Octopus Overlords

Kraken wrote:Our CPA sends me a booklet to fill in category totals and answer a bunch of questions. I return the completed booklet to him with the appropriate forms; he sends us the completed returns after e-filing. There might be a brief phone call with questions in between.

If it weren't for the home office deductions I could do it myself. The home office stuff mostly wipes out the 1099 income and the dreaded SE tax. Last year our itemized deductions were only slightly higher than the standard deduction, so we're close to that tipping point. If her 1099 income tapers into insignificance this year, as I expect it will, this might be the last time we hire the CPA.

FYI, tax software does this as well. If you're already doing the leg work, you can probably save $$$ going that route.

The H&R Block software also, IIRC, gives you the option to have your returned looked at by a "tax professional" (ie, someone who took their class).

Smoove_B wrote:

Drazzil wrote:It seems like I will get slightly less then five grand this year.

I'm not your accountant, but you 're doing something wrong. You should ideally be +/- $1000 each year for taxes. Stop giving Uncle Sam a free loan.

Yeah I know I set myself up to make some pretty large extra deductions.

Woohoo! Since my daughter started college I could claim one of the education credits of $2500. So go from owing $1234 to getting back $1266.

I just amended my 2013 tax to add interest paid to me on a loan. Using Turbo Tax, it came up with an increase of double what I expected. I did it manually with a downloaded form and got the expected result. I also got the correct result running it through the 2012 Turbo Tax program. After trying it again with the 2013 Turbo Tax program and getting the same double tax result I got previously, I decided to do it manually.

I finally figured out that the extra interest pushed some capital gains that were previously at 0% into the taxable column, causing the tax to seemingly double. Turbo Tax was correct.

When do ally'all start bugging your financial institutions for paperwork. I'm two forms away from being ready to file. One hasn't published on the website yet, so I know it's not in the mail. The other doesn't publish on the web and so I wait.

I'm still waiting for my wife's other employer from last year. And my wife won't be home to bug them for another week yet.

Last W-2 came today. Now I need to make time to grapple with the beast.

LordMortis wrote:When do ally'all start bugging your financial institutions for paperwork. I'm two forms away from being ready to file. One hasn't published on the website yet, so I know it's not in the mail. The other doesn't publish on the web and so I wait.

The law is they are supposed to mail them out by January 31st. At least that used to be the date.

Scuzz wrote:The law is they are supposed to mail them out by January 31st. At least that used to be the date.

Wife's employer sent a message yesterday indicating W2s were in the process of being mailed and to expect them "within 10 days". I guess until enough people contact the IRS they can get away with it, though I would think for a major corporation using a payroll service they would be better at making sure things were done correctly.

Smoove_B wrote:

Scuzz wrote:The law is they are supposed to mail them out by January 31st. At least that used to be the date.

Wife's employer sent a message yesterday indicating W2s were in the process of being mailed and to expect them "within 10 days". I guess until enough people contact the IRS they can get away with it, though I would think for a major corporation using a payroll service they would be better at making sure things were done correctly.

The "within 10 days" would suggest to me the delay in mail service, not that they weren't in the mail by 1/31. But I may be naive.

Read the first sentence again. They were notified yesterday (2/2) that the W2s were in the process of being mailed -- i.e. still being put together and had not yet hit the USPS.

I have most of my stuff, but have to put it all in Turbo Tax, and then go over everything ten times till Tuesday. I usually get a little back, but I try to make it as close to zero as I can. But with a wife who was unemployed, went back to school, and had a job at he beginning of the year, she get's complicated. As well as student loans, a mortgage, and three kids.

At least this year, I don't have a 1099 or home business and office to deal with.

<sigh>

I have all my forms now. I'm not sure if I feel liking digging into it this week or not. It doesn't take me more than an hour or two, but I might owe some money and I don't want to know about it.

Smoove_B wrote:Read the first sentence again. They were notified yesterday (2/2) that the W2s were in the process of being mailed -- i.e. still being put together and had not yet hit the USPS.

The 2015 deadline is Feb 2nd. So they probably squeaked by just under the wire.

Employers/payers have until February 2, 2015 to issue Form W-2 (PDF), Wage and Tax Statement, and Form 1099-R (PDF), Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., for the current processing year. If you do not receive them by February 2, 2015, or if your information is incorrect on these forms, contact your employer/payer.

If it is after February 14, and you still have not received the missing or corrected form, you may call the IRS at 800-829-1040 for assistance....

Interesting. Thanks for that.

Refund has hit my bank. Straight into savings it goes until we can find a house.

LawBeefaroni wrote:

Smoove_B wrote:Read the first sentence again. They were notified yesterday (2/2) that the W2s were in the process of being mailed -- i.e. still being put together and had not yet hit the USPS.

The 2015 deadline is Feb 2nd. So they probably squeaked by just under the wire.

Employers/payers have until February 2, 2015 to issue Form W-2 (PDF), Wage and Tax Statement, and Form 1099-R (PDF), Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., for the current processing year. If you do not receive them by February 2, 2015, or if your information is incorrect on these forms, contact your employer/payer.

