To access the following items, from the Main Menu of the tax return  (Form 1040) select: Income IRA/Pension Distributions (1099R,RRB-1099-R) Other button Foreign Employer Compensation IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution – If the taxpayer made a qualified charitable distribution from their IRA, select YES. Return to the previous menu to enter…

If an employer could not collect all the Social Security tax, Medicare tax, or Railroad Retirement tax on either tips or the taxable cost of group term life insurance, the uncollected taxes will be shown in Box 12 of Form W-2 with codes A, B, M, or N as follows:…

A lump sum Social Security payment is one that was paid in the current year as back pay for previous years.  Depending on the taxpayer’s current year AGI, this income may be taxable and should be reported on Form 1040. When looking at a taxpayer’s 1099-SSA, box 3 shows the…

Custom Questions allows you to add your own questions to the navigation menu within returns. These questions can be made mandatory or optional, and you can print detailed or summary reports listing the answers. Custom questions have several uses: They can assist tax preparers in complying with Due Diligence. Help…

If you are new to networking in Keystone Tax Solutions Pro, be sure to read the knowledgebase article entitled “Network Overview”. It explains the terms File Server, Workstation Computer, and Transmitting Computer. The System / Network Configuration Menu hides or displays settings according to your answer to the first menu…

To edit the Cover Page that prints with the tax return, from the Main Menu of Keystone Tax Solutions Pro select: Configuration Printer/Copies Setup Edit the Cover Page After making changes to the Cover Page, you can preview the page to ensure it looks the way you want. Print Border…

For most returns, Form 1040 Line 1, “Wages, Salaries, Tips, etc.” consists of income reported on Form W-2. There are two important sources of income reported on this line that may not be reported to the taxpayer on Form W-2: Wages of less than $2,100 received as a household employee;…

To access the Advanced Configuration Menu, from the Main Menu of Keystone Tax Solutions Pro select: Configuration Advanced Configuration (Macros) MACRO (Most Common) Setup – Click for more information. Special Attention Database – Click for more information. Database Management – Click for more information. Display Settings – Click for more…

Form 6781, Gains and Losses From Section 1256 Contracts and Straddles, is used to report: Any gain or loss on IRC Section 1256 contracts under the mark-to-market rules, and Gains and losses under IRC Section 1092 from straddle positions. A Section 1256 contract is any of the following: A regulated…

Copy Configuration to Disk – The Configuration backup contains all of your firm information, preparer information, fees, and network settings. Two reasons why copying this information to a backup drive can be important and useful: If you have to re-load the program onto a new hard drive or new computer,…