joanmcq

I back up what John said. I went through this with both my dad and my grandmother. Grandma had all deductible; she had Alzheimer's and all the fees were deductible. My dad had long-term care insurance that kicked in when he could not perform the two activities of daily living. He also had a bit of dementia. For the LTC payments to not be taxable, they had to be offset by qualified medical, for which his assisted living qualified.

Another reason not to do taxes while they wait!

One of the reasons I think they are saying it's 'black & white' is that a full time job is generally at least 2080 hours and to meet the 'more than half your service hours devoted to real estate professions' you need to work not just 750 hours, but more than 2080 hours. And if he did not make the election to group properties, material participation must be met on each rental property, plus at least 750 hours plus more than half your service hours standard. Therefore, a full time job, unless in one of the qualified real estate professions, will make it pretty hard to meet the RE Pro. And I would have a hard time believing that someone gets paid for 'full time' when only working 1-2 days a week, and would have demanded proof before taking RE Pro for such a person. It's the kind of thing that due diligence requires us to dig a bit deeper, even though we are not necessarily auditing our clients. So it's up to you and your client to prove he does actually have a sweet deal where he doesn't have to work the 2080 hours for full time pay and benefits. Will the employer back him up, or has he actually been shafting his employer when not in the office? Not every job requires you to be in an office, but most require you to work the hours for which you are being paid. Also, what kinds of activities were on the real estate time log?

I have been to the doctor, but so far all they found was low vitamin D. I suspected low B12 as well, but had been taking mega doses for a few weeks before I saw her, so it came back in the normal range. But I'm continuing on the Bs as well as D. I had a heart monitor for a day, but haven't gotten the results yet. Since the weather here is nice, I am going to make a point of taking a 'turn' about my yard each day with my dogs. Since my yard is several acres, it's a nice walk, the dogs like it, and being out in the sunshine helps. Being able to take or schedule my own breaks will be a nice change from being locked to a desk and phone. Well, I'm off to bed. I'm a night owl, but have my tax update class all day tomorrow.....and it starts at 8am!

The yellow pages are a waste of money, but I found my niche by taking out an ad in the local Rainbow Pages (the GLBT 'yellow' pages). It was expensive, but many in the GLBT community use it to find businesses that are GLBT-friendly and support the community. Coupled with a change in laws that have made same-sex couple taxes horrendously complicated, this has grown my biz faster than any other; I get referrals, have been called on to teach classes, and now have a specialty. You don't need to find a specific niche, but finding a specific community helps. Are you active in your church? Advertise in the bulletin. And don't forget to carry biz cards everywhere you go, and mention you do taxes. You'd be surprised how well you learn to work that into a conversation!

I've practiced 'anything after March 31 goes on extension' for a few years now. I may move that up based on workflow. Last year (I lost my job March 25) I was working nonstop til the end of May on extensions. I took a break when I came home from work on 3-25 to be depressed, but didn't have time to fret since I had appointments booked up all day the 26 & 27th, took a look at the stacks of returns backlogged since I had more new clients coming in than I had time or energy to work when I had the job, and started in 10-12 hours a day 7 days a week to get them done, and still had work til the end of May and more calling in all the time who had put themselves on extension. I've been happier & less stressed than I've been in years. My biggest problem is a serious lack of energy. I'm taking mega vitamins, getting enough sleep, taking naps, but still have a hard time getting going at times. That is what I'm nervous about; that I won't be able to keep my commitments to my clients. I do have a roommate that cooks and brings my dinner up to my desk though, so I won't have to resort to JB's astronaut food!

I started getting calls in December; I already have appointments set with new clients and have seen a few already for 4th quarter estimates and projections. It's my first year fully self-employed and I'm scared & excited; excited by all the new calls, and scared I won't have the energy for them. And I may not make enough to cover the rest of the year. But I haven't really stopped at all except by ignoring the work on my desk periodically since Oct. 15.

You can always check e-services for the wage & income info to back up what you are putting on the return, including the student loan interest. I just did an e-services POA; I just started doing them online instead of faxing and it's great how quickly you can get the info. You do need the TP's date of birth and one tax year's AGI as on file to verify the signature.

Pacun, a Sch C owner can deduct expenses right on the business, but if the owner has employees, yes, an accountable plan is beneficial to the employees. For a corp, since the owner is an employee, the accountable plan keeps the owner/employee from having to report expenses on a 2106. That's why I say for a small corp, it's a no-brainer. The corp gets to deduct the expenses, and the owner/employee gets tax free reimbursement.

You can always check e-services and see when it was logged in. Then, it can take anywhere from 45 days to 6 months, depending on the backlog. When the FTHB credit hit, the IRS was backlogged even farther due to the high volume of amendments hitting at that time. The last one of those I filed was in October, for an original return, and the client still hasn't received her refund.

