HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kudzu@tfs.com (Michael Sierchio)
Subject: Re: Section 179 and recovery
Organization: TRW Financial Systems
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 19:28:23 GMT

In article <1992Apr3.233840.5515@tss.com> burke@tss.com (Jim Burke) writes:
>
>I've gotten conflicting opinions on my question - more input is appreciated.
>
>I own an airplane that is rented out on an hourly basis.  Due to a variety
>of circumstances it is not considered passive activity so I can offset any
>losses against other income.  For 1991 I have taken the one time section 179
>deduction for $10,000 of the cost of the airplane as an expense. Had I not
>done this, I could have just take normal depreciation.  One gotcha of part
>179 seems to be that if you convert the asset to strictly personal use, 
>you have to recover the $10,000 when the conversion is made, as opposed to
>normal depreciation which you don't have to deal with until you actually
>sell the asset.  Now, for my question.  At what point does the IRS consider
>the asset converted?  Is it converted just because I fly the airplane 
>myself even though other people rent it?  Is there a period of time that 
>would have to pass without the asset being used in a business activity?
>Let's say I move the airplane to another airport and it takes me 6 months
>to establish the business activity of renting the airplane at the new
>location?  And, what if after the 6 months pass I decide it isn't worth 
>it and sell, but I'm now into the next tax year?  In which year do I have
>to take the hit?  Anyone know where to look for the answers to this one?

You would make matters *much* simpler if you paid yourself for the rental
of the plane just like anyone else!

-- 
Michael Sierchio                               TRW Financial Systems
kudzu@tfs.com                                     1947 Center Street
                                             Berkeley, CA 94704-1105
(MKS2)                                                  510.704.3380
From: suresh@uts.amdahl.com (Suresh Padmanabhan)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Single or Married ?
Date: 9 Apr 92 23:33:57 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA


Hi,

I got married in India last year (August 1991) and my wife is currently
here in the US on a 6-month visitor visa. INS is aware of her marital
status and I recently filed a permanent-resident petition on her behalf.
She has now obtained a social-security number as well.

My question is :

Is my filing status single or married for the 1991 tax-year ??


-- suresh --
~

--
From: ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Military Pension and Deductible IRA Contribution
Date: 14 Apr 92 19:03:25 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories,  Columbus, Ohio

In article <6106697@MVB.SAIC.COM> MCKNIGHM%UNION.BITNET@SHSU.edu (Mary Parlett McKnight) writes:
>My husband is active duty military.  As such he receives a military pension prov
>ided he stays in the service for at least 20 years.  If he were to leave after 1
>9.5 years he would receive absolutely no pension.  He does not have the option o
>f a 401(k)
>retirement plan (the service doesn't offer one).  So, I had been under the impre
>ssion that any contribution he would make to an IRA would be totally deductible.
>  However, Box 6 of his W-4 has Pension marked off.  And everything I've read se
>ems to
>indicate that, if the Box is marked then the contribution is not deductible (or
>only deductible on a sliding scale).
>
>I contacted the IRS and the only answer I could get was: "if the box is marked,
>he must not be eligible for a deductible IRA; or only on a sliding scale".
>Can anyone verify this information and/or explain it to me?

That's right.

Let's say you work for Big Glom Corporation (BGC) and BGC has a
defined benefits pension program for all employees.  Now you may
decide you will work for just two years and then leave.  You are not
even vested.  Yet since you are in a pension program of BGC they
will check that box and you do not have a deductible IRA (unless
your income is low enough) 
-- 
Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
From: gsmith@bbn.com (Graeme Smith)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: including forms
Date: 6 Apr 1992 18:37:04 GMT
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: bbn.com
Keywords: 1098


do I attach the Form 1098 my bank sent me to my return,
or do I hold on to it?

