The Tax Questions Blog

Archive for February, 2009

Question: Do I have to pay a fee if I file an amended California tax return, other than what i'm paying the preparer?

Answer: That depends on how much you made last year...

Sabrix's sale revisited: Setting the stage for growth

Silicon Forest Blog: Sabrix raised more than $50 million in investment before its sale to Thomson Reuters last fall.

The Alex Jones Show LIVE - April 1st 2009 - Part 6 of 11

New Year is the time for all of us to forget past grudges and start afresh. It is the time to take resolutions that we will not repeat past mistakes. It is the time to realize the true worth of our loved ones. And eventually, it is the time to feel and celebrate the presence of the people who love, care and live for us. That's the reason we call it-a NEW YEAR! Like every year, New Year 2010 celebration will be a major celebration worldwide. New year 2010 will signify new hope, new aspirations and new beginning and in the middle of that eagerness and hope we would love to go through the New Year calendar 2010.

The things we first search in a new year calendar are usually common to everyone. Most of us would first check out the days of birth dates, anniversaries or special days of ourselves and loved ones as well. The second most important to look through the Calendar 2010 is the days on which holidays fall and when we can opt for a long weekend to plan something exciting maybe a short vacation with families and friends. A calendar is encapsulated with days, weeks and months of a year organized in a systematic pattern to enable one to keep a track of the occasions and events.2010 calendar has mentioned all the holidays and occasions that you could celebrate with your friends, family and special people in your life. Upcoming year 2010 will start from Friday. The start of new year 2010 will fall on Friday and end on Friday too. This New Year day is celebrated as a holiday in several countries across the world. The 2010 calendar is available in several formats; online, printable, table calendar and also the ones that you could hang on the wall.

Gone are the days when people used to buy calendars from the market and struggle within the pages of that calendar to get the dates they are searching for. Now various sites online displays array of distinct and fabulous looking online calendars. You just need to surf the net and flip through the pages to select an online calendar of your choice. Using Free 2010 online calendars, you will be able to mark and highlight important dates and schedule your daily or weekly or monthly routines as well and make notes of appointments and checkups, meetings with doctors, school counselors and so on. You can also place your 2010 online Calendar on desktop or even get it printed to placed on your notice board may be at our work desk or at home in the form of printable calendar.
Various sites have posted 2010 calendar online. One can easily download the calendar or take its print for further reference as printable calendar.

NH raising employer contributions to trust fund

Associated Press - January 2, 2010 9:05 AM ET CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - New Hampshire employers will be paying more over the next three years into a fund that pays unemployment benefits.

Eden Prairie school district employees agree to wage freeze

Question: An attorney told me that being put on a deed as joint tennant is not a taxable event.?

IF someone puts you on title as a Joint Tennant with rights of survivorship, can it not be a gift. Subject to gift tax?
And is survivorship and the assuption of the whole tennancy (ownership) taxable, or is estate tax avoidable??

Answer: That depends on who is being put on the deed, what the value of the property is and other factors.

First if a spouse puts his/her spouse on the deed then it is a fully exempt transfer for Gift Tax Purposes and there will be no tax.

Second the IRS allows each person a lifetime exemption for Gift Tax Purposes of 1 million dollars. Thus if the person who is now owner of the property never made a gift in his/her life before, and the property being transfered is less than $1million in value, then there will also not be a tax. However, if the transfer is of greater value than $12,000 (the annual gift tax exemption) then a Gift Tax Return must be prepared by your accountant or attorney to report the transfer (so the IRS can track how much of the $1million lifetime exemption you have used).

Also, depending on your jurisdiction you will possibly have to pay a transfer tax (my area has a 1% local and 1% county tax). There also are exemptions for this tax as well (most family transfers are exempt from transfer tax). However, these are local rules and each state is different.

As for the estate tax, there is currently a $2million estate tax exemption at the Federal Level (which climbs to 3.5 million by 2009, is unlimited in 2010, and drops back to 1million in 2011(assuming congress doesn't revise)). Thus if the entire amount of assets being transfered is under the exemption there will not be any tax here either. Thus, it depends.

These are fairly comples tax issues which you should consult a professional in your state for answers to. Please don't try and do this type of transfer yourself. I hope this helps.

Rish dishes on Chili at Rotary Club

No descr No descr   Diane Rish, 2008 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to Chile from District 5510, enthralled the Rotary Club of Sierra Vista during the noon meeting on Dec. 28, 2009, with her descriptions of her activities in Chile and her accompanying PowerPoint presentation. read more

Roskam: Death should not be a taxable event

Question: Will his ex-wife end up with the tax rebate in July?

My husbands ex-wife received an increase in child support last year. By the time the state made a decision on this it was a year later but they go back to the date of the original petition so when the decision was made my husband was in arrears of $5000 when he had never been late with a payment before. For 2007 taxes we owe around $1400. When we receive the tax rebates that are to come out in July, will those automatically be applied to the child support debt or to the tax debt? I understand that if there was a tax refund it would be applied to the child support debt. I could file an injured spouse claim form for my part of a refund (if there was one) but would an injured spouse claim form also apply to the rebates and the amount that was applied to child support vs. the tax bill?

Answer: The rebate isn't law yet so there's no possible way to say how it will be treated. Congress could include an exemption from capture on it, but don't bet on that. They would have to explain to their constituents why they bypassed needy children waiting on late child support. That would be a HUGELY bitter pill to swallow politically.

Dust-up at The Washington Post

This weekend the Internet was all a-twitter over a piece that The Washington Post ran right before New Year’s, headlined: “Support grows for tackling nation’s debt.”

Offer in Compromise Doubt as to Liability

First of all I want to wish you all Marry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Everyone loves Christmas and the feeling that is around holidays but we also know that during this period is a good time to buy gifts for the people we love the most and for our friends. This can be a easy task if you know exactly what to look for and what to buy, but if you are among those who do not know what to buy for 2009 Christmas, or for any occasions then you are familiar with the so-called phenomenon "Shopping Fever".

What is "shopping fever"?

Ok, let's say that you are a very busy person and don't have the time to go to the mall and shops to buy gifts, and 2009 Christmas approaches and you still don't know what to buy and maybe you hate shopping because you think that is a waste of time, and maybe it is but many people loves to shop. Time is passing and you will start to panic and you will buy all kind of gifts for 2009 Christmas that maybe aren't the best choice.

So, what to do, what gifts to buy, from where to buy them, where is the best and cheapest and most important secure place to find whatever you need? These are a few questions that you probably have in mind.

2009 Christmas is almost here and many people have this problem and for many is a big problem. I think that this a problem that needs solving and in my opinion, if you are stressed by time or any other problem, the best place to buy gifts for 2009 Christmas is online.

You will have to be careful and to do some research before buying anything because not all sites are good sites and trustful and you may be robbed of your money and time. I know, research needs time that many people don't have, but...

To solve this problem and to help you, I thought that it will be useful to make some research, because I have the time and what I came up is a very nice site that has some suggestions and tips on what is new and hot for 2009 Christmas.

You don't even need to buy any of that products but it will give you a good idea what gifts you may what to buy and see what people are buying for 2009 Christmas.

Local GIS Tidbits

Brentwood, TN is facing a challenge many municipalities are: cell phones replacing landlines. The challenge for public safety staff is how to contact those without landlines when a neighborhood situation (utility outage, crime, lost child, etc) pops up.