Author Archives: TaxMama

Don’t Fall for Phony IRS Websites

Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service is issuing a warning about a new tax scam that uses a website that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page. The actual IRS e-Services page offers web-based products for tax preparers, not the general public. The phony web page looks almost identical to the […]

Feeling Young?

Just in case you weren’t feeling too old today, this will certainly change  things. 1.  The people who started college this fall across the nation were born in 1998. 2.  They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and did not know he had ever been shot. 3.  They were not born yet when […]

Lawn Vendor Tax

Today TaxMama® hears from Don with this intriguing question. “My homeowner’s association had a lawn vendor that didn’t charge sales tax for several years. He charged us all at once. Now that the payment is made, what is the correct account to which to charge the payment?” 

Class Action Settlement

Today TaxMama® hears from Michael with this earth-shattering question. “I received a small class action settlement ($3.50) from a class action against Classmates.com . Is this settlement taxable for IRS purposes?”  

Deducting My Labor

Today TaxMama® hears from Kevin with an idea others have had. “Recently our investment property is actually turning into a little bit of income property. If I hire out a job to be done, I usually write off the expense, including labor. If I do the work myself, is there any way that I can […]

Pay Off Mortgage

Today TaxMama® hears from Larry with this concern. “At age 64, I am still working full time. My hours and pay rate have been reduced so that I now have a $ 600 + per month deficit. My mortgage payment is $700 per month. (My wife is a full time student and my son is […]

Ask TaxMama Issue 662 – 2013 News

Dear Family, This week, the IRS announces new limits on a variety of things for 2013. That’s the entire content of this week’s IRS news features: In IRS News  we get the new limits on a variety of benefits for 2013 – with more to come in the IRS’s announcement on November 5th. The IRS […]

IRS Announces 2013 Pension Plan Limitations

Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for Tax Year 2013.  In general, many of the pension plan limitations will change for 2013 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds […]

Senior Divorce

An elderly man in Miami calls his son in New York and says,” I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.” “Pop, what are you talking about?” the son screams.

Making up Info

Today TaxMama® hears from Tasha with a disturbing problem. “My girlfriend is thinking of filing for an education tax credit even though she is not enrolled in school at the moment. She says the person doing her taxes can issue a 1098T form if and when the IRS was to ask for proof, which will […]

Dependent Income Limits

Today TaxMama® hears from Rando with a question that has become more and more common in today’s economy. “What is the maximum income my son can earn, who lived with us all year, and still be declared as a dependent on my tax return?”