Thanks
Graeme
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: jedwards@ms.uky.edu (Jonathan Edwards)
Subject: Re: including forms
Keywords: 1098
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 22:28:06 GMT
X-Bytes: 

gsmith@bbn.com (Graeme Smith) writes:


>do I attach the Form 1098 my bank sent me to my return,
>or do I hold on to it?

You only need to send in such forms if they show any Federal
income tax withheld...
From: tpradeep@cs.tamu.edu (Pradeep K Tapadiya)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: How do u keep track of miles for STD car deduction?
Date: 8 Apr 92 15:24:48 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Department, Texas A&M University

How does one keep track of the miles covered on business? More
specifically, how do you prove to IRS that you actually have
travelled x miles on business? 

Pradeep
tpradeep@cs.tamu.edu
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: jedwards@ms.uky.edu (Jonathan Edwards)
Subject: Re: Tax rates for 1992
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 11:53:18 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
X-Bytes: 

chander@borland.com (Chander Sarna) writes:

>Hi,

>Can someone please let me know what are the Federal Tax rates for 1992, for
>married filing jointly ? (Upto what number is 15% and upto what is it 28).
>If the same info is available for California State Tax, I would appreciate
>that too. 

>I am sorry if this question has been asked before.

I believe the 15-28% break for MFJ is $35800 (taxable income).  The
28%-higher break I don't recall.

This information can be found in Volume 3 of IRS Package X (which a
large public library should have) and perhaps in the instructions for
form 1040-ES.

...which I happen to have (how nice).  The 1992 Tax Rate Schedules are:

Single:  15% of first 21450 of taxable income
         28% of amount between 21451 and 51900, inclusive
         31% of amount above 51900

MFJ or qualifying widower:
         15% of first 35800 of taxable income
         28% of amount between 35801 and 86500, inclusive
         31% of amount above 86500

Head of household:
         15% of first 28750 of taxable income
         28% of amount between 28751 and 74150, inclusive
         31% of amount above 74150

Married filing separately:
         15% of first 17900 of taxable income
         28% of amount between 17901 and 43250, inclusive
         31% of amount above 43250

Taxable income is adjusted gross income less deductions (standard
deductions are 6000 MFJ/QW, 5250 HH, 3600 S, 3000 MFS - add 900
if unmarried and 65 or older and add 900 if unmarried and blind
[the numbers are 700 for each spouse if married]) less exemptions
(2300 per exemption).
From: gw@hpscit.sc.hp.com (Gordon Wilson)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: underpayment of estimated tax
Date: 17 Apr 92 01:04:43 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Clara, CA

Hello Mats,

>to make it up at the end of the year, that might be a problem.  This
>is at least partly why the rules about the "100% of last year's tax"
>safe harbor were changed, I'd imagine.

What rules concerning the "100% of last year's tax" changed?
I thought that if you had withheld an amount equal to the amount paid
in taxes last year, then there would be no penalty.  Has something
changed?
thank
gordon
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: taxes - immigrant spo
From: hilary.miller@execnet.com (hilary miller)
Date: 13 Apr 92 23:05:45 GMT
Reply-To: "hilary miller" <hilary.miller@execnet.com>
Distribution: misc
Organization: Executive Networks Information


Hugh Bonney, in a message to All on 04-12-92 at 4:52pm, said:

HB>|    I was married May 31, 1991 in China to a PRC citizen who worked
   |    at a professional job in Hong Kong. She arrived in the U.S.
   |    Dec 19, 1991 sponsored as my wife and was here through year
   |    end.
   |    I won't file a joint return. Is she supposed to file a return
   |    from the date of our marriage, or the date of her arrival and
   |    residence?
   |___________________________________________________________________

               The IRS considers you married for all of 1991.  If
               she has no U.S.-source income, she need not file
               at all for 1991.

HB>|    So anyway, shouldn't she file 1992 taxes before she leaves?
   |_______________________________________________________________

               Yes, but so what?

