NT: You can't make this @$%& up

[jasdlm]

I emailed a client 10 days ago:  "I don't have your blah blah blah brokerage statement".

HIs response TODAY:  "I know.  I intentionally didn't send that to you because it is long".

Woe is me.  And tired is me.  Woe and tired.

[BulldogTom]

I wish I had clients who cared about me as much as yours care about you....

Tom
Longview, TX

[Abby Normal]

I hate when a client sends me just page 1 of a 17 or 50 page brokerage 1099, because they think that's all I need. I tell them that their tax return is like a puzzle and if they don't give me all of the pieces I won't be able to complete the puzzle.

[Sara EA]

Most of the time we just need a few pages of those lengthy consolidated 1099s, BUT sometimes we do.  Today I worked on a client who moved back to the states after working abroad for a couple of years.  I had to go through all 65 pages of that tome to pull out the income/gains paid while he was a resident of the state he moved to.  I think the only times we really need the pages of dividends, etc. is for part-year residents of the states.  Of course, there are those call and put options that appear near the end, and the "other info" sheet alerting us to the fact that a PPT K-1 should be in the mix.

[TAXMAN]

Or all the tax exempts in there that they do not make clear to which state it belongs to.

[Abby Normal]

9 hours ago, TAXMAN said:

Or all the tax exempts in there that they do not make clear to which state it belongs to.

Usually, if it's not a state specific muni bond fund, the % for the resident state will be too small to matter, in most cases, especially since most state tax rates are low.

[Abby Normal]

10 hours ago, Sara EA said:

Most of the time we just need a few pages of those lengthy consolidated 1099s,

You should always look at every page of a lengthy 1099. Sometimes the amounts in the detail are higher than the 1099 amounts for things like bond premium amortization, and sometimes there's a missing basis for a stock sold. Or they might provide a US Gov % for each fund and if that amount is material, you need to know the dividends for just that fund.

[JRS]

Personal 1099's.

We have three regular accounts with Fidelity.  The interesting fact about the 1099's we receive is the difference.  The downloaded 1099 is different from what is sent in the mail.  The downloaded 1099 shows a breakdown of the dividends, but the mailed version just shows totals!

[jasdlm]

3 hours ago, Abby Normal said:

You should always look at every page of a lengthy 1099. Sometimes the amounts in the detail are higher than the 1099 amounts for things like bond premium amortization, and sometimes there's a missing basis for a stock sold. Or they might provide a US Gov % for each fund and if that amount is material, you need to know the dividends for just that fund.

Or, like the one I got yesterday ... a 1099 Misc on page 9 with $9k in oil royalties!  Why don't they put that close to the front!!!  I do look at every page, but when something like that happens, I get a little anxiety attack thinking about how I could have missed it.  For some reason, the same thing happens to me every time there's a number in Box 10 (dependent care) of the W2.  I missed one in my early days of practicing and Client got a notice of tax due, of course.  I paid the interest/penalty, client paid the tax, I apologized, and I still do that client's return (kids are long grown), but I've been anxious about that box every since ;).  Sometimes it slides over to the far left of the W2 and is easy for tired eyes to miss.  For a few years, I made myself initial every box 10 on every W2 (even for people with no or grown kids) just so I could sleep ;).  

[Abby Normal]

I once missed some US govt interest on a nonconforming 1099-INT because it was list in the bottom half of the page and I just glanced right over it, after entering in the box 1 interest.