ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book was first conceived by the original editor Donya Dickerson, who called me out of the blue. Michele R. Wells initiated the second update, then went off to the world of pictures at Penguin. Mary Therese Church brought that edition to fruition. This third edition was nurtured by Cheryl Ringer, as a newly minted full-fledged editor. She has been a spot of sunshine.

When it comes to taxes, nothing happens in a vacuum. It’s impossible for any one person to know it all. TaxMama relies on many people to keep me in the loop. Key among them are the hardworking public relations firms for all the top tax software, tax preparation, and publishing companies. They are generous with information, resources, and experts, often on a moment’s notice. You make my job look easy.

I want to thank the entire family at TaxMama.com and Team TaxMama and the students at my enrolled agent school IRSExams.School. Everyone who asks a question, or answers it, contributes to experiences that shaped this book. All my friends on the Internet, around the world, in a variety of fields tell me their stories, help me build and improve my websites, and become the source of stories and cases you’re about to enjoy.

I’d like to thank Steven Kerch and Andrea Coombes, two special people from Dow Jones www.MarketWatch.com, who, with their great patience and despite my pushing deadlines, have helped me shape my writing skills. And, all the editors since then who have been patient and kind, and who all stood by me as I battled cancer.

My thanks also go to Roger B. Adams, an enrolled agent in Lisbon, Portugal, who has become my international tax expert, an instructor at TaxMama’s EA Exam Review Course, and my very dear friend. He’s an excellent sounding board for all kinds of tax strategies. And Jean Mammen, EA, author of the definitive book for taxpayers with international tax issues—http://iTaxMama.com/1040NR_Book. You can find Jean dispensing wisdom and generous advice at TaxMama.com to visa-holders, taxpayers with foreign spouses, resident aliens living in the United States, and Americans working overseas.

Thanks to the wealth of talented, passionate tax professionals who have been part of my advisory team for the past decades—Michael Rozbruch, CPA; Larry Lawler, CPA; L. G. Brooks, EA; Jamie Buchwald, CPA; Irinia Bobrova, EA; David Stone, EA; Bruce Drooks, JD; Mel Kreger, EA/LLM; Doug Thorburn, EA; Kris Hix, EA; Sharoj Sharma, EA; Galina Metelitsa, EA; Rita Lewis, EA; Fred Daily, tax attorney; David L. Mellem, EA; Tom Blair, EA; Linda Dorfmont, EA; Jim Banks, EA; Jan Zobel, EA; Yorda Kidane, EA; “Uncle” Bill Porter, EA; Mike Reed, EA; especially Susan Holtgrefe, EA who mentors my EA students, and countless others who inspire me or bring me laughter each day.

Thanks to Robert Kerr and the special teams of folks at the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) and the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) who advocate tirelessly for enrolled agents’ rights and to make the income system more helpful to taxpayers—and who provide the enrolled agents who create the questions for the Special Enrollment Examination (also known as the EA Exam).

I especially want to thank all the folks at the IRS and the Taxpayers Advocate Service who are always so generous to me with their time and humor—both personally and on the job. My gratitude also goes to the team at the Los Angeles Stakeholder Liaison teams who work long hours to keep people informed, fix errors when we find them, and do it all with grace and good spirit. Thanks also to those special, dedicated folks at the IRS who actually go out of their way to help complete strangers solve their problems. They prove that a tax system can be administered fairly.