HB>|    Is there a way of notifying the IRS of her status so they don't
   |    bother me? That is really the point to these questions. I know
   |    that I don't really owe her taxes or any other debts.
   |___________________________________________________________________

               Yes, what is the point?  Why don't you forget
               about her and get on with your life?  This is your
               umpteenth post on the subject.

HB>|    Does anyone know what a 'Permit to Sail' is, and is it relevant
   |    here?
   |___________________________________________________________________

               It's not relevant if she's already left.


   L A
 I    R        Hilary B. Miller of Greenwich, Connecticut
  H/\Y         CIS: 76040,1743
   s r
---
 ~ DeLuxe} 1.25a #11645 ~ "I hate Victor Hugo," said Les miserably.
--
Executive Network Information System   (914) 667-4567
International ILink Host
From: lizzit@silver.lcs.mit.edu (Lizzette Xixxo)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Post-mark date is all that counts?
Date: 8 Apr 92 05:52:08 GMT
Organization: MIT Lab for Computer Science

In article <1992Apr05.054140.172608@locus.com> cjkuo@locus.com (Chengi Jimmy Kuo) writes:
>waldman2@husc4.harvard.edu (Bruce Waldman) writes:
>
>>This may seem like a silly question.  But if I owe taxes with
>>my return (or application for extension), the rules seem to
>>say that the return must be POSTMARKED by 15 April.  Is there
>>any reason why I should not send the return surface-mail
>>rather than air-mail.  (I am in New Zealand, and the net
>>outcome would be 2 to 3 extra months of float on the check).
>
>Only a US postmark is legal.  International postmarks do not have
>legal standing in the US courts.  (My father was bitten by this
>caveat last year.)  So you better hope your check ARRIVES before
>April 15th!
>

also you have until June 15th if you are living (not visiting!) overseas
on April 15th.  if your check is really large, you should wait until close
to june 15th and then fed-ex it or overnite mail it so that it arrives in
time.  be sure to attach a statement to the return explaining that you 
were out of the country april 15th.  a form 2555 is sufficient for these
purposes (if you are filing one anyways).  so is a hand-written or typed
addendum stapled to the back of your form.  keep yr note really short.

--lizzit
From: mats@netcom.com (Mats Wichmann)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: underpayment of estimated tax
Date: 15 Apr 92 14:00:31 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

douglis@MITL.COM (Fred Douglis) writes:

>Can anyone explain the rules regarding *when* the estimated tax must be paid?
>It seems it's possible to pay the extra tax by increasing the withholding
>or by paying quarterly payments.  But is it possible to withhold no
>extra money from January to June, say, and then withhold twice the extra
>amount needed from July to December?  (Or an even more extreme
>case, withholding sharply for just a few months at the end, or
>filing an ES form late in the year.)  Will the IRS care?

Basically, you're expected to "pay as you go".  This means that if you
have large swings in your income, you may need to recompute your
estimated tax burden each quarter, or whenever the swings happen,
whichever is appropriate.  There used to be a form for this
("Annualized Estimated Taxes") but it seems to have gone away.
Sometimes this can be painful: say your computation was that you had to
pay $20,000, or $5000/qtr.  Then in the 4th quarter you have some sort
of windfall that shows you actually need to pay a total of $30,000. Now
you have to come up with $30,000 - 3x$5000 (what you have already paid)
or $15,000 for the Jan. 15th payment.  Sigh...something like this
happened to me last year.

There's no problem with this with the IRS, as long as you can show that
you made a reasonable estimated tax computation at each payment period.
If you underpaid when you knew what your income would be and just tried
to make it up at the end of the year, that might be a problem.  This
is at least partly why the rules about the "100% of last year's tax"
safe harbor were changed, I'd imagine.
-- 
Mats Wichmann
Systems Software Consultant
alruna!mats@ossi.com (or mats@netcom.com)
From: "George D. Greenwade" <bed_gdg@SHSU.edu>
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: RE: unsubscribing
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1992 13:37:27 CDT
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List

On Wed, 08 Apr 92 12:27:26 EDT,  Ron Allan <ALLANR@GUVM.BITNET> posted to
<FedTax-L@SHSU.edu>
> Can somebody please tell me how to unsubscribe from fedtax-l?  I have tried
> everything our bitnet administrator can think of?

