Gail in Virginia

Paranoia seems to be an appropriate response to internet technology these days.

NCPE offers workshops for fiduciary and estate returns. Beanna Whitlock is the instructor for those, I believe, and she is an excellent and knowledgeable speaker. Unfortunately, they only offer about three per year. You can check out their website at www.ncpeseminars.com/

This has been an interesting topic. I try to know my limitations, and not to ask questions that two minutes of research will answer, but sometimes in the heat of tax season, my brain gets a little fried and I can barely remember my name. I actually had another preparer in our small town refer a client to me on April 14 because the other preparer was not comfortable doing foreign returns. The return was a New Mexico return. And as far as Pacun's comment about people who have been preparing returns for years not being able to pass the EA exam, I can understand that. Some people just don't test well - they have the knowledge but in a testing situation they cannot communicate that knowledge. But thanks to everyone for being here and putting up with me when I lose my mind.

I agree. I wish I could get the contract to process all the PTIN renewals at $17 each - I think I could quit doing tax returns. And actually come close to only working a few months a year, which everyone thinks is what I do anyway. Ha. Ha. /s

The user fee is reduced to $33 but when added to the fee from the third party vendor who collects the fee, we pay $50. So from my point of view, I am not sure it really changed.

Margaret, I did this for my church several years ago, and I did not have to submit a determination letter. However, I don't remember exactly what I did submit. It might have been our letter issuing our EIN, and maybe something from the United Methodist denomination. Or about the UMC. Good luck!

My gut reaction is that a cash basis taxpayer reports income in the year in which it is received unless to do so would result in a material difference. I don't know how much money we are talking about for two weeks - in some resort areas that could be really material.

Do the same definitions apply here as for EITC? Publication 15 just refers to child. That generally includes foster child, if the child is placed with you by a state or federal agency. Does he plan to adopt the child? An adopted child is always treated as your own child, and if he is in the process of adopting that would probably qualify. I don't have a definitive answer. I hope someone can find one for you - this is an interesting question. And if the child qualifies for purposes of the FICA rules, I would think it would also affect unemployment. Good luck.

But is it taxable? It was written by the director and published by the agency - does it further the exempt purpose of the organization? Does the director receive any remuneration for writing the book? Do the people selling the book get paid or is it all volunteer labor? Selling items to raise funds is not always a taxable activity to a non-profit. It all depends on facts and circuses, as Jerry Mealer used to say.

I would not ask too many questions of Rita. She has this really large back yard....

I am not an expert on annuities (or any insurance product, for that matter) but I thought that there were two different types of annuities. If he invested $400,000 from life insurance proceeds at one whack, I would not think that this is the type of annuity that behaves like an IRA/qualified plan. In which case, I would have thought that he could recover his investment without tax penalty although there might be penalty from the insurance company for early withdrawal. But I am quite willing to be corrected on that since I really don't know much about how annuities are structured.

Just wondering - if you are not employed, can you receive tips? If you were self-employed, they would not really be tips, just additional income you earned. If you work for an employer, you report your tips to your employer to be included on your W-2. So ir you are not self-employed, and you are not working for someone, is what you receive actually a tip within the definition of the tax code? Are tips defined somewhere? I did not see a definition in Pub 531, and did not take the time to look elsewhere. Of course, even if they are not technically tips, they would still be income since anything not specifically excluded is considered taxable income....

According to the IRS website, if they don't file a 990 they should notify the IRS by letter or fax, with a copy of the change to the articles of incorporation and proof of filing with the state, at Customer Account Services. The information is found at https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/change-of-name-exempt-organizations

Assuming that the non-resident spouse is not a US citizen, she can file as MFS or HoH, depending on whether she provides a household for a dependent she can claim on her taxes, and only report her income. She can elect to file MFJ and report their worldwide income. But if her husband has no nexus with the US causing him to file a return, it is up to them whether to file together and include his income or file separately and only report her income in the US. At least that is my understanding of the election to file jointly and report world-wide income.

I faxed a 2553 to the IRS on June 1, and the client has so far not received a letter from the IRS regarding his election to be treated as an S Corp. This is a new corporation that was incorporated effective 5/12/16, and I want to be sure the election goes through. Should I be concerned yet that he has not received the notice accepting or denying his election? IRS does still send out letters regarding this, don't they?

One of my favorites: A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

What a tragic situation to deal with. I am so sorry that you and your family. Must go through this. Prayers for you all.

Just curious, Jack, if you have no connection to the internet how do you update software and e-file returns?

Even those cash registers can't compete with people who won't use their brains. My sister managed a grocery store for a major chain at one time, and I remember her telling me about the cashier who called her over because the cash register said to give back 0.25 change, and she was out of quarters. Sis pointed out that she had a drawer full of dimes and nickels, but the cashier still didn't understand - she needed to give them twenty five cents and she was out of quarters!

The article was so interesting that I actually watched the video. Wow.

I have not, but I will check it out. Thanks, Catherine!

The information for 2014 should be available from e-services. Just be sure to pull a Wage and Income transcript rather than a tax transcript. Or whatever they are called.

I have never read the Divine Comedy entirely, in English or Italian, but Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle did an excellent fantasy version of the story entitled Inferno. Nominated for both Hugo and Nebula awards in 1976, it is highly entertaining and borrows the geography of Dante's Hell. If you want something a bit lighter than the original, I highly recommend this book. i know we have some science fiction aficionados on this board.

Thanks for the in-depth review. I would just add that as of July 1, if an organization qualifies to apply using the 1023EZ, the user fee has been reduced to $275.00. And it seems to me that I recall reading somewhere that if the gross receipt are less than $5000 per year, they do not have to file for approval but should file the 990N. In order to get set up to file the 990N, they would have to call and request registration for that purpose.

I have been introduced to some wonderful authors and books through Bookbub, that I probably would not have come across without it. I also get emails with specials from http://robinreads.com/ There is some overlap between the two, but not always. I love getting books (including cookbooks!) for free. And they are almost always available in multiple platforms, so that you can choose between Amazon for Kindle or BN for Nook.