Catherine

They are separate fields, so you can note them individually. Lets the state know of the name mismatch, I guess.

Anyone who has MA clients - there is now a required confirmation for taxpayer and spouse, as to whether or not they changed their names in 2022, and whether their DL & socsec card reflects the new name. Drove us nuts with the first couple, figuring why all of a sudden there were state errors preventing e-file. Just thought a heads-up here might be a good idea.

I've noticed the same, and have been checking those figures on all my returns.

New client with a duplex. He has done his own taxes for years (first mistake) and doesn't think he ever took depreciation on the rental portion of the building. He made extensive renovations to the rental property in 2022 and those will be depreciated properly. The proper thing to do, maybe I think, is to file Form 3115 and claim the missed depreciation for the rental all in 2022. The issue of how to do that now gets tricky. The town does not have any useful information on the online assessor's database about split between land value and building value. The client may have a bill from the last year or so showing the current land/bldg value split. But he bought the property in the mid-70's, and there is no way to know if that % value split is roughly the same or wildly different. And all of this for a whopping $45,000 purchase price back in the 70's, for a duplex. Opinions? Figure half-and-half land/bldg value on the half of the duplex? That would mean a one-time correction of $11,250 for depreciation plus something trackable for the future instead of papers from a half-century ago gone for good. Or just ignore the whole thing under the heading of not inadvertently double-dipping on depreciation expense?

I have a tracking spreadsheet that lists, for each client, when I got the EF auth and when I e-filed, and also when I sent the EF Acks. Plus when I get mailed-in forms, as noted above, I write "rec'd (date)" across the top.

Thanks for the warning!

I use Verifyle and everyone - including older non-tech-savvy clients - have found it easy to use. I did not bother with 2FA; they just answer questions. And I invite them to Verifyle, so I know who they are to start with.

I understand completely - but sometimes not having the confrontation is far more destructive. Talk to your dad, then listen to his advice.

At some point I wonder if they have to show they did something, to justify being paid to harass innocent taxpayers instead of chasing down the true scofflaws.

Please note that I've found they take some months to implement the IA. That first payment will (should?) go through, but then nothing on the day of the month chosen, just long enough that you (or the client!) start panicking that they have forgotten about it/not implemented it. Then it starts. I've seen 2 months, three months, and one (during the pandemic shutdown stuff) took six months. Just be warned it may well not be immediate after that first payment.

Sometimes the situation is too stupid not to be real.

I think your mud is clear on this one, and you can use up the 2015 NOL to offset the entire 2022 income. But then again, I'm speaking from within the mud myself.

Neither! It came through as an email from my web site vendor, and I looked while taking 5 minutes to have some tea before it got stone-cold. Of course, I then had to scramble to finish my tea to drink it still warm once I stopped laughing.

link: https://thebusyseason.com/blog/5-beers-that-should-exist-for-accountants For those who won't click, here are the names, without the other cute label notes: Last-Minute Lager Easy Returns Ale Screams of Perdition Porter Pointless Explanation Pilsner Stout Refusal The descriptions are very funny, as are the "on-label" comments.

The IRS site just says file all past due returns at FinCen and make sure you paid US tax on earnings. Most likely she had no US filing requirement for most of the years in question (a kid in school, some work, then stay at home mom). Would she have had to file a US return with no income just to check the box for foreign accounts even if no FBAR was needed due to low balances?

Your tax software support folks might be of more help in this one. Some software might support debits on amended returns, others might not.

You don't file his Costa Rica taxes unless you know CR tax law. He's on his own, or he can find someone down there. Note that many other countries are not on a calendar-year tax filing year. You may need to put him on extension in order to get final CDR tax numbers from him. Sch E rental reported here should indeed be simple if prior information given is correct. Use Form 1116 to take credit for tax paid to CR. Make sure to adjust for calendar vs fiscal year mismatches. Of course he can bring his earnings into the US legally - best not to try cash, though, but deposit any cash to a CR bank. Then transfer to a US bank, and that US bank will report any transactions over $10,000, but that's just reporting. Wire transfers are the usual method.

That's the better way IF there were estimated tax payments made - because those will be attributed to the primary taxpayer's account from the prior year. I changed them around once for an elderly lady who lost her husband and doggone near lost *her* when she got an IRS nastygram demanding $16,000 in tax, because the computers never think to check the other taxpayer for ES payments. Frankly, I considered that letter as elder abuse and (politely) reamed the agent a new one when I called them about it. Back when they still answered their phones.

That's what I do. I've gotten clients who either mail the form back, or drop it off in person, weeks after signing it. I put "Rec'd mm-dd-yy" on the top, sign it myself with that date, and then e-file usually the same day or certainly within the three days of receipt.

Client is a US citizen. Her family moved to New Zealand when she was a teenager. In 2021 she and her NZ-born husband moved back to the US with their family. She has never filed an FBAR - never knew about the requirement; after all she was just a kid when they left the US. Now they are faced with having to file FBAR forms going back umpty years. Anyone know how many years back she has to file? The standard six, or is it more? I can't find that information on either the IRS or FinCen FBAR filing sites. Oh - and her NZ-citizen husband only has to file for the time since he got a US social security number, correct? (Which means he, at least, will be current when he files for 2022.)

I should think that having a slew of receipts of around $80, plus statements showing others, is reasonable (I know, reasonable and IRS don't match far too often). But in addition to receipts being lost, the $%^& pumps don't *give* receipts (out of paper, broken, etc) more and more often these days, and sometimes they can't give you a receipt inside, either, because the employees don't know how to do that. If you can show a clear pattern and back it up with a preponderance of receipts, and the auditor won't budge, go up the food chain to the supervisor.

I have not, but in my office in the next town, we "rent" a corner of the outer office to a CPA who generally works from home. Perhaps a CPA office in your town might be another option? I'd be concerned in a Regus-style shared office about the higher level of privacy/security that tax pros need, and if they are really up to covering that. Or maybe they are, since their business model depends on reliability in several areas. Just, don't limit your options to one kind of shared space.

Thanks, @DANRVAN for confirming that in this instance my memory was not faulty.

Thank you for your kind comments, but in this case it's simply a holdover from high school French class.

Thanks, @BulldogTom!