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Admiral101 posted:Her employer did it correctly. So what recourse do the communities I live/lived in have? I filed the returns and did the residence worksheet so that 5/12 of my local tax goes to one place and 7/12 to the other. Will they have to negotiate with Cranberry to get the money they missed or is that something that will come back to me?
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Apr 3, 2014 14:11
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Admiral101 posted:This is not income to you. Nor is it a gift - she's loaning you money that you'll be paying back through payments on the HELOC. This loan from her will be dissolved when you ultimately get married this year or next. I'm assuming you are contributing to her HELOC payments until you two get married, yes? Yes, I'll be paying the loan off before we're married (in October of 2015). ninja: Sadly, I can't deduct my student loan interest anymore (I make too much, which I guess is the best sort of problem to have).
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Apr 3, 2014 14:17
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ZentraediElite posted:So what recourse do the communities I live/lived in have? I filed the returns and did the residence worksheet so that 5/12 of my local tax goes to one place and 7/12 to the other. Will they have to negotiate with Cranberry to get the money they missed or is that something that will come back to me? How long have you been working with this employer? Have you received any tax notices in the past? This has probably been going under the radar. The correct thing to do is to file for a refund from cranberry, then file tax returns with payment for the other two municipalities. It all nets to zero, but it's obviously a pain in the rear end, and you'll likely have to writer a letter with your tax return to explain to Cranberry what's going on before they'll issue you a refund. Regardless of what you do, you should get this sorted with your employer. I'm guessing they do their payroll in-house? Dragyn posted:Yes, I'll be paying the loan off before we're married (in October of 2015). Yeah then I can very comfortably say this is not a gift.
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Apr 4, 2014 00:58
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What are people's thoughts on using an enrolled agent vs a CPA for tax preparing? Is there any reason why a CPA would be better for a small business when it comes to tax planning/preparing? I currently have a CPA for my tax planning/prepping, but I recently talked to an EA about my taxes. I was impressed, but I really don't know the details about what makes one more suitable than the other. As far as cost, the EA will probably be a little more. But then I think he's easier to work with just by the fact that my CPA doesn't really like dealing with Quickbooks, he's old.
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Apr 6, 2014 22:18
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Sperg Victorious posted:What are people's thoughts on using an enrolled agent vs a CPA for tax preparing? Is there any reason why a CPA would be better for a small business when it comes to tax planning/preparing? CPA here. Only technical distinction is that a CPA can issue financial statement reports (compilation/review/audit) that other designations cannot. For tax preparation go with the better fit for you regardless of designations. I've worked with great EA/LTCs, and I've worked with terrible CPAs. It all depends on the person. And typically, the fees for a CPA will be far higher than that of an EA.
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Apr 7, 2014 01:53
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Thanks for the thread, this is great! I'm living a pretty simple life, and just realized I put excess money into my Roth account. I also did it last year, but not by much at all, so I wasn't concerned. This year is more significant, and I'd like to fix it. I understand I could start a traditional IRA and move the excess there (along with any earnings... how do I calculate this?) or I could just let it go and put that amount less in next year? Any recommendations? Also, out of curiosity, why is there a maximum Roth limit? Government doesn't want people to be too responsible?
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Apr 7, 2014 02:38
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I think I'll just go ahead and switch over to the EA I talked to. My CPA charges me about 400-600 for personal and business. The EA said he'd both for about $600. I'm not entirely sure if these are good deals or not. My CPA is mostly just making me nervous. He's becoming very old, and I wonder about him. The other day we were going over a standard P&L report from Quickbooks, and he got the income confused with expenses. I had to tell him which one is which. Maybe it was just a simple mix up, but it scared me a little bit since he's getting so old. The EA is very comfortable with Quickbooks, whereas my CPA doesn't like it and has someone else in the office work it for him.
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Apr 7, 2014 02:42
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Moogs posted:Thanks for the thread, this is great! I'm living a pretty simple life, and just realized I put excess money into my Roth account. I also did it last year, but not by much at all, so I wasn't concerned. This year is more significant, and I'd like to fix it. I understand I could start a traditional IRA and move the excess there (along with any earnings... how do I calculate this?) or I could just let it go and put that amount less in next year? Any recommendations? The earnings on a Roth are withdrawn tax free (if you're above 59.5).
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Apr 7, 2014 04:23
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Sperg Victorious posted:I think I'll just go ahead and switch over to the EA I talked to. My CPA charges me about 400-600 for personal and business. The EA said he'd both for about $600. I'm not entirely sure if these are good deals or not. $600 still sounds like it's on the cheap end, but that depends on what you're doing and what part of the county you're in. Don't forget to get the depreciation schedule from your old CPA on the way out (we're required to hand that over when asked no matter what).
