ATOT's Second Annual Tax Time Thread!

[Murpheeee]

My wife and I file jointly, I have a regular job, she is self employed.

This year she had a lot of start up costs and very little income.
Can we deduct her expenses from my income too or only from the income she made for business which expenses were for?

Cheers

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Murpheeee
My wife and I file jointly, I have a regular job, she is self employed.

This year she had a lot of start up costs and very little income.
Can we deduct her expenses from my income too or only from the income she made for business which expenses were for?

Cheers

filing jointly benifits you from supporting her endevors.
Her losses reduce the total joint income that is taxable.

Use the Schedule C and itemize the daylights out of expenses. Break the rubberband

 

[new2AMD]

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: new2AMD

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: new2AMD
Uncle has a penalty if you underwithhold your taxes. You need to have paid via W2 or estimated payments 90% of what is owed for the tax year.
There are some exemptions to having to pay the penalty.
One purpose is to prevent people from not paying any withholding during the year and then sending in a single check in April.
Uncle needs the funds coming in all the time to pay his bills.

I paid them via w2 withholdings. They just werent enough. So I owed after doing my return last year. Just like this year. I underpaid (or withheld) by $200.

 

[archcommus]

Figures. Went to fax my e-signature form to the number specified and my fax got no reply. Thank you Pennsylvania!

 

[xochi]

I bought a pre-owned home in November 2004, and sold my existing home in December 2004. My questions concerns property taxes, (Texas).

I may be wrong but i beleive i will get back some if not all of my escrow money for the property taxes on the home i sold in December, and i beleive i have already prepaid the taxes for the new house i bought in November and it was part of the closing costs.

my question is what property taxes do i claim as a deduction on this years return the old house or the new? or both

thanks

 

[Caminetto]

Hi,
I gave another party a land contract on a property 2 weeks after I bought it. Basically one of the terms was that they could buy it in 3 years for the $75,000 I paid, which they did this year. My question is will I still have to file a schedule D even if there was no profit or loss on the sale. (BTW, I fully reported income received from the other party on each year?s return).

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: xochi
I bought a pre-owned home in November 2004, and sold my existing home in December 2004. My questions concerns property taxes, (Texas).

I may be wrong but i beleive i will get back some if not all of my escrow money for the property taxes on the home i sold in December, and i beleive i have already prepaid the taxes for the new house i bought in November and it was part of the closing costs.

my question is what property taxes do i claim as a deduction on this years return the old house or the new? or both

thanks

Property taxes are usually paid in advance of the year they are due.

You loan company should provide you with a 1099 showing the interest and property taxes paid for 2004.

The closing statement will show what property taxes were paid by the you buyer in 2004.
The closing statement for your new purchase will also show what taxes you are pre-paying.

Take the pre-paid 2004, less the buyers 2004, plus your new 2004, and there you have it (with respect to the Federal taxes). Then get all the additonal deductable closing costs on the new house from the closing statement and have fun.

 

[babanewbie]

is it possible to use any wedding expenses on our taxs

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: babanewbie
is it possible to use any wedding expenses on our taxs

Not unless it was business related. And then it would be strecthing it if Uncle was invited.

 

[Argo]

HELP!!!

Can somebody help me. I jumped the gun with my return this year and e-filed (using TurboTax) before I received one last form. Well, I quickly went to TurboTax and created an amended return but it won't let me e-file - says I have to mail it in. I printed out the return (it printed form 1040X + 1040) but now I have no idea what to do with them. Do I mail both of them to IRS? Do I still nee to included my W2s with that? What about all the other forms (1099-INT, 1099-B) do I include those as well (copies? originals?). Do I need to include some instructions as well? Keep in mind I've already e-filed.

Is there a phone number with IRS I can call to get those questions answers?

Edit: I think I got the idea. I'm supposed to mail 1040X + original 1040 + W2. Let's see how this works out.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Argo
HELP!!!

Can somebody help me. I jumped the gun with my return this year and e-filed (using TurboTax) before I received one last form. Well, I quickly went to TurboTax and created an amended return but it won't let me e-file - says I have to mail it in. I printed out the return (it printed form 1040X + 1040) but now I have no idea what to do with them. Do I mail both of them to IRS? Do I still nee to included my W2s with that? What about all the other forms (1099-INT, 1099-B) do I include those as well (copies? originals?). Do I need to include some instructions as well? Keep in mind I've already e-filed.

Is there a phone number with IRS I can call to get those questions answers?

Edit: I think I got the idea. I'm supposed to mail 1040X + original 1040 + W2. Let's see how this works out.

When you stop and smell the

, little problems get smaller; big problems become managable.

 

[Argo]

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: Argo
HELP!!!

Can somebody help me. I jumped the gun with my return this year and e-filed (using TurboTax) before I received one last form. Well, I quickly went to TurboTax and created an amended return but it won't let me e-file - says I have to mail it in. I printed out the return (it printed form 1040X + 1040) but now I have no idea what to do with them. Do I mail both of them to IRS? Do I still nee to included my W2s with that? What about all the other forms (1099-INT, 1099-B) do I include those as well (copies? originals?). Do I need to include some instructions as well? Keep in mind I've already e-filed.

Is there a phone number with IRS I can call to get those questions answers?

Edit: I think I got the idea. I'm supposed to mail 1040X + original 1040 + W2. Let's see how this works out.

When you stop and smell the

, little problems get smaller; big problems become managable.