I've removed Ron. I don't know how he tried to unsubscribe, nor what
his BITNET administrator told him, but here's an extract from the Routine
Post made on March 1:
>First, if you should ever wish to have your name removed from the list of
>subscribers and no longer receive FedTax-L, please send a MAIL message to
>                 LISTSERV@SHSU.BITNET (LISTSERV@SHSU.edu)
>                                 -- or --
>                        FedTax-L-Request@SHSU.edu
>stating in the text of the MAIL:
> SIGNOFF FedTax-L
>    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
>    %    ...                                                        %
>    % Please note that the LISTSERV which serves FedTax-L is MAIL   %
>    % oriented only and is not conventional interactive LISTSERV.   %
>    %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

My guess is that the administrator told you about interactive LISTSERV; a
very good rule of thumb for ANY LISTSERV SUBSCRIPTION, WHETHER CONVENTIONAL
LISTSERV OR MAIL-BASED LISTSERV is to use MAIL since that's how any
LISTSERV has to view your address.

Regards,   George
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
George D. Greenwade, Ph.D.                            Bitnet:  BED_GDG@SHSU
Department of Economics and Business Analysis         THEnet: SHSU::BED_GDG
College of Business Administration                    Voice: (409) 294-1266
P. O. Box 2118                                        FAX:   (409) 294-3612
Sam Houston State University              Internet:        bed_gdg@SHSU.edu
Huntsville, TX 77341                      bed_gdg%SHSU.decnet@relay.the.net
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
FedTax-L list co-owner
From: chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: Asimov's SF Magazine
Date: 9 Apr 92 15:43:27 GMT
Organization: I is a writur

sascmc@pecos.unx.sas.com (Christopher Mark Conn) writes:

>What will happen to Asimov's Science Fiction magazine now that he's gone?

What happened to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine when Hitchcock died?
(I'd ask "what happened to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine when he died?"
but someone would probably take me seriously...)

Nothing. He won't be able to write the editorials or make snide comments to
the letters, otherwise it'll be status quo. 

>The last one I read was really strange because he admitted how much trouble 
>he was having writing and getting through it all. 

The one thing Isaac really lived for was writing (no, perhaps a better word
is 'explaining'). It was a big problem for him to have to admit that he
simply couldn't write any more. When he finally hit that point and had to
admit it to himself, he declined fairly rapidly, because (major opinion
here) I think he lost his reason for living. 

The one thing I'm going to regret is never having heard him sing Gilbert &
Sullivan. That was another of his loves, and from reports something truly
special.

-- 
            Chuq "IMHO" Von Rospach, Enterprise Products Support
            chuq@apple.com | GEnie:CHUQ & MAC.BIGOT | ALink:CHUQ
               Book Reviewer, Amazing Stories =+= Member, SFWA
           Editor, OtherRealms =+= #include <standard/disclaimer.h>

And lo, though I travel through the valley of the archetypes, I shall fear
no evil, for I know that the author can't kill me off for at least another
150 pages, no matter how stupid or trite I become, or he ruins the book.
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: bf455@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bonita Kale)
Subject: Re: Which way is out??
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 11:59:43 GMT




In a previous article, KVJLC@ASUACAD.BITNET () says:
>
>My question to SCI-FI, and the like, writers.
>
>    If a person returns to the past and attempts to alter it or does;
>
>    a.)  would the change occur before he returns to the future
>    B.)  or would the change occur after the return trip?
>
>    If the change occurs before the return to the future, how would
>he/she return; assuming things would be different?
>
>    or, if things don't change until the return trip, then wouldn't
>it be possible for the change to never occur?

