Dave T

Kathy, I think this is spot on along with the recommendation of management of workload. I have been thinking about this for several days now after an encounter I had with one of my 5's. She called and said I had forgotten to include the payment voucher for NYS. I wasn't sure how I might have missed that but said I would send her a PDF of the return and she could print it out. She said Ok and that she would go the library and print it. I sent the file and got a call a day later. She was all upset because it was going to cost a lot to print the return ( all she needed was the voucher not the whole return) Well after more allegations of not paying attention, etc. I explained that all her tax docs are on one side of the folder and the returns, e-file docs, and cover letter are on the other. I hear some ruffling of papers and sure enough there was the voucher in with the return all by itself. This all occurred on April 14. Thanks for allowing me to rant and for the very wise and diplomatic wording of the termination letter.

Great idea Kathy. I have a few, not a lot of 5"s. I'd be interested in how you would word your letter to them, especially if they have been long time clients.

schirallicpa I am in Rochester and yes the roads can be brutal as well as the property taxes, the annual heart break of the Bills and the long winters but I guess better then tornados, hurricanes and wild fires.

Yes, agree with BTS. Long and frustrating season. No call backs. Missing docs, etc. To top it off, it's snowing here in Western NY.

In 2023 client took all the funds in his 401K and rolled it into his own self managed IRA account. In 2024 he makes an $8k contribution to the account. At first glance it only gives him partial credit for the deduction due to the phaseout of total income and because his company offers a retirement plan ( or at least did ) and that is my question? His w-2 has always shown box 13 checked but didn't this year. He says that is because he is not contributing but that doesn't sound right and I always thought that whether you participate or not determines how much of an IRA contribution can be made. When I uncheck the box 13 on the w2 ATX gives hm full credit for the contribution. Thanks for any insights. Dave T

Margaret, if you look on the 1099R input Worksheet just below where you are entering data there is a box that says Box 7 including Code J or T. Check this box if a a "Qualifying" Roth Distribution. I had not checked the box ( actually didn't see it originally ) and thus the taxability of the $123 and the inclusion of the 8606. Once I checked the box, no tax and no 8606. Hope this helps

Margaret I too had to look for the appropriate box on the 1099R worksheet to make this Roth distribution non taxable.

Yes, thanks to all. I was missing the checkbox on the 1099R worksheet. Once I checked the code J/T box calculated correctly and as stated no 8606. Thanks again

T/p gives me a 1099R with Distribution Code T which is " exception applies." Distribution amount is $ 5,623 and taxable amount of $ 0. Seems right His basis in the Roth is $5,500 which he contributed to in 2007 and he is over 59 1/2. On the 8606 part 3 it is calculating a taxable amount of $ 123 ( 5623 - 5500. ) This doesn't seem right so not sure what might be wrong? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you

Will the IRS send a refund if the name on the return doesn't agree with the name on the bank account? I do a return for a single woman and her three grown children. She texts me to tell me that two of the three have received their refunds and one hasn't, can I please check the account that it was being sent to? Not sure how I did it but I put the wrong account on the one son's return and the problem is the account I used is the other brother's account. My guess is that the IRS will just send him a check instead? I don't know I did this other than not double checking the account numbers before submitting. Thanks for any input Dave T

Thank you Judy. Very helpful as usual.

Taxpayers moved from Missouri to Illinois on January 3 of 2024. Their tax documents include W2's from MO for their last week of work there. Just wondering what MO form I need to file for them? Thank you

Would a return be accepted if the taxpayer's SSN had already been submitted? Client notified me that he and his wife recently became aware that they were victims of identity theft and are in process of getting that rectified. He is obviously concerned that someone could use his SSN to submit a false tax return. His return was submitted and accepted but am just wondering if there would be an immediate rejection if SSN had already been used. Thank you.

I've been working on extentions this week without issue but yesterday tried signing in and got the following message," An attempt was made to start the server process but the application is still unable to connect, Please try again." Tried again this morning and got the same error. Any suggestions? Thanks very much.

