Tag Archives: Business

Caring Friends

Today TaxMama® hears from Grace in the TaxQuips Forum, with this charming question. “We have a friend that is dying of terminal cancer and is expected to pass away within 6 months. We will use a web-site that easily allows fund gathering.  But we need to know if there are tax consequences to her estate […]

Diminished Value

Today TaxMama® hears from Robert in the TaxQuips Forum, who has this tale of woe. “My car was parked in front of the house and was hit by a hit and run driver. The car had about $10k in damage that my insurance took care of.  I had a professional report done where they took […]

Hobby v Business

Today TaxMama® hears from Susan in the TaxQuips Forum, with an interesting twist.  “I am an analyst with a high-tech firm and I teach one course a year at the University Extension in our area. While the course topic is related to my field, I don’t consider myself to be “in the business” of teaching. […]

IRS Takes Confidentiality Seriously

We’ve been talking about IRS whistleblowers lately. One of the features of the program is that it is meant to provide anonymity to the whistleblower. Otherwise, that person could potentially face serious physical and financial harm. Well, it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes, you run into a corrupt government official seeing a way to […]

Tax Exempt Rentals

Today TaxMama® hears from Grace in the TaxQuips Forum with an interesting question. “I understand that if you rent/lease your home for production filming for 14 days or less, then that income you earn is “exempt” from California and Federal taxes. Although a 1099 will still be issued by the filming company, on our taxes […]

Taxpayer Advocate Service Changes Case Acceptance Criteria

  [TaxMama Note: This is important for people in IRS  tax trouble to know.  Also, read today’s It’s A WAHM Thing article about how to do things yourself.] The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is designed to be a “safety net” for taxpayers who are experiencing problems with the IRS. However, because we couldn’t possibly help all […]

Fighting Abusive Employers

Today TaxMama® hears from Nick in the TaxQuips Forum who is angry. “This year I saw some disturbing instances where independent contractors were issued 1099-MISC for higher amounts than they were actually paid. Some of contractors were paid in cash and there are no supporting documents on how they were paid. The reason for these […]

Ask TaxMama Issue 654 – Still Summer

  Dear Family, Friday is a nice, gray day here in the Valley. The sun is not burning brightly down upon our heads and shoulders – at least, not yet. Thank goodness. It’s been tough out there – and my car’s A/C unit seems to have a leak. It only blows cool air when Rick […]

Bookkeeping

Today TaxMama® hears from Mary in the TaxQuips Forum who remembers. “During one of the registered tax return preparer (RTRP) presentations on May 15, or 17th, the instructor mentioned getting clients familiar with bookkeeping software. Several names were mentioned. Can you give me the name of the software?”

Life Moves Checklist

Today TaxMama® hears from Michelle in the TaxQuips Forum who suggested this idea. “I’ve noticed recently that you’ve advised people to check with their tax pro before consummating major transactions stemming from big life moves. I discovered that April is National Financial Literacy Month. This would be an excellent platform to share more and/or updated […]