Income tax thread 3.0

[jt2]

Anybody get their state refund yet?

Nope. Filed 2/22. Looking online, I get the message:

We received your 2016 California Income Tax return on: Wednesday, February 22, 2017.

Your tax return requires additional processing time.

Please allow 3 months from the date you filed your return to complete processing. If you received a notice from us requesting additional information, please respond to continue the processing of your return. Allow 2 months from the date you mailed your response for a determination to be made.

We appreciate your patience.​

I called the compliance department. Twice. Both times, they "looked into it and could see no problem" and "would release it".

Still waiting.

Apparently, it is happening to a lot of people - there was a long thread about it on the Turbotax forums.

You can call the compliance department at 916-845-7088. They actually do answer the phone and were quite nice both times I tried. Too bad it didn't do any good. :laughing

 

[Kurosaki]

Thanks for the info. I'll contact them and see what they say what's up with mine.

 

[antidote]

I've been using TaxAct for several years and have been happy with it.

Same.






Got my refunds within 2 weeks...but I file usually, as soon as my W2s show up around 2/1.

 

[951dude]

Does anyone take the home office deduction? If so, do you also claim depreciation on the business use of your home office?

It seems like the IRS will come after you when you sell your home for taxes on the depreciation, regardless if you actually took it or not.

Turbo tax isn't really explaining it to me. All I have is this article -
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/money-guides/home-office-can-have-hidden-tax-costs-1.aspx

 

[rodr]

Does anyone take the home office deduction? If so, do you also claim depreciation on the business use of your home office?

It seems like the IRS will come after you when you sell your home for taxes on the depreciation, regardless if you actually took it or not.

Turbo tax isn't really explaining it to me. All I have is this article -
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/money-guides/home-office-can-have-hidden-tax-costs-1.aspx

Yes and yes. My understanding is I'll owe taxes on the increase in value of the business portion of the home when I sell it. So you have to weigh that.

 

[mbsv]

anyone do freelance work? i did some last year and got a business license, and now they want me to file a 571-l business property statement.

seems like i should put down 'old computer, cost me $X years ago' and nothing else--or nothing at all? they ask about things like office furniture, but work was done in various locations (my couch, their kitchen table, some coffee shop, etc).

kind of the opposite of the declaring those things as deductions on income!

 

[Dr_SLO]

Nope. Filed 2/22. Looking online, I get the message:

We received your 2016 California Income Tax return on: Wednesday, February 22, 2017.

Your tax return requires additional processing time.

Please allow 3 months from the date you filed your return to complete processing. If you received a notice from us requesting additional information, please respond to continue the processing of your return. Allow 2 months from the date you mailed your response for a determination to be made.

We appreciate your patience.​

I called the compliance department. Twice. Both times, they "looked into it and could see no problem" and "would release it".

Still waiting.

Apparently, it is happening to a lot of people - there was a long thread about it on the Turbotax forums.

You can call the compliance department at 916-845-7088. They actually do answer the phone and were quite nice both times I tried. Too bad it didn't do any good. :laughing

Thanks for the info. I'll contact them and see what they say what's up with mine.

I filed electronically back at the end of January. Yesterday I had received a 'notice' from the FTB in the mail, 'Confirm Tax Return Filing'. It was asking for some documents that I did not have so gave the 916-843-7088 number a call to make enquiries. The guy was very helpful. Asked me some basic questions to confirm it was my filing, put me on hold to check my filing then told me everything was OK. He said I should get my refund in 2-4 weeks and there was no need to submit the 'Confirm Tax Return Filing' form in the mail.

If anyone receives this notice it might be worth calling before sending in the documents requested.

 

[Kurosaki]

Nope. Filed 2/22. Looking online, I get the message:

We received your 2016 California Income Tax return on: Wednesday, February 22, 2017.

Your tax return requires additional processing time.

Please allow 3 months from the date you filed your return to complete processing. If you received a notice from us requesting additional information, please respond to continue the processing of your return. Allow 2 months from the date you mailed your response for a determination to be made.

We appreciate your patience.​

I called the compliance department. Twice. Both times, they "looked into it and could see no problem" and "would release it".

Still waiting.

Apparently, it is happening to a lot of people - there was a long thread about it on the Turbotax forums.

