Richcpaman

MCB: Sorry he is so shy. You need to get more facts. And not treat this as a "friend". Because if he does it wrong, you are no longer the "friend" you are the trusted advisor who told him that he could do this..... The answer to him until he decides to become more talkative, is "Yes, it ALL taxable, except for basis..." There are multiple code sections in play here. You need a proper timeline of events, amounts paid, who paid them for what, and the purposes of those payments. Then you need to know what is to happen going forward. With all the facts, not "info that helps him save taxes, but ALL the info" you can help him to structure the deal to save him taxes.... Or at least report it correctly... Rich

Cat: It won't lead to indictments. Barnum said it best: "A sucker is born every minute" and solar roadways just raised $1.7m from suckers. I would like to see what those glass panels would look like the first time you had to scrape the snow off of them.... Anyway, just put Solar panels on the building roofs along the road, and then in grassy areas near the road. That way, you are building a Solar array, and that all, NOT a roadway... Ka-Ching.... Rich

The tax payer checked the box Marked "SCorp" on the SS-4 and thought that was all he had to do...

The Udvar-Hazy Center is out near Dulles and you *may* be able to get to it from the new "Silver Line" of the Metro. Do not think it is open to the public yet, but soon... There is probably a bus from downtown Alexandria to Dulles, however. Traffic isn't that bad, if you are from California, but the road system has a lot of one way streets, and "you can see it, you just can't get there from here..." area's. It is easy to take the Metro to Reagan National Airport and rent a car for a day for some of the longer trips. Someone mentioned the tourist bus system, you can buy a pass for that and see all the tourist sites around the Mall. It also goes to Arlington National Cemetery and to Mount Vernon. Plan a trip to Arlington. I *think* online, you can find out who might be interred each day. The "pomp and circumstance" of a burial is deserved for the private to the general, but there are a lot more things going on as the rank increases, and is quite a show. Notwithstanding the solitude you can find in the corners of the place.... Lots to do. Talk more about what you are interested in. Andrews Air Force Base (Now Joint Base Andrews) has Air Force One, but has a huge Open House usually around Flag Day weekend, something to do if you and your son are interested in getting up close to the military vehicles... One other thing... Bags are searched EVERYWHERE. Carrying your lunch and other stuff in a back pack? Can get annoying every time to enter someplace. Rich

The Air and Space Museum has the Udvar-Hazy Annex out near Dulles Airport. It has all the stuff they can't get downtown, and is really great. I would recommend dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill. It is on 15th street, one block east of the White House. Old DC charm... Make sure you eat in the old dining room. The *new* dining room is like a Holiday Inn. You have all the Smithsonian Museums on the Mall. Decide which ones you are interested in, and then go to them, you could get lost in any of them and burn a lot of time... However, the Hope Diamond is AMAZING. Check out the original documents of America at the National Archives. Actually quite interesting.... The Newseum on Pennsylvania Ave is 4-5 blocks from the White House, and then 10-11 to the Capitol. It has one of the best front porches in Washington. A walk up Penn Ave from the Capitol to the WH is a study in contrasts. Where are you going to stay? Traffic can be hideous. And parking expensive, and the Metro is plenty crowded during rush hour. If you have a rental car, then take different routes into and out of town each day. Massachusetts Ave, Connecticut Ave, Georgia Ave, North, East ad South Capitol Streets. You can "see" the different DC's that way. There in nothing but the Museum Shops and Roach Coachs on the mall to get something to eat. You have to walk two or three blocks to sit down and eat, but if it was my son and me, we would hit the Roach Coaches. There is some real selection there... Its about a mile and a half to walk from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. Remember that. My wife still calls it the "Death March"..... Really, its about what you are interested in. I like to "imbed" myself in the local culture, eating in local restaurants, walking the streets, seeing the off beat stuff. And playing golf.. There is no finer place to trace the roots of our country, and how it developed. Rich

Why use 39 year property when it should be 7 year property? Whether OIH/Rental its should be 7 year property, not 39/27 Rich

Why isn't this 7 year property? Expected life of these units: 15 years. They are bolted onto the house and not structural components. They do not extend the life of the home. I would not take Sec179 on the units, but treatment as 7 year property would make sense. Rich

Are you using ATX? Wouldn't this deduction all have taken place on the Corporate return and with a W-2? Nothing different on the 1040? Rich

