Author Archives: TaxMama

Filing with Old Computer

Today TaxMama hears from Dallas, who tells us. “I am retired from active practice for 3 years now. I still do my own return. My question is, can you recommend a very reasonable tax service for me? I have a 7 year-old Compaq computer, which was not able to use the free tax filing services. […]

Daughter Heads House

Today TaxMama hears from Sherri, who needs to know. “My daughter is 17. She has worked all year since I was hurt on the job and haven’t been able to work. Can she claim head of household? She helped out with the bills when I was hurt. I don’t want her to get in trouble; […]

Inmate Income

Today TaxMama hears from Karen in the Tax Parlor, who’s curious. “I’m seeing in my tax prep software, a reference to “inmate income”. Is income earned by inmates taxed or handled differently? Just curious.”

Foreign Earned Income

Today TaxMama hears from Mike in the Tax Parlor, who tells us “I started working overseas in Kuwait for a US company in March 2007. I am a USMC contractor planning on working this contract through September 2008. Will I be able to take advantage of the foreign earned income credit exclusion? And what is […]

Nanny Tax

Today TaxMama hears from Tom, who’d like to know. “Can you point my wife and me to any basic resource for information on tests to determine whether one needs to do withholding or taxes in general for nanny services? And, then, how to actually execute the necessary record keeping and filings.”

Clarifying Extensions

Today TaxMama hears from Martin – and several other MarketWatch readers, who say. “In your April 14th article in the Tax Watch section of “Marketwatch.com” you advised that if you are short of cash to pay your taxes you should file for an extension and pay when you file. I believe that’s incorrect: When you […]

State Taxes

Today TaxMama hears from Georgette in the Tax Parlor, who says. “While I assume that I should be reporting the income I earn online, ClickBank in particular, I am unsure about state tax for PA. I am not charging state tax for digital downloads. So do I only have to report the income I make […]

Got 941

Today TaxMama hears from Sylvia in the Tax Parlor, who tells us. “After many years in business, my husband got an EIN last year so he could send out 1099s. Well, just after we finished filing our joint tax return this year, he gets a letter from IRS saying he has to file a quarterly […]

TaxSeason Roundup

TaxMama has so many questions in the Tax Parlor and from her MarketWatch article this week, that I’ve spent about three times as many hours answering them. Many of the answers are posted in the Tax Parlor – https://taxtwist.com/forum.php?varset=s:13-pm:m-se:265-fo:13 They cover areas like dealing with out of state jobs, Whirlpool’s buyout of Maytag stockholders, taxes […]

No Documentation

Today TaxMama hears from Plucky in the Tax Parlor, who tells us. “I started a business in 2006 and incurred costs exceeding $5,000. I do not have the appropriate documentation for all costs. Can I still deduct the “standard” $5,000 deduction? ” Hi April, First of all start up costs are essentially the costs you […]

Second Job Deductions

Today TaxMama hears from WW in the Tax Parlor, who tells us. “I have a full time job in a corporation. I also teach Yoga part time as an employee. My full time job has nothing to do with Yoga. Can I deduct the cost of Yoga teacher training and Yoga books?” Dear WW, You […]

Family Death During Year

Today TaxMama hears from Fran in the Tax Parlor, who tells us. “My mother died in 2006 and received Social Security monthly, getting about $700 per month. In addition, she had investments totaling about $60,000 that paid less than $5,000. Do I need to file a return? If so, what info and forms do I […]