Kea

I'm not sure if you can attach to the e-file. I would probably just send it with an 8453. I'd be interested if someone knows a way to attach to e-file.

I really love it when clients try to argue tax law with me. I'm not saying I know everything. When I don't know, I tell them so & that I'll research it. When I figure it out I let them know. Some don't think the correct answer is "logical" (and sometimes I agree with them), or it's just too much work. But, I've lost a couple of clients because I won't file a fraudulent return. No problem, those aren't the ones I want to keep.

Just to clarify -- I'm not referring to that fun "supplemental" list of state specific income. This K1 is ONLY OK. I haven't found an "easy way" for either scenario.

Client has K1 for 1120S in OK. Lives in TX. Is there some place to indicate on the K1 or Sch E page 2 that this should flow to OK? Or, is there a place in the OK data to tell it to grab the K1 info? The W2s, and 1009s (int, div) have a place to indicate state. Or, do I just have to update NR worksheet manually (and make sure I correct if I make other changes)? This one is for an extension, but I still want to put as much in now as I can (and don't miss it when it comes back up later). Thanks

That's pretty much what I was thinking. If you take a class and are then required to take a test, the test fee would (theoretically) be part of the tuition. I just hadn't run into it in reverse. In this case the class & study materials were just helpful for the test, but not required. And test not required for class. I voted no deduction & he was fine with that. He hadn't even included it originally. Didn't mention it until I asked if he had any education expenses. As he was answering my follow-up questions, he wrote - "you do realize I don't itemize." Oh well, I tried to find a deduction. (But, why oh why, on 4/14???) Thanks for helping me think through it correctly. Is it 4/19 yet?

Thanks Margaret, I know that part. So, I guess the question becomes - "is the exam / books a requirement of the course?" -In general, taking an exam (by itself) would not be a Lifetime learning credit item - right? -Taking a class to prepare for the test would. And study materials required for that course would count. -If you were only taking the exam & buying your own study references, then nothing counts towards LL credit. At least that's the way my mid-April brain is thinking on this! I'll ask client if exam is required for course or not. Thanks!

Client took a class for project management certification. Employer paid for training, but client paid for exam & study materials. Do those quality for the "fees" portion of Lifetime Learning Credit? I would have thought the tuition portion would have covered these. But since they were separated, I wasn't sure if I could count them. (I searched Pub 970 for "exam" and only got "example." I also tried "test" but didn't get anything useful there, either.) Thanks!

Or, you lose a calculator (or any item) and search and search. Then you give up and buy a replacement. Come home & it's sitting right on the table where it was supposed to be all along. Same idea.

For e-filing it clients have to sign Form 8878 (not 8879). At least that's what I used last year. This year (so far) I've only used lynnjacobs' method.

I love number patterns. When I saw the clip was 7 seconds "too long" I waited to see what happened at 3:14. I was just glad it was something "interesting."

Now, if they had just made the YouTube 7 seconds shorter, it would have be 3:14! BTW - the final chord started at 3:14.

I have one client who gets shares of company stocks as a bonus. She asked the broker for cost basis and was told that they DO NOT provide basis. Her company has used the same brokerage since they started doing this 3 years ago. This job is starting to teach me which brokerages provide good service and which don't.

Thanks for the clarification. This will be one amendment I will enjoy!

Terry - I'm glad you got your answer. I apologize for hijacking your thread. My intent was just to agree that sometimes the "basics" can get confusing. Then, in posting my comment, I realized I missed (or may have missed) a related issue. Jainen - What I'm seeing in The TaxBook for Qualifying Child is: The child must be the taxpayer's son, daughter, stepchild, FOSTER CHILD [my emphasis], brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister or descendant of any of these, such as the taxpayer's grandchild, niece, or nephew. So, I'm reading descendant of foster child is OK, but not foster child of descendant. I will be quite happy to find out I am mis-interpreting this. I would love to get her an extra $1000! (I like making those kind of errors!)

I never bill research time. (Oops, now I've started another controversy!) But I feel my clients pay me for what I know & when I have to research a question it might help me with the current client & with future clients. So, how do you allocate? But my regular billing rate does take into account my time taking classes & that I will need additional research on various items during the year. I learn so much from reading this board. As to "are we there yet?" - I'm still happy with the 2011 deduction, but I really enjoy (& learn from) reading the various approaches. My client still hasn't responded to my first e-mail of questions, so I don't know how upset he will be with my answer. I do appreciate everyones' time & the discussions. I was surprised this question spurred such a debate. Thanks again.

