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I've always wondered. My school requires you to purchase a laptop to attend. So can you deduct that?
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Feb 26, 2014 05:55
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urnisme posted:Yes, assuming that you qualified educational expenses exceed your scholarships and grants for each year. You can still go back and amend 2010-2012 to take the education credits for which you qualify. (After April 15 you will no longer be able to amend 2010) Will I have to have receipts for those books? I may have kept some, but not all, I'm certain. I also have a younger sister attending the same university I did. The American Opportunity Credit would be available to her, too, correct? Or is that the other available credit for higher education expenses?
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Feb 26, 2014 06:11
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Rurutia posted:I've always wondered. My school requires you to purchase a laptop to attend. So can you deduct that? As long as it is a mandatory purchase, and not merely strongly recommended, it's a qualified education expense for the American Opportunity Credit (but you probably hit the upper limit on expenses anyways). For the Lifetime Learning Credit, only if you were required to buy it from the school itself.
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Feb 26, 2014 09:55
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Lawnie posted:Will I have to have receipts for those books? I may have kept some, but not all, I'm certain. You should have some documentation of what you spent on the books, but you won't have to show it unless the IRS asks. Education credits are available separately for each student, so yes, the American Opportunity Credit would be available for your sister if she meets the requirements. But, if someone claims her as a dependent, they get to take her education credit. So she should coordinate with your parents/whoever if she can still be claimed as a dependent.
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Feb 28, 2014 03:00
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How can I figure out if I need to fill out a Schedule D form for my capital gains? The IRS instructions for that form keep pointing to a bunch of other forms that I haven't used and I can't figure it out.
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Mar 1, 2014 20:20
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Xandu posted:How can I figure out if I need to fill out a Schedule D form for my capital gains? The IRS instructions for that form keep pointing to a bunch of other forms that I haven't used and I can't figure it out. If you sold stock, you need schedule D. If you just have capital gains from mutual fund distributions, you might not need to use schedule D. If in doubt, fill it out.
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Mar 1, 2014 21:34
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Can someone explain how in the world it's possible that (according to TurboTax) I owe a bunch of money to the state even though I'm getting a somewhat bigger bunch of money back from the feds? I'm a NYC resident. 97.5% of my income came from my W-2 job (the rest came from dividends, capital gains, and a tiny bit of Schedule C business income). I claimed zero state allowances on my W-4, so underwithholding cannot be the culprit. My AGI is ever so slightly higher in the eyes of the state than it is in the eyes of the IRS, but this alone does not account for the difference (my balance due to the state is much greater than the difference in AGI). Is there something obvious I'm missing that could explain this? EDIT: OK, looks like TurboTax has decided I should take itemized deductions for the federal return but only the standard deduction for the state return—presumably because some federal deductions don't apply at the state level? I guess that could explain it, but it doesn't seem like enough. Plus, weirdly, I did slightly overpay on my NYC (local) taxes; it's only at the state level that I somehow owe money. Actie fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Mar 2, 2014 |
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Mar 2, 2014 01:04
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In my experience, NYS seems to almost always under-withhold, regardless of your claimed exemptions.
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Mar 2, 2014 01:54
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Actie posted:Can someone explain how in the world it's possible that (according to TurboTax) I owe a bunch of money to the state even though I'm getting a somewhat bigger bunch of money back from the feds? Did you work outside of NY at all? New York does this annoying thing where it takes ALL your income and then attributes based on days worked in state as the taxable in NY income. I poo poo my pants when I saw my W2 listing all my income for NY when I worked there for four days last year. Until I filled the form out
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Mar 2, 2014 02:27
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It's not at all unusual for your state AGI (and thus tax burden compared to withholding) to be much higher than your federal AGI. There are tons of deductions that only effect your federal AGI. For example, I'm not sure about NY, but in some states 401k contributions are still subject to tax.
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Mar 2, 2014 04:47
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Actie posted:Can someone explain how in the world it's possible that (according to TurboTax) I owe a bunch of money to the state even though I'm getting a somewhat bigger bunch of money back from the feds? NY withholding charts are pretty bullshit, if you overstate your exemptions even the slightest you should expect to owe. I practice out on Long Island and people owing to the State when they're getting refunds from the IRS is something I see everyday. Depending on the size of your Schedule C income that could be the culprit, particularly if it's kicking you up into a higher bracket. The bottom line is probably just that NYS is a dick. The standard vs itemized deduction thing is probably correct though, since state taxes are obviously not included in NYS itemized deductions.
