Recent content by ryanf1475

thank you, that helps a lot!

What is the name of your state? NJ Quite frankly, my family is not made of great people; that's why I'm leaving it all to charity. But I am concerned that after I die, there may be some funny business on my brokerage accounts (both individual and IRAs), either before they notify my broker of my...

OK, so I am "gifting" it to myself? Is that legit? That almost seems like some legal gymnastics. In any case, I guess the complicating factor here is the (presumed?) rule that if an account is established and funded during marriage, then its contents would be marital?

Thank you, but those rules don't answer my question. My question is probably best answered by an attorney who's been through such cases and witnessed how this is hashed out in court (if one is out there).

Hello all! Let's say that I have a premarital brokerage account. After getting married, I open a new brokerage account and transfer the holdings of the old account to the new broker via ACATS transfer (which means I don't sell any securities--I'm just changing the broker). Are those securities...

Got the refund of $75 from HRB that I paid for their Premium product. NEVER AGAIN!!

Thank you. I will call H&R Block tomorrow and request refund. I thought I was safe with a big brand like H&R Block--not so.

Update: Wow! After some back-and-forth with H&R Block customer service, plus a promised return call that was never returned, they gave me a free code for "Tax Pro Review" since the rep was not qualified to answer my question about the worksheet. (For some foreshadowing, this "pro" is actually...

I've done this before, only to find a one-thousand dollar mistake that he made, but thanks for the tip.

FYI, I re-did the HRB sections and to no avail. I put in a request with customer service, should hear back in 48 hours. I think I'll be using TurboTax next year, unless this turns out to be my fault. Will let you know what they say.

Right, but HR Block is not using that worksheet from Pub 509. They are using the Instructions worksheet. I will try to re-do my Form 2555 to see if that changes anything. Maybe it's wrong because answered their questions out of order.

Ah, thank you! But that means H&R Block is wrong? I have checked the PDF version of my return before submitting (I haven't submitted yet), and they are clearly using the form from the Instructions, not Pub 509--and yet the Form 2555 is included in the return, so I know that I filed it. How can...

Right, but the standard worksheet also calculates the largest deduction (and for people covered by employer plan). So, they are functionally the same. But why does the standard worksheet (in 1040 Instructions) NOT take into account the excluded income from Form 2555, while the other worksheet...

Yes, this is what I'm trying to figure out. The titles are slightly different, but don't they serve the same purpose? What am I missing? I posted the forms here for convenience (https://ryansphotoperday.blogspot.com/2021/05/oid.html) (click on them to see them more clearly), but the real crux of...

Hello again, I find myself needing to use the IRA Deduction Worksheet, but I found two versions which are frustratingly different: #1: "Worksheet 1-2. Figuring Your Reduced IRA Deduction for 2022" found here: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a#en_US_2022_publink1000230468 #2: "IRA...