You can call the compliance department at 916-845-7088. They actually do answer the phone and were quite nice both times I tried. Too bad it didn't do any good. :laughing

I filed electronically back at the end of January. Yesterday I had received a 'notice' from the FTB in the mail, 'Confirm Tax Return Filing'. It was asking for some documents that I did not have so gave the 916-843-7088 number a call to make enquiries. The guy was very helpful. Asked me some basic questions to confirm it was my filing, put me on hold to check my filing then told me everything was OK. He said I should get my refund in 2-4 weeks and there was no need to submit the 'Confirm Tax Return Filing' form in the mail.

If anyone receives this notice it might be worth calling before sending in the documents requested.

Just an update, I called the above number today and they were very helpful as you both mentioned. I usually expect help line employees to be very dry and sound like they hate their job.

I called the regular number first and the wait time said 3 hours. Searched for this thread again and to see if anybody had any updates on their own refund. Then saw the above number again. Called, wait time was 5 minutes.

The lady assured me that it was mailed and to check my mail before going through the process of getting another check cut. I couldn't find it. Turns out it was sitting in a pile of some unopened mail for my mom. The envelope it came in didn't look like your typical check or refund or say franchise tax board on it.
:nchantr:loco:facepalm

She gets a lot more mail than me and we have the same initials, same middle and last name. Some things get tossed in the wrong pile at first glance sometimes. Not the first time. :laughing Didn't figure it was just sitting here at the house for a few weeks. Last couple state refunds I didn't even get yet at this time of year.

 

[StuckIn3rd]

In regards to capital gains tax from selling selling stocks...

So my question is, I just sold some stock and made a profit of about $500.00. The money stayed in my e-trade account and I used the earnings to buy more stock. Will I need to report the $500 and pay capital gains on it? I also sold some stock for a loss as well and can I deduct those losses from my earnings to pay less capital gains?
Also I contribute to church and a charity monthly. Should I take itemize deductions or should I use the regular tax deduction or can I use both? I usually don't sell my stocks and hold onto them long term until this year. This is also the first year I am contributing to charity. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bowling4Bikes]

So my question is, I just sold some stock and made a profit of about $500.00. The money stayed in my e-trade account and I used the earnings to buy more stock. Will I need to report the $500 and pay capital gains on it? I also sold some stock for a loss as well and can I deduct those losses from my earnings to pay less capital gains?
Also I contribute to church and a charity monthly. Should I take itemize deductions or should I use the regular tax deduction or can I use both? I usually don't sell my stocks and hold onto them long term until this year. This is also the first year I am contributing to charity. Thanks in advance.

* not an expert

Your profits are taxable. amount gained ($500)- amount you bought the stock for = the taxable amount of that $500.

edit: ETrade should have a 1099 for this and any other gains you had in 2017.

charity: yes, claim it and see how it adds up for the different ways to deduct. if you are using software, it should be able to show you which way is better.

 

[StuckIn3rd]

* not an expert

Your profits are taxable. amount gained ($500)- amount you bought the stock for = the taxable amount of that $500.

edit: ETrade should have a 1099 for this and any other gains you had in 2017.

charity: yes, claim it and see how it adds up for the different ways to deduct. if you are using software, it should be able to show you which way is better.

Okay. Thank you for the sound advice. I'll look into those options on turbo tax!

 

[afm199]

Does anyone take the home office deduction? If so, do you also claim depreciation on the business use of your home office?

It seems like the IRS will come after you when you sell your home for taxes on the depreciation, regardless if you actually took it or not.

Turbo tax isn't really explaining it to me. All I have is this article -
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/money-guides/home-office-can-have-hidden-tax-costs-1.aspx

If you take depreciation, you must indeed account for it at the time of sale. And keep records of it. Unless it's a substantial amount, it's not worth the paperwork and the risk.

 

[afm199]

So my question is, I just sold some stock and made a profit of about $500.00. The money stayed in my e-trade account and I used the earnings to buy more stock. Will I need to report the $500 and pay capital gains on it? I also sold some stock for a loss as well and can I deduct those losses from my earnings to pay less capital gains?
Also I contribute to church and a charity monthly. Should I take itemize deductions or should I use the regular tax deduction or can I use both? I usually don't sell my stocks and hold onto them long term until this year. This is also the first year I am contributing to charity. Thanks in advance.

Your broker will send ( Schwab just sent mine) a 1099 with your capital gains and losses for the year.

You can deduct losses, and yes, you must pay tax on cap gains, HOWEVER, if your losses exceed your gains, you don't pay taxes until the losses are used up. You can also write off $3k a year of regular income against cap losses if they are big enough. Cap losses do apply forward, and can be used until gone.

