BulldogTom

Amen & Amen

My prayers are for you both. Keep the faith. We love you, and so does HE. Tom Lodi, CA

forget it. After completing the joint return, there is no tax. Tom Lodi, cA

Clients are still married (and will stay married if he can ever leave his momma - according to her). She moved to Idaho with the kids. He says he cannot find a job there and is still living in CA. I know Idaho is a community property state. Can I file a joint return for fed, and a separate return for her for Idaho, as he has no tax ties to the state? I would really not expose his CA income to ID taxation. Tom Lodi, CA

It is on the input. Make sure you have the right tab (look at the bottom of the screen for partner, Shareholder or beneficiary). The CA amounts are generally entered over the top of the federal amounts. Tom Lodi, CA

Hey Eli, You are going to have to get this info from the taxpayer. Hopefully he has a clue. Otherwise it is the client who is going to get the tax bill for the gain when IRS does the matching later in the year. Tom Lodi, CA

I used that feature this year for the first time, and I can see how it will help in the future. But, it does require some playing around with to get used to. I think I got it right on the 3rd try of importing, and then I could make any changes on the detail page. I still want to know why we can't import the CUSIP numbers? This is a head scratcher. The functionality is obviously built already, and if we are getting the CUSIP in the file, why not allow us to import it. Sounds like the programmers at CCH ran out of time before the release date. Where is our resident CCH summer tester/evaluator/test group member. This is one thing that is small but seems incredibly simple to do. Tom Lodi, CA

Call an appraiser and get a late appraisal based on date of death. Hopefully, they will have comparables from the period that will get you an accurate number. It is better than nothing. Tom Lodi, CA

I think he is asking a different question. Are you saying that the 2010 was correct, but should not have been final. There is a 2011 1099DIV that needs to be taken care of on a 2011 1041. So your question really is -- "Do I need to file an amended 1041 that is correct except for the fact that it is marked final - so that I can now file the 1041 for 2011?" Is that what you want to know? If so, I would say no - just file the 2011 1041. Tom Lodi, cA

Does "Deed in Lieu" mean the mortgage is in the toilet? Tom Lodi, CA

I think you are on the right track. DOD FMV + Improvements = Adjusted Basis (providing they were not renting the property after DOD). Now the big question is - did the trust sell or did the beneficiaries recieve a distribution of property and then sell it? Tom Lodi, CA

Ah, but finding the two to replace the one, when you still have time for all three, that is the trick. You see, my pracitic is not big enough yet to allow me the liberty of kicking them out. I have plenty of room for even the "worst" of clients, so long as they pay. I only kick out the ones who don't pay. Tom Lodi, CA

Oh my, that is almost exactly what we are going through with one client, but SHE took him to the place that will do it for free, and they screwed it up - did not take AOC or 8880 credit. Then she comes to us and can't understand why she is going to have to pay. Pissed that she is being charged the "same as last year, when I don't have my son on the return". Some times you want to just kick them out. But, when you need every client, you just go on smiling on the outside. Tom Lodi, CA

Yeah, there is, but HE doesn't normally fix software. But He might have been here last night working on my brain to help figure out how to make the software work. Tom Lodi, CA

I use a broker out of San Diego called Dimirak. Never talked to anyone. Just sent in the Application. Get a policy from CNA every year at $165. Has not changed in years, if ever. Been with them for about 10 years I think. Tom Lodi, CA

I am still not sure what is going on here. Not sure if there is enough information to give you any type of answers. I think you need to do some investigation first. Start with a list of questions, and then assign a name or title to who should be answering the question. Here is a partial list to get you going: Do I have a copy of the revokable living trust? Who are the trustee and the beneficiaries? What assets are in the revokable living trust at Date of Death? Is there any income being generated from those assets? What Assets were not in trust? Is there any income being generated from the assets not in the trust? Does an estate return need to be filed on the size of the assets, or on the income from the assets not in the trust? Who is the trustee of the estate? Do any of the assets not in the trust need to go through probate? Start with these, and add a few more when you find out these answers, and I think you will have a good handle on what needs to happen. And I like Jainen and Old Jack's answers so far. Tom Lodi, CA

Forget it. I figured it out. It was not downloading to the correct location. Tom Lodi, cA

Setting up my laptop for a trip this weekend to do some tax returns. Update every day on both machines. Export a return from the main computer to the laptop. Can't open because the forms are a later version. Look up the version 92 on the laptop, 115 on the main computer. Update the laptop again. Get up to version 113, but still can't open the return. Went to the website and I can download the form. Have it on my laptop. How do I get it into the damn program? Tried calling support. 45 minute wait. Tried looking on the KB, it does not respond. You guys are my last hope. I refuse to wait on the phone 45 minutes for what should be able to be done in 2 minutes. Tom Lodi, CA

OMG Rita - three years working on a divorce? How could it take so long? And I think "with love and respect" is the perfect answer. (my wife reads this board all the time, I have to be very careful). Tom Lodi, CA

I do believe the Federal Government has the right to regulate the tax prep industry. However, based on their history, I don't think the IRS or the Treasury are the agencies to do so. Why? Because you are giving the agency that we are in conflict with authority to license us. That is a real can of worms. Just like we have the Taxpayer advocate, with separate interests from the IRS, we need the OPR to move out of IRS or Treasury and become an independent arbitrator between the IRS and the tax prep community. It scares the hell out of me that I can put so many years into building my practice, and some beaurocrat in washington can pull my PTIN and I don't have a practice anymore. Just my 2 cents. Tom Lodi, CA

Unless we are talking about building a bar in our office, I am staying out of this one. I think Margaritas go great on 4/15. Tom Lodi, CA

Lion, I actually had an idea for a bar called "uncle sam's" where you could get a tax return done in the back. I think drunk clients would be more cooperative than ones who have been rehearsing how to tell me that they qualify for HOH and EITC while living with their girlfriends. Tom Lodi, CA

this sounds strange to me. When I invest in a mutual fund, I expect to only recieve dividends or capital gains distributions. If I buy one share of Mutual Fund A for $X.xx and I don't sell it, the only thing that comes to my tax return is dividends and capital gain distributions. The Mutual Fund should be figuring all of that out for you. Are you sure it is not a "Bernie" mutual fund? Tom Lodi, CA

Never mind, I figured it out. Tom Lodi, CA

Can anyone who has done this help me? It says press F11 for instructions on how to use this sheet, but nothing happens when I press F11. It is not a big deal, but I want to learn to use this feature. Thanks, Tom Lodi, cA