NECPA in NEBRASKA

It's me again! I'm sorry to be dense, but I have been researching and stewing about this for days Not all of the k1s were prepared by the same much larger firm ( which I always feel knows more than I do) and two of them are throwing me off. They say "the ability to take the above QBI deduction is dependent on your ability to probe the activity is a trade or business or aggregate the trade or business with another trade or business. Please consult your tax advisor." I thought that the determination of trade or business was determined at the entity level, which is why the QBI information is on the k1s. If the S Corp or 1040 has to prove that it's a trade or business, I don't think that they can do it. They are just investments and they should not have to aggregate, because their income is super low and it will only be a carryforward anyway. I will continue to read my CPE materials and see if I find something different that says that the taxpayer has to prove it. I just want to get these returns done, so that I can go on to the next ones. Thanks!

Thank you. I guess that I am overthinking this. Maybe I am thinking too much about the safe harbor rule. They absolutely do nothing for any of these investments except invest. There are very few hours involved and they only own very minor percentages. All of the K1s say ask your tax preparer. I will keep reading until I can feel better about it. The penalties are huge if I screw it up. I have taken a lot of classes, but I still don't feel like I have great retention. I can hardly wait to see what awesome changes await us after the next election.

I think that I know the answer, but I want to make sure that I'm not cheating my client. 1. Couple owns 100% of S Corp. 2. S corp owns partnership interests in many Real Estate LLCs and LPs, none are PTPS. The partnership interests are minor, with all being under 5% ownership. No REITS. 3. None of the LLCs are SSTBS, but they all have given numbers for QBI. One has numerous businesses. I do not prepare any of the LLC returns, just the 1120S and 1040! I don't think that the 1120S or couple are able to take QBI, because they don't qualify for the safe harbor, are not eligible to aggregate and none of the LLCS are PTPs or REITS. I've been reading and just want to make sure that I'm not missing any reason that they could take the deduction. They are retired and don't perform any duties, except a shareholder meeting. Any QBI would be carried forward, due to losses. Laws like this make me really wish that I could retire now, because it takes up too much time for a few clients that I really don't want to lose. Thanks!

Very nice and professional. It should bring you added business.

It is still down.

JohnH, my clients need their 2017 return filed as quickly as possible for FAFSA. They didn't bring in their 2017 info until late April and they have two headed to college now, so they are pretty desparate to get their transcript. I also have a state ACK that I can't pick up since 2017 efile is still down. I have several old returns that need to be filed for many reasons and I prefer efile since most of them have money coming back.

I meant by switching to Drake or something else. I know that I am pretty much just giving up Paperless Plus, which I didn't use anyway. I know how ATX works and like the input. I don't want to have to learn new methods at my age.

Lynn, I have not been able to efile 2017 and I am getting very worried. I did renew and did not get a better discount than 10% from my rep. I can't remember his name and will have to look it up. I don't know how other people on FB have been getting larger discounts. My rep was not having any of my reasons, but I did drop down from Total Office to MAX and saved some money. The idea of switching programs when I am trying to count down to getting away from this much stress fills me with dread, but I am really starting to worry about what really happened at WK, since they have pretty much stopped communicating. I am very frustrated that 2017 efile is not back up when many of us still have those returns to file. I guess I would call the regular sales number and tell them that your rep is not returning your messages.

I don't even have a camera on my computer and don't want one. I hope that they all don't go to this for login. I don't know what I will do, because I am really trying to get ready to retire and am in no place to learn new software. This whole thing makes me sick, but it affected even their expensive programs and there are not many options besides Drake and Lacerte.

Lynn, it was beautiful! We stayed on the northest coast in the little village of Findochty and drove out each day. It was very cold and windy, but the scenery was breathtaking!

I'm sorry, if this is a stupid question, but I just got back from Scotland and I have been afraid to open any of my programs for fear that my computer could be infected. My computer has been shut down for 10 days, so I have just been reading reddit, FB, etc. and I just wanted to make sure that by opening the program, that nothing could come back to haunt me. I'm not even sure that it won't haunt me later if any data was received by the hackers. Thanks! Bonnie

They are actually both 61 and the excess contributions were due to income limitations. Thank you!

