The Tax Questions Blog

Posts Tagged ‘taxes’

Question: Can I open a Roth IRA account for my 5 yr old niece? Can her allowance be claimed as taxable income?

I'd like to get her started early on her retirement.

Answer: Unfortunately you can only open a Roth IRA with "earned income" and allowance does not meet that test. (she isn't expected to pay tax on the money). At that age, her next major expense is likely college. You could start an education IRA on her behalf, or better yet, a 529 plan.

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Deferral and spreading of Roth conversion income not always best.: An article from: Journal of Accountancy $9.95 This digital document is an article from Journal of Accountancy, published by American Institute of CPA's on July 1, 2010. The length of the article is 833 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Deferral and spreading of R...

Taking advantage of the RMD holiday for IRAs.(required minimum distribution): An article from: Journal of Accountancy $9.95 This digital document is an article from Journal of Accountancy, published by American Institute of CPA's on August 1, 2009. The length of the article is 656 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Taking advantage of the R...

Take stock of IRAs to plan retirement

The week leading up to your retirement is busy with farewells. But you look forward to finally being able to settle back, catch your breath and enjoy a life of leisure.

Roth IRA Conversion Analysis

Question: Shortsale-1099 form end of year? who gets taxed?

if i consider doing a short sale on my home. who is paying taxes end of yr? is it me? We owe 400K less than what buyer is offering, who will get taxed? is it true that we will have to pay? please let me know. is forclosing better! whats the benefit of short sale!

note: were still not late on our mortgage, but, there is no way to pay it anymore, its 7k a month, and NO way to refi, and NO way to SELL!

Answer: I'm a bit confused.....if you owe 400K less than what your buyer is willing to pay, while are you contemplating a short sale? Get it closed and funded and walk away with your cash!

If you meant to say that the buyer is offering 400K less than what you owe, I'd say you will definitely need to contact the lender and advise them of your situation. The lender normally will not consider short sale request until after payment is in default for 1-3 months, but contact your lender's "Loss Mitigation" department or "Homeowner Retention" department and start the dialogue. In my state, the lender will almost always order an appraisal of the home too, just to make sure they're getting as much for it as possible.

Regardless, the loss the lender suffers may in fact be considered your gain, even though you essentially walk away with no cash in hand. And while you could theoretically receive a 1099 from the lender, in the last 9 years that I've been doing short sales, not one of my client has ever received one. So, possible yes, likely no.

If you are referring to property taxes...they will be prorated at the closing table with you giving the buyer credit for the portion of the year in which you had ownership (including the day of closing), unless of course you home doesn't close/fund this year in which case you (if you don't escrow taxes in our payment) or your lender (if you do escrow taxes) will make the payment. Of course, if you don't have the funds to pay the ad valorem taxes, the lender will eventually have to pay those too.

Just remember to contact your lender ASAP and be honest with yourself and the lender. They are dealing with these requests by the hundreds so you'll have to be patient

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Cass County: Treasurer tangles with Taylor over taxes

Posted 6 minutes ago at 9:00 pm. CASSOPOLIS – County Treasurer Linda Irwin delivered a forceful four-page rebuttal to the Cass County Board of Commissioners Thursday night about the tax rebate proposal Commissioner David Taylor, D-Edwardsburg, espoused in a letter published May 11 in the Daily News.

Tax Tips & Information : How to File Extra Income Taxes

Question: The IRS audited my deceased dad's estate last year, and looks like they want to audit again. How long?

My dad's revenue streams were converted to trust about 5 years prior to his passing. It has been 5 years since his passing. Last year, we were audited for his estate. There was a finding that there was no revenue. This year, I received a notice that they want to audit for two years.ago They even replaced his first name with Deceased. What kind of government bureaucracy flags a $0 income estate that has been closed (previously proven by IRS audit) Also I am not the executor, nor the recipient of any of the trust money.
Has the IRS gotten that callous and unfeeling that live people are not enough for them? Who was the idiot who changed his first name to Deceased in the IRS records? They spent over $100 Million on new computers and software, yet they can't determine that auditing closed estates over and over is counterproductive? First audit was 7 year audit, recent one is single year, 2005.

