RitaB

1) If you are amending to include self-employed after Oct 15, yes, there is a late-filing penalty. Self-employed missed the deadline, as you stated. 2) Yes, I would print self-employed a 2015 1040-ES.

I think a lot of times the original poster gets the answer or affirmation pretty quickly. She finishes the return, client picks up and pays, she takes a nap, goes to dinner, and enjoys a movie while the rest of us try to think of every possible outcome to every possible scenario. This is why we are great. And also why they make jokes about us.

Yes, it could be a big deal if IRS wanted to pursue it. Series EE bonds purchased for $15,000 in 1985 would have earned $54,192 in interest when they matured in 2015. Not everybody who invested in bonds was an old codger just giving a disappointed grandkid a $25 bond. There are bound to be people who unknowingly hold them past maturity thinking next year will be a better time to redeem these...

Exactly! So in January, I see a 2016 1099-Int for $15,000, and it could be income that should have been reported years earlier. That would be so terrible, for IRS to charge interest on the tax on that, especially when the Treasury used that money interest free all that time. I'm a stickler for rules, too, but if my clients have gotten away with one here, and I don't know of anyone who did, but I'd bet it's happened, I'm not losing sleep over it. I almost wish I didn't know the law, though, because now I'm thinking about it and worrying if I need to have this discussion with people.

I was studying for SEE exams (I passed!) and learned that you are supposed to report savings bond interest the earlier of when they mature or you cash them. (Just considering cash basis for this query; I'm not concerned about the folks reporting interest every year.) Anywho, I'd bet a dollar to a donut that I've had clients that didn't know this either, and IRS never got called them out on it. Have any of you seen IRS catch that savings bond interest was not reported in the year a bond matured but it was reported in a later year?

My FB friend said it's a shame we can't make the path to citizenship easier for them. And, yes, I have been guilty of missing the obvious, too. Judy showed me the directions to a form one time. I had been everywhere except there.

You make a very good point.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/scam-phone-calls-continue-irs-identifies-five-easy-ways-to-spot-suspicious-calls "If you know you don’t owe taxes or have no reason to believe that you do, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov." https://www.irs.gov/uac/stay-vigilant-against-bogus-irs-phone-calls-and-emails "You should also report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add "IRS Telephone Scam" to the comments of your report."

I agree with at least part of what everybody has said. I like to take on new things. But I will sure as ^&*% wear out the Pubs and Google before I will post a question. There are some people who should not prepare taxes. In an EA exam study group, I recently saw a participant struggle because there was no % key on her calculator. She had no idea how to cope with that. I almost cried. I have seen others answer a question incorrectly that had already been answered correctly. IN THE SAME THREAD. RIGHT BELOW THE CONFIRMED CORRECT ANSWER. WITH THE "YIPPEE, YOU GOT IT, CONGRATS" RIGHT THERE. That hurt me. I wanted to hug them.

That was just a general statement for illustrative purposes. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is strictly coincidental.

Well, I got a good chuckle out of "It's a tax return! Not tracking meteors here." Reminds me of that time I called ATX in January 2013 and said, "Look. I want my software to work. Taxes are not sexy. I don't care about the bells and whistles and pink furry handcuffs and blindfolds. Please just give me software that works." Then I got a hum dinger computer, and it worked. Go me.

When in doubt, hug it out.

I found this, it might be helpful: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/passive-activity-loss-atg-exhibit-3-2-self-rented-property-income-recharacterization

Yes, if it were an allowed rental (it's not), it is active participation. Looks like another example of incorrect tax return preparation by one of your competitors. Be sure and milk it. On taking the losses, even if she had a legit rental (not self) all the losses would be suspended at $150,000 MAGI, right? Is she there?

And if they don't, I wouldn't charge a client $100 to mess around with it a long time only to save him $10 in taxes. I would take the most conservative price or even the middle of the road price [to arrive at FMV] and move on unless there is some wild fluctuation going on there.

I looked briefly, then thought about it some - you use the price on for the trade date, not the price on the order date or the price on the settlement date. It's gotta be trade date. After all, the market was closed for business when he made the request. That price and that date are not options after the close of business.

Thanks, Debbie! And congrats! I loved what someone said on the FaceBook study group: "This is not something that will be given to you or fall in your lap. If you don't respect the tests and put the time in you WILL fail..." OTOH, it's doable. Everybody be encouraged!

He sold scrap 12 - 24 times a year for seven years. Averaged $45k a year. That was his only income. I think he's a lucky dog, too.

I agree. And imagine how bad it really is. We see a very small fraction of what is happening. IRS sees it all, but they apparently don't think any prosecutor would press charges. Sorry, its seemed like I had to. Sorry.

The test takers thru Aug 13 don't. It's a Beta test until Aug 14. Test takers Aug 14 and later will get their results before leaving the testing center. We that take exams before the 14th will be notified by mail within 90 days of testing.

I took it yesterday, and feel pretty good about it. Won't know for sure till after Aug 13. I bought the Passkey Workbook on Amazon, it has six sample tests, two corresponding to each part of the exam. I took the two exams for SEE1, studied the explanations to the questions I missed, and also read TheTaxBook. Those two things were perfect for me. Anyway, apparently I was the first SEE exam taker one of the Prometrics guys had met. He kept saying, "She's from IRS," and apologizing for his tax return. Then there was the wand and the emptying of pockets, and I kept saying, "NOOOOOO, I'm one of the good guys..." And they shoved me in a room that was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit with about eight other people working on exams for other, more respected, vocations. Seriously, I thought the exam was fair, not many sketchy questions. By sketchy, I mean poorly worded or tricky. I would not say "easy," and I would not trot in there without doing a little studying. And be sure you tell them you are NOT from IRS.

Oh, I forgot! They don't tell us the results immediately if we take an exam before Aug 14. (Psssshhh, you passed.)

So excited to SEE this. I think you are now Queen of the SEE and it doesn't even matter. Woo hoo, good for you, Debbie! I'm taking SEE1 first because I lack the moxie to do what you did. Thanks for posting this - very glad for you.

So sorry, my friend. Praying for your family.