Dave T

Thanks Taxbilly for the B'day wishes. As one of my former collegues once said " I don't like the idea of having another birthday but it sure beats the alternative. " Dave T

Thanks for the response on this. Do you know if she would still have to pay New York City tax as well. -Dave

Help with New York City tax and New Jersey state income tax would be appreciated. Friend's daughter recently moved from upstate New York to Queens, NY. She teaches oustside the City in Rockland County during the week and works in Manhattan on weekends. I understand that due to the fact that she lives within NYC that both jobs are subject to New York State and New York City tax. She is now contemplating a move to New Jersey and commuting to the two jobs. I presume she will be subject to NJ state tax even though she works in NY, is that correct? Also, does NY tax any of this income even though she is no longer a resident? Haven't encountered this before but I'm sure it's quite common for those who live in Conn. or NJ and commute into the City. Again, thanks for the help. Dave T

Thought I heard something about this recently but don't remember the source. We provide our pastors a cell phone and pay the bill to the cellular provider directly. They do not keep a log of their calls and although the majority are church related, there is some personnal usage involved. Aside from requiring them to log their calls how do we determine the portion of the monthly bill that is taxable income to them? Seems that I heard that some type of allocation could be made based on an estimated percentage of personnal use but again don't remember the source. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks - Dave T

In the case that I was dealing with the T/P was the beneficiary of her Mother's IRA and she had made the RMD in 2007 but failed to do so in 2008 and therefore suffered the 50% in 2008 (ouch). Dave T

Just curious about this only because I just did a return in which the T/P didn't take the required 2008 RMD. The fact that they took it in 2009 wouldn't they still be subject to the 50% penalty for not taking it in 2008? Dave T

I believe Mike is correct on this. Unless he has opted out of Social Security, his housing allowance is subject to SE tax. Richard Hammar publishes a tax guide speciically for pastors and churches and it is a great reaource on this subject. Dave T

Have a married couple who became first time home buyers in 2008. Each tapped their IRAs to make the purchase. She for almost 10K and he for 4K. I know that first time home ownership is one of the exceptions to the 10% penalty and that the limitation is up to $10K My question is, is the 10K per IRA or in total, as in this case the total was almost 14K or would the entire amount be exempt from the penalty seeing it came from two different accounts? Thanks Dave T

Have a question I haven't seen addressed and IRS website seems a bit confusing to me. I know the rebate amount is determined primarily from the 2007 tax return. My question is - what if the return needed to be amended and as a result the rebate amount would be higher? Client (MFJ) received rebate check of $600.00 but should have been $1200.00 - reason being is that on original return his tax liability was less than $1200.00. The amended return included more income and tax libility exceeded $ 1200; therefore he would be entitled to the full amount. Will IRS correct this? Wondering what I should tell client. Thanks Dave T

Tom, My wife and I are both native New Yorkers so I don't mean to steer you away from our state, but several years ago she and I took a trip to Boston and it was great!! Seeing the Old North Church, Fannuel Hall, USS Constitution etc. was a wonderful experience. Just a beautiful city and certainly very historic. I must say though that I did get some strange looks due to the fact that I wore my NY Yankee hat. Hope this helps Dave T

Aside from not checking more closely, what did I do wrong? Client comes in at end of January. We sit down, do the return and send him on his way with 8879 for he and wife to sign. (along with hard copy of the return) I tell him when I get the 8879 I'll e-file the return but with the caveat that it can't be filed until 2/11/08 because he has 5695- Claim for Energy credit attached. On February 11 I update the program, 5695 gets added and I e-file the return. Files get acccepted and everything seems OK. Client calls me the other day and informs me that his direct deposit went into the bank for $650 more than what what was on the return. I check the return and notice that wife's W2 wages that were on the original return did not get carried over when file was updated. Needless to say I had some explaining to do with the client along with a Federal and Sate amended return. Again, I'll accept responsibility for not checking the return but why wouldn't the wages have carried over when I did the update? Thanks Dave T

I have a client whose son is is studying music in Australia. He is 20 Years old and course of study would be considered post secondary education. It's a non-degree program so if it is eligible it would have to fall under the Lifetime Learning credit. My understanding is that some foreign educational institutions are eligible but not sure how to determine if this might be. I also know that to be eligible the institution must be able to participate in the financial aid programs of of the Dept. of Education. Based on the information prvided, I don't believe he is entitled to the credit ( or tuition deduction) but would appreciate your opinions. Thank you. Dave T

Mine arrived yesterday (1/22) via US Mail Dave T

Saw an article in Money magazine the other day that said Matt (?) Murphy, the man that caught Barry Bonds' historic 756th homerun baseball, was selling it so that he could pay the taxes due on it. The article went on to say that it would probably fetch upwards of $500K ( this was before someone actually paid over $750K for it). Had he not chosen to sell it, how would he have declared it and and for what amount? Dave T PS - Went to a game last year with my sons and they got a ball hit by a player. Didn't know I had to declare that, although a foul ball hit by a AAA farm team player probably doesn't have quite the same economic value as Barry's ball:)