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Mar 2, 2014 06:17
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So, my employer paid my income taxes to Colorado for 2013, even though I lived in GA. How hosed am I and how do I fix this?
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Mar 2, 2014 13:16
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Epi Lepi posted:NY withholding charts are pretty bullshit, if you overstate your exemptions even the slightest you should expect to owe. I practice out on Long Island and people owing to the State when they're getting refunds from the IRS is something I see everyday. Depending on the size of your Schedule C income that could be the culprit, particularly if it's kicking you up into a higher bracket. The bottom line is probably just that NYS is a dick. The standard vs itemized deduction thing is probably correct though, since state taxes are obviously not included in NYS itemized deductions. Yeah, it must be a combination of the lower deduction (because I can't itemize certain things for NYS that I can for the IRS) and of the very small portion of my income that's not W-2 wages. It's totally crazy, though, that I can take zero exemptions and still owe the state a bunch of money—I guess NYS withholding doesn't leave any leeway. Bah.
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Mar 2, 2014 16:37
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Akion posted:So, my employer paid my income taxes to Colorado for 2013, even though I lived in GA. You file Colorado to get your refund now to pay your GA taxes later.
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Mar 2, 2014 17:02
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AbbiTheDog posted:You file Colorado to get your refund now to pay your GA taxes later. Just file Colorado as a $0 income and $XXXX taxes paid? Won't that get me audited or something?
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Mar 2, 2014 17:20
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Akion posted:Just file Colorado as a $0 income and $XXXX taxes paid? Won't that get me audited or something? Nope!
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Mar 2, 2014 17:38
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Reminder that, in NYS, they decouple from the IRS by adding back Section 125 cafeteria plans so you have to add back any Federal exclusions (under Section 125) of health insurance, FSAs, etc., which is probably also a pretty big source of the discrepancy (I know that's why I always have a Federal refund and NYS balance due).
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Mar 2, 2014 19:53
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What's a good way to estimate taxes for a contractor? I just picked up a new contracting (-to-hire) gig, and the last time I contracted I was a dependent. Back then, my effective tax rate was on the order of 30%. I know about the ~15% self employment tax, is there something else I should prepare for?
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Mar 3, 2014 02:59
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I just set up an LLC in Colorado to hold some investments. I'm the only member of the LLC. I need to set up a separate checking account before I start acquiring assets, so there's nothing in the company yet, but the clock's ticking on some opportunities. My question is: Do I need to get a separate TIN for the LLC, or can I use my own SSN for opening the checking account? (I'm scheduling an appointment with an accountant, but it's taking some time, considering it's y'all's busy season.)
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Mar 3, 2014 03:20
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Decided to take the baby step of finishing my taxes before April this year, so over the weekend I took stock of where I stand on the matter. 2013 was kind of weird for me though: from January to mid-June I was living in Indiana as a grad student, then moved to Illinois and was unemployed until I found a job at the end of September. I have all the paperwork for it, do you tax-savvy folks foresee any headaches or pitfalls besides having to file two different state returns? I've never been unemployed in the time I've had to do my own taxes, is that going to be a strike against me? I'm also trying to figure out my AGI since Indiana lets you use a free TurboTax client for your federal and state returns if you made less than $30k in that year. Is it simply a matter of adding up my wages fields from my two W2s? E: For that matter, in which state would I do my federal return, or does it not matter? Whichever state offers the best filing client (or just suck it up and buy Turbotax)? C-Euro fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Mar 6, 2014 |
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Mar 3, 2014 03:48
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Cranbe posted:I just set up an LLC in Colorado to hold some investments. I'm the only member of the LLC. I need to set up a separate checking account before I start acquiring assets, so there's nothing in the company yet, but the clock's ticking on some opportunities. This varies by state law and also by what bank you use, I believe. Some banks won't open a business account without an EIN.
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Mar 3, 2014 04:39
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Cranbe posted:I just set up an LLC in Colorado to hold some investments. I'm the only member of the LLC. I need to set up a separate checking account before I start acquiring assets, so there's nothing in the company yet, but the clock's ticking on some opportunities.
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Mar 3, 2014 06:15
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I live in NJ but work in Philadelphia, PA. My employer provided me with 2 W2s: one showed my Federal wages and NJ taxes withheld, the second had Box 1 and the other Federal boxes empty but showed my income & tax paid to Philadelphia. Both have the same employer Fed ID & control number. Trying to efile my return is failing because the second W2 doesn't show any Federal income; is there an issue with combining them into a single W2 for efiling purposes?
