by Leif Jensen | Aug 23, 2021 | Rant |
We the United States are failing by every measure in public education. According to one study; federal, state, and local governments spend $720.9 billion, or $14,840 per pupil, to fund K-12 public education. This gets the US to 26th in Total scores, looking at...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 18, 2021 | Taxes |
Are you considering making an offer to settle your federal tax debt at less than what you owe? There are two payment options: Lump sum cash, which requires 20% of the total offer amount to be paid up front, with the remaining balance to be paid in five or fewer...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 17, 2021 | Taxes |
With a red hot housing market in 2021, tons of people have been selling their homes. A reminder on calculating gain or loss from the sale of your primary home. You start with the amount of gross proceeds reported in box 2 of Form 1099-Sand subtract selling expenses...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 16, 2021 | Tax Court |
The general rule of thumb, is that the IRS can only go back three years. But, there are times when IRS can go back more than three years to seek taxes. If over 25% of gross income is omitted from a return, then IRS has six years to assess the tax, unless the filer...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 10, 2021 | Taxes |
The IRS sends out millions of letters every year, typically looking for more money. Many taxpayers try to assert a reasonable-cause defense to avoid a penalty and interest from those letters. In doing so, they have to prove their position was based on reasonable cause...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 9, 2021 | Investing, Taxes |
Long-term capital gains have favorable rates, over ordinary income. Profits from the sale or exchange of capital assets held over a year are generally taxed at 0%, 15% or 20%. There’s also the 3.8% surtax on net investment income of single filers with modified...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 4, 2021 | Taxes |
The fine for willfully failing to report foreign accounts are not capped, according to an appeals court decision. Under the statute, the penalty for willful failures is the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the highest balance in the overseas account. The IRS regulations...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 3, 2021 | Taxes |
IRS and the Justice Department continue to be on the prowl for undisclosed foreign accounts, devoting resources to get U.S. owners of the accounts to timely report them each year if the aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time during the prior year. Penalties for...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 2, 2021 | Running a Business |
Who thought this was a good idea? In this case they were treating its officers as contractors which was causing headaches for a corporation that owned and operated day care centers. The corporation didn’t pay any salary to a couple who were its sole shareholders and...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 28, 2021 | Retirement |
Let’s take a look at three important rules if contemplating an IRA rollover: First, the money must be returned within 60 days, or the distribution is taxed, assuming no direct rollover. It’s also hit with an early payout penalty for people under age 59½. The IRS...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 27, 2021 | Retirement |
If you made a qualified charitable distribution from my traditional IRA. Will the 2021 Form 1099-R that I get early next year reflect the QCD? No. People age 70½ and older can transfer up to $100,000 yearly from traditional IRAs directly to charity. These QCDs can...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 26, 2021 | Retirement |
If you inherited an IRA last year. When must you take distributions from it? You have 10 years from the death to clean out the account. This doesn’t mean payouts must be distributed evenly over a 10-year period. You can wait until the 10th year to take out all the...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 20, 2021 | General |
Nearly five million new gun owners have joined the 100 million-plus gun owners already in the U.S. in 2020. This is according to recent estimates from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The same data also shows that 40% of all firearms sales are going to...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 19, 2021 | General |
The Streaming Wars are upon us, and the deck is stacked against the small players. Amazon and Roku held HBO Max and Peacock out of the game at the beginning. Peacock is still not in the game, and seemingly may never be. Content is king, but what is amazing more so...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 13, 2021 | Taxes |
What are the federal income tax consequences from selling a timeshare? Losses from the sale of timeshares held for personal use are nondeductible. If you are one of the lucky few that sells a timeshare at a profit, you have capital gain. Different tax rules apply to...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 12, 2021 | Running a Business |
Not paying salary to its owner causes headaches for an S corporation. A lawyer who was the president of her own S firm. The company did not pay her a salary but did provide her with funds, which the firm deducted as officer’s compensation on its Form 1120-S. She...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 7, 2021 | Taxes |
Cases involving passport revocations are now coming before the Tax Court. A federal statute allows the Department of State to deny or revoke U.S. passports of individuals with federal tax debts of $54,000 or more on whom a tax lien or levy has been filed. The IRS...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 6, 2021 | Running a Business |
Reporting hobby losses continues to be an audit red flag, it has been and will remain so. The IRS is always on the hunt for taxpayers who year after year report large losses from hobby-sounding activities on Schedule C of the 1040 to help offset other income, such as...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 5, 2021 | Rant |
School districts around the country have banned dodgeball, according to Fox News, “researchers argue that there is a ‘hidden curriculum’ of dodgeball that reinforces the oppression of those ‘perceived as weaker individuals through the exercise of...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 30, 2021 | Taxes |
Businesses can deduct 100% of restaurant meals in 2021 and 2022.The late 2020 stimulus law provides temporary relief from the 50% haircut that normally applies to the business meals write-off. The easing applies only to food and beverages purchased at a restaurant for...