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Apr 7, 2014 15:53
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From this page, the annual exclusion for gifts is $14,000 for 2014. Suppose that my parents want to give me a gift of $16,000 without exceeding the individual yearly limit. If my mother wrote me a check for $8,000 and my father wrote me a check for $8,000 (so the total gift is $16,000), but the checks were written from a joint account, would they be able to claim that they had each individually given me a gift that was less than the yearly individual limit?
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Apr 7, 2014 21:25
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sullat posted:The earnings on a Roth are withdrawn tax free (if you're above 59.5). Hmmm... but I pay taxes now, so the gubmint still gets their money, right? Just less now than they would get later? How do I fix this, though? Not deposit the full amount next year, or should I take the money out now?
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Apr 7, 2014 22:59
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Jose Cuervo posted:From this page, the annual exclusion for gifts is $14,000 for 2014. Suppose that my parents want to give me a gift of $16,000 without exceeding the individual yearly limit. If my mother wrote me a check for $8,000 and my father wrote me a check for $8,000 (so the total gift is $16,000), but the checks were written from a joint account, would they be able to claim that they had each individually given me a gift that was less than the yearly individual limit? I was working on a return a few weeks ago with almost this exact situation. Two parents each gave their son $13,998 from a joint account. I wasn't sure what to do because I'm just an intern, but the partner I asked said that this was not considered to be over the gift tax filing threshold.
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Apr 8, 2014 02:35
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Jose Cuervo posted:From this page, the annual exclusion for gifts is $14,000 for 2014. Suppose that my parents want to give me a gift of $16,000 without exceeding the individual yearly limit. If my mother wrote me a check for $8,000 and my father wrote me a check for $8,000 (so the total gift is $16,000), but the checks were written from a joint account, would they be able to claim that they had each individually given me a gift that was less than the yearly individual limit? The gift limit is 14k per person. Marries couples can transfer property between each other without gift tax implications. Therefore, your parents can gift you up to 28k in cash with no gift tax consequences (even if the cash came from your father's checking account, you can treat it as though your father gifted a portion of that cash to your mother, who in turn gifted it to you).
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Apr 8, 2014 04:03
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Admiral101 posted:The gift limit is 14k per person. Marries couples can transfer property between each other without gift tax implications. Therefore, your parents can gift you up to 28k in cash with no gift tax consequences (even if the cash came from your father's checking account, you can treat it as though your father gifted a portion of that cash to your mother, who in turn gifted it to you). Furthermore, if you're married they can gift you 4x the gift limit by roping your spouse into it.
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Apr 8, 2014 04:26
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nevermind
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Apr 8, 2014 12:35
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I purchased a new car this past November. How do I go about deducting this from my Federal and/or State? Edit: So after looking at it more, it looks like I would be better off taking the Standard Deduction, since the tax wasn't more than $5700. Is this right? ROOMBA floorvac fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Apr 8, 2014 |
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Apr 8, 2014 13:28
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Admiral101 posted:The gift limit is 14k per person. Marries couples can transfer property between each other without gift tax implications. Therefore, your parents can gift you up to 28k in cash with no gift tax consequences (even if the cash came from your father's checking account, you can treat it as though your father gifted a portion of that cash to your mother, who in turn gifted it to you). Thanks for the answer. I hadn't thought about it from the perspective of married couples being able to transfer between themselves. And if they each give me $14,000 or less this year (2014) they do not have to report this anywhere (i.e., fill out a gift tax return), correct? I only ask this now because JohnnyPalace mentioned a tax return where they had mentioned it even though it was under the $14,000 limit.
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Apr 8, 2014 13:49
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I have a question about the Hobby Loss rules. I have an airplane, which costs a lot even if it's just sitting there doing nothing (hangar rent/mortgage, yearly inspections, insurance, etc) and it's not good to let a plane sit unused all the time. I would like to offer it for rent to help offset some of the costs and to keep it limber. My understanding is that I can deduct the expenses to the extent of the income the plane generates. Is this correct? In other words, if the income does not exceed expenses, it's basically nullified by the deductions and I will not have any tax burden from renting it out?
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Apr 8, 2014 20:07
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Jose Cuervo posted:Thanks for the answer. I hadn't thought about it from the perspective of married couples being able to transfer between themselves. And if they each give me $14,000 or less this year (2014) they do not have to report this anywhere (i.e., fill out a gift tax return), correct? I only ask this now because JohnnyPalace mentioned a tax return where they had mentioned it even though it was under the $14,000 limit. Johnny said the tax return he worked on was under the threshold. There's no filing requirements for this gift by you or your parents.