Hopefully this comes over... From Kelly Phillips Erb, with Forbes: You thought about it for a long time. You talked about it for weeks. There were letters and emails and maybe even the occasional phone call. You were counting down the days. And then it happened. You filed your taxes. You got your copies (and maybe a little refund on the side). But now that’s it’s over, maybe you’re feeling a little let down. You haven’t heard from your tax professional in a while. And you’re getting the sense that maybe she* wants to move on. Spoiler alert: She probably does. Let me break it down for you: taxes may be complicated but tax professionals are not. Tax professionals don’t send mixed messages. When it comes to yours, the truth may be that she’s just not that into you. Here are 11 reasons why: 1. You lie about what you’ve been doing. I don’t care what you told IRS or your mother or your wife. You need to tell your tax professional the truth. No matter how ugly it is. Those of us who have been in the business for awhile are pretty quick to spot a lie. Those fake receipts? Those suspicious looking tip logs that are remarkably all in the same color of ink? The way you break out into a little sweat every time we ask about freelance income? We’ve got it all figured out. And we’ve seen and heard worse. But you looking us in the eye and telling us a lie? It’s insulting. And it doesn’t get you anywhere. 2. You don’t call like you said you would. These days, it’s so easy to call or send a quick email at almost any time of day. But when you’re taking days – or weeks – to return calls or emails, your tax professional know something’s up. And she doesn’t have the time and energy to keep chasing you. She’s got other clients who will treat her better. 3. You call too often. If, on the other hand, you have your tax professional on speed dial, you might want to rethink things. It’s good to check in – once in awhile. But you don’t need to call in the middle of the night because you’re worried about the state of your depreciation schedule. If your tax professional said she’d have something for you on Friday, don’t call on Tuesday to see how it’s going (it’s fine). If the IRS hasn’t called about an audit, that’s a good sign. And no, your tax professional can’t make your refund come any faster. 4. You always stand her up. Nobody wants to talk about taxes… Well, except maybe tax professionals. But when you set an appointment to talk, your tax professional expects you to show up. And you’re expected to bring all of the things you were asked to bring. Surprisingly, it’s impossible to talk about an audit reconsideration for a denial of mileage when your tax professional still hasn’t see your mileage logs. And that Power of Attorney you were supposed to sign? If you don’t sign it, your tax professional can’t talk to IRS on your behalf. And those deadlines in those IRS letters? Those are real. They’re not suggestions. So if you’re thinking that you can try again next week, you’re wrong. Your tax professional doesn’t want to talk about it next week, she wants to talk about it now. 5. You’re cheap (a/k/a You don’t pay your bills). Your tax professional has likely seen your books and she knows about your income. She also knows about your spending habits. She knows you just paid $250 for a steak dinner at Capital Grille. She knows that you showed up for your audit discussion in a Lexus. She knows that you just had your house re-roofed (it’s a capital improvement). Tax professionals aren’t nonprofits: they’re professionals. So pay your bills. 6. You complain about your bills. When your tax professional took you on as a client, she should have outlined exactly what the fee structure would be. It might be a flat fee for a project or it might be hourly. But you knew what the scoop would be. So don’t complain about it after the fact. If the work is done, then it’s time to pay up. Don’t explain that you could get the same work done cheaper down the street. And don’t try to bargain down the bill after the fact. You don’t walk into the Gap and ask to pay $19 for $48 jeans. Again, see #5. 7. You complain about your tax bills. Paying taxes can be painful. And it’s the job of your tax professional to help you pay the right amount: not too much, not too little. But tax professionals aren’t magicians or miracle workers. Nobody can (honestly) turn a $10k tax liability into a refund. The very best tax professional can only do what she can with the information you’ve provided. If you’ve underpaid during the year, if you lost your receipts, if you’ve made other mistakes? It happens. But those tax penalties are yours. And that liability is yours. It’s not the end of the world and it can be fixed. But first, you have to stop complaining. How do they get any work done? (Photo credit: Wikipedia) 8. You’re sloppy. Ugh. I know you’ve been doing this on your own for awhile but there comes a time when your financial records should not resemble the contents of a junior high locker. No one expects perfection but there has to be a line. And that line is somewhere between a neat, Quickbooks file and wading through fast food liners and Christmas letters in an effort to find business receipts. It’s not unusual to find “interesting” items while plucking through records (including the gold tooth a fellow tax professional found in a client’s forms this year) but it’s not fun. Show a little bit of self-respect and clean your records up a bit. 9. You’re too needy. Relationships can be tough. And it’s natural that during the course of preparing your taxes, you’re going to share some pretty personal stuff with your tax professional. But it’s a pretty big jump from “Here’s a copy of my receipt for my charitable contributions” to “I’m cheating on my wife.” Your tax professional is not your therapist or your marriage counselor. Your tax professional is not your priest, your doctor or your fortune teller. Don’t make things awkward by saying too much. We need to be able to look you in the eye after the fact. 10. You live by your own rules. I know. You like to keep things exciting. It’s fun to step out on your own. But here’s the thing: tax professionals like rules. We don’t like to color (or print) outside the lines. When we’re offering you professional advice, we expect that you’re going to follow it unless you tell us different. And those “sign here” stickies are there for a reason. Use them. 11. You sneak around. Don’t think we don’t know what you’re up to… When you’re on the phone with IRS, we hear about it. All of those promises you made to IRS? Those eventually come back to haunt you. Those whispered conversations when you said you could arrange your own installment agreement (when really you couldn’t)? Yeah, we know. The powers granted to your tax professional under a federal form 2848 (Power of Attorney) are fairly broad and unless specifically excluded on the form, include the right to receive and inspect confidential tax information and to talk to the IRS about your tax matters. So if you’re talking to both of us at the same time – but you’re not sharing – we’re going to find out about it. (And don’t think we don’t know when you’ve been fooling around with TurboTax. We can smell the laser jet ink on you.) Listen, I get it. It’s tough to find the one. You know, the one that you can imagine spending the rest of your financial life with. But don’t force it. Sometimes, it’s just not going to happen. Relationships – of all kinds – are a two way street. If you, as the client, realize that things aren’t working out, it’s time to walk away. But be kind. After all, tax professionals have feelings, too. * With no disrespect meant to my male tax professional colleagues for the use of the feminine pronoun: they’re just as eager to break up with you as the ladies…

