Tag Archives: Labor

Grant & Fellowship Income

Today TaxMama® hears from Mark in the TaxQuips Forum, who is bewildered. Let me summarize. “Mark received a post-doctoral fellowship that covered his salary to do research. It came with insurance and other employee benefits. The income was reported to him on a 1099-MISC. He paid taxes on the income. Two years later, the IRS […]

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 […]

Medicare Premiums and SE HI Deduction

In a Chief Counsel Memorandum (CCM) dated May 1, 2012, released July 13, 2012, IRS addressed the issue of Medicare premiums and the self-employment health insurance deduction.     For years IRS has stated in its publications that Medicare premiums do not qualify for the self-employed health insurance deduction. In early 2011 IRS stated in its […]

Ask TaxMama Issue 650 – Hot Dog!

 Dear Family, Can you believe it. This is the 650th issue. Ask TaxMama has been running for 12 ½ years. We’ve answered thousands of questions; solved innumerable tax problems; saved people millions of tax dollars over the years – and even improved the federal tax administration system and the tax profession a tiny bit. The […]

Job Search Expenses Can be Tax Deductible

Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Serivce [TaxMama note: For the most part, if you cannot itemize your deductions, you’ll have a hard time using these.] Summertime is the season that often leads to major life decisions, such as buying a home, moving or a job change. If you are looking for a new job that […]

Contributed and Quit

Today TaxMama® hears from Sergey in the TaxQuips Forum, with this problem. “I started a new job with a 401k plan this year; but I had to quit after a few months. I accumulated some money in my 401k with this organization; and I want to take that money out now. Am I subject to […]

Ask TaxMama Issue 649 – Happy 13

Dear Family, Happy Friday the 13th! It will be a nice day – I’ll make sure of it. Since, it is my husband’s birthday. So, I’ll be devising delightfully cute ways to torment him. (His personal preference is to hide under the bed on his birthday…so anything I do to get him out from under […]

A Lesson from the IRS for Students Starting a Summer Job

Courtesy of the IRS School’s out, but the IRS has another lesson for students who will be starting summer jobs. Summer jobs represent an opportunity for students to learn about the tax system. Not all of the money they earn will be included in their paychecks because their employer must withhold taxes. Here are six […]

Job Expenses

Today TaxMama® hears from Lori in the TaxQuips Forum with a case of wishful thinking. “I have a couple of clients that have an average of $3,000 worth of employee expense deductions. None of them itemize on Schedule A. Can I still take the standard deduction, plus a negative amount (from form 2106) on 1040 […]

Ask TaxMama Issue 648 – 4th of July-ish

Lots of people are taking off early and getting ready for 4th of July in advance. Others are taking a long weekend next week – including my Lulu. Can you imagine – she’s off to a beach party for the 4th of July in a nice secluded cove. It actually looks really nifty. They seem […]