BulldogTom

OK, I am going to give this another shot. This is my own tax return. This is why there are people trying to secede from California and create the 51st state - Jefferson. So, I changed jobs in 2017. CA imposes State Disability Insurance tax on workers in CA. It phases out when your income reaches a certain level. When you change jobs like I did, it is possible to have paid in too much, just like SS tax. I had excess SDI withheld this year. So we file our taxes like every other year, and set it up for direct deposit. We got our federal refund a couple weeks ago, but not the state. We had just about got to the point that we were going to start looking up where our refund is when the letter comes in the mail today from the FTB. They held my return and are going to mail my refund in a check because they found an error. Me! An error! I don't think so! Especially not on MY RETURN! It turns out that the state of CA does not round when they match SDI withheld. Each of my W2's were xxx dollars and just over 50 cents on the SDI withholding, so ATX rounded it up. CA held up my return because they don't round up, they add the two together and rounded, and the amount I claimed for SDI was off by $1. I am sure the dumbasses in Sacramento feel really good about how they spent more on the letter, and postage, and the postage they are going to spend to mail my refund check, to save the overburdened taxpayers of CA $1. I kid you not. This is how stupid these guys are. Judy, I am counting on you to get me the votes for this post. I want my star! Vote for me...Vote for ME...VOTE FOR ME!!!!!!! Tom Modesto, CA

If you do 2014, and then have a carryforward into that year, you amend and get another fee from the client. This isn't the preparer's mess, it is the client's. But, if you take them on, you need to preserve any potential refunds from an expiring year. Tom Modesto, CA

I thought about the HSA angle, but they would have had to bought a plan on the exchange that qualified for an HSA in the first place, correct? Tom Modesto, CA

The rules are only for full year income as far as I know. Judy gave me some great advice a couple years ago about getting them under the 400% level by making an IRA contribution. Is that a possibility here? The dollars contributed to the IRA may be partially or completely recovered. Other than that, I have nothing but political commentary to share with you, which will get @jklcpa on my case, so I won't do it. Except to say that this frikkin' law is stupid as $h1t. Sorry Judy, I could not help myself, you can whip on me now. Tom Modesto, CA

ILLMAS - this relates to your other post from a couple days ago? I was wondering if you did not check the box on the E when you posted that. My suggestion is to amend the 2016 return. If it creates an NOL in 2016, you are going to have to carry it back to 2014 and 2015, since you missed the timeline to elect to carry forward. Tom Modesto, CA

Start with 2014. The statute on refunds runs on that one April 17th. If they can get you all the info for that return, and there is a refund, you might be a hero. Then call the IRS and ask them what years they want. They may not have you file all the years, or they may want more years than the client is telling you about. Regardless, you won't know until you call. And if there is collection activity, you can probably get it put on hold while you start working on the other years. I have found the PPL is pretty good about working with you when you are trying to bring a long-time non-filer into compliance. I have done a couple of these. Tom Modesto, CA

Your chances are 'bout as good as Trump winning the state in the next election. Penalties are a revenue item in CA. They don't give them back very often. Tom Modesto, CA

Happy to help. Tom Modesto, CA

Have any of you been exposed to Deltek Vision? I think Deltek is most known for its Government Contracting Accounting product, Crosspoint, but they also have Vision, which is supposed to be tailored to Engineers and Architects. I have been approached by an Engineering firm to look at possible replacement software and I ran across Deltek Vision doing google searches. If any of you have any input on that product, I would be appreciative. I am not having any luck finding out how much it costs, so that would be a very good thing to know as well. Maybe @Edsel would find it interesting as well. Not sure what industry his client is in, but Vision is supposed to be a robust job costing platform. Thanks Tom Modesto, CA

Wouldn't that be like giving the referee the super bowl MVP trophy? Not saying Judy isn't brilliant, helpful and awesome, because she is. But....she is the scorekeeper. Tom Modesto, CA

Actually the IRS position makes sense. Only 3K of Child Care expense is allowed for the credit per child, regardless of how much you actually pay. That is pretty clear in the rules. Since the employer provided care was not taxable, you can't deduct the amount of the 3K in allowed expense that was not taxable, or you would have a double dip. Allowing you to apply the employer reimbursement to the amounts above 3K would mean you got to blow past the statutory limit. "Fair" is a very bad term to use in the context of tax. It all depends on the point of view. Tom Modesto, CA

