. Of course, she being absent minded failed to have withholding set up. Oh well. Another client drawing significant unemployment insurance did the same darn thing. "They were supposed to have taken out federal tax". He never checked to insure they did. I can see not a few long faces this season.

A client couple advises they got EIP 1 for themselves and their 17 year old daughter (daughter's birthday is 8/20/2003) and EIP 2 for themselves and their daughter. The daughter was not 16 years old or less in 2020. I don't plan to do squat about it. If the Service did not check these kids dates of birth it's their problem.

Form 8879 had a release date shown as 2/12/21 and sported a large DRAFT watermark. In checking today the watermark is gone and wallah the form is approved. Go figure.

As a general rule I rarely raise my fees but this year is going to have to be different. All this folderol about the EIP, the second EIP and, of course, the clients don't have the reporting forms and have NO CLUE about the amounts received. This along with the AGAIN delayed filing deadline (like last year) and these sticky Covid restrictions. Yes the fees got to go UP.

Boy this is going to be really strange !!! Filing a return to get $600 for a deceased person.

I had a question relative to this earlier. The client died on January 20,2020 received the $1200. As she had income insufficient to file a 2020 return. The question is do I file a return anyway and request a $600 refund. I think not.

In truth I don't know of a single individual who is sending the money back ! I too am asking clients what they got. No one has even mentioned getting any reporting form and since the first one was a letter it was likely trashed.

I am not aware of any Virginia statute which requires the filing of a final Form 1040 when the individual has income well below the filing threshold. In this particular instance no income in January of last year. The income falling in 2020 accrued after January.

Herein lies my confusion. Generally, you are eligible to claim the recovery rebate credit if in 2020 you were a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien, weren't a dependent of another taxpayer, and have a valid social security number. This includes someone who died in 2020, if you are preparing a return for that person. Use the Recovery Rebate Credit Worksheet to figure the credit, if any, you can claim. For more information on the recovery rebate credit. Her daughter got the $1200 and my understanding was as yours. Person deceased send it back. I had a few folks who died in 2020 and whose executor got the credit AND never sent it back. Since her daughter has not got the last payment of $600 I think I'll just let a sleeping dog lie. Passing on in January she had insufficient income to require the filing of a final Form 1040. Income post death will require a Form 1041 return.

An individual called me about their deceased mother who died in January 2020. She will need to file a Form 1041 for her mother's estate. As she passed on in January there will be no need to file a final 1040 BUT a deceased person in 2020 get the rebate so do I file the final 1040? Likely so. They sent her the $1200 well after death so why not an extra $600 to tide her over ?

Have any of your clients brought you these forms and are you requiring they bring them ? Boy this season could extend into 2022 ! In looking over all this stuff relative to 2020 I get this weak feeling all over !

P. S. Y'all were absolutely correct. She draws his RRB benefit only Tier 1 and Tier 2. He got no increased RRB from the contributions he made to SS. Both SS reps and RRB reps disavowed any knowledge of the other systems functioning. While he was living she drew her portion of his RRB Tier 2 benefit and her own SS benefit which was greater than her portion of his RRB Tier 1 benefit she could draw. After his death his full RRB Tier 1 benefit was greater than her SS benefit so her SS benefit was discontinued. Both the RRB reps and the SS reps had no clue how or if his payments into SS could be added to his RRB contributions to increase the RRB. I knew the dual benefit status had been eliminated years ago as an Aunt had drawn both her husband's RRB benefit and her own SS benefit which she earned as a teacher but this was many years back. It's interesting to see how this finally worked out. Many thanks for your input.

I read that five day window somewhere along the line. Abby has answered my question so I will go ahead and file them when paper work is signed. The client can live with an 8879 that says draft. Most of mine don't know where their return copy is after a few days. The last time I ask a client "Where is that copy I gave you ?" the answer was "Out in the hay barn somewhere." Nowadays I just print an additional copy and charge them for it.

Looks like there is some confusion regarding submitting efiles. As I still had a nagging feeling about it I again called tech support and was told that ATX would hold any submitted efiles and forward about February 12th. Today I read the Form 8879 will not come out of draft until February 12th which means what ? We will not be able to send in our efiles until that date I suppose. Good grief.

I called ATX tech support and he advised efile will start a few days before February 12th. I see a lot of disappointed clients.

I am not the most up to date but I thought we were encouraged to go ahead and efile and ATX would hold and forward them on February 12th.

I see Form 8879 is still in draft form. Any info on when we can begin efiling?

Soooooooooooooo filing season starts February 12th! I am assuming I can still go ahead and efile these early birds who fly in and ATX will forward them to the Service on February 12th. I'll have to explain to the clients that any refund due will be late in coming right ? Like most of you I too am expecting fewer clients this season. I usually advertise in February but have decided not to do so this year. At 78 I haven't been dependent on the business for income in ages but I enjoy it and interacting with those I serve. My family have been involved in some form of small business for four generations and some 150 years and it sorta runs in the blood. Sadly I am the last Mohican.

Well I see they will not start processing returns until February 12th. I am sure there will be a lot of long faces this year.

A quarterly 2210 ? Not familiar with that. My quarterly payments are pretty close until the last quarter when these gains are dumped. Good Lord this year my capital gains exceeded by nine times my last full year salary at my former employer !! I swear I'll need to take a darn bank loan !!

Let's see. I am going to again pay substantively more federal tax with my final quarterly payment than I owed and paid last year. In Virginia if you pay the same or more than was paid the prior year you usually owe no penalty. I am not certain if this is applicable under federal law. Last year I called the Practitioner Priority Line and got my penalty excused and still retain a first time waiver if needed. These end of year capital gains are causing distortions with my estimated payments to say the least. Attaching the Form 2210 does not always work as some wise bird at the Service comes back with a quarterly calculation that in no way resembles the actual receipt of my income.

That is pretty much the answer I was thinking about. I'll pass that on to her as she can use the assistance. In reading your reference above I find much in agreement to other material I have read namely that she will not receive a dual benefit only the higher of the two. Still a good attorney versed in the law may be able to get her a better deal. It still begs the question of why she cannot draw the benefit she earned herself which she was already drawing for a number of years. I find as I grow older I really try to help those of my clients who have fallen into some form of governmental black hole such as this one.