Answer: This is just a guess, but I'd say that the trustee didn't properly prepare the trust's tax returns when they were due. If the trust has been wrapped up, a final return should have been filed. That would have put the IRS on notice that there was nothing to go looking for any more and would probably have them off of your back now.

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Harvard’s Faust Gets $822,011 in 2008 as IRS Examines Salary

Harvard University President Drew Faust received $822,011 in salary and benefits in 2008, according to a government filing made as the Internal Revenue Service scrutinizes compensation at about 40 colleges.

How to Avoid an IRS Tax Audit : How to Avoid IRS Audit Flags

Question: How do I figure out tax on profit from sale of condo?

My condo had extensive water damage which my insurance did not cover, and I am thinking about selling it to pay for the damage caused to the neighbor. I have never lived in there before. Do I get any tax break on that?

Answer: I assume the water damage was caused by a defect in your condo and not a natural disaster.

Any payment you make for damage to your neighbor's condo is not tax deductible. The fact that you will use the proceeds of the sale of your condo to pay for the neighbor's damages has no tax consequence. The damage to your condo is not a casualty loss and therefore no tax deduction is possible.

However, your condo is worth less with the damage, and you will pay income tax on the sales price minus your basis.

Your basis is your investment in the property (purchase price plus improvements), minus depreciation if the property was used as a rental. The amount of the gain up to the depreciation allowed or allowable on the property is taxed as ordinary income, and the remaining gain is taxed as capital gains (maximum 15%).

Figure the gain on Schedule D if the property was a personal residence, or Form 4797 if the property was a rental unit.

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Working on economic growth congress tries to figure out where, how to cut taxes. (Capitol Retail Report).: An article from: Do-It-Yourself Retailing $5.95 This digital document is an article from Do-It-Yourself Retailing, published by National Retail Hardware Association on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 891 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citat...

Nick Clegg risks Tory fury with tax pledge and forces Human Rights Act climbdown

The Lib Dem Leader cautioned against any attempt to 'tamper' with the Human Rights Act, which the Tories pledged to scrap in their election manifesto.

Obama: Raise Taxes, Capital Gains - "For Purposes of Fairness"

Question: If you receive workers compensation, will you get a rebate check?

Hello, can anyone tell me how much of a rebate check we will get? My gross income for 2007 was $27,500.00 and my wife received $5,900.00 in workers compensation (non-taxable). I would assume that I would receive $600.00 and my wife nothing or would we fall under "married couple" and receive $1,200.00? Thanks for any info you can give me!!

Answer: If you file a joint tax return it doesn't matter how your income was split. All they look at is income and filing status. You should get the entire amount for a couple.

Exercise of stock options results in taxable income and compensation deduction.: An article from: The Tax Adviser $9.95 This digital document is an article from The Tax Adviser, published by American Institute of CPA's on February 1, 2012. The length of the article is 1033 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Exercise of stock options res...

Deferred compensation: why is it taxable now?(FINANCE): An article from: The Non-profit Times $9.95 This digital document is an article from The Non-profit Times, published by NPT Publishing Group, Inc. on January 1, 2011. The length of the article is 1247 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Deferred compensation: why...

Table 4.B4--percentage of workers with earnings below annual maximum taxable, by sex, selected years 1937-2004.(4.B OASDI: Covered ... An article from: Social Security Bulletin $9.95 This digital document is an article from Social Security Bulletin, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 991 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Tab...

East Lansing to host community budget forum tonight

EAST LANSING - Following two months and more than 40 presentations to residents regarding East Lansing's fiscal challenges, East Lansing City Manager Theodore Staton will wrap up his community outreach with one final community-wide budget forum on Wednesday, April 28.

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