Yardley CPA

Thats certainly one way to do it! Thanks.

Thanks!

I'm brian dead today, folks. I have a couple of friends who own a condo and rent it. They are 50/50 owners. They use a realtor to obtain potential renters. Realtor only sent one 1099 Misc Rents to one of the friends...nothing to the other owner. Can 1099 be split between them? I believe I should show the entire rental income on Schedule E of the 1099 recipient but wanted to make sure? Can it be split? Thanks!

New client arrives and shows me a tax assessment he received from the State of NJ for 2006 tax year. To make a long story short, NJ assessed him an additional tax of $1,200. In addition to the tax due, there was interesnt and penalties. Client paid total amount of assessment in May of 2010. I believe I can take the tax paid (not the penalty or interest) on this years Schedule A - State & Local Income Taxes, correct?

Great one, KC!

I emailed ATX concerning this a couple of weeks ago and they indicated there was no date on when the Planner would be updated. Maybe, now that February 14th has come and gone, they will have time to devote to this.

Just wondering if you "Hold" state returns when efiling or just transmit Federal and State at the same time?

By Michael Cohn February 18, 2011 The Internal Revenue Service has been getting its systems in order to handle the onslaught of pent-up tax returns that electronic filers have been sending its way this week. On Valentine’s Day, the IRS was supposed to begin accepting tax returns containing Schedule A for itemized deductions and other forms that had been delayed. The delay was due to Congress’s late enactment last December of legislation extending the Bush-era tax rates, the estate tax, and other tax provisions. However, the IRS had a shaky start and announced Tuesday that there would still be processing delays with some business returns (see IRS Starts Processing Some Delayed Tax Returns). An industry association of electronic filing providers, CERCA, also issued an announcement Tuesday saying that the IRS was requesting that private sector transmitters of e-filed returns stagger their submission of returns over the course of the week (see IRS Asks E-file Transmitters to Slow Down). The group noted that there would be some continued delays in return and refund processing. Due to the high volume of backlogged returns the IRS was beginning to process this week, according to the group, the agency was limiting the number of returns it would accept daily to manage their systems capacity. I decided to check in with both the IRS and CERCA on how things were progressing. An IRS spokesperson said yesterday evening that they had begun accepting the delayed returns on Tuesday (though they were supposed to be ready on Monday morning), but she only wanted to refer me to the agency’s press release and expressed confusion over where I had heard that the IRS was having problems handling the processing load this week. A few minutes after I received her e-mail, however, around 6 pm Eastern time, I received a separate e-mail alert from the IRS about its Modernized e-File system, saying, “The IRS is preparing a fix to the Modernized e-File system and expects to resume MeF processing soon. Meanwhile, taxpayers and practitioners should continue to e-file since the vast majority of their tax returns, including those claiming items authorized by the extender legislation, are not affected. We will issue a Quick Alert when more information is available.” I forwarded the e-mail to the IRS spokesperson, but I haven’t heard back yet. Around 1:30 in the morning, the IRS sent another e-mail alert, saying the MeF system was back up and running, though: “The problem the IRS was experiencing with the MeF system has been resolved. Please resume transmitting submissions, retrieving acknowledgements, and submitting other service requests. We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your patience.” I checked in with CERCA today to find out if they had heard any updates on the IRS’s status with the backlogged returns, but they hadn’t heard much lately either. “I think progress is certainly being made,” said CERCA executive director Mike Cavanagh. “Progress in everybody’s mind is being made, and that’s obviously a good thing. I think things are moving forward on that.” Let’s hope so.

Well said, KC. I'm sure the programmers at ATX have been extremely busy with all of the changes that were needed.

As a matter of course, I provide all of my clients with a completed ATX 1040 Tax Planner for the following tax year. I base my information on the return I just completed and let them know, as long as things remain relatively equal, you can expect a tax next year that is estimated as whatever the planner shows. I also tell them that, if things change during the year, please contact me and we'll have another look and see if we need to do any additional planning. So I am also disappointed that the ATX Planner has yet to be updated and remains in "draft" format. I emailed ATX today and received the following email response: "I do apologize for this inconvenience, But there is not a estimated date on when this will be updated. Pleas check for updates often to watch for the updated version. If you need further assistance, please contact our customer support department at 1-800-638-8291." Given where we are in tax season, how can they not have this form updated? Maybe with February 14th rolling around, it will be updated shortly thereafter. I certainly hope so.