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Apr 8, 2014 23:45
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DNova posted:I have a question about the Hobby Loss rules. The plane wouldn't fall under the hobby loss rules but more of the personal use rules for rentals. Also if you expense the plane you'll need to pick up the depreciation recapture on the plane when sold. I don't do a lot of planes anymore so someone else might chime in on that.
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Apr 9, 2014 00:34
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Quick question, hope someone can help! I moved from MA to NY (City) around the middle of last year, but all of my income last year was taxable to MA. I just completed my MA return and everything was pretty much as expected. I'm now doing my NY return, and the state tax is $0, which I believe is expected since I already paid tax on the same income to MA. However, it looks like the NYC tax is still several hundred dollars. Is that correct, or did I miss something to reduce the city tax in the same fashion as the state tax?
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Apr 9, 2014 01:38
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TheEye posted:Quick question, hope someone can help! Why would all of your income be taxable in MA when you spent half the year as a resident of NY? Your W-2 sounds hosed up. If you moved to NY in the middle of 2013, half your income should be taxable to NY, and half should be taxable to MA. The same goes for NYC and whatever municipality you paid tax to in MA.
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Apr 9, 2014 04:07
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Admiral101 posted:Why would all of your income be taxable in MA when you spent half the year as a resident of NY? Your W-2 sounds hosed up. I moved to NY in June of last year, but didn't change jobs. I kept working for the same company in MA (remotely). When that company folded, I also received MA unemployment. All my income was either from that company in MA, or MA unemployment, so as far as I can tell it's all taxable by MA. Is that wrong?
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Apr 9, 2014 04:33
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TheEye posted:I moved to NY in June of last year, but didn't change jobs. I kept working for the same company in MA (remotely). When that company folded, I also received MA unemployment. All my income was either from that company in MA, or MA unemployment, so as far as I can tell it's all taxable by MA. Yeah, that's wrong. Income tax is based on where you live, not where the company is.
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Apr 9, 2014 04:58
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Bisty Q. posted:Yeah, that's wrong. Income tax is based on where you live, not where the company is. Sigh. Well, I already filed for MA, not sure what I can do at this point. So this is how it's actually supposed to be: MA company income while MA resident is taxable by MA only. MA company income while NY resident is taxable by NY only. MA unemployment while NY resident is taxable by both MA and NY. Is that correct? If so, perhaps I can file an amended MA return before doing NY. runawayturtles fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Apr 9, 2014 |
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Apr 9, 2014 05:17
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I'm doing my taxes this year and I received a 1099-g for some reason. According to google 1099-g has something to do with unemployment yet I've never been unemployed since I was hired in the year 2000. I'm using TurboTax online and went through the questions it asked, which was basically if I received any unemployment benefits. I declined everything since I was never unemployed or received any benefits from unemployment. TurboTax eventually kicked me with $0 in return. This is fine, but why would the Arizona Department of Revenue send me a 1099-g in the first place? EDIT: Nevermind, didn't see that there other uses for 1099-g, such as previous year refunds. ijii fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Apr 9, 2014 |
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Apr 9, 2014 05:54
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TheEye posted:Sigh. Well, I already filed for MA, not sure what I can do at this point. This is how it's supposed to be (I don't believe NY/MA have a tax treaty): MA company income while MA resident is taxable by MA only. MA company income while NY resident is taxable by MA and NY. When filing the NY return, you will claim a tax credit for the MA tax paid on the NY return. MA unemployment income while NY resident is taxable by MA and NY. When filing the NY return, you will claim a tax credit for the MA tax paid on the NY return. Note: I'm not 100% on how MA/NY taxes unemployment, but this is how it would generally work.
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Apr 9, 2014 12:44
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In 2013 I took a full early distribution of a 401k that I had from a job that I quit in 2012. I was 100% vested. I used the distribution as down payment and repairs on my primary residence. The 401k manager held back 20% for federal taxes on the distribution but this was not enough and I ended up owing more when filing my federal income, as expected. I offset most of it with losses on a rental home that I own so not huge deal, but I'm wondering if I could have classified the distribution as a hardship. I was just reading up about hardship stuff here: http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Retirement-Plans-FAQs-regarding-Hardship-Distributions I think that most of that refers to active 401k plans, but I was no longer employed by that employer and had immediately started a new job with a new 401k in 2012. I just had the money sitting there and took a full distribution, with no classification of hardship by the 401k manager. Do you think I am eligible to reclassify my distribution as a hardship? Would doing so push me back to the 10% rate instead of 20% on the withdrawal? I have already filed so I would have to amend.