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Mar 3, 2014 13:56
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SiGmA_X posted:Depending on why you set up the LLC, it may be a good idea to also get an EIN for the LLC. It can help prevent piercing the veil, I believe. Its very simple to apply for one, there is a online form and all. It also helps with identity theft, as you're not handing out your SSN every time someone asks for it for 1099 purposes.
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Mar 3, 2014 16:49
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Seeing as I repeatedly get a few thousand back from my federal taxes every year, I want to adjust my allowances on my W4. I am trying to use the calculator on the IRS website (http://apps.irs.gov/app/withholdingcalculator/), but I am a bit confused on something. On page 4 of the calculator, I am itemizing my deductions. For taxes paid, what kind of taxes is this referring to? Federal? State? Property? All 3? On the 1040 Schedule A, the "Taxes You Paid" section includes just state and property. I'm guessing it's these? Is it taxes that were witheld from me, or taxes that I actually paid after my refund? It seems like it's under-estimating my 2014 taxes by a few thousand compared to how much I paid in 2013, so I think I'm doing something wrong. Unrelated to the above, I have already filed my 2013 taxes. If I open and contribute to a Roth IRA for the 2013 tax year, I don't have to refile my taxes since a Roth is contributing post-tax money, right? Henrik Zetterberg fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Mar 3, 2014 |
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Mar 3, 2014 23:54
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Okay, I wanted to make sure I understood this correctly from my readings on IRS and in TurboTax's 'HELP ME IM DUMB' section, because last year was the first year my wife and I were on private healthcare rather than employer funded, since she left her job with the state to go back to school. I am allowed to deduct my wife's and my medical insurance monthly insurance premiums (including dental and vision), but only the amount that goes above 10% of our adjusted income. None of the payments on them are pre-tax. Do I have the right of that?
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Mar 4, 2014 00:43
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John Dyne posted:Okay, I wanted to make sure I understood this correctly from my readings on IRS and in TurboTax's 'HELP ME IM DUMB' section, because last year was the first year my wife and I were on private healthcare rather than employer funded, since she left her job with the state to go back to school. http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc502.html "For years beginning after December 31, 2012, you may deduct only the amount by which your total medical expenses exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income" "Medical care expenses include payments for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or payments for treatments affecting any structure or function of the body. Medical care expenses include the insurance premiums you paid for policies that cover medical care or for a qualified long-term care insurance policy covering qualified long-term care services. If you are an employee, medical expenses do not include that portion of your premiums treated as paid by your employer under its sponsored group accident or health policy or qualified long-term care insurance policy."
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Mar 4, 2014 02:16
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I have a question about tax deductions for moving expenses. My husband and I are moving for my new job. It's going to cost us about $1000 to rent a U-Haul and tow dolly to pull a vehicle, and (rough estimate) $500 for gas for the U-haul and the other vehicle we will be driving, so maybe $1500 plus or minus a bit for moving expenses. I see that I can use this as a tax deduction. I meet all their requirements (moving more than 50 miles, moving right before my new job starts, will be at the job ~2-3 years) so I am wondering, what does it actually mean that I can use this as a "tax deduction?" What really is a tax deduction? Does it mean I'll get $1500 back when I get my tax return? Talk to me like I know nothing (I don't). Thanks!
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Mar 5, 2014 03:39
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Razz, I just want through this in 2013. It is an 'above the line' deduction, meaning you can take the deduction even if you don't itemize. You would fill out form 3903. Note that it is a deduction and not a credit, so if you spend $1500 and are in the 25% bracket, you will get back an extra $375. You can't deduct moving expenses that have been reimbursed by an employer, or any meals along the way.
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Mar 5, 2014 03:44
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JohnnyPalace posted:Razz, I just want through this in 2013. It is an 'above the line' deduction, meaning you can take the deduction even if you don't itemize. You would fill out form 3903. Note that it is a deduction and not a credit, so if you spend $1500 and are in the 25% bracket, you will get back an extra $375. You can't deduct moving expenses that have been reimbursed by an employer, or any meals along the way. Thanks! My employer is not reimbursing any moving expenses, so the whole thing is on me unfortunately. Do I need to just keep all my receipts until tax time next year? Does the IRS need the actual receipts?
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Mar 5, 2014 03:51
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Keep your receipts for your records, but the IRS doesn't need to see them (unless you get audited, I guess). Feel free to PM me with any deductible moving expense questions, since this stuff is still pretty fresh in my mind. Or you can check out IRS publication 521. Congrats on the new job!
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Mar 5, 2014 03:58
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Thank you! It's always been a dream of mine to live in New Mexico and that's where we're headed, so I am pretty excited  .
