6th Annual Anandtech Tax Time Thread

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: trmiv
I'm working through my taxes and the only thing that has me stuck right now is the Personal Property Taxes section for itemizing deductions. It says I can "deduct the portion of the fee you pay for the registration of your car if that part is based on the car's value." So I figured out that to be $378 total for our two cars last year, but I'm not 100% that I'm figuring this out correctly. When I pay the vehicle tax yearly there is a section on the bill that lists the Taxing District, the Rate Per $100 value of vehicle, and the Amount Due. Then this is totaled up to get the tax. Then on top of that they asses a flat $25 "vehicle fee." So if I'm figuring thus out correctly I can deduct whatever I paid in tax on the car less the $25 fee since that is not based on the car's value?

Sounds correct

 

[lebe0024]

Originally posted by: trmiv
I'm working through my taxes and the only thing that has me stuck right now is the Personal Property Taxes section for itemizing deductions. It says I can "deduct the portion of the fee you pay for the registration of your car if that part is based on the car's value." So I figured out that to be $378 total for our two cars last year, but I'm not 100% that I'm figuring this out correctly. When I pay the vehicle tax yearly there is a section on the bill that lists the Taxing District, the Rate Per $100 value of vehicle, and the Amount Due. Then this is totaled up to get the tax. Then on top of that they asses a flat $25 "vehicle fee." So if I'm figuring thus out correctly I can deduct whatever I paid in tax on the car less the $25 fee since that is not based on the car's value?

Yes, fees such as "plate fee" or "filing fee" may not be deducted. Look at your state's motor vehicle website and they should tell you what portion of your motor vehicle registration is non-deductible.

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: BKLounger
I did some work for a non-profit and they still haven't sent me out a 1099 for what I was paid. How long can they wait to get it to me before they are breaking the law?

If it was processed out by them by the 31st, they are in compliance. It is the mailing date, not the arrival date.

Depending on the distance from them to you, allow this week. Then give them a call.

If you intend on filing electronically, you do not need the 1099, just the numbers themselves; those you should have from yoiur invoices to them.

1099s don't have to be sent until February 28th.

 

[Falloutboy]

have a friend who 6 months out of the year works on Mackinac Island in michigan, she needs to pay for seasonal housing while living there? could this be tax deductable?

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy
have a friend who 6 months out of the year works on Mackinac Island in michigan, she needs to pay for seasonal housing while living there? could this be tax deductable?

Is she an employee (receives a W2) or a contractor (receives a 1099)? Does the company reimburse her?

 

[Falloutboy]

Originally posted by: CPA

Originally posted by: Falloutboy
have a friend who 6 months out of the year works on Mackinac Island in michigan, she needs to pay for seasonal housing while living there? could this be tax deductable?

Is she an employee (receives a W2) or a contractor (receives a 1099)? Does the company reimburse her?

Employee i be leave will need to double check, and no the company does not reimburse her.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: CPA

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: BKLounger
I did some work for a non-profit and they still haven't sent me out a 1099 for what I was paid. How long can they wait to get it to me before they are breaking the law?

If it was processed out by them by the 31st, they are in compliance. It is the mailing date, not the arrival date.

Depending on the distance from them to you, allow this week. Then give them a call.

If you intend on filing electronically, you do not need the 1099, just the numbers themselves; those you should have from yoiur invoices to them.

1099s don't have to be sent until February 28th.

Oops on the 1099 Date

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy

Originally posted by: CPA

Originally posted by: Falloutboy
have a friend who 6 months out of the year works on Mackinac Island in michigan, she needs to pay for seasonal housing while living there? could this be tax deductable?

Is she an employee (receives a W2) or a contractor (receives a 1099)? Does the company reimburse her?

Employee i be leave will need to double check, and no the company does not reimburse her.

If as an employee (W2) the Schedule A w/ Form 2106 would have to be used.
That will require itemization.

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: alchemize
I had excess distributions to my Roth IRA in 2008. Of course, I lost a bit on the cashout ($5000 put in, $2,800 cashed out) Will these capital losses be tax deductible? And in 08 or 09?

Bump.

Also Vanguard withheld state and fed taxes on this...even though I asked them not to. Aren't roth IRA funds put in post-tax so why would taxes be withheld if there wasn't any gain?

Confuzzled...

EK/CPA show me some love brothas!

