Archive for Income Tax

What Has Jeeves Got To Do With Taxes?

If you know Jeeves, he is the fictional character in the series of humorous (read rib-tickling funny) short stories by P.G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is a very, very capable valet who gets his employer, Wooster out of many a sticky situation.

My father introduced me to P.G.Wodehouse’s books and there was no turning me back after that. The brilliant comic genius’ writing has kept me enthralled through long train rides, boring summer afternoons, quick breaks in the midst of grueling exams, you get the drift!

Now we may not all be able to afford a Jeeves in our lives, but a very common trend these days is to hire a nanny or an “au pair” if one has small gifts. Considering the sky-rocketing Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • Small Business • Tax Provision/Tax Reporting

Choosing The Correct Filing Status – Qualifying Widow/Widower With Dependent Child (QW)

Surviving spouses receive the same standard deduction and tax rates as taxpayers who are filing Married Filing Jointly. In the year of your spouse’s death, if you do not remarry, you can file a joint return with your deceased spouse. For the following two years, you can use the Qualifying Widow/Widower with Dependent Child filing status, if you have a dependent child living with you. After two years, if you have not remarried, you must change your filing status to either Single or Head of Household, depending on your circumstances.

You can consider the Qualifying Widow(er) filing status if you are a widow(er) and:

• You could have filed a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died.
• Your spouse died in either of the two tax years preceding this current year. Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual

Choosing the Correct Filing Status – Married Filing Separately (MFS)

If you are married and decide not to file a joint return with your spouse, you must file Married Filing Separately.

There is, however, one exception to this rule: A married taxpayer can be considered unmarried by law, if he/she maintains a household for a child, and the spouse was not a member of the household for the last six months of the taxable year. Such a taxpayer would not be required to file MFS, but will be able to file as Head of Household.

Although filing a joint return generally produces lower taxes, the opposite is sometimes the case, and to maximize the tax advantage in such circumstances, married couples may decide to file separately for a particular year. Married taxpayers, therefore, have the Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual

Choosing The Correct Filing Status – Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)

Marital status is decided based on a person’s marital status on December 31. If a couple is married on December 31 of the tax year; that couple may file a joint return for the year, regardless of when in the year they got married. Consequently, you can file Married Filing Jointly if you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests:

• You are married and living together as husband and wife, on the last day of the tax year.
• You are married on the last day of the tax year and living apart, but are not legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
• Your spouse died during the year and you did not remarry during the year.
• You are living together in a common law union that is recognized by the state where you live, or in the state where the common law union began. Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • IRS • Tax Tips

Choosing the Correct Filing Status – Single

Choosing the correct filing status is very important, and is really the first step that you take in ensuring that you will end up with an accurately prepared tax return. You are required to file Single if any of the following conditions apply to you:

• You are unmarried on the last day of the tax year.
• You are divorced or legally separated under a separate maintenance decree on the last day of the tax year.
• You are widowed before the first day of the tax year and have not remarried during the tax year.

You normally file Single if you do not qualify for any other filing status, but there are some Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual

The Case Of The Secret Divorce And The Not So Innocent Spouse

Question:

What do a weekend trip to Mexico, a sneaky spouse, and a tax protest letter have in common?

Answer:

They are all components of a taxpayer’s losing plea for tax relief in front of the California State Board of Equalization.*

THE FACTS

Charles and Vickie Sine filed a joint California resident tax return (Form 540) for tax year 2005.  It subsequently came to the attention of the Franchise Tax Board that they had Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • IRS • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

Choosing The Correct Filing Status

An individual’s tax refund or tax liability depends primarily upon two variables: the individual’s filing status and the taxable income.

Choosing the correct filing status, therefore, is very important, and is really the first step that you take in ensuring that you will end up with an accurately prepared tax return. You need to appreciate this, because your filing status determines a number of very important things, such as; filing requirements, tax deductions, tax credits, tax rate, and ultimately, your correct tax refund or tax liability. In general, filing status depends on whether a taxpayer is considered unmarried or married, and this is determined based on your marital on the last day of the tax year. For federal tax purposes, a marriage means only a legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife. The word “spouse” Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • IRS

8 Facts On Late Filing And Payment Penalties

April 15 is the annual deadline for most people to file their federal income tax return and pay any taxes they owe. If, for whatever reason, you missed the deadline you may be assessed penalties for both failing to file a tax return and for failing to pay taxes they owe by the deadline. Here are eight important facts every taxpayer should know about penalties for filing or paying late:

1. Two penalties may apply. A failure-to-file penalty may apply if you did not file by the tax filing deadline. A failure-to-pay penalty may apply if you did not pay all of the taxes you owe by the tax filing deadline.

2. File even if you can’t pay. The failure-to-file penalty is generally more than the failure- Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • IRS

Are You Missing Out On The Earned Income Tax Credit?

The EITC is for people who work but have lower incomes. If you qualify, it could be worth up to $6,242 in 2015. So you could pay less federal tax or even get a refund. The credit is a refundable credit, so you can receive the benefits of the credit even if you do not owe any taxes. That’s money you can use to make a difference in your life.

Even though this credit can be worth thousands of dollars to a low-income family, the IRS estimates as many as 25 percent of people who qualify for the credit do not claim it simply because they don’t understand the criteria.

If you qualify for but failed to claim the credit on your return for 2012, 2013 and/or 2014, you can still claim it for those years by filing an amended return or an original return if you have Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • IRS

How To Account For Social Security And Medicare Tax On Unreported Tip Income

If you work in an industry where it is customary to receive a portion of your income from customer tips, you are required to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on those earnings. However, it is only possible to pay these taxes during the year if you report your tip income to your employer. If you receive cash and charge tips of $20 or more per month from any one job, you are required to report these to your employer. If you did not report all of these tips to your employer, you are required to report and pay the additional Social Security and Medicare taxes that should have been paid on these unreported tips. This you do as follows:

• You must complete Form 4137, Social Security and Medicare Tax on Unreported Tip Income. This form is used to calculate the tax in these unreported tips. Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • Tax Provision/Tax Reporting

What To Do If You Haven’t Filed A Tax Return

Filing a past due return may not be as difficult as you think.

Taxpayers should file all tax returns that are due, regardless of whether full payment can be made with the return. Depending on an individual’s circumstances, a taxpayer filing late may qualify for a payment plan. It is important, however, to know that full payment of taxes upfront saves you money.

Here’s What to Do When Your Return Is Late

Gather Past Due Return Information

Gather return information and contact me via TaxConnections. You should bring any and all information related to income and deductions for the tax years for which a return is Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • IRS • Tax Provision/Tax Reporting

How Long Are You On The Hook For A Tax Assessment?

A frequent question from taxpayers is:

How long does the IRS have to question and assess additional tax on my tax returns?

For most taxpayers who reported all their income, the IRS has three years from the date of filing the returns to examine them. This period is termed the statute of limitations. But wait – as in all things taxes, it is not that clean cut. Here are some complications:

You file before the April due date – If you file before the April due date, the three-year statute of limitations still begins on the April due date. So filing early does not start an earlier running of the statute of limitations. For example, whether you filed your 2014 return on February 15, 2015 or April 15, 2015, the statute did not start running until April 15, 2015. Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Individual • IRS • Tax Provision/Tax Reporting
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