Gail in Virginia

Actually, I took home economics in junior high school because I couldn't get into the class I wanted (Algebra) and the teacher taught us to measure liquids that way. And the cup must be sitting on a level surface not held in your hand at eye level. So if it is a new recipe and I am not sure how forgiving it is, I still measure that way.

@Catherine, Nobody does it better! Except ME!

I really don't have time for this Catherine, but after your post I just had to look up isomorphism, And you know where that leads....

I love that analogy, Catherine! " A bit like knowing someone is OCD and making all your pictures crooked before they visit "

The phone has been behaving like Monday today, so I really had not been paying attention to what was going on on-line. Nice to know you are all still here.

If they file the federal return jointly, can they file the state returns separately? And can they do direct deposit to multiple accounts so that each gets the portion of the refund (if any) they are entitled to? If not, I am not sure how you will handle this.

Hear, Hear! I have long maintained that ethics education is not the problem - 90% or more of the time, people KNOW the right thing to do they simply CHOSE not to do it for whatever reason!. If more fraudulent tax preparers were prosecuted, and the information made public as a deterrent, I think that would do much more good than additional regulation. And I am not talking about preparers who make an occasional error; that can happen to anyone. But I don't understand why electronic filers cannot be traced to weed out those who prepare returns and don't sign them or who routinely have changes made on audit for unsubstantiated information. Education and certification are great things, and I don't see how people can hold themselves out as professionals without getting continuing education in a field that is as complex and ever changing as tax preparation, but there is no substitute for integrity.

Tone is a tricky thing on the internet - which is one reason it is difficult sometimes to discuss things people are passionate about. I did not notice a problem with your tone. You have been very patient with all of us! Thank you so much for everything that you do to keep this running smoothly and for giving us a virtual hang-out.

I love discussing politics, but especially on the internet it seems to quickly degenerate into personal attacks and sometimes downright mean comments. When political discussions were allowed on this board (briefly!) it permanently colored my opinion of some of the long time posters. Not because of their views, but because of how they expressed them. I am glad that the policy was changed, and that the moderators are so diligent in monitoring these remarks and pulling them quickly. I would prefer they err on the side of caution - I really want to maintain my respect for the people on this board. If I want to get angry at people over politics, there are plenty of other sites for that.

Even more important, Krispy Kreme will be "selling" a dozen doughnuts for $0.80 tomorrow, July 14, in honor of their 80th anniversary. Not all locations may participate according to the article that I read, so you might want to check before you go, but what a bargain! Two tons of fat and sugar for less than a dollar!

The year end for a trust is usually established when the first return is filed. If this is the first year of the trust, you should be okay both on the filing of the return and the submission of the extension.

And I stepped right in the schmuck.

However, once they assess the penalty they can take it from any refund due. So those preparers who advised their clients to ignore the question on line 65 might be explaining next year why they did not get the refund they were expecting.

NCPE offers a good 2 day seminar on corporations and partnerships, but the farthest west they go is Las Vegas and Denver. Does your local community college (or California equivalent) offer classes on taxation as part of the accounting curriculum? Our local community college offers Principles of Taxation I which primarily covers individuals and Principles of Taxation II which gets into corporations and partnerships.

IF there is going to be regulation for the preparation of FEDERAL taxes, I can understand that being an issue for a federal agency. Currently, the JD and CPA are largely regulated and handled at the state level by state bar associations and state boards of accountancy. The EA credential is the only one that is primarily regulated at the federal level. And some states apparently try to prevent the use of that federal credential. Most credentialing is for the purpose of raising money, is it not? In a free market system, if you aren't competent, word soon gets around and your client base shrinks dramatically. But being competent isn't sufficient if a state agency can require that you pass their competency test and pay their fees to be able to practice your trade or business.

I prefer to have some basis for the FMV at date of death. If it was real estate, I have used tax assessment as long as I know that the locality assesses at 100% of FMV. In some cases, if an inventory was filed listing the asset and the FMV that can be used. For stocks, the date of death value is normally obtainable. If it is something where the FMV is not readily available, or at least a close approximation, then I would say some kind of evaluation or appraisal would be in order.

@Roberts, it was my understanding that the only requirement for foreign income exclusion was that you had to meet the physical presence test OR the bona fide resident test. I don't remember any requirement to pay income taxes to that country. If you work for a US company that has offices overseas, such as an oil company or financial company, and you spend the required amount of time in a foreign country, the US company might issue you a W2 but you could still qualify for the exclusion. At least that is my understanding - here in rural Virginia, that isn't something I see much of.

The problem with amended returns going through is that even though a person looks at the return, they do not verify information on the return but rather assume for the moment that you are telling the truth. So if in filling out the Foreign Income exclusion they indicate that they were out of the country for 330 days during the year, the return will be processed as though they qualify. However, if they are "audited ," even by computer, and it turns out they never had a passport, and never left the country, they will have to repay those refunds, plus interest, and most likely penalties for unsubstantiated tax positions. I wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole.

And having a business logo put on the truck does not make all the mileage deductible because advertising. I don't care what the barber told them.

This is the explanation I was given by someone who used to work in a call center, basically. We always wait at least two rings before answering, and this usually means someone else answers before we do and gets the sales pitch, while we get silence. The no one there calls are annoying and time wasting, but not as much as the ones where the salesperson is actually on the line. I like Catherine's solution too. I used to, before the do not call list, answer my phone at home with "we do not accept telephone solicitations at this number." I think the formal language threw them off stride, because quite often they just hung up after that.

I still wouldn't count on on getting much, if anything, back. And if we do get anything back, it will be taxable in most cases.

Even if the ruling stands, I figure my PTIN fees since 2010 have amounted to about $400 (roughly, I did not go back and look.) This was brought as a class action suit. So does the IRS pay the attorneys who brought the suit, they take 1/3 plus costs off the top and then divide the rest between those preparers who elect to be part of the class? So of the $400 I have spent, would I get maybe $200? Or less?

I am not thinking about retirement this year. Or even next. But I do think about changing the way I work. I would love to not be responsible for everything. And I am sure that if I do decide to change, I could keep a few bookkeeping clients and prepare taxes for another firm. But it is hard to change to doing things the way another person wants when I have been used to doing it my way for so long. Not that my way is perfect; I just like getting to decide what changes to make each year. And I get really tired of the attitude I perceive from the IRS. If anything drives me out of this business, that will be it.

I cannot give out information about the client's return without signed permission from the client. And if they are going to get the client to give me permission, why not just ask the client what he paid me last year? There are legitimate reasons to ask - as Rich said, they might be deducting it on schedule A. Or maybe applying a portion of the fee to a schedule C, E or F as a deduction. But why don't they just ask the client if they need to know?

The people that don't hang around in the off-season don't know what they miss in educational opportunities on this board. I am getting really interested in this topic, and the one about donating the LLC interest. These are not things that I see everyday in my little rural practice.