No, you don't understand.  If you're writing a time travel story, -you- get
to (have to!) decide all that.

But don't write one without reading a whole bunch of them, to get some idea
of your options and what's already been done to death. 

You probably won't avoid paradox (Does the infinitely branching universe
story avoid paradox?  I'm never sure.) because time travel is paradoxical
by nature.  You're trying to make the impossible sound possible without
actually using the word "magic".

Bonita Kale
 
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: merlyn@digibd.com (Merlyn LeRoy)
Subject: Re: "It was a dark and stormy night ..." Contest
Organization: DigiBoard Incorporated, Eden Prairie, MN
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1992 17:29:00 GMT


Has anyone seen books published past the first three?
I've only seen:

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
Son of...
Bride of...

I know these are from a few years back.

---
Merlyn LeRoy
From: ARL00SJB@UNCCVM.UNCC.EDU
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Japanese Maritime(?) Laws
Date: 7 Apr 92 17:39:09 GMT
Organization: UNC Charlotte

I'm writing a short story that concerns finding gold ingots in the shallows
off the coast of Japan.  I need to know how long a find like this would be
held by the Japanese government (or whoever) before the finder would be
allowed to keep the find, and how much in taxes (or whatever) the finder would
have to pay said government (or whoever).  I've contacted several professional
types about this, and no one seems to know the answer.  I looked in the library
for reference books dealing with related subjects, but no luck.  Anybody have
a suggestion of whom to ask?  Anybody know the answers?
Thanks in advance for any assistance provided.
 
Jean
Newsgroups: misc.writing
From: mtan@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Maureen Tan)
Subject: Re: Yes, you want to be a writer, but can you use interest tables?
Organization: UIUC
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 22:09:06 GMT

DISCLAIMER:
My system crashed just as I emailed my original response to Liz's 
article.  I'm assuming that my precious words were consigned to
the ether, so I'm attempting to recapture my thoughts.  If, by
chance, my thoughts show up twice, I apologize in advance.

In article <ELIZ.92Apr14113224@corpus-callosum.ai.mit.edu>, eliz@ai.mit.edu (Elizabeth Willey) writes: 
 
> I could also discuss how much easier this makes the bookkeeping for
> the publisher, as well as for you, but they made me take an oath never
> to discuss the Higher Arcana of accounting with non-initiates, and I
> know at least one of you hasn't been inducted to the Fourth Level.

Aw, c'mon, Liz.  You can trust us.  (Better yet, just trust me and we'll
coauthor a book on publisher's bookkeeping methods and sell it to
non-initiates for $45 a copy and make our fortune.  Maybe Chuq could
help???)

> Know that the publisher looks on you as an easily-replaced part of his
> business process.  You are fodder for his combine, the maximum benefit
> to be extracted from you at the least cost.

Jeez, and I though *I* was cynical.

>For nuturing, go to your mother. 

Bad idea!  I do that occasionally and my mother says:

"Why can't you write something my friends can enjoy?  Something
without all that violence and that foul language.  Maybe
something like Erma Bombeck writes...something funny.  It was 
probably my fault you write the sort of thing you do.  I wasn't a very
good mother..."

OR:  "Why don't you stop writing all that (boring and impossible
to show my friends) engineering stuff.  No one wants to read about
hot rolling steel mill sludge.  You could make more  money if you
 wrote for National Geographic instead.  Everyone would want to
read an article on crabgrass in the Midwest.  I'm sure it would sell, dear."

OR:  "I know you have a job, a family, and are writing trashy,
violent, socially unacceptable books in your spare time,
but you are keeping a daily journal and baking oatmeal cookies for
your kids and volunteering ..."

Well, you get the idea.  My advice:  Remain insecure.  That's what
makes writers so much fun for publishers to work with.

Maureen (a.k.a. Jane)
Newsgroups: misc.writing