Thanks! I will keep looking. I thought that the change in 2018 was only for IRAs that had already been recharacterized to ROTHS. I know Merrill Lynch said that it was good, but they have been wrong before.

I found that clients had contributed too much to their ROTHS and they decided to recharacterize the excess contribution and any income to their traditional IRA. I extended their return so that they would have an extended due date. They emailed me last week and said that it had been done by the broker on 4/16. I filed the returns on 4/17. Today I get a phone call that it even though they had an email from their broker, it will not be final until this week. I have been researching again and it still looks as if they will be ok because the due date is not until 10/15. If that's not the case, then I get to amend federal and two states after I get back from vacation. Boo!

I just signed up for Idrive and it is slowly doing it's thing. At least I hope that I have it setup correctly. They offered to send my a drive to have them upload my data faster. I personally don't like the idea, of mailing it even thought it's encrypted by Symantec and I have a different encryption key for Idrive. Am I too paranoid? When I turn off my computer, won't the backup just start up where it stopped? My Carbonite will expire and then I will just delete it. Thanks!

My season went well, with the exception of the vast majority of my clients coming in later than normal. I thought that I had lost a lot and then they all came pouring in. The damn brokerage statements coming so late with one or two amended ones just infuriate me. My deadline is much earlier than most of yours, but I don't know how you manage to get them out by 4/15. My February is so filled with appointments, that I only get anything done at night. My new attitude that life is too short and to spend time with my family during tax season didn't help my workload, but I was much happier. ATX worked well for me . QBI really slowed me down. I never felt confident that I had a handle on it, so I was continually researching. ACA is still terrible, but I did find that when everyone else left the Nebraska market, but Medica, that the premiums went up so much that if was considered unaffordable for almost all of my uninsured clients. Most of my uninsured had paid penalties in prior years. I am very worried about having to upgrade from Windows 7 for next season. I am not a fan of 10 of my laptop and I have seen various reports both ways from people with running ATX 7 or 10. I will be here all year, because I have extensions and all of my backlog to catch up on. Thanks to all of you and have a great summer!

I finally got my last extension out. I finished up several returns today and actually finished more than last season on the 15th. Considering how late my clients were coming in, I'm pretty happy. I really thought that I had lost a bunch, because they were so late, but I only lost a couple of kids to free file. Now I have to hustle to get out the quarterly taxes and some income taxes that I promised, because I'm leaving for Scotland with my son and his fiance for a few days on the 28th. Thanks to all of you that are so gracious and helpful. I could not do this job without the people on this board. All of my friends that started out with me in this field have either quit and gone to another career, retired or died. I hope that I can stick it out until I'm 70 or win the lottery. I hope that everyone has a great summer! Bonnie

I am still waiting to watch it. I have to stay away from spoilers.

Thank you so much! I was sure that I was not crazy, because this isn't anything new.

I think that I am right, but I'm getting push back, because everyone else says that I'm wrong. Real Estate School and the fees to get licensed are not deductible on a Sch C if this is the first time that you have ever tried are they? There has not been any income, but turned in over $4k of expenses, plus mileage, and office in home. I am tired and just want to say WTF! I had no idea that all of this was in this return from a long time client. I don't even know if anything but the licenses can/or should be amortized. I don't know why buy all of this crap if you have made no money. Rant over! Please just be gentle if I am wrong. I am pretty sick of this year. Thanks!

I just donated, because I don't know what I would ever do without this board. This has been a stressful, weird tax season and I just wish that I could retire and do something more enjoyable. Thank God, I love almost all of my clients, because they make it worthwhile.

The dental and vision can be self employed health insurance. Disability insurance premiums are not tax deductible as a medical expense.

Normally, rental property doesn't get a home office deduction.

It should, because it is ordinary income and that qualifies.

Thanks! I agree that the bank should not have issued anything to a dead person. I'm afraid now that other stuff might come out now that has not been handled. I just want the withholding transferred to an estate number. They are supposed to be checking for one.