 

[DukeFan21]

Ok, I just realized one of the stocks I hold in my brokerage account is actually an MLP, and the dividends they pay out I guess are different than normal dividends? On my 1099-DIV from Scottrade, they are not listed, but are listed on a separate page under "Non-Reportable Activity." A quick google search shows that I should be receiving a Schedule K-1 at some point for MLP distributions. My dividends for this stock were a whopping $9.75 for the entire year. Can I just plug that into TurboTax or do I need to actually wait for the Schedule K-1 to come in the mail? My findings on Google say that companies can send out these K-1s later than normal 1099s. I wanted to get my returns in ASAP to help me finally pay off a credit card bill I have.

Edit: This company's online tax info site for investors says it will be live March 26

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: DukeFan21
Ok, I just realized one of the stocks I hold in my brokerage account is actually an MLP, and the dividends they pay out I guess are different than normal dividends? On my 1099-DIV from Scottrade, they are not listed, but are listed on a separate page under "Non-Reportable Activity." A quick google search shows that I should be receiving a Schedule K-1 at some point for MLP distributions. My dividends for this stock were a whopping $9.75 for the entire year. Can I just plug that into TurboTax or do I need to actually wait for the Schedule K-1 to come in the mail? My findings on Google say that companies can send out these K-1s later than normal 1099s. I wanted to get my returns in ASAP to help me finally pay off a credit card bill I have.

Edit: This company's online tax info site for investors says it will be live March 26

If you've got the payor information, then you don't have to wait.

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: alchemize
I had excess distributions to my Roth IRA in 2008. Of course, I lost a bit on the cashout ($5000 put in, $2,800 cashed out) Will these capital losses be tax deductible? And in 08 or 09?

Bump.

Also Vanguard withheld state and fed taxes on this...even though I asked them not to. Aren't roth IRA funds put in post-tax so why would taxes be withheld if there wasn't any gain?

Confuzzled...

EK/CPA show me some love brothas!

sorry.

You have to pay taxes on the withdrawal and a 10% penalty if it was in there less than 5 years, but I thought it was only on the earnings. Doublecheck with Vanguard that they didn't make a mistake.

Also, in order to take the loss you would have had to liquidate your entire Roth 401K.

Here is some good info on the ramifications of excessive contributions.

 

[amdskip]

I won a trip to NYC and the actual value was $1512.56. I have not yet received a 1099 yet and I'm not sure if I will.

I wish to file using taxACT but I do not understand where to enter on their system.
Federal -> 1099 Misc -> and then I am not sure where it is entered.

Box 2 is Schedule C:
-Profit or Loss from Bussiness
-Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss

Box 3 is Other Income:
-Form 1040
-Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business
-Schedule F, Profit or Loss from Farming

Right now I have it entered under Box 2 Schedule C: Supplemental Income and it shows up under Schedule E (Form 1040) and for Box 4 under Income: Royalties Received 1,513 when reviewing my taxes.

Thanks a ton!

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: amdskip
I won a trip to NYC and the actual value was $1512.56. I have not yet received a 1099 yet and I'm not sure if I will.

I wish to file using taxACT but I do not understand where to enter on their system.
Federal -> 1099 Misc -> and then I am not sure where it is entered.

Box 2 is Schedule C:
-Profit or Loss from Bussiness
-Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss

Box 3 is Other Income:
-Form 1040
-Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business
-Schedule F, Profit or Loss from Farming

Right now I have it entered under Box 2 Schedule C: Supplemental Income and it shows up under Schedule E (Form 1040) and for Box 4 under Income: Royalties Received 1,513 when reviewing my taxes.

Thanks a ton!

If you keep it under the Schedule C or E, then you can deduct any expenses that you may have occured in obtaining the prize.

 

[shenaniganz]

Quick question:
I have a portion of my home that I rent out and collect income. This summer I re-shingled my roof.

Must I depreciate the rental portion of this expense, or can I just deduct the entire rental portion?

Thanks,

Paul

 

[50]

Here's my situation (I have 3 questions):

I'm 20 years old in my 3rd year of college. For 2007 summer, I worked as a real estate agent (independent contractor) and went to school the other months of the year. I did not receive a stimulus package check last year, was I supposed to? My parents claim me only to get tax benefits for school (I do not live with them except during the summer).

For 2008, I studied abroad during the summer. I did invest about $1,500-2,000 in the stock market and made about $50 net profit. Do I still need to file taxes for this year?