I met with a client today who had very good luck at the casino slot machine and won in excess of $100,000. They contacted me in November 2010, the day after the winnings, as the casino did not withhold any tax. I calculated the proper estimated payment and provided them with the coupon to send in the estimate. While meeting with them today, I asked if they made the estimated payment and they told me they had not. They informed me that after we spoke in November, they had enough gambling losses to offset the gambling winnings. I informed them that if we were to show gambling winnings of $100,000+ and gambling losses of the same amount, someone from the IRS may knock at their door. I told them that the IRS would expect proof of the loss, such as a statement from the casinos they gamble at. I know that, as a member of the casino preffered program, you are given a casino card that you can input into the slot machine or hand to the dealer and they are able to track (within some approximate reason) your losses as well as your winnings. They tell me that is not a problem and they have enough losses to offset the winnings. My question is this, as their preparer am I required to see the statements that reflect the losses...or can I simply take their word? I know what I feel is appropriate, and I would prefer to actually see proof of their losses...but am I required to see the proof?

I couldn't help but laugh a bit after reading this... Wed Jun 30, 3:18 pm ET Getting audited is such a hassle! Just ask the IRS. A new report from the Government Accountability Office inspected the tax agency's financial statements from the 2009 fiscal year with the exacting thoroughness of, well, of an IRS auditor, and found a few billion-dollar errors. According to the report, the IRS made a variety of accounting errors last year that "could adversely affect the reliability of its financial statements" and result in "duplicate or erroneous refunds." Among the mistakes were a "failure to record the receipt of a taxpayer’s $3 million payment" and an $8 billion discrepancy between two accounting systems tracking how much money taxpayers owe. The audit also found a $5.1 billion "unexplained variance" between the total amount the agency took in last year and the amount its detailed tax files said it took in. But what's a few billion here or there, right? In truth, the shortcomings are all relatively minor infractions given the size of the IRS, and don't materially affect its performance of its duties. And you'll find similar lapses in virtually any close examination of a huge bureaucracy. But it's still good to know that the IRS had to go through it, if only so it can empathize with the American taxpayer. Here's the link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100630/bs_ynews/ynews_bs2966_2

:bday: Yes, KC...may you enjoy many, many more birthdays and many, many more years contributing to this site. It's greatly appreciated!

Thank you, bcolleen

Can someone please provide me with a general explanation as to what the purpose of "holding" a state return efile is? When I am efiling a federal 1040 with multiple state returns, I receive a message of whether I want to hold the state returns? I don't have a good understanding of what the purpose of that is? If you choose yes, is the state return held until the federal return is accepted? Is that the purpose?

PS...I agree with Margaret. Whenver I have needed to send ATX a return (and thankfully it has not been often at all), they stayed on the phone with me while I emailed, to confirm they received it. I normally received a phone call that same day to update me on what was happening or with a fix. Good luck!

I have a client who received two 1099-C forms reflecting cancelled credit card debt amounting to over $11,000. The cancelled debt is not the result of a bankruptcy. I know it is taxable for federal purposes, but I am unable to verify whether it should be included on the New Jersey return? I was not able to find anything pertaining to cancelled debt in the New Jersey instructions which leads me to believe it is not taxable, however, I would like to be sure.

My wife and kids (ages 10 and 6) have been dying for a dog. In searching PetFinders.com, we adopted a 9 week old Labbe (3/4 Beagle, 1/4 Lab). "Chase" came home on Monday and it's been tough getting returns done ever since (although, I think I'm just using him as an excuse.) B)

Seems to be working fine now.

Is anyone having problems receiving ACKS? I can transmit efiles just fine but cannot receive ACKS.

Thank you.

Kindly verify that an individual who receives executor fees (no extensive managerial activities and there is no trade or business associated with the Estate) who is not in the business of being an executor, would simply report the income on Line 21 of the 1040 as Other Income and not on Schedule C?

KC...my initial reaction was how could this be. But, after thinking about it, we are talking about the IRS and the Federal Government that comes up with these provisions. <_<

Thanks to everyone for responding. Her 2555 eliminates all of her income as her return is showing taxable income of zero. Her refund of $2,503 consists solely of the Making Work Pay amount of $400 and her Additional Child Tax Credit of $2,103.

That's correct. Client is a US Resident and the children have green cards. Husband is a resident of Honduras.