It would be helpful to know the times of the year when the TP lived in CA and when he lived in other states. Your OP makes it seem like he was a resident of NV to start the year, but it does not say that explicitly. I am going to assume he was domiciled in NV at the beginning of the year for some part, earned income in NV for that period of time, and then lived in NV but worked in CA for some period of time, and then moved his domicile to CA and finished the year there? Is that correct? Based on the above assumptions, he would file as a PY resident in CA and claim all the income he earned in CA for this year. The NV income earned while domiciled in NV would not be taxable to CA. FYI, CA taxes the worldwide income of all domiciled residents, and gives credit for taxes paid to other states. If there is no tax paid to the other state (like in NV), there is no credit. That is why documenting the period of time that he was not a domiciled resident in CA is so important. If the TP was never domiciled in CA, but earned income in the state, he would file a NR and pay income tax on the CA source income. Domicile is key for you to figure out what needs to be filed and what is taxable in CA. Tom Modesto, CA

Isn't that the name of Rita's back 40? Just saying @RitaB Tom Modesto, CA

Job Cost Module sounds like it might be construction accounting? Any chance that has to do with Certified Payroll as well? If so, check out Computer Ease. Pretty simple to use once it is set up. Not the cheapest. Not the most expensive. I have used in the past and I like it, but I was using it on a 25MM construction company. If revenue is above 5MM and construction company, this would be a good choice. Tom Modesto, CA

You could try running the property through one of the realtor sites. I think it is Zillow (could be Redfin or Realtor.com) will show a history of the properties including sale dates and amounts when the property has changed hands in the past. Type in the address to the properties on those sites and see if it will make your life a little easier. Tom Modesto, CA

That is a great sentiment. But like Ronald Reagan said "Trust but Verify". I trust a lot of people on this board to point me in the right direction. But I do my own research and I reach my own conclusions. After all, it is my signature on the bottom of that return, not Eric. Tom Modesto, CA

Form 1116 beats 8283 all day long. Just saying.....it is not even a fair fight. Tom Modesto, CA

I think you are on to something there.... I would look for court cases or regulations to support that position. It looks like there was definitely a threat of condemnation, and the fact pattern may fit with regs. Tom Modesto, CA

@Edsel - not the situation at all. Both are good kids. The first only got a two year degree and went into law enforcement. Was his dream to be a public servant in the fire department but was too skinny, so he became a cop instead. Even in CA, community college is cheap (except for books). Second kid is smart, and is attending a state college. When he is done, there will be money left over in the 529 plan. They saved too much. They are wonderful parents, the kids are good, and there is no drug use before they go to church every Sunday. These kids are not heathens. Keep your generalizations away from my clients, especially ones that I have known for over 15 years. That is probably more than you cared to read either. I do agree with your financial planning points. But it is too late now. Tom Modesto, CA

Yeah...What DANRVAN said. At least that was what I was thinking. If it was arm's length and FMV, why would not the IRS want the gain on the sale? On the other hand, the member who it was sold to may want non-recognition of their portion, but I don't think they can do that. I have nightmares about §704 when I think about it, but I am pretty sure it is a straight transaction reported like any other sale of an asset. Tom Modesto, CA

Thank you all for confirming. What I was hoping to hear is that at a certain age (59 1/2?) they could make non-penalty withdrawals - but I did not find that answer. Parents are going into retirement. Perhaps they will want to take some classes, but what they really want is to use the funds in retirement. Thanks again for your comments. Tom Modesto, CA

Parents set up 529 plan many years ago. Oldest did not use much, youngest is not going to use it all. No grandkids as of now. Are there any options for the parents to take the money without incurring 10% penalty on the earnings? I have been looking but all I see is that withdrawals made for other than education expenses incurs the 10% penalty. Am I missing anything? Thanks Tom Modesto, CA

@jklcpa You are killing me with those tears.... Tom Modesto, CA

I am not taking the bait and telling you that I know how obviously brilliant you are and how giving of your time you are for the betterment of all on this board and how wonderful it is to have you here and how much better all of us are because you exist (takes breath). As true as that statement is, I would never lower myself to sucking up to get a gold star. No sir....not me. I would not try to fool that brilliant mind of yours in any way or try to gain any type of favors from you because you are way too smart and would see right through the attempt because you are so smart and brilliant and wonderful. Besides, I don't have a great story this week, and I don't want to go up against a ninja paper cutter. Tom Modesto, CA

Suck ups! You are just trying to get the gold star this week. Tom Modesto, CA