I will ask why someone wants a specific entity and will go over the tax advantages and disadvantages of each. Oftentimes they've just heard, "I should be an LLC, or I should be an S-corp", without knowing what each entails. I'll ask them how organized they are, and explain how with a corp, especially a single member S-corp, you have to wear several different 'hats' and be able to think with each of these hats on: employee, shareholder, owner. I'll explain the different types of retirement plans available and how they work, taxwise. I'll give annecdotal examples, too. I do not recommend a specific plan, or investments. With any corp, I do recommend an accountable plan, especially if they use their vehicle in the biz, or travel a lot for biz.

The thing is, these days the taxpayers don't sign the 'return'. They sign the 8879. And if the preparer doesn't go over the return line by line....well I have clients whose eyes glaze over when looking at a tax return. They rely on me to explain it, or just to do it properly; I've seen that eye glaze happen even if I try to go over it line by line. A fraudulent preparer could easily redirect those clients to the refund. People have also been trained by commercials by the storefronts and ads for 'the Box' just to focus on deductions and refund, not completeness and correctness. And I understand the 'eye glaze' thing because the same thing used to happen to me when confronted with a math problem...brain just shuts down. In fact it did yesterday when I was asked the simple question, what did you do today?

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14157.pdf Form 14157. Wouldn't have known about it, but there was just a rant about it on one of the other message boards I peruse.

The third party box not being checked isn't a red flag to me (if you are talking about the 'can we discuss this return with a third party), but the reluctance of the preparer to not give the return copies back is a red flag. Has the preparer not given any of the original documents back either? Not giving back originals is a big Cir. 230 violation. There is a form your clients can file to complain about the prior preparer and 'not signing' is one of the complaints. But without the return, you can't see if it was actually signed or not.

I use Uniforms too.

HRB & the others have/had cheap CPE, but don't pay very much either! This is my first year completely out on my own, no other job to save my butt. I hope I have the energy I need to make it work!

I order from Tenenz too. ATX compatible (I love the slip sheets for addressing packages to clients or tax returns that have to be paper filed), and a decent price. I got my website through AFSB, which I discovered in the Tenenz catalog too!

I just got this email from Liberty under the heading "Be a Tax Animal!" Discover the new way of doing taxes…The Fun Way…The Liberty Way!!!! Liberty Tax Service wants to talk to you. We are actively recruiting tax preparers in your area who are looking for a new way to prepare taxes. The Fun Way. The Liberty Way. Are you interested in working in an office where everyone is committed to your success? A place where the customers feel welcome? Were food and beverages are served and everyone is happy. In many of our offices we even give out fifty dollar bills for every tax return we complete! Doesn’t that sound like a company you’d like to be part of? We’re working on programs to help preparers get ready for the IRS certification deadline, so come on in and find out more. It’s easy, you can call us at 800-493-0536 to be immediately connected to an office near you or visit our website www.libertytax.com and find the offices near you. We’ll be waiting for you! You should have seen the images, which the board wouldn't allow me to copy. Yup, just what I was looking for in a tax job. :scratch_head:

The best way to do it is to set up an accountable plan that reimburses the owner/employee at standard federal mileage rates. The employee submits mileage logs to the corp, the payments from the corp to the employee are non-taxable, but the corp gets to deduct the expenses. Win-win all around: no 2106 to deal with, lower insurance rates per a corp owned vehicle, and since you can't transfer the darn thing anyways due to the loan, the only way to go. Currently, the only thing your client can do is deduct the expenses per the 2106. Hope s/he has a mileage log! And ditto to jainen's advice about advance tax planning.

Looks neat, especially since I just bought a Scansnap, and was literally about to set it up. Any other thoughts out there rather than just adding to my current client folders in My Documents?

I passed the CPA exam in 2000, with paper, pencil, and calculator (thank god). I was deathly ill from a cold and had to get special permission to bring in cough drops and kleenex. I was put in the 'special situations' exam room. I think I was able to pass all 4 parts simply because I felt so rotten I didn't stress. All I wanted to do was go home & sleep.

And one to you (and everyone else too!). Now if I could only get my office in shape for next year....... Yeah, stop reading tax boards, and start cleaning :(

Make sure they file the FBAR and that new form (can't remember the number, for accounts over $100,000). It's an easy thing to overlook if the money is only in a foreign account briefly.

I have one account with Wells Fargo, but all the rest is at my local credit union. I really don't know why an individual in the 99% would use anything else! George Bailey over Mr. Potter any day.

Provisional PTINs didn't exist until the new requirements came out. So any of us who were CPAs, attorneys, or EAs before this would just have a PTIN. If you aren't your PTIN is provisional until you pass the test(s).