You will need Schedule D of 1040 and Form 8949 to account for the stock gain/loss.

 

[afm199]

HALP!

I'm in uncharted territory this year with taxes. For the first time ever I did some consulting work on my own. I received a 1099-MISC form. I do my taxes thru turbo-tax. The federal portion went smooth but now I'm hung up on the State. Apparently I have to e file form 568 and pay $800. I'm not really upset about the money, I figured I would owe the state something when I did work outside my regular job. Anyway, I'm clueless about WTF i'm supposed to be doing in order to do this correctly. I have to create and register an LLC? The "employee business expense adjustment" and "business profit and loss adjustment" has me really confused. I did buy about $2800 worth of inspection tools and a computer this year that I would like to write off correctly.

I only did one consulting job all year and the pay was a one time check. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

If you consult and receive a 1099, ( if you consult as a person, not a corporation) then you file a Schedule C with 1040. You must also pay Federal and state FICA, SDI, etc., including double social security. You write off your tools on the Schedule C. The State accepts the Federal form. ( meaning you don't have to fill out a different form on Turbo tax, it will do the work. )

 

[Raider]

So I’ll jump in on this thread... I’ve normally used turbo tax to file my taxes for the past forever...

I’m going through a divorce, soon to be ex hasn’t lived at the house since August... lawyer suggests I should do a mairried-filing-seprately tax thing since she’s been dipping into her IRA for money.

I have simple taxes. Same employer for 13 years, basic 401k, student loans, child care (I have full custody currently) and that’s about it.

So I want to go see someone to figure out the IRA situation. My name isn’t on her bigger IRA aspect of it, but it is on a joint married something or other at Edward Jones that’s only worth about $900.

HR Block? Liberty Tax? Jackson Hewitt? What’s the call? I’m in Tracy and have all my tax paperwork already.

 

[afm199]

So I’ll jump in on this thread... I’ve normally used turbo tax to file my taxes for the past forever...

I’m going through a divorce, soon to be ex hasn’t lived at the house since August... lawyer suggests I should do a mairried-filing-seprately tax thing since she’s been dipping into her IRA for money.

I have simple taxes. Same employer for 13 years, basic 401k, student loans, child care (I have full custody currently) and that’s about it.

So I want to go see someone to figure out the IRA situation. My name isn’t on her bigger IRA aspect of it, but it is on a joint married something or other at Edward Jones that’s only worth about $900.

HR Block? Liberty Tax? Jackson Hewitt? What’s the call? I’m in Tracy and have all my tax paperwork already.

Jesus, don't go to those clowns unless you want to deal with a retired plumber who's doing taxes after a six week training.

Find an enrolled agent. I suspect the solution is so simple they might not even charge you.

 

[canyonrat]

I have a tax question.

I've used Turbo Tax for 10+ years. I was an Financial Reporter in a prior life and nearly an expert in Government Forms...

SO, we just rented our main Santa Rosa home to fire victims Jan of 2018 and rented a house 100 miles away in Sacramento.

The 1st question is this. I did work to our house to prep it for rental in both 2017 and 2018. Can I realize all of it in 2018 on the date it was rented?

The second question is we have moving expenses for my wife that occurred in 2017 and 2018 because she got a new job in Sacramento. Then there are moving expenses for me which occurred after she moved in to our house we are renting in Sacramento because I was still in Santa Rosa fixing up our house? Also we were under contract with a property manager and took a holding deposit for the house in 2017. 2018 will be important for us because our income will increase to double what we made in 2017 so I NEED WRITE-OFFS! LOL Can I realize all moving expenses in 2018 on the date we took possession of the rental?

 

[Yakoo752]

We use a local EA to manage this for us but (IIRC) the way he explained it to me...

Repairs & maintenance can be claimed in the year in which they occur. These are directly related to wear & tear/damages. (You write this against the property income)

Updates, upgrades, renovations over $300. The cost will be classed as a capital cost. It will be added to the purchase price of the property and you will claim it when you sell. Also, it may also be available for depreciation deduction.

 

[FXCLM5]

gj mark doubling your income, wish I could do that in my lifetime :thumbup

 

[canyonrat]

It is likely we will never sell the house and should we do so we understand we need to live in it for 2 years after renting to avoid capital gains.

I know there are situations involving "realized" and "actualized". I just want to realize on the dates of actual possession changes.