Can u help? Disabled w/no work/taxes since 2012. Own home in foreclosure but reopen v-rental. 2020= Covid

[rkljr65]

Need help filing 2020, w/no income except small disability. But need tax pro to help prepare

[DianeW777]

Yes.  It would be important for you to file in 2020 so that you get y our stimulus payments.  They were to be reconciled on the 2020 tax return and it is possible depending on your situation that you did receive them in 2020 from the IRS. TurboTax will walk you through this under the Federal Review tab at the top.

It sounds like you are opening a vacation rental that you may have had on a tax return previously.  If that is the case then you should be prepared with the following information.

• Days rented and days used for personal purposes
• Cost used originally (total and the separate amount for land, if applicable)
• Date placed in service in 2020 and date of purchase
• Rental Income
• Rental expenses
• May need the depreciation amount in full that has been used on past returns

The foreclosure sounds like it may be something that will be recorded on the 2021 tax return since you are currently 'in' the process.

1. Once you have all of your information you can begin entering the information yourself and ask questions here as you go. One of our experts will be happy to answer.
2. If you feel like you would like a Live expert click this link for more information. They are ready to help you. Use the link below to begin the process and set up an appointment.
   •   "Live Tax Advice"

[rkljr65]

Thanks so much for getting back with me. I actually spoke with someone @ /a live representative today. She seems to think I need to sign up for the "Live Full Service Premier" given how complicated my situation is with my disability, (of which I think/hope I may be ready to/or hoping to get back to working again). That along with both parents passed away in 2020, and they named me as personal representative and the only other beneficiary being my sister (who unfortunately they did not trust her Y maybe more so her husband, to manage the Will & Estate.So they set up a Trust where aside from a few particular things they left for me, everthing is to be divided right down the middle, yet it is to all be kept in a trust that I will manage and essentially keep it exactly as my parents have done...as they've done extremely well. I was originally set to reopen "The Chalet" vacation rental in January 2019, but my parents health issues were deteriorating pretty rapidly, so I essentially had to put my life on hold & take care of them as much as I could. My aunt passed away from cancer around 2015. She had left my sister and I some inheritance, which I used to renovate the so much needed repairs to the lake house vacation rental...to the tune of about $150k! So I pushed back the reopening to January/February 2020. Then we all know what happened with Covid, and as if not bad enough my Mom suffered a blood clot to her brain...so I had no choice but to just let the house sit the entire year of 2020. The state of NC shut down all vacation rentals, at least in Charlotte, NC where my house is located, or be fined and even prosecuted! My mom was airlifted to Greenville SC's St Francis hospital where a neurosurgeon performed emergency surgery to unblock the fow of blood to her brain. It was touch and go for a while...but she began to start getting better. However this was all in the middle of the pandemic crises, and the hospitals were literally overrun. And the only time you could visit your loved ones was very limited...which was I'm sure very terrifying for my Mom essentially coming out of a short coma, and rarely having her family around. And over time she began to get weaker, she also had a bad heart...eventually she just seemed to give up, and soon after died. My Dad took it extremely hard, he was 85 and in very poor health condition, with a plethora of heart issues, diabetic and just recently losing the use of one lung, so he had to be on oxygen 24/7. We all feared he wasn't going to last long after Mom died, and it's all he talked about daily was how he should have gone 1st. Then just 2-3 months after om died...we lost Dad to of all things, the one thing he feared the most...Covid! That was in November, and honestly I didn't know or gfeel as if I could survive losing both my Mother and Father in such a short span of time. Now I am faced with so many complicated decisions and they  entrusted me to manage their estate...as well as a Trust they set up for myself & my sister. I had zero income for 2020 (or since 2012 for that matter) aside from my approximately $1200 per month disability, which after they take out what I beleive is taxes and Medicare comes to about $859.00? I signed up for something when I first was designated disabled...it was an option to allow them to I believe take care of my income taxes for me? So anyway, I've not filed in years. But I thought it might be best to go ahead and file for 2020...knowing that for 2021...things are about to drastically change! I desperately need help in how to handle the money, IRA accounts and stocks etc. Ther's also real estate involved..in all I'd say worth about 1 million dollars? Being that I am legally disabled...makes all the rules etc so very different than say for my sister. For example right now I have my share of one of  Dad's IRAs that was to be distributed Upon death to the beneficiaries. So my sister has already taken hers and I believe (or hope) she opened an IRA so as not to be fined and pay taxes) But for me I have not touched it...not knowing what I should do. I could surely use that $127k to complete the renovation on my house...and I could literally reopen it in 2 months max...and the bank is more than willing to work with me on the foreclosure..once they see everything's back in motion. But I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone,m about what I should or should not do with that $127k IRA money? One suggestion was that I should just roll that into my own IRA like my father, just let it sit. Because they said unlike most people...because I am disabled, I'm not subject to taking all the distributions over (5?) years...that because I'm disabled I can extend that out indefinitely? My Dad also has a Fidelity account with another IRA...but the other is a TOD. So I was told to just take the TOD money, and it would not only not be considered income...there's also no penalty? Anyway...It's all so confusing, and I'm finding it hard to trust people involved, even the attorney who's handling the Estate & Trust. Seems people are more concerned how they can milk more money from this than to help me and my sister make this amazing gift we've been left...last perhaps for the rest of our lifes? Anyway, Thanks for answering my question. If you have any suggestions I am all ears...I could use at least 1 person on my side! Thanks and have a great day. Sincerely, Robby

[DianeW777]

First let's address what your options are for the inherited IRA.

If you inherit a traditional IRA, you are called a beneficiary. A beneficiary can be any person or entity the owner chooses to receive the benefits of the IRA after he or she dies. Beneficiaries of a traditional IRA must include in their gross income any taxable distributions they receive.

Inherited from someone other than spouse. 

1. If you inherit a traditional IRA from anyone other than your deceased spouse, you can't treat the inherited IRA as your own. This means that you can't make any contributions to the IRA. It also means you can't roll over any amounts into or out of the inherited IRA.
2. However, you can make a trustee-to-trustee transfer as long as the IRA into which amounts are being moved is set up and maintained in the name of the deceased IRA owner for the benefit of you as beneficiary.
3. Like the original owner, you generally won't owe tax on the assets in the IRA until you receive distributions from it. You must begin receiving distributions from the IRA under the rules for distributions that apply to beneficiaries.

Distribution Requirements:

• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are mandatory and distributions must begin no later than 12/31 of the year following the year of death. Distributions are spread over the beneficiary's single life expectancy.

For an inherited IRA received from a decedent who passed away after December 31, 2019:

Generally, a designated beneficiary is required to liquidate the account by the end of the 10th year following the year of death of the IRA owner (this is known as the 10-year rule). During the 10-year period, the beneficiary may take distributions of any amount at any frequency.

• There are exceptions for certain eligible designated beneficiaries, defined by the IRS, as someone who is disabled.
  • IRS Definition of Disabled:  A person is permanently and totally disabled if both of the following apply.

    • He or she can't engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition.

    • A physician determines that the disability has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death.

This is some of the initial information about what you can do with your inherited IRA.  Any distribution will be taxable, but you must decide when to take it.  

These are important decisions you face and a local attorney who specializes in estates should be contacted for advice so that you are educated on the best choices overall for your property, your IRA and whether you should spend the money on the vacation rental at this time.

And then you can contact us for "Live Tax Advice for your 2021 tax return.