Make sure you can run dual monitors... Rich

That case is from the Mid-90's... I mean, he could have jiggled another case out of the files to keep us abreast... Rich

Good on Mr Julian Block to dig up that 13 year tax case.... O&N for her. Rich

Just to add: New Client calls me up on April 14th. Has not filed for 2012 and needs to do 2013... Referred to me by an existing client. This client was using VITA services in the past. So they we not paying anything for the returns. Until they got married. And they said, "Oops, sorry, income to HIGH!" However, since its the last year for you, here is how 2012 looks... You owe $4,000. So they do not file... Now, they are in my office. The VITA folks missed ALOT of potential deductions. I get the 2012 amount down under $2400, with additional deductions still to come to me that we discussed. Sounds good right? So I tell the client that I will charge her $300 for each years returns. Her eyes bugged out. She was getting it for free, before, right? Guess the fact that you paid $2000 more in tax doesn't count? We are worth it. So are you. If I don't get at least one angry client every year over fees, I am underpricing myself... Clients are going to get angry with you. Might as well be due to fees.... Rich

^^^ This, and to the Momma as well...

We also saw Jeff Dunham at the Colosseum at Ceasars Palace, and he jumped off the Stratosphere tower... It was a Man Weekend. Which hotel did you stay at? We were at the Hard Rock. Rich

How much did Lois Lerner get? Rich

Clay: You should take this to another thread, and then, LEARN from that. All they have is the 1098-T? Then send them home with a list, books, board, etc. And if the tuition is over $4k, it doesn't matter. If I have a two hour appointment with someone, I am going to make $1,000 on that return. Not $300. Control the interview. Rich PS: I have a sign with flashing numbers on the ceiling, I just ask them to "pick one"

We went to the "The Range" and fired off a Tommy Gun, MP5, SAW, and even launched some fake grenades. Driving the Lambo, Jag and Ferrari's in the desert was fun too... If your looking to save money? Not in LV, Baby. The price is high.... But fun! Rich

Ms Tabby, Looks like a little Fruedian slip in that spelling... I review what the client might have as total itemized deductions on a joint return, and if there would be enough to itemize, then I itemize. If not, I go Standard Deduction. Rich

New client this year.... Have the same last name as me. That was interesting... So, as I am looking over the prior year return, I ask for the birthdates of the children. And one of the dates is 9/17, which is my birthday! And out of 450 to 500 clients, he is the only one with my birthday, and he shares the last name... Cool. And, they were happy, and wish they had stopped in years ago... Rich

Happy Birthday to everyone involved with this site! Rich

Hmmmmmm... 70 returns in some process of Assembly and Efiling.... 25 to review and get ready for copying..... 19 Awaiting Info to complete.... It's Masters Weekend and I am playing golf on Sunday? Yes, its the final countdown! Rich

If it was a guy, I would ask him to stand at the urinal next to me and ask away..... Rich

The "broker" told him to take the investment fees to the Schd D? Wow. That's malpractice right there. I just sent 2 trust returns out with $2.5m under management, and 40K in investment fees, and the accounts did not even cover that in income. I told the client to roll all the money out into a CD and make more money... Seesh. I raised my fee on them also. Rich

Keep those pesky clients away from MY house unless I invite them for a drink and a swim.... And I can't do any work from the house, I would rather goof off doing something else. Seems like we have the same problem, I am about to merge my practice after tax season and need to find room for 3 more people..... Rich