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I've done this exact adjustment in ProSeries for clients for years. Go to the Form 8582 worksheet in ProSeries, and look for Line 16 of the actual form (within the software). There should be an override field where you can enter your desired allowed loss amount instead of the calculated amount. Important: Make sure you keep detailed records of your calculations and remaining carryforwards. Create a supporting statement in ProSeries explaining your calculation and why you're choosing to limit the allowed losses. This will help if you ever get questioned about it.
Thanks for the specific guidance on ProSeries! When I create the supporting statement, should I explicitly mention the AMT avoidance strategy, or just document the calculation of limited PAL?
I would recommend documenting both. In your supporting statement, first detail your calculation of the limited PAL amount - showing the total available, the amount you're choosing to use, and the remaining carryforward. Then I would also briefly explain the tax planning strategy - that you're limiting the PAL utilization to minimize Alternative Minimum Tax impact. This shows the IRS there's a legitimate tax planning purpose behind your decision. It's completely legal tax strategy, and being transparent about it actually strengthens your position if there's ever a question.
Has anyone considered the impact this might have on passive activity grouping elections? If you're selectively limiting losses on certain activities, could it affect how the IRS views your grouping?
Good point. If you've made grouping elections for your passive activities, you should be consistent in how you treat the entire group. You can't cherry-pick which specific property's losses to use within a grouped activity. You would need to proportionally limit losses across the grouped activities.
Don't forget that while you're waiting for the reconsideration process, the IRS can still move forward with collection efforts unless you specifically request a collection hold. Make sure you include a line in your letter requesting that collections be suspended while your reconsideration is being processed.
Just want to add my experience - I submitted an audit reconsideration last year and got denied, but then I submitted a second one with better documentation and they accepted it. Don't give up if the first attempt doesn't work! Make sure you address whatever specific reasons they give for denying the first request.
One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you think you're due refunds for some of those years, be aware that you can only claim refunds within 3 years of the original filing deadline. So for tax years 2021, 2022, and 2023, you can still get refunds if you're owed them, but for 2019 and 2020, that money's probably gone forever if you were due a refund. But you STILL need to file those returns to get in good standing with the IRS, even if you can't get the refund money anymore.
That makes me so sad to think I might have lost money I was owed. Is there any exception to that 3-year rule for refunds? Like if I had a really good reason for not filing?
Unfortunately, the 3-year rule for claiming refunds is pretty strict, with very few exceptions. Even legitimate reasons like illness, being deployed overseas, or natural disasters rarely qualify for extensions beyond what the IRS already grants for those situations when they occur. The best approach now is to focus on filing all returns to get compliant, secure the refunds you can still claim (for the more recent 3 years), and move forward with a clean slate. If your income was low enough in those older years, you might not have actually been required to file, which could be a small consolation. Either way, getting everything filed now prevents much bigger problems down the road.
As someone who works with tax issues (not a CPA, just experienced), I'd also suggest requesting your IRS transcripts FIRST before filing anything. Create an account at irs.gov/transcript and pull your wage and income transcripts for all 5 years. This will show you EXACTLY what the IRS already knows about your income, which helps prevent discrepancies that could trigger problems. Sometimes employers report things incorrectly or there might be income you forgot about. Better to know upfront!
Make sure you've also double-checked your bank account info is correct too! My sister thought her refund was delayed for months but it turns out she had mistyped ONE digit in her account number when filing through TurboTax, so the deposit bounced back to the IRS. They eventually sent her a paper check but it took foreverrrrr. Might be worth verifying that all your info is correct!
I triple checked all my banking info when I filed, so I'm pretty sure that's not the issue. But that's a good point! I hadn't considered that maybe the deposit bounced back for some other reason. Is there a way to confirm with the IRS if they tried to deposit it already?
You can check if a deposit was attempted and bounced back by looking at your tax transcript. It will show if they tried to issue the refund and if it was returned to them. Just go to the IRS website and request your "account transcript" for 2023. If you see a code 846 with a date, that means they issued your refund on that date. If you see a 841 code after that, it means the refund was returned to the IRS because of bank account issues. Sometimes even if you entered everything correctly, banks can reject deposits if the name on the tax return doesn't exactly match the name on the account.
Has anyone had luck filing through something besides TurboTax? This is my 3rd year with refund delays using them and im starting to wonder if its part of the problem. Maybe direct filing with the IRS is better?
I switched from TurboTax to FreeTaxUSA last year and got my refund in 2 weeks flat. TT kept having me input info that seemed to trigger reviews. Not saying it's their fault, but I definitely had a smoother experience elsewhere.
That's interesting! I hadn't considered that the tax software itself might be part of the problem. I just went with TurboTax because that's what everyone seems to use, but maybe I'll try something different next year. I've heard the IRS has a free file option now too, so maybe that would be faster since it goes straight to them? I'm definitely open to trying anything that might speed things up for next year.
Keisha Taylor
Another option you might consider is having your friend make individual $1,000 payments directly to each person. That way, you avoid having the entire $10k hit your account at once. If each person just gets their $1,000 directly, it's less likely to trigger any reporting requirements since it's under typical thresholds, and you don't have to worry about explaining why you received $10k that mostly wasn't yours. Just a thought to potentially simplify the whole situation!
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Paolo Longo
ā¢But don't some payment apps have daily or weekly transfer limits? My PayPal only lets me send like $2-3k per week without upgrading or something. Might be annoying for the friend to space it out over time.
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Keisha Taylor
ā¢You're right about the limits on some platforms. Venmo's standard limit is $4,999.99 per week for person-to-person payments, so the friend would need at least 3 weeks to pay everyone individually if using Venmo. PayPal has similar restrictions as you mentioned. Banks typically have higher limits for Zelle transfers, often $2,000-$5,000 daily depending on the bank. Your friend could potentially use multiple payment methods or speak with their bank about temporarily increasing limits if they wanted to make all payments quickly.
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Amina Bah
Has anyone mentioned gift tax implications? If someone gives you more than $17,000 in a year (2023 annual exclusion amount), they're supposed to file a gift tax return. I know this isn't technically a gift since it's repayment, but could the IRS see it that way if they just notice a large transfer?
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GalacticGuardian
ā¢This is a good question, but no, the gift tax wouldn't apply here. The IRS defines gifts as transfers made without receiving full consideration (value) in return. In this case, the $10k is repayment of money previously provided - it's settling a debt, not a gift. Even if the IRS initially questioned it, you would explain that this was repayment of a loan. That's why documentation of the original arrangement is important. Text messages, emails, or even witnesses who can confirm the nature of the original transaction can help establish this wasn't a gift.
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