Category Archives: *AskTaxMama Newsletter

AskTaxMama

Ask TaxMama Issue 514 – Happy Paperback Anniversary

Dear Family, Since this is the anniversary of the first paperback books, I suppose this is an appropriate time for the shipment that just arrived. We’ve been waiting and waiting to get a certain shipment of paperback books (BIIIG, HEAVY PAPERBACK BOOKS) for our EA Exam students. The publisher finally gotten them from the printer […]

California’s Balanced Budget?

Courtesy of Spidell Publishing Inc. www.caltax.com The 2009–10 budget revision does not contain any new taxes, but includes tax accelerations that bring money in earlier, so we will likely revisit the fiscal crisis later. Here are the tax changes contained in ABX4 17 and ABX4 18. Estimated tax payments: Requires individual and corporate estimated tax […]

IRS Warns Taxpayers to Beware of First-Time Homebuyer Credit Fraud

Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced its first successful prosecution related to fraud involving the first-time homebuyer credit and warned taxpayers to beware of this type of scheme. On Thursday July 23, 2009, a Jacksonville, Fla.-tax preparer, James Otto Price III, pled guilty to falsely claiming the […]

Modern Day Economics – Updated

SOCIALISM You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbor. COMMUNISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk. FASCISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk. NAZISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you. BUREAUCRATISM You have 2 […]

Ask TaxMama Issue 513 – Protect Yourself

Dear Family, It’s been an exhilarating week, with students passing Part I of the EA Exam all over the place! Sad, though, two folks missed by just a tiny margin – 2 points and 5 points. Heartbreaking. So we had an extra workshop last night just to quiz up certain topics that seem to need […]

How Socialism Works

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked, and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, that it was the great equalizer. The professor then […]

Top Seven Tips for Taxpayers Starting a New Business

Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service Anyone starting a new business this summer should be aware of their federal tax responsibilities. Here are the top seven things the IRS wants you to know if you plan on opening a new business this year. 1. First, you must decide what type of business entity you are […]

Ask TaxMama Issue 512 – To Your Health

Dear Family, Earlier this week Brent Clanton (www.cnn650.com )and I were discussing the proposed batch of tax legislation facing Congress this month. One of the ways the Legislature and President Obama propose to pay for the health insurance and other tax breaks is to tax the ‘rich’ – those earning over $250,000. Sounds like a […]

Transferring an IRA Triggered 10% Penalty

Courtesy of David & Mary Mellem, EAs We’re not talking about a normal transfer of an IRA here. We are talking about a taxpayer who transfers an IRA from which the taxpayer was taking substantial equal periodic payments. First an overview: A taxpayer is generally subject to income tax on distributions from an IRA account […]

Walking on Water

A minister, a rabbi, and a priest were sitting in a boat, enjoying the warmth of the day. The minister says, “I left my fishing pole on shore, I’m going to go back and get it.” He stands up, walks across the water, gets his pole, walks back across the water and gets into the […]