taxgirl® - tax news, tax info and tax policy income-tax

April 8th, 2008

Ask the taxgirl: Charity and deductions

Taxpayer asks:
Hi taxgirl,
There is a woman at our church who recently lost her home in a storm. A few of us put our heads together and decided to take up a collection for her. We collected money, housewares, bedding, you name it. She lost almost everything that she owned so we started […]

By Kelly -- 0 comments

April 7th, 2008

Ask the taxgirl: Decedents and Remarriage

Taxpayer asks:
Ok, here’s an extremely random real-life question:
How do you file a return on someone whose spouse died in 2007 and who remarried also in 2007? The deceased in question sold a piece of jointly-owned property, as well as having social security income, so he does need to file, but the spouse can’t exactly file […]

By Kelly -- 4 comments

April 6th, 2008

Ask the taxgirl: Timing of payments

Taxpayer asks:
Hi Kelly!
I’m so glad to have found your site - what a great service for all of us! My question is in regards to the 1099-MISC form. I am a small business owner and received a 1099 form for a December 2007 sale however the company did not pay until January 2008. […]

By Kelly -- 3 comments

April 1st, 2008

IRS Considers Tax Exempt Status for Bloggers

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In a surprising move, the IRS has announced that it is considering exempting bloggers from paying income tax on money earned from blogging.
In its proposed regulations on the matter, the IRS pointed out that bloggers provide a valuable public service by making information available to […]

By Kelly -- 20 comments

March 28th, 2008

Being Right Isn’t the Same as Not Getting Audited

Lots of people like being right. But in the tax world, just like in other situations, being right isn’t always enough.
A good friend recently asked me to review his tax return before he submitted it to the IRS. I did and I noticed something that I didn’t love - a huge refund (and […]

By Kelly -- 4 comments

March 25th, 2008

What? Tax Changes Benefit the Wealthy?

Over the past ten years, the tax burden on wages has eased in most of the world’s industrial countries, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Those changes have benefited the lower and middle class, for the most part.
Only, there some exceptions. The OECD pointed fingers at a small group […]

By Kelly -- 0 comments

March 24th, 2008

Ask the taxgirl: 1099s, 1040s and Rebate Checks

Taxpayer asks:
I have 3 kids and this is my first year filing a 1099. Am I able to claim dependents on a 1099 misc and get a refund?
Taxgirl says:
There is a distinction between a form 1099 and a form 1040.
There are several different types of forms 1099 - you can read about many different […]

By Kelly -- 0 comments

March 24th, 2008

Ask the taxgirl: Navigating the forms 1040

Taxpayer asks:
Hello Kelly,
I have a tax question for you:
-I am a normal employee and will be filing a 1040ez for that.
-I also do freelance work on the side, have received 1099-MISCs for that work from clients, and will be filing a 1040 schedule C for that.
Do I simply file the two forms together?
Or is there […]

By Kelly -- 2 comments

March 21st, 2008

Ask the taxgirl: Vacation Rentals

Taxpayer asks:
I have a question. I have been reading that you can deduct the cost of vacation homes or second homes. Each summer, our family rents out a beach home. Can we deduct this on our taxes?
(I love your site - you’re very funny!)
Taxgirl says:
Thanks for the nice compliment about the site. […]

By Kelly -- 0 comments

March 5th, 2008

Time for taxes: Are you organized?

I think one of the most frustrating parts of tax time is getting everything together.
Back in the day, when I actually prepared tax returns for clients (I don’t have time anymore), I was amazed at the various styles of “organization” utilized by my clients. There were the über-organized with print outs and annotations; the […]

By Kelly -- 1 comment