If it is after February 14, and you still have not received the missing or corrected form, you may call the IRS at 800-829-1040 for assistance....

Now that doesn't indicate the date for 1098's is still Jan 31. I think last year, or maybe the year before, the date was moved back for some reason.

Feb 2 is basically the first business day after the end of the month, thus the Feb 2 date instead of Jan 31.

http://fortune.com/2015/02/06/intuit-ha ... -concerns/

Another blow to TurboTax. Let's hope these stolen identity patterns don't extend to people who use Turbo Tax last year.

Also, still waiting for my last two documents.

Ya that's just great sigh. I ran my taxes through and I owe avout 300.00. Not bad.. Part of me wants to adjust tbe witholding so I get a bit back next year, but technically I have it set almost perfect right now.

LawBeefaroni wrote:

Smoove_B wrote:Read the first sentence again. They were notified yesterday (2/2) that the W2s were in the process of being mailed -- i.e. still being put together and had not yet hit the USPS.

The 2015 deadline is Feb 2nd. So they probably squeaked by just under the wire.

Employers/payers have until February 2, 2015 to issue Form W-2 (PDF), Wage and Tax Statement, and Form 1099-R (PDF), Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc., for the current processing year. If you do not receive them by February 2, 2015, or if your information is incorrect on these forms, contact your employer/payer.

If it is after February 14, and you still have not received the missing or corrected form, you may call the IRS at 800-829-1040 for assistance....

Certainly wouldn't want to hold up taxes for anyone who already has their refund spent. LMAO Are all the tax forms for 2014 even available yet? Do what they say, not what they do. Just try getting a Pub 17 for an older person that still does their own taxes, but isn't computer capable.

Poor wife, she is not getting the windfall she was expecting. We don't owe anything, but the return isn't enough to pick up the tab for dinner. But we're about $1200 better off than last year when we owed, so I'm happy about that.

I owe about $260 this year. Not terrible, but I was going to get something back so I could put it towards the wedding. Oh well.

Getting back about$2800, but can't file until I get my 1099 from my life insurance policy. The document isn't available on line or I would have filed already.

<Edit>

Found the 1099 and sumitted Federal taxes. Ended getting back close to five grand. I screwed up on the withholding, but it's going to pull me out of credit card debt hell.

Octavious wrote:Ya that's just great sigh. I ran my taxes through and I owe avout 300.00. Not bad.. Part of me wants to adjust tbe witholding so I get a bit back next year, but technically I have it set almost perfect right now.

Yeah, I wouldn't touch a thing if I were you.

My taxes are done and got back about 1800 already. Most of it was immediately spent on my car though, had to replace the computer for the transmission as it went out about a week before my refund hit.

Almost done with the tax return.

One question - has anyone here rented out a room (as opposed to a separate unit)? We've been renting out a room to my sister-in-law for most of the past year, for a few hundred dollars a month. Is there any plausible justification for not reporting that money, or for reducing the resulting tax liability? I assume not, since it's money coming in and all, but H&R Block's forms aren't super intuitive on this - seem to apply more to renting out a whole apartment. Also maybe that it's to family might be a factor?

El Guapo wrote:Is there any plausible justification for not reporting that money, or for reducing the resulting tax liability?

Are you planning on running for office? As family she is a member of the household contributing to household expenses. I can't imagine reporting that as income.

Is she using the expense on her taxes?

I am nothing like an accountant or tax lawyer, but it wouldn't even occur to me. OF course now that you have posted this, you no longer have plausible deniability. I'll advise the IRS.

El Guapo wrote:Almost done with the tax return.

One question - has anyone here rented out a room (as opposed to a separate unit)? We've been renting out a room to my sister-in-law for most of the past year, for a few hundred dollars a month. Is there any plausible justification for not reporting that money, or for reducing the resulting tax liability? I assume not, since it's money coming in and all, but H&R Block's forms aren't super intuitive on this - seem to apply more to renting out a whole apartment. Also maybe that it's to family might be a factor?

Depending on how much it is, you could always consider it a 'gift' and I don't think you have to claim a 'gift' if it is below a certain amount. But I like the household contribution thing as well, which would be the easiest way to run with it, unless your sister in law is going to claim it as a living expense as rent, and list you as the land lord. Which I am not sure she could do, unless it was a child expense or something like that..

coopasonic wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Is there any plausible justification for not reporting that money, or for reducing the resulting tax liability?

Are you planning on running for office? As family she is a member of the household contributing to household expenses. I can't imagine reporting that as income.

Is she using the expense on her taxes?

I am nothing like an accountant or tax lawyer, but it wouldn't even occur to me. OF course now that you have posted this, you no longer have plausible deniability. I'll advise the IRS.

That's a fair point. I guess I shouldn't assume the answer really, it's just that obviously there is money coming in, I'm just not sure whether that's automatically income or whether that could be viewed as family expenses or whatnot.

