Some recent legal rulings from tax court which involving insider trading profits, deductions from business mileage, excessive borrowing on life insurance policy, and taxpayer fraud.
Archive for Harold Goedde
For this post, I will present some news about tax topics that may affect your current situation: earned income tax credit (EITC), delayed nonresident refunds, and expatriate income tax.
A Health Savings Account—HSA—allows employees covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to take a deduction for Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for contributions to an IRA type account to pay for or to be reimbursed for qualified medical expenses. This article will explain the eligibility rules regarding qualified individuals, limits on contributions and withdrawals, treatment of distributions, reporting contributions and distributions on form 1040 and supporting schedules.
Workman’s compensation for on-the-job injuries is non-taxable if it is to compensate the employee for medical care. But when a person also receives Social Security disability benefits, these benefits can increase the amount of Social Security subject to tax. This article will describe how this interaction occurs and its effect on the amount of taxable Social Security and increase in tax owed.
A ruling by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) creates a significant obstacle to a new type of health care network that the Obama administration has promoted as a way to provide better care at lower cost, at least according industry lawyers and providers. Health care markets are rapidly changing as independent doctors and hospitals race to form networks, otherwise known as accountable care organizations, in which they coordinate care for patients. The doctors and hospitals have financial incentives to keep patients healthy and to control costs, and they can share in the savings if they meet performance goals. The new entities, which now cover more than 28 million people, according to Leavitt Partners, help manage care for Medicare beneficiaries, people with employer-sponsored insurance, and consumers who buy coverage through online marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act.
In order for alimony payments made under pretrial order to be deductible (for Adjusted Gross Income) and taxable to the ex-spouse, the following conditions must be met:
(1) Payments must be made in cash
(2) Payments are received under a divorce or separate maintenance court decree
(3) The divorce or separation agreement does not designate the payment as something other than alimony (for example, a property settlement)
(4) The payer spouse and recipient spouse are not members of the same household at the time the payments are made
(5) There is no requirement to make the payments after the payer or recipient’s death.
The credits for education are based on eligible expenses paid in the current year for academic periods beginning in the current year and/or the first three months of the following year. In a recent case, a student paid tuition of $5,895 in December 2011 for the spring 2012 semester that started February 1.
Mortgage Broker – No Self Employment Tax.
A broker who managed mortgages received a fee when he sold his house used as a personal residence. He reported the commission as self employment income but the IRS said he has to pay self- employment tax on the commission. The Tax Court overruled the IRS stating that the commission was not subject to selfÂemployment tax because the sale relates to a personal transaction [Guarino, TC Sum. Op. 2016Â12].
Deduction Denied for Amounts Paid to Children. Read More
American Opportunity Credit The tax law passed by Congress in December 2015 extended many provisions retroactive to January 1, 2015 and made many of them permanent. Taxpayers who qualify for the deductions and credits but did not take advantage of them on their 2015 return, can file an amended return to use them. They should also be aware of the ones made permanent and use them in preparing future returns.This article discusses the major provisions to help taxpayers save taxes.
NEW DEVELOPMENTSÂ March 2016
Obama Care Penalty Exemptions
For taxpayers who didn’t have health care insurance in 2015, they may be eligible for waiver of the penalty which is $325 person ($162.50 for each child under age 18). Exemptions are for:
(1) taxpayers who can’t afford to pay the premium. This applies if the Read More
(Some information was reported by The Kiplinger Tax Letter (December 2015)
Timing of year-Âend contributions: Contributions made by check are deductible in 2015 if the check is mailed by yearÂ-end. If payment is made by bank credit card, it is deductible in 2015 if the charge is made by yearÂ-end. It doesn’t matter hen the credit card payment is made. If the donation is made with a retail store credit card, the deduction cannot be taken until the card is paid, even though it was charged in
Donations of securities and other property:
This is an excellent way to make a contribution without paying cash. Taxpayers can deduct the fair value of the securities on the date of the gift. Donating appreciated securities Read More
1. Earned income (EITC).
Taxpayers with no children it is $503, with one child $3,359, two qualifying children $5,548, three qualifying children $6,342 but are subject to AGI phaseÂouts. The recent tax law makes permanent the increase of $5,000 in the phaseÂout amount for joint filers scheduled to expire after 2017. The law also makes permanent the increased 45% credit percentage for taxpayers with three or more qualifying children. Under prior law, both increases had been available only through 2017. It also makes permanent the reduced earned income threshold of $3,000. The law makes the following provisions permanent:
(a) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Required. The EITC is denied with respect to any taxable year for which the taxpayer has a TIN that has been issued after the due date for filing the return, including extensions. Read More
Current Articles
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Sales And Use Tax 101 – You Don’t Know What You Don’t KnowSales and use tax compliance can be daunting. Regulations vary by state and jurisdiction making them difficult to navigate, and to make matters even more complex, the rules are ever-changing. For […]
IRS Releases 2023 Data Book Describing Agency’s Transformation Through StatisticsThe Internal Revenue Service today issued its annual Data Book detailing the agency’s activities during fiscal year 2023 (Oct. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023), including revenue collected and tax returns […]
Avoiding Costly Mistakes: Four Essential Tax Concepts For Attorneys And CPAs (Complimentary 1-Hour Webinar Thursday, May 16th)Register For Complimentary Webinar Register Now Even smaller matters might have big traps and significant tax implications – leading to unexpected tax liabilities for your clients and potential […]
Understanding The Alternative Simplified Credit Calculation For R&DThe Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit is a valuable incentive offered by the US government to encourage innovation. However, calculating this credit can involve complex formulas and […]
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