joanmcq

I've had the CA reject even when I created the efile right before the client came over to sign, sent the fed right away and the state a few hours later. CA's 'Julian date' thing is really starting to piss me off.

The 1098 does show how much was applied to principal. $7770 is the amount of mortgage interest paid, $2600 or so to principal. Wells Fargo is nice like that- for a mortgage, they always also list beginning balance of the mortgage, amount paid to principal, and ending balance. I'll check out the link too.

I have on the 1098 the amount that was applied to principal; total of 10,701.76 paid to the bank. So I subtract the amount of mortgage assistance & come up with the remaining as deductible interest? Or prorate between interest & principal?

I'm working on a partnership right now and haven't had issues.

Rates are hugely dependent on your area and what kind of practice you have.

One of my same sex couple clients got married this year and spouse got an SSN for the first time. She had an ITIN previously. Taxpayer is the only earner, and before this did not take now spouse as a dependent on either the federal or CA returns. I don't have much experience with ITINs. So, is there any issue with amending earlier returns with splitting for community income prior to 2013 for earlier years? And would I use the SSN or ITIN?

That is correct, 14 days or less, it's not taxable.

If you read the article, it lays the blame directly on Congress. Which is where it should be.

One thing they don't mention, however, is the benefit of stretching payments if the IRA is inherited. Beneficiaries may not be in anywhere near the same tax bracket as the taxpayer, or if there are several, the large IRA will be split among them. The beneficiaries are also likely to be much younger than the taxpayer, and RMDs will therefore be much less than the taxpayer would have to draw at 70.5.

Are you located in Florida? Florida is the epicenter of ID theft for the IRS. But all you can do is what KC said.

Thank you. The MA has $6600 of mortgage assistance & interest on the 1098 is $7700. Off hand I can't remember the taxes. So I can deduct a max of $6000 interest & taxes.

Yes, that was reasonable, but not wanting to pay for the return was what wasn't.

First client with one of these forms. Is it a reduction of mortgage interest or other income? I don't see a spot for entering in ATX in either place.

The decree may have stated that mom has to sign over an 8332 even though dad has custody. We know how well up on tax law divorce attorneys can be...not!

No Goodwill or other charitable thrift store can value the donations. I've got my clients pretty well trained now, and they will give me itemized lists that show how they came up with the donation amounts.

I had one that kept asking me to explain 'differences' between their calcs and mine, line by line. It was clear they didn't understand what the lines meant. Finally, after I had sent them their return, but hadn't made a couple of corrections that I needed to do a rerun for, they said they 'decided not to use my return' and what would they owe me. I had sent a bill, and I said, the amount on the bill. They asked why, since they wouldn't file the return I prepared. Hey I put the time in, I wanted to be paid for it. They sent the check & haven't heard from them since. BTW, their previous preparer was a well-known expert in same sex tax that shut her practice down to take a lobbying job, and I know the bill the previous year was at least 4 times what I charged.

Before April 15, you can do a 'corrected' return.

Changing the input boxes...I like that!

Anti-rant: Client that thought yesterday's appointment was today was able to reschedule to today and brought me napoleons & chocolate mousse cupcakes from one of the finest bakeries in town. All is forgiven....

The statement I have is simply the form authorizing the donation. This type of thing is common with stateworkers, but in the past I've only seen donations to fellow employees that have exhausted sick leave, and those, of course, aren't deductible.

client donated 3 vacation days which the statement says will be converted to cash at her hourly rate for the donation. The vacation would have been taxable income if used, or if cashed out when she retired. Haven't seen this before; is it deductible?

Hasn't happened to me.

Yup, I was doing this in the reverse here in CA for years. Now I've only got to do it for my couples that are domestic partners, but not married. Do two proforma single federal returns to create the single GA returns. Do one federal joint return. Or if they want to filer MFS, you may be able to just change the GA filing status to single, if GA includes a checkbox for 'state filing I'd different than federal'.

Darn if after all the convolutions, it was better to take the misc itemized deduction. That's almost never the case, except perhaps that they were already over the 2% haircut. And with the deduction, CA tax is reduced too.

He got the lump sum last year, for 3 previous years and the repayment was 2013. Pain in the butt. But repayment was 14k