Lion EA

Over 24 years old in the OP.

Educate your client; and then let your client make the call, if his call sounds reasonable to you.

Only if QC, not if QR and she pays 0. And, HOH still requires over 50% of costs of keeping up the HOUSE, so has its own support of house test as well as qualifying dependent test.

Is there a substantial presence test to be a resident of the US like there's a SPT to qualify for FEIE? I know that would be too logical. But, if mother is here 330 days out of a 365 day period...?

Yeah, it ain't logical; it's the law.

As much as the IRS insists we round off to the nearest dollar, in their own instructions to forms, for instance, they themselves truncate. It leads to some silly letters like you mention from DC. And, clients have brought in letters saying they were missing interest from ABC, as an example, for sometimes large amounts like $123,456, when we reported $123,457 from ABC; the IRS is reporting a second amount from ABC was missing instead of just a mismatch of $1 on the one and only ABC interest. Time consuming. I even had a client bring in a letter stating they owed $0.00. It was obviously a less than 50 cents rounding difference that showed as $0.00 on that computer generated letter. I told her to ignore it, that the computer or a real person would catch it next month. Nope. At least one more letter asking for $0.00. So, I told her to write a check for $0.00 to mail in with the payment voucher from the letter. That did the trick!

When a trust is irrevocable, it is its own person/entity. Someone else's death does not change things inside a trust. If it had always been irrevocable, there never would be any steps-up/down. If the trust was revocable until the father died, then the trust "was" still the father and not a separate entity, reported on father's tax return, until the DOD. So, when the father no longer existed, the trust became irrevocable and all the assets stepped up/down as they passed from the father/revocable trust into the separate entity/irrevocable trust. Only the beneficiary changed when the mother died. No assets of the irrevocable trust moved out of the trust/moved to the son; they remain in the irrevocable trust. The trust did not die. You will need to read the trust document, though. There are as many ways to set up a trust/intertwining trusts as there are trusts.

My sister's first word was "beer," because of that animated Hamm's beer commercial with the jingle about...In the land of sky blue waters. Colorful, and we had a color TV by the time my younger sister was talking. She'd watch the beavers or whatever wildlife singing and chime in on the last word -- beer. It was a small house, so if parents were entertaining, playing cards with the neighbors, etc., and Jan piped up loudly with Beer, my mother got very embarrassed.

Are you asking about the interest in the year of sale? Or about all the interest through all the years that he already elected or didn't elect? Not sure you can change the past. But you can make an election for the current year.

HOH: Living with spouse during second half of the year comes into play only if married. So, if divorced with a qualifying child, then HOH. Support test: How much did she pay toward son's support, how much did dad pay, how much did son pay, how much did anyone else pay? If she paid more than half that total, then she passes the support test. (I realize the real question is how much did dad pay, but you have to do the best you can with what you have. Or, have your client put down the numbers for you and you look them over for reasonableness. I don't create the numbers when it's not clear cut; I have the client put them down on paper and sign. I just provide the definitions.) But, yeah, I don't have these close calls very often and have to drag out the flow chart and go through the questions with the actual client facts and the lists.

I'm copying & pasting John's message!

You're the best. In my blurry-eyed, sleepy state last night (well, really early morning) I wasn't finding deadlines and panicked. Thanks for calming me down with the facts. (Just coming off a binge of 1065s and 1120Ss to meet the new federal 15 March deadline has me not seeing straight, not walking straight. Time to dive into the 1040s.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought about the deadline again while I didn't sleep the short time I spent in bed. I was hoping the PA partnership did not follow the federal and remained at 15 April. But, is the PA S-corporation 15 April, also? I did come up with Form 276 on the PA site for both types of returns (all types of returns?) all with a Harrisburg address. (Hubby grew up in Harrisburg.) So, do I really have until 15 April for both PA partnerships and S-corporations?

It's always the freebies that take up so much time. My son's mother-in-law has a partnership and an S-corporation. I tried to e-file extensions before midnight. The S-corp is not in my system, so I'll print out an extension and mail it tomorrow -- now that we have until the 20th for the IRS. And, even though the partnership is in my software and the 7004 shows up on screen, it doesn't show up as being able to export to e-file -- again not a problem as I can mail by the 20th. But, what about PA? Is it too late for PA extensions? Or, have you heard that they will follow federal. The businesses are in Starlight, PA, in the upper NE corner and got over two feet of snow, and I'm in CT and got over a foot topped off with a lot of ice. The PA partnership extension showed as if I could e-file, but was all grayed-out when actually trying to e-file. On paper, it needs a signature, not likely from CT to PA by the 20th, if PA accepts the 20th. And, the PA S-corp extension wasn't getting typed into my software by midnight after I spent too much time hassling with the partnership. Does PA require extensions if federal extensions are filed? If PA is giving until the 20th also, are signatures required? I have too many relatives!

Yesterday in foggy Connecticut it was sleeting on the snow!

If it came from a joint return, I think it's 50/50 unless they agree to a different split. Or, unless you can trace the original funds to a different ratio. I would not get involved in the decision. I would ask them how they want it split -- explaining that it will be 50/50 if they cannot agree. Good luck. Are you really trying to prepare both returns when you already can see at least one conflict of interest? Make sure you have each one sign an agreement where you disclose your potential conflict. I'd send one or both elsewhere; I don't have time in March to deal with divorce issues.

Issue Number: IR-2017-61 Inside This Issue Winter Storm Extension: Many Businesses Have Extra Time to Request A Six-Month Extension WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today granted many businesses affected by this week’s severe winter storm additional time to request a six-month extension to file their 2016 federal income tax returns. The IRS is providing this relief to victims and tax professionals affected by this week’s storm (known as Winter Storm Stella) that hit portions of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Business taxpayers who are unable to file their tax return by today’s due date (March 15, 2017) can request an automatic extension by filing Form 7004, available on IRS.gov, on or before March 20, 2017. Form 7004 provides a six-month extension for returns filed by partnerships (Forms 1065 and 1065B) and S corporations (Forms 1120S). Eligible taxpayers taking advantage of this relief should write “Winter Storm Stella” on their Form 7004 extension request (if filing Form 7004 by paper). As always, the fastest and easiest way to get an extension is to file this form electronically. The IRS will continue to monitor conditions and provide additional relief if circumstances warrant.

Lisa Ihm is a good source for 1099-C information, and the preceding 1099-A: http://www.lisaihm.com/Contact_Us.html

And, the $14,000 per person includes everything given in that calendar year, such as holiday gifts.

I've had only one, and it was years ago. But, I see these questions more and more on message boards, so it must be getting more common. So, I'm trying to pay attention!

You have trained them well.

Is she renting a room in his house, half his house, what? Or, is she his girlfriend who moved in with him and is sharing expenses? I'm sure there's a joke in there someplace about personal use, but I won't go there.

Were they "open for business"? If not, organizational costs and start-up costs to be amortized, right?

Is the 1099-A for the abandonment of the building? So, like a sale? With the forgiven debt to come later on 1099-C?

There is no age test for a permanently disabled child. If the other tests are met, the child will be a QC.