Tag Archives: tax answers

No Repayment Needed

Today TaxMama® hears from Dave in the TaxQuips Forum, with an excellent question  (let me summarize).  “His friend’s daughter bought a home in 2008 subject to the First Time Homebuyer Credit repayment. During 2011, she was deployed to Iraq for 11 months. Can she file an amended return and have the entire balance of her repayment […]

Husband Passed Away

Today TaxMama® hears from Jeanne in the TaxQuips Forum, with a sad question.  “My husband passed away in May 2012. Could I file as head of household? And can I claim him for the full year?  He had income from SSI which had no taxes taken out.”

Ask TaxMama Issue 659 – Autumnal Moods

Dear Family, Welcome to autumn. This is the best time of the year. Summer’s heat is starting to fade away. Winter’s snow hasn’t yet come (to those of you who live in snowy climes). And the trees are turning glorious shades of gold and auburn.

IRS Can Reduce Real-Estate Costs by Increasing Use of Telework

[TaxMama note: The IRS started on this path several years ago. Many of my contacts have been working from home.https://www.myjewishlistings.com/wp-content/languages/new/photo-editing-services.html CPA firms started doing this more than a decade ago. It saved them entire floors in office buildings – cutting costs significantly. Besides, this can cut traffic jams. Excellent idea.] WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue […]

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 […]

Wisdom That Comes With Adulthood

A dozen bits of wisdom 1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree. 2) There is always a lot to be thankful for if you take the time to look.  For Example: I’m sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don’t hurt.

Undercover Mystery Shopper Income

Today TaxMama® hears from Cassandra in the TaxQuips Forum, who really IS a Mystery Shopper. “I am a mystery shopper and work for 30+ different companies. To some, I give my Social Security number – to others my EIN. Do I need to report the income I earned for the companies I supplied my EIN […]

Half of Volunteer Prepared Returns Were Incorrect

Courtesy of NAEA – www.naea.org                                                    A TIGTA  audit, which hit email boxes in DC this week, makes for interesting reading. On the plus side, the new accuracy rate is far higher than the accuracy rate TIGTA measured during the 2011 filing season (39 percent). On the down side, half of returns in the study […]

Final Decision on Your Ultimate 2013 Tax Obligations?

Courtesy of CCH, a Wolters Kluwer Co. (RIVERWOODS ILL., September 14, 2012) – Taxpayers recovering from the current economic downturn will get at least some relief in 2013 by way of the mandatory upward inflation-adjustments called for under the tax code, according to CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, a leading global provider of tax, accounting […]

Word Play for Whistleblowers

Here are some anagrams that someone came up with – that person was either exceptionally clever or has far to much time to waste or is deadly at Scrabble. Whistleblower When you rearrange the letters: Who blew ‘er List

Irrevocable Trust

Today TaxMama® hears from RG in the TaxQuips Forum with an oxymoron. “Can an irrevocable living trust be changed by the person that created it?”