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Apr 9, 2014 18:16
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Admiral101 posted:This is how it's supposed to be (I don't believe NY/MA have a tax treaty): Man, I'm so confused. This is exactly what I originally thought, and what I wrote in my first post yesterday. But you and Bisty Q. said that was wrong. Anyway, if this is the right way to do it, then I don't have to amend anything. I just have my original question remaining: TheEye posted:I'm now doing my NY return, and the state tax is $0, which I believe is expected since I already paid tax on the same income to MA. However, it looks like the NYC tax is still several hundred dollars. Does anyone know about NYC tax and if there's a credit for taxes already paid that I'm missing?
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Apr 9, 2014 18:33
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Drunk Beekeeper posted:In 2013 I took a full early distribution of a 401k that I had from a job that I quit in 2012. I was 100% vested. I used the distribution as down payment and repairs on my primary residence. The 401k manager held back 20% for federal taxes on the distribution but this was not enough and I ended up owing more when filing my federal income, as expected. I offset most of it with losses on a rental home that I own so not huge deal, but I'm wondering if I could have classified the distribution as a hardship. I was just reading up about hardship stuff here: In addition to the taxes you have to pay on the withdrawn income, you also have to pay an actual penalty on top of those taxes. This is why it is generally very bad to dissolve tax-deferred retirement accounts because paying that penalty is almost never worth it. Was your withdrawal of the plan (instead of rolling over into an IRA or another 401K) an actual hardship? If not, tough nuts, you owe the penalty. That's why you owed more than you expected; the held back 20% is only estimating the actual taxes you would owe, not the additional penalty.
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Apr 9, 2014 21:16
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kefkafloyd posted:In addition to the taxes you have to pay on the withdrawn income, you also have to pay an actual penalty on top of those taxes. This is why it is generally very bad to dissolve tax-deferred retirement accounts because paying that penalty is almost never worth it. Oh yeah, that does make sense. I was thinking with a hardship I would still pay the penalty but not the tax, saving me about 10%, but I'm still unclear on how that works. Initially I wanted to roll it over into my current employer's retirement plan but they do not allow loans from their plans at all and I was ready to buy this property. So I bit the bullet and cashed out, knowing I would take a hit. I'm 27 and making more money than I was with that old 401k so I figure I have time to rebuild my retirement savings. Now I'm just trying to figure out if buying my house is considered a hardship by the vague IRS descriptions. When I switched the box from 'no exception' to 'exception applies' in my tax software the federal amount went from negative to positive. Of course I didn't follow through and amend as that is not the description on my 1099-R. Edit: Just to clarify, I never indicated to the 401k manager that my distribution was a hardship, I didn't know it was an option at the time. If this works I'd get an amended 1099-R. Drunk Beekeeper fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Apr 9, 2014 |
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Apr 9, 2014 22:17
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TheEye posted:Man, I'm so confused. This is exactly what I originally thought, and what I wrote in my first post yesterday. But you and Bisty Q. said that was wrong. Your post made it sound like you weren't reporting any income on your NY return. As for NYC - no, you can't apply state tax credit against cities. Did you pay any local income tax in MA?
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Apr 10, 2014 02:55
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It might be useful to add that NYC is a particular case where there is a fairly sizeable local tax in addition to state and federal tax. When you said you were confused, you had originally said that your income was only taxable in one state, which is incorrect. The clarification was pointing out that you will likely only PAY taxes to one state due to receiving credit for taxes paid to the other state, but the income is TAXABLE by both states.
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Apr 10, 2014 05:05
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Drunk Beekeeper posted:Oh yeah, that does make sense. I was thinking with a hardship I would still pay the penalty but not the tax, saving me about 10%, but I'm still unclear on how that works. Initially I wanted to roll it over into my current employer's retirement plan but they do not allow loans from their plans at all and I was ready to buy this property. So I bit the bullet and cashed out, knowing I would take a hit. I'm 27 and making more money than I was with that old 401k so I figure I have time to rebuild my retirement savings. Now I'm just trying to figure out if buying my house is considered a hardship by the vague IRS descriptions. When I switched the box from 'no exception' to 'exception applies' in my tax software the federal amount went from negative to positive. Of course I didn't follow through and amend as that is not the description on my 1099-R. You need to convince the plan admin that it is a hardship and probably provide some documentation to that fact. Hardships are things like medical problems. Unless you can prove that, the administrator will not open themselves up to fraud.
