Gail in Virginia

It is my understanding that they are charging per company for e-filing. yes.

I switched to ProSeries after ATX had a major program change that gave network users fits. My understanding is that those particular problems have been fixed, but ProSeries is a superior program when it comes to handling multiple state returns. I also find their e-filing to work better for me - I am able to e-file amended returns using ProSeries which I never could do with ATX. The cost is quite a bit more than ATX unless you get a really good deal from them for switching like some of us did after the 2012 tax season. If you have any friends in the business, they will get a discount if you cite them as a referral. It doesn't help you, so if you don't know anyone that uses it, don't worry about having a referral.

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I cannot imagine the pain you are in, and certainly understand why you have lost heart for business. I will pray for you and your family.

Most of us have not had to worry about 179 limits for the past several years, but if the limit reverts back to $25,000 I will have to start with at least some of my clients who buy large equipment.

I wasn't on very long yesterday, but I did not get a notification once I moved away from ATX even though I okay-ed notifications. Maybe there is a delay, and the fact that I wasn't on very long had a bearing.

I use FireFox and I got the notification when I signed on to the site today. I accepted it for this site. If I get notifications when I am not on this site, I will let you know.

According to a paper published by M. J. Kotchen at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, the most likely effect of DST is to cost us energy. Using data from Indiana when they changed over to DST statewide, residential energy use actually increased overall. From the paper published: We find that DST results in a 1% increase in residentialelectricity demand, and the effect is highly statistically significant. We also find that the effect is not constant through-out the DST period. In particular, DST causes the greatest increase in consumption later in the year, with October estimates ranging from an increase of 2% to nearly 4%. Consistent with Benjamin Franklin’s original conjecture, our simulation results show that DST saves on electricity used for illumination but increases electricity used for heating and cooling. Both the empirical and simulation results suggest that the latter effect is larger than the former. Moreover, we find that DST costs Indiana households an average of $3.29 per year in increased electricity bills, which aggregates to approximately $9 million for the entire state. Finally, the social costs in terms of increased pollution emissions range between $1.7 and $5.5 million per year. The entire text can be found at http://environment.yale.edu/kotchen/pubs/revDSTpaper.pdf Really makes it seem worthwhile to screw up our sleeping habits twice a year, doesn't it?

I think he is adorable. I am not sure how SAFE a porcupine is as a pet, and I have to admit I think you could edit that footage to make a great restaurant scene in a science fiction movie but I did not think it was creepy!

If you read what the OP said, the same rule DOES NOT apply to everyone, everywhere. That is his point. And as far as requesting a refund from FL, if what the person from the FL DOR said is correct, the sales tax is not being remitted to FL. So no refund.

Just e-filed the last one. Got at least one more to do, but he is not coming in with his stuff until next Friday, so we al ready know it will be late.

Maybe I am missing something, but if they are rental units the basis will be depreciated beginning when the assets are placed in service, right? Does having them out of the country complicate this? So unless you are doing cost segregation, this seems pretty straight forward compared to some things. Or like I said, I missed something. This has been a heckuva October.

My favorite text book way back when was Prentice Hall's Federal Taxation XXXX Comprehensive where XXXX is the year. I don't know if they are still as good, and I think that you can buy just the Corporation part instead of the Comprehensive. This is what my college course in Advanced Taxation used, and I thought that it had really good information about basis, and depreciation, and AAA, etc. But being a college textbook, it ain't cheap. The comprehensive edition has individual taxation for the first half of the book, and corporate for the second half. I think the college I went to used the book for both Basic Taxation and Advanced Taxation, but I tested out of basic and only took Advanced so I am not familiar with the first half of the book. And you might check if there is a college near you that offers accounting majors to see if they have an advanced taxation course that covers corps and partnerships - if you choose to take the course, you would probably need to buy a specific text book. Good luck. I hope some other people share their suggestions - I might want to update my textbook!

Does the 1099R have the code P in box 7 indicating that it is a distribution in 2014 of excess contribution taxable in 2013? I think that if it is coded correctly, the IRS will match it to the correct year. (I hope I remember the code correctly - I don't have a 1099R in front of me, but I know there is a code for a distribution received in one year and taxable to the prior year.)

My son has an alarm clock app on his phone that requires him to solve three math equations before the alarm will shut off, in ascending order of difficulty. Or at least he did have at one time. He was late for work once, when he first got his "real" job after graduating and it scared him so badly that he downloaded that app to insure that he woke up all the way instead of hitting snooze and going back to sleep.

So, Judy, you and Jack are saying that "companion sitters" are different than "caregivers" and that the less professionally trained "sitter" would get a 1099 because they are statutorily deemed self-employed and the position involving more responsibility and training, caregiver, would have less independence and control and get a W2?

From Reg 31.3506, the definition of "sitters" is " For purposes of this section, the term “sitters” means individuals who furnish personal attendance, companionship, or household care services to children or to individuals who are elderly or disabled." and according to this section of the IRC of 1954, "c) Individuals deemed self-employed. Any individual who, by reason of this section, is deemed not to be the employee of a companion sitting placement service shall be deemed to be self-employed for purposes of the tax on self-employment income (see sections 1401–1403 and the regulations thereunder in part 1 of this chapter (Income Tax Regulations))."

Schedule H also serves as the 940; complete page 2 if the employee meets the requirement to pay FUTA.

I know that this board includes some EA's, but I don't know how many of you receive the EAJournal. The September-October 2015 issue has an article entitled "Caregiver Calamities" that discusses caregiver income reporting and the liabilities that arise for domestic employees and/or caregivers. In this article, Ben A. Tallman, EA, USTCP, asks the question about whether caregivers should be paid as employees or independent contractors. In most instances, unless they work for a service that handles their employment, Mr. Tallman seems to think they should be treated as domestic employees and taxes withheld accordingly. However, Publication 15A specifically discusses "companion sitters" and states "Companion sitters who are not employees of a companion sitting placement service are generally treated as self-employed for all federal tax purposes." Reg 31.3506-1 seems to be the section under which companion sitters are statutorily removed from consideration as employees. These two positions seem contradictory. I have had clients treat the caregivers they hire for their parents both ways, although 1099MISC is far more common in this area. But I wondered if any of you have any thoughts about this issue, or have done any research that would support either position. And do IRS regulations and DOL regulations by any chance contradict each other in this area? Why can't I ever determine something once and for all and forget about it?

I don't know the rules for community property states, but if I follow the sequence of events correctly, the wife could file as single since the husband passed on in November and therefore she was not married on the last day of the year. She and the executor could elect for her to file jointly with her deceased husband, and I think that he would have to file either MFJ or MFS, but she should have the option to file either MFJ or S.

I would help but Virginia is just too far from Maine when the issues are that involved. I hope you are able to find someone helpful!

I love that Judy! Only problem I have with it is that most of the seniors that I know DO use drugs - just not for recreational purposes

I wonder how much money he saved by doing this himself without getting advice......

Catherine, I had thought I would go to the NATP forum, but my mom has an appointment that week with a specialist out of town and I chose to go with her for that instead. I would have loved to have had a chance to meet you! And I already went to the IRS forum in National Harbor, so i won't be going to Atlanta.

I know that I saw just the other day that those are the amounts that are considered as small enough that you don't need to have an 8829 re-signed if you make a change on a return. So they probably will not generate a letter. BUT if a letter is generated for any other reason, they will be added to the changes. I too, would probably correct it going forward, and otherwise ignore it unless the IRS brings it up.