You want to know the kicker? The new return ends up netting me $25 extra. For all I care IRS should keep that - the time I spent on this tonight is worth a lot more to me. I should not file the amended return and see if I get audited

 

[Amdiggidy]

I moved this year in order to take a new job. My previous job, starting in july 2003, had a contract clause which gave me a 10k signing bonus. It also specified that if I moved inside of 48 months I would have to repay the bonus. After taxes I only netted ~7k from the bonus, but then had to pay back all 10k when I moved in April. It cost me ~13k in pretax income to pay back the bonus. how do I show this on my taxes? I showed the 10k as income on my 2003 return, and paid taxes on it. Can I reclaim any of this, or discount as income the money required to pay it back this year?

Thanks in advance for the solution to this gordian knot.

 

[pyonir]

I sold some stock this year and received a 1099-B. The total is 75.03. I didn't see anything for a 1099-B on the 1040A form. Do i need to file a regular 1040? Do I even need to worry about it? Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

Thanks guys.

 

[b0mbrman]

Just e-filed and have a good-sized refund on the way. Thanks for all the help, EagleKeeper

 

[Argo]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I sold some stock this year and received a 1099-B. The total is 75.03. I didn't see anything for a 1099-B on the 1040A form. Do i need to file a regular 1040? Do I even need to worry about it? Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

Thanks guys.

Yes - you need to fill schedule D. I just had to go through that.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Argo

Originally posted by: pyonir
I sold some stock this year and received a 1099-B. The total is 75.03. I didn't see anything for a 1099-B on the 1040A form. Do i need to file a regular 1040? Do I even need to worry about it? Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

Thanks guys.

Yes - you need to fill schedule D. I just had to go through that.

Dammit. Thanks Argo.

 

[pyonir]

One other question...can i file as head of household, if i'm single, no kids, and live in an apartment?

 

[Argo]

Originally posted by: pyonir
One other question...can i file as head of household, if i'm single, no kids, and live in an apartment?

Pretty sure you cannot, but don't quote me on this.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: pyonir
One other question...can i file as head of household, if i'm single, no kids, and live in an apartment?

Only if you can get a SS# for your pet.

 

[Yaotl]

My wife got her 1098-T as a grad student. Where do I enter the amount in Box 2? Do I just put it into the Lifetime Learning Credit or the Tuition and Fees Deduction? I was using the H&R Block website and putting it into the LLC gave me a refund of over $1,000 which doesn't seem right at all.

 

[awal]

I received a 1098-T for a class I took last summer. I have already filed my taxes, the direct deposit should be going in tomorrow. Can I hang on to the 1098-T until next year and file it then or do I have to file an amended form?

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Yaotl
My wife got her 1098-T as a grad student. Where do I enter the amount in Box 2? Do I just put it into the Lifetime Learning Credit or the Tuition and Fees Deduction? I was using the H&R Block website and putting it into the LLC gave me a refund of over $1,000 which doesn't seem right at all.

The LLC will provide a credit against tax owed of 20% of the expenses.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: adrianwalters
I received a 1098-T for a class I took last summer. I have already filed my taxes, the direct deposit should be going in tomorrow. Can I hang on to the 1098-T until next year and file it then or do I have to file an amended form?

1040X. Can not roll over those type of expenses.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Amdiggidy
I moved this year in order to take a new job. My previous job, starting in july 2003, had a contract clause which gave me a 10k signing bonus. It also specified that if I moved inside of 48 months I would have to repay the bonus. After taxes I only netted ~7k from the bonus, but then had to pay back all 10k when I moved in April. It cost me ~13k in pretax income to pay back the bonus. how do I show this on my taxes? I showed the 10k as income on my 2003 return, and paid taxes on it. Can I reclaim any of this, or discount as income the money required to pay it back this year?

Thanks in advance for the solution to this gordian knot.

This took work but here you go.

IR - FAQ - Pub 525
Look under repayments

Repayments
If you had to repay an amount that you included in your income in an earlier year, you may be able to deduct the amount repaid from your income for the year in which you repaid it. Or, if the amount you repaid is more than $3,000, you may be able to take a credit against your tax for the year in which you repaid it. Generally, you can claim a deduction or credit only if the repayment qualifies as an expense or loss incurred in your trade or business or in a for-profit transaction.

Type of deduction. The type of deduction you are allowed in the year of repayment depends on the type of income you included in the earlier year. You generally deduct the repayment on the same form or schedule on which you previously reported it as income. For example, if you reported it as self-employment income, deduct it as a business expense on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) or Schedule F (Form 1040). If you reported it as a capital gain, deduct it as a capital loss on Schedule D (Form 1040). If you reported it as wages, unemployment compensation, or other nonbusiness income, deduct it as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040).

Repayment over $3,000. If the amount you repaid was more than $3,000, you can deduct the repayment (as explained earlier under Type of deduction). However, you can choose instead to take a tax credit for the year of repayment if you included the income under a claim of right. This means that at the time you included the income, it appeared that you had an unrestricted right to it. If you qualify for this choice, figure your tax under both methods and compare the results. Use the method (deduction or credit) that results in less tax.

Method 1. Figure your tax for 2004 claiming a deduction for the repaid amount. If you must deduct it as a miscellaneous itemized deduction, enter it on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 27.

Method 2. Figure your tax for 2004 claiming a credit for the repaid amount. Follow these steps.

1. Figure your tax for 2004 without deducting the repaid amount.
   
   Refigure your tax from the earlier year without including in income the amount you repaid in 2004.
   
   Subtract the tax in (2) from the tax shown on your return for the earlier year. This is the credit.
   
   Subtract the answer in (3) from the tax for 2004 figured without the deduction (step 1).

If method 1 results in less tax, deduct the amount repaid. If method 2 results in less tax, claim the credit for the amount figured in (4) above on Form 1040, line 69, and enter ?I.R.C. 1341? next to line 69.