How would she be using the expense on her taxes? I wouldn't think that there would be any applicable deductible or whatnot that she could use that for. Even if you view it as rent (or really, view it as anything else) it's obviously not a business expense, which is the only thing I could think would be relevant for her taxes.

El Guapo wrote:Almost done with the tax return.

One question - has anyone here rented out a room (as opposed to a separate unit)? We've been renting out a room to my sister-in-law for most of the past year, for a few hundred dollars a month. Is there any plausible justification for not reporting that money, or for reducing the resulting tax liability? I assume not, since it's money coming in and all, but H&R Block's forms aren't super intuitive on this - seem to apply more to renting out a whole apartment. Also maybe that it's to family might be a factor?

I can't speak to the question, sorry, but just wanted to note that this is exactly why I keep using Turbotax year after year, even with all their pricing shenanigans...they have a spectacular support system in place that is context sensitive, so the items listed in the side bar are all about the questions on that page.

So you can either look up "official help answers", or search to see if someone has already asked that question. In all the years of using TT, there was one instance where someone had not already answered the question I had, so I input it, and within an hour or so, someone had responded.

It's like this beautiful hybrid of crowd sourced answers, IRS documentation, and TT help all rolled into one, and it works really well in my experience.

Rent is not deductible. A contribution towards household expenses or gratuitous family gift is not income. Do you even have a lease or other formal agreement to pay rent? If you do, you can deduct certain expenses against rental income but the documentation and complexity for a one room rental can quickly offset the tax benefit.

Zarathud wrote:Rent is not deductible. A contribution towards household expenses or gratuitous family gift is not income. Do you even have a lease or other formal agreement to pay rent? If you do, you can deduct certain expenses against rental income but the documentation and complexity for a one room rental can quickly offset the tax benefit.

There's no lease (and she's free to move out anytime she wants, and likewise we could kick her out anytime she wants). We have agreed that she pays about X amount per month, though it's adjusted a bit for whatever the differing expenses there were that month.

Maybe I was being a bit too hasty in assuming that this was income.

Thanks, this has been helpful.

El Guapo wrote:

coopasonic wrote:

El Guapo wrote:Is there any plausible justification for not reporting that money, or for reducing the resulting tax liability?

Are you planning on running for office? As family she is a member of the household contributing to household expenses. I can't imagine reporting that as income.

Is she using the expense on her taxes?

I am nothing like an accountant or tax lawyer, but it wouldn't even occur to me. OF course now that you have posted this, you no longer have plausible deniability. I'll advise the IRS.

That's a fair point. I guess I shouldn't assume the answer really, it's just that obviously there is money coming in, I'm just not sure whether that's automatically income or whether that could be viewed as family expenses or whatnot.

How would she be using the expense on her taxes? I wouldn't think that there would be any applicable deductible or whatnot that she could use that for. Even if you view it as rent (or really, view it as anything else) it's obviously not a business expense, which is the only thing I could think would be relevant for her taxes.

In California she could use you for renters credit, but since you aren't in California I wouldn't claim the income. She is merely "paying for expenses" as far as you are concerned.

Well, the grim reaper has finally come home to roost, as I got my final K-1 from KMP after they consolidated with KMI.

The tax implications of this one are going to be fun.

As in an undefined set of tax consequences known as "fun."

I spent the last two hours filling in the income and questionnaire portions of our CPA's checklist. Another hour or two to fill in the deductions side, and I can hand it off to my wife. It's up to her to make the 1099 income go away.

Can't afford to pay the CPA to do my corporate return yet, so that could hold us up. Can't finish the personal return until the K-1 is done.

Finally got the last of my tax information, so it's tax time this weekend. I still have to decide if I am paying Turbo Tax because they have all of my information loaded online already from last year or if I moving over to H&R out of principle in the hope that it will continue to be the cheaper option.

I'm also wondering what happens if I choose TT deluxe and then go to fill out my 1099(?) anyway. Will I be charged and have to make a stink to get a credit like the early adopters did? Will I just not be charged? Or will I be charged and then asked "Didn't you pay attention to the new around this?" TT feel like crooks now to me for a software service package that is pretty much we charge this much because they can get away with it.

RunningMn9 wrote:I did prelim taxes yesterday. Looks like the Feds are going to want an extra $1700. Savages.

I thought you were a liberal now.


Since the wife is in school, education tax credits are preventing us from paying extra, of course tuition and fees are three times the credit, but I'll take it.

I finished my tax chores. Now it gets handed off to the wife, and then to the CPA.

This might be the last time I hire him. Wife only had three 1099s last year and might not have any this year. If it's straight w-2 income we'd lose the most tricky stuff and I'd come out ahead by doing it myself.

Documents are spread out on the table in preparation for starting our taxes. My wife says the TT kerfluffle doesn't matter as we've had to buy the most expensive version for years due to something. Everything will sit this way until the end of March when she will do it all during the 3 days I will be out of town.