I'm glad you are OK. I hope you can get the door repaired quickly so that you can return home.

I should have also stated: The qualifying child I want to use is one (or both) of the twins - who are my client's great granddaughters (who do not live with either Mom or Dad). (The twins' Mom is ex-wife of client's grandson.) @cathyan - yes, client's daughter was living with her when the little boy was placed with her. But I didn't see "foster child of dependent" as one of the options, regardless of timing. Could you tell me where you found that? Is it because the "foster child" gets kinda "redefined" as a natural child (as per Jainen's comment)?

This is the same situation I posted before. The little boy is the eligible foster child of my client's daughter. Client's daughter has court-ordered custody of the boy and her twin grand daughters. Boy is the half-brother of twin girls, but no blood relation to my client or her daughter. All 5 live in my client's house. The twin girls are qualifying children of their grandmother and great grandmother. (The mother of all 3 children does not live there & is not "allowed" to claim them, even though she did claim the twins. She has in the past & IRS previously awarded disputed exemption to their grandmother. Client's daughter is paper filing and including necessary documentation to claim twins.) Yes, Jainen, I do remember the 2005 change. I was reading the above exception at 1:00 this morning in the 2010 The TaxBook. Looks like I need more research when I'm more awake. @Terry - cathyan is right. I just kinda "assumed" that one child was living with your client since you had already acknowledged she was "using" him / her. I do know better than to assume fact not in evidence. Sorry about that!

That sounds right to me. The one I was going around in circles with myself was if a foster child of a descendent could be a qualifying child like a descendent of a foster child can. Or, being a half-brother of a descendent rather than a descendent of a step-sibling. I finally decided client could not get CTC - just dependent exemption. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing anything about "half-" relatives, only "step-" relatives. edit -- As I was writing the above I realized that i might have been wrong in giving her HOH for qualifying relative. Return has been filed & accepted, so I had a moment of panic. Went back to my references & saw she is HOH since she has qualifying children who live with her but are not her dependents. (Client's daughter will claim them.) Do I need to amend to show name of child who qualifies her for HOH? At this point there would be no $ change & I know IRS isn't usually interested in those. Or do I just need to explain situation to client in case IRS asks questions?

I have a twist on the above scenario. Wife has been assisting Husband in his business for years. I finally got around to splitting Sch Cs this year (it was so easy in TRX). But 1099MISCs are in Husband's name & SSN. Everything feeds to Sch Cs 50/50, but I can change those %s. I used 50/50 since we are in a community property state. Since I am letting the software do the splitting I don't think I can show an expense from his Sch C to her's. Will that cause IRS matching problems with Husband's gross income being less then 1099s? The total of the 2 combined Cs are in excess of the 1099s. Thanks

I just used "Other/Misc" when I couldn't find anything better. I would like to see more choices, too.

FWIW, client is still eligible for refund on 2010 tax -- just a smaller one (by $1000). I'm pretty sure he got the money back from the brother (his e-mail did not mention ill-will to any kind of "ex-brother"). Payment to County not due until 1/31/11 & was paid by then. I "assume" he will be in the same tax bracket for 2011, but you never know about future lay-offs or anything else that can change expectantly.

$3.599 for unleaded in my area of Austin. $3.799 for diesel. Car (gas) gets 35 mpg city / 40 highway. Truck (diesel) mileage not so good but needed to tow trailer. It tends to not get used much around town. I'm starting to really get interested in the plug-in hybrids. I've never spent that much on a car & don't usually buy one when they first come out. But I'm starting to consider it now!

------Hmmmm, just how much in tax is this single payment worth?----- $1000. The RE tax was $4000 and client is in 25% bracket. But I still lean towards 2011 deduction -- it's got the receipt from the client & check that cleared. I had been under the impression that "either" problem might kick it out, but really wasn't sure. Now I know paid through brother isn't a problem & bounced check is an issue of intent. I'll ask more about "why" the check bounced. I apologize if I cost y'all too much time on this.

Thanks. He does have a 2011 receipt for documentation. I'm not sure if he knew the funds were not there at the time he paid the taxes. (I haven't asked that question.) It could be that he deposited the check not knowing the bank put a hold on it.