That was it !! Thanks so much

Ok I tried this. I clicked Amend return in the original and it did create the new amended return and added the 1040-X and State It 201-X. As noted the Itemized Deduction amount changed and I made the change in Column C and from there things flowed correctly and calculated the refund due. However, still getting the same error message linking to Column C " Taxable Income must equal the amount on Form 1040. In addition I get three subsequent errors all saying the same thing relating to the 1040. Thank again

Client neglected to tell me about volunteer miles in 2023 so preparing amended Federal and State returns. Nominal impact resulting in small refunds. I made a copy of the original return and added the 1040-X to the copy. Column A shows original amounts and in Column C the new Itemized Deduction amount and from there the adjusted Total Income, Tax, etc. Seems pretty straightforward but when I do an error check I get a message " Taxable income must equal the amount on Form 1040". When I click on the error it jumps to Column C which is the corrected amount. I get three more similar error messages all linked to Column C. Not sure what I am doing wrong but would appreciate any help you might be able to offer. Thank you.

Working on an extension for a young couple, both self employed. I asked if they had health insurance and he said they were part of a Health Sharing Ministry. I did some research and appeared to get conflicting answers as to whether they could take this as the Self Employed Health Insurance deduction. I know it is not technically insurance although it did qualify as an alternative to Obamacare but saw various opinions and code section references on both sides of either yes of no on the deduction. One post I saw mentioned a proposed regulation which would definitely allow this but not sue it it ever became law. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Thank you Abby. That worked perfectly. I had never seen that option before. Greatly appreciate all the help you provide to this board.

I need to amend a New York State return. Don't need to do the Federal I prepared the IT 201-X and want to create the e-file it but I am getting an error that says "NYS return must be transmitted unlinked when transmitting IT-201X" How do I unlink the file? I don't believe I have seen this before. Thank you

I try to always ask the client if they are using the same bank account as the previous year for either direct deposit or direct debit. Well I ask the client and yes, same as last year so i go ahead and e-file. Several days later after return has been submitted and accepted client calls to tell me that account had been closed due to fraudulent activity last year. Client calls the bank to see if account can be reopened to accept deposits only but no luck. I am assuming that refunds will then bounce back to IRS and state and they will eventually get a check in the mail. Client has called twice wanting to know what else if anything she can do? I think it is just wait for the check to show up. Thank you

Clients. both husband and wife, had very large medical expenses in 2023. In addition their other Sch. A expenses put them right on the threshold of being able to itemize. They participate in , but did not include in the medical expenses, Direct Primary Care membership. Client didn't think that this could be included and in the brief reading I have done that is the case but also that legislation had been proposed to allow it. Does anyone have any kind of update on this? I have to admit that I was not familiar with this. Thank you

Quick update. The Lifetime Credit did calculate correctly. Had just forgotten to check one box. Bigger issue still remains is degree or no degree?

I will obviously need to get clarification from my client but wanted to run something by the board as I have great respect for the knowledge as well as the willingness to help. A couple weeks ago I posted about my client that had a 1098T with 26K in tuition and 34K in scholarships. I asked about this and she said it was for off campus housing and food. Check box as at least half time student and so it seems 8K of income. I did specifically ask her about her studies and she said it was toward a degree. Well her parents are also clients and when they were over the other day we got talking about the daughter and how well she is doing etc. and the Dad says she is there earning a certificate as she has already earned her undergraduate as well as graduate degrees and she is there because this is an athletic scholarship and still had a year of eligibility left. So I go into ATX and uncheck 'Candidate for a Degree' and now the whole 34k shows as taxable ( and of course big tax liability ) but for whatever reason it won't let me at least calculate the Lifetime Learning Credit. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

New client emails me her tax docs. a couple of small W-2's and a 1098T from a major Texas university. She is on a running scholarship and the 1098 shows 26K in box 1 and 34K in box 5 Scholarships. I call her to get more info and she says the difference is for off campus housing versus room and board on campus as well as for books. She says she has had this situation in prior years and preparer didn't include anything as income. Seems to me, and as I read Pub 970, that this excess, apart from the books, she has about 8K of additional income and no Education Credits. Am I correct in this? As an aside, she said she just got picked up by one of the major shoe brands which will take effect in 2024. Thanks in advance for your help Dave T