My last question is I recently started working an internship (from january-August 2009 this year) and when I was filling out my W-2, I only had one deduction. I am working in NJ and pay rent and do everything 100% on my own. The HR rep didn't know if I could claim myself as head of household. Also, since my parents still use me for tax deductions from tuition, am I still their dependent? Can I put "1's" for not being a dependent and head of household? Thanks

 

[Joemonkey]

my wife and i filed our returns a few days ago and my wife just received her 1099R for cashing out her 403b earlier this year. We had totally forgotten about it, it was just something like $336 and she paid $67 in federal tax when she cashed it out but I don't think any state tax came out of it. Should we be concerned about filing an amendment?

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: shenaniganz
Quick question:
I have a portion of my home that I rent out and collect income. This summer I re-shingled my roof.

Must I depreciate the rental portion of this expense, or can I just deduct the entire rental portion?

Thanks,

Paul

Depreciate - it is not a consumable within one year.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
my wife and i filed our returns a few days ago and my wife just received her 1099R for cashing out her 403b earlier this year. We had totally forgotten about it, it was just something like $336 and she paid $67 in federal tax when she cashed it out but I don't think any state tax came out of it. Should we be concerned about filing an amendment?

file a 1040X

Uncle will see that the incomes do not match up and may start asking why

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: 50
Here's my situation (I have 3 questions):

I'm 20 years old in my 3rd year of college. For 2007 summer, I worked as a real estate agent (independent contractor) and went to school the other months of the year. I did not receive a stimulus package check last year, was I supposed to? My parents claim me only to get tax benefits for school (I do not live with them except during the summer).

For 2008, I studied abroad during the summer. I did invest about $1,500-2,000 in the stock market and made about $50 net profit. Do I still need to file taxes for this year?

My last question is I recently started working an internship (from january-August 2009 this year) and when I was filling out my W-2, I only had one deduction. I am working in NJ and pay rent and do everything 100% on my own. The HR rep didn't know if I could claim myself as head of household. Also, since my parents still use me for tax deductions from tuition, am I still their dependent? Can I put "1's" for not being a dependent and head of household? Thanks

If claimed as a dependant, you will lose the stimulus check - it will go to the parent

2008 - You need to file

You can not claim as head of household - see the rules in the OP. You can claim as single unless your parents will be claiming you for 2009. If so, you need to file as a dependant.If you will be working full time for more than 6 months, and will be dlaimed as a dependant, you could have withholding issues if you claim 1.

It would be best to claim 1 for half the time and 0 the other portion.

 

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
my wife and i filed our returns a few days ago and my wife just received her 1099R for cashing out her 403b earlier this year. We had totally forgotten about it, it was just something like $336 and she paid $67 in federal tax when she cashed it out but I don't think any state tax came out of it. Should we be concerned about filing an amendment?

file a 1040X

Uncle will see that the incomes do not match up and may start asking why

I know you're probably not going to know the exact answer to this, but can i do it via TurboTax? I'd look myself but it is installed on my wife's computer and she's out of town

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
my wife and i filed our returns a few days ago and my wife just received her 1099R for cashing out her 403b earlier this year. We had totally forgotten about it, it was just something like $336 and she paid $67 in federal tax when she cashed it out but I don't think any state tax came out of it. Should we be concerned about filing an amendment?

file a 1040X

Uncle will see that the incomes do not match up and may start asking why

I know you're probably not going to know the exact answer to this, but can i do it via TurboTax? I'd look myself but it is installed on my wife's computer and she's out of town

You should. I know that TaxAct has it. You probably won't be able to file it electronically, though.

 

[lebe0024]

For the past 3 years I've used H&R Block's taxcut online. It was okay. But I will not use them again for the following reasons:
1) They're considerably more expensive than taxact.
2) They're reciprocity form was completely wrong. Attempts to notify them of this ended in utter failure.
3) My one "free" assistance resulted in waiting on the phone for an hour and a half, and I never got the assistance.
4) Doesn't seem to work with firefox.

This year I tried taxact, and it was awesome. And cheap. And the reciprocity form worked great. And it works in firefox. So here's one recommendation for TaxAct. I also computed my federal taxes manually and it came out with the exact same amount as taxact.

 

[Praetor]

Has anybody received their refund yet via electronic deposit? I'm itching to get my money back and hope I don't have to wait a week.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Praetor
Has anybody received their refund yet via electronic deposit? I'm itching to get my money back and hope I don't have to wait a week.

Plan for 2 Fridays and min 10 days from the time you file.