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Apr 10, 2014 05:30
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Questions from my girlfriend about foreign income exclusion stuff:quote:If I am an American citizen residing abroad with over $75,000 in foreign assets, do I need to fill out IRS forms 1040, 2555ez, and 8938? Is the form 8938 absolutely necessary? Her monthly income overseas was about 2.3k USD last year but she's saved a lot over the years of living abroad. She spent only 2 weeks in America last year. I told her my interpretation of things but she wanted a goon opinion on this as well. P.S. as expats, we have an extended deadline for filing, right?
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Apr 10, 2014 07:01
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Drunk Beekeeper posted:Oh yeah, that does make sense. I was thinking with a hardship I would still pay the penalty but not the tax, saving me about 10%, but I'm still unclear on how that works. Initially I wanted to roll it over into my current employer's retirement plan but they do not allow loans from their plans at all and I was ready to buy this property. So I bit the bullet and cashed out, knowing I would take a hit. I'm 27 and making more money than I was with that old 401k so I figure I have time to rebuild my retirement savings. Now I'm just trying to figure out if buying my house is considered a hardship by the vague IRS descriptions. When I switched the box from 'no exception' to 'exception applies' in my tax software the federal amount went from negative to positive. Of course I didn't follow through and amend as that is not the description on my 1099-R. While there is a provision that allows for early distributions from an IRA to purchase a home, there is no such provision for 401k's. You're out of luck. See: http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Plan-Participant,-Employee/Retirement-Topics---Tax-on-Early-Distributions
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Apr 10, 2014 12:22
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Admiral101 posted:While there is a provision that allows for early distributions from an IRA to purchase a home, there is no such provision for 401k's. Ah, thank you! Finally, a page that makes it clear. I appreciate all of your help guys. I now have the peace of mind that I didn't miss an opportunity to get some money back, and that I filed correctly.
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Apr 10, 2014 14:12
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Love Stole the Day posted:Questions from my girlfriend about foreign income exclusion stuff: 1) As a US citizen, your girlfriend is required to file a US tax return each year she is over the filing threshold. If sh's making $2300 a month, she is likely required to file. 2) If you are living abroad, you do indeed have until June 16th to file a return or extension. 3) She will probably qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, which would be the simplest way to go. Read this for more information on the requirements. She would file form 2555 or 2555-EZ to take the exclusion. 4) Is she married? If not, she will only need to file Form 8938 if the total value of her foreign financial assets is more than $200k on the last day of the year or more than $300k at anytime during the year. If she is married filing jointly, those figures are doubled (but would include husband's assets). 5) She most likely will, however, need to file an FBAR by June 30. The FBAR (now known as FinCEN 114) must be filed online, here. 6) Form 1116 is only required if she will be taking foreign tax credits for income taxes paid to another country. If all of her income will be excluded under the foreign earned income exclusion, this will not be necessary. 7) If she has a foreign bank account, she will need to complete Part III of Schedule B.
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Apr 11, 2014 00:58
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Admiral101 posted:While there is a provision that allows for early distributions from an IRA to purchase a home, there is no such provision for 401k's. Could one roll a 401k into an IRA and then use the money to buy a house? How about 401k to Roth IRA and then pulling contributions out? I'm guessing the answer is no to both, but you guys are the experts! Thanks!
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Apr 11, 2014 02:06
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I need help understanding how my US taxes are going to work now that I'm a UK tax resident; I've been trying to read about this online, but it's getting close to making my head explode. I understand that I can take a Foreign Income Exclusion for the first 97,000 USD of foreign earned income, but what happens with the income in excess of that? Say I am earning 150,000 USD, that would be 53,000 USD in excess of the Foreign Income Exclusion max; would I need to pay US taxes on this amount? I also read about the Foreign Housing Exclusion but I'm confused about whether that applies to my housing allowance (paid by my employer) or to my actual housing costs. If I am paid say 25,000 USD per year by my employer as a housing allowance, but only spend 20,000 USD in actual housing costs, would I apply a 25,0000 exclusion on top of the Foreign Income Exclusion or only 20,000 USD? What if I spent 30,000 USD in legitimate housing costs? I have also read about the Foreign Tax Credit and I'm confused about how this works on top of the exclusions; again assuming a 150,000 USD income, I'd be paying 49,330 USD in UK taxes, but would only have paid 35,175 USD in US taxes if I did not apply the Foreign Income Exclusion; would that mean I can choose not to take the exclusions, apply a 37,175 USD credit on my return and still have a 14,155 USD credit to carry over to other years? If this is the case then it doesn't really make sense to use the exclusions right? SoUr fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Apr 11, 2014 |
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Apr 11, 2014 16:48
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