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Mar 5, 2014 04:04
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Scan in all receipts, then you don't need physicals. Make sure to keep good backups (Mozy, Dropbox, Carbonite, etc). And keep them for 7yrs like you keep all of your tax documents. I have a question. My coworkers bf got a job in PDX and the two of them moved ~2k-mi for his job. However being they aren't married and file single for themselves, can my coworker deduct moving expenses? Or can only her bf, the one who moved for work, deduct expenses? Or being that she got a new job within a month post moving would that also count? We were discussing this recently and I didn't know...
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Mar 5, 2014 04:04
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If they lived together before and after the move, I would say all the expenses could be deducted by the BF. From Pub 521: "You can deduct moving expenses you pay for yourself and members of your household. A member of your household is anyone who has both your former and new home as his or her home." If her new job is expected to be full time for 39 of the first 52 weeks, she could claim the deduction on her own expenses instead. Warning: I'm just an intern, I still make a mistake or two.
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Mar 5, 2014 04:14
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SiGmA_X posted:However being they aren't married and file single for themselves, can my coworker deduct moving expenses? Or can only her bf, the one who moved for work, deduct expenses? But, they can't both deduct the same expenses; which is kind of how this reads. For instance if the U-Haul was $1000, only one can take that deduction not both. Probably either one of them could claim the expense without much trouble, but it's probably best for whoever makes more to claim the whole thing.
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Mar 5, 2014 05:12
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TenjouUtena posted:But, they can't both deduct the same expenses; which is kind of how this reads. For instance if the U-Haul was $1000, only one can take that deduction not both. Probably either one of them could claim the expense without much trouble, but it's probably best for whoever makes more to claim the whole thing. I guess my main confusion was that I didn't realize you could move, and become employed and take the deduction. I thought the move had to be a result of employment.
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Mar 5, 2014 07:16
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A question regarding an owner-occupied rental single-family home... Scenario (round numbers used for simplicity): i) I buy a 1000-sq.ft house, all finished, no basement. ii) Two bedrooms are each 100-sq.ft, whereas the master is 150-sq.ft. (350-sq.ft in bedrooms total) iii) I rent out the two smaller bedrooms to one tenant each (200-sq.ft total) and take the 150-sq.ft room myself. iv) The remaining 650 square feet in the house are common areas--everybody essentially gets equal access to those areas, as well as the yard, appliances, etc. It's pretty clear how to allocate the rented out rooms for deductions (i.e. 100% of that square footage). But how do I allocate common areas? My accountant was hesitant to attribute much square-footage to the shared areas, wanting only to credit 20% of the house as rented (i.e. the two 100-sq.ft bedrooms). But that seems overly conservative to me, since the tenants aren't paying solely to stay in their respective bedrooms 100% of the time and never use appliances, hang out in the living room, use the kitchen, etc. Seems to me it would be better calculated as follows: { ( [100-sq.ft bedroom] + [100-sq.ft bedroom] ) + ( 2/3*[650-sq.ft in common areas] ) } / [1000-sq.ft overall] = 63.33% tenant-occupied Is that not kosher? In short: How much of the house in the above scenario would be considered tenant-occupied? Reason I ask is to calculate deductions for the costs of repairs/improvements (not including those exclusively affecting my own bedroom, obviously).
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Mar 5, 2014 07:36
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Cranbe posted:Is that not kosher? According to Section 280A (and related caselaw such as Anderson v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue), no. The common areas are tainted by being mixed personal and business use and the courts have historically backed the IRS in asserting that mixed use taints the business purpose since said mixed unit has been read as being part of a 'dwelling unit' and thus not qualified for business expense deductions.
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Mar 5, 2014 13:15
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ThirdPartyView posted:According to Section 280A (and related caselaw such as Anderson v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue), no. The common areas are tainted by being mixed personal and business use and the courts have historically backed the IRS in asserting that mixed use taints the business purpose since said mixed unit has been read as being part of a 'dwelling unit' and thus not qualified for business expense deductions. Huh. Makes sense, I guess, but that sucks. Thanks.
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Mar 5, 2014 15:04
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Long term cap gains question. I have stock in my company. It is vested every quarter or so. Upon vesting the company sells a portion of the stock to pay for taxes taxed at income rate. Then the stock is mine sitting in an account and I hold on to it for a while. Lets say in that intervening period the stock goes up and ive held it for more than a year before selling. I now need to pay taxes on the gains of that stock but would it be long or short term?
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Mar 5, 2014 19:23
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