HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: aa473@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (James Brown)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Home offices deduction case
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 93 08:27:30 -0500
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List



>
>
>>Also, has anyone out there been challenged on the validity of the deduction
>>during an audit?  If so, what happens?  Do they actually come at look
>>at your office?
>
>They can, and do, schedule office audits of home businesses.  I got
>audited, and they asked to come out and see my office.  I protested,
>and eventually got the case turned into a correspondance audit; I sent
>them photos of the office, and they allowed the deduction.
>--
>-- Christophe
>
>"Bad analogy!  No biscuit!"
>
>
  The IRS used to (may still) hold training classes for small business
  and potential small business owners on how to file the various forms
  and explaining some of the common tax considerations .

  during the discussion of home offices I ask if having non-business books
  on the "office shelves" and that sort of thing would cause the room to
  fail the exclusive use test.

  The answer was roughly "If we saw those we might question use".  My
  somewhat tongue in cheek reply was " O well since you would have to
  get a warrant to search my home I would have time to move the books."
  the instructor auditor was indignant at the idea that IRS would need
  a warrant to enter my home :-).  (I decided to skip the home office
  deduction and got audited two out of three years anyway. So much
  for avoiding Flag items :-)  no findings either time. The second
  one was a home audit and I didn't insist on a warrant it beat driving
  sixty miles like the first time.)


 Jim Brown
Newsgroups: misc.taxes,misc.invest
From: pearson_steven@tandem.com (Steven R. Pearson)
Subject: Re: Income tax ?
Organization: Tandem Computers Inc.,  Cupertino, CA
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 02:50:15 GMT

In article <Jan.26.09.38.52.1993.14618@presto.ig.com>, stuczyns@presto.ig.com (Martin Stuczynski) writes:
> 
> Is there such a thing as a self directed IRA or 401K? If so how does
> one set one up? I'd like to set up a 401K by myself as I don't like
> the investment options offered by my employer's 401K.

"Self-directed" IRAs abound.  Most brokers offer something by that name.
They let you pick most of the investments they sell for your IRA.

As for 401(k), it is a much rarer thing.  401(k) plans are specifically
company-sponsored plans, so I seriously doubt there is any way you can
set one up on your own.  The only hope I can see is if your company lets
you have access to a brokerage type account through your 401(k).  As I
stated above, it's a rare thing, but apparently it is possible.  I recently read
in Fortune about one company (I forget which one) that offers that option in
their 401(k).

-steve p.
From: sasha@sharik.metaphor.com (Sasha Velednitsky)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Social Security for non-citizens
Date: 26 Jan 93 03:19:15 GMT
Organization: Metaphor Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA

>In article <C0p618.B1M@news.cso.uiuc.edu> acheng@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Albert Cheng) writes:

>Hm... Last I heard, all our honorable Congress Reps and President did not
>pay a single dime of Federal Tax.  They are exempted from it.  I guess
>you are still right, they don't participate in this society.

This is simply not true.  The income of President is public information and
is published in all major newspapers after April 15 including Fed Income Tax
paid.  President's Bush income for 1991 was about $300K (this is from 
memory and could be not very acurate) and Federal Tax was above $100K.

Sasha.

Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: wirth@fine.princeton.edu (Colleen Wirth)
Subject: Re: Need Address of Tax Collecting Agency in CA
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 01:50:08 GMT

>> Can somebody from California e-mail me the address to which I should
>>send a request, asking for non-resident tax forms. I live in
>>Oregon but did a summer job in California. Thanks well in
>>advance.
>
>	Franchise Tax Board
>	PO Box 942840
>	Sacramento, CA  94240-0040
>--

Can someone please post/email me the CA tax phone number that I can call
to request a 540NR (non-resident)? I thought the number was
1-800-852-5711, but I've been calling that number for a week now, and it's
always busy. 

Many thanks, Colleen

Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: wwang@osf.org (Weidong Wang)
Subject: Question of 1099-G, Icome tax overpayment
Followup-To: wwang@osf.org
Keywords: pverpayment, 1099-G
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 13:57:52 GMT


I received a notice (Form 1099-G) from Mass Dept of Revenue, saying that I had
a $131.16 tax overpayment in 1991.

I looked my record and it shows that this amount is exactly the refund I got 
from Mass DOR for 1991.

Now my question is: what does this 1099-G mean? I had received tax refund in 
past years, but this is the first time that i have recieved such a notice.

It says that this information is also being furnished to IRS. Does it mean that
since I did an itemlized deduction for 1991, and since I deducted extra state
tax, now I have to repay the tax for this extra amount? 1991 is the first time
I did an itemlized deduction.

BTW, how does a state DOR know that I filed a federal tax return with itemlized
deduction?

Thanks.

-- 
    +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |  Weidong Wang                   |  Open Software Foundation        |
    |  wwang@osf.org                  |  11 Cambridge Center             |
    |  (617) 621-7272                 |  Cambridge, MA 02142             |
    +--------------------------------------------------------------------+


Newsgroups: misc.taxes,misc.invest
From: timlee@netcom.com (Timothy J. Lee)
Subject: 401k plans Re: Income tax ?
Followup-To: misc.invest
Reply-To: timlee@netcom.com (Timothy J. Lee)
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 05:25:59 GMT

pearson_steven@tandem.com (Steven R. Pearson) writes:
|I recently read in Fortune about one company (I forget which one)
|that offers [brokerage account] in their 401(k).

Did it offer both full service and discount brokerages?  If not,
then it is likely that a lot of people would complain.

Maybe it would be better if 401ks were eliminated and the IRA
maximum were raised to the what the 401k maximum is.  That would
allow retirement savers freedom from the restricted investment
options that most 401k plans have (I read somewhere that about
1/3 of 401k money goes into insurance company GICs and 1/3 goes
into the stock of the employer).

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee                                        timlee@netcom.com
No warranty of any kind is provided with this message.
From: dnb@pumphouse.denver.sgi.com (David Baumgartner)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: 401K to IRA transfer
Date: 22 Jan 93 17:07:08 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.


I would like to direct transfer (rollover?) some of my 401K
balance into a qualified IRA account and still keep the 401K
account open and accumulating contributions. Is this allowed
and if so, allowed without IRS penalty?

Thanks,

-- 
-----
David Baumgartner
Northwest Region Technology Center      (303) 796-0022
Silicon Graphics Computer Systems
Internet: dnb@denver.sgi.com        UUCP: {ames,ucbvax,decwrl,sun}!sgi!dnb

- Reality is like quantum physics, it depends on what questions you ask. -
From: pearson@angmar.llnl.gov (Peter Pearson)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Seeking collaborators for Quattro tax forms
Date: 24 Jan 93 00:12:14 GMT
Reply-To: pearson6@llnl.gov
Distribution: usa
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab


After a discouraging experiment with TurboTax last spring, I'm going
back to the spreadsheet method this year.

Several of us should divide up the load, each person doing a fairly
thorough job on one form, then sharing the results. If you're
interested, and willing to discipline yourself enough to produce
a rendition of at least one tax form reliable enough to share with
friends who might be counting on it in a serious way, get in touch.
Mention the forms that are of interest to you. I use Quattro, but
if you use Brand X spreadsheet, I can at least put you in contact
with other Brand X respondents.

As far as state forms are concerned, I'm only interested in California.
If you volunteer to coordinate for your state, I'll post a summary of
such offers in follow-up.


-- 
pearson6@llnl.gov
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet)
Subject: Re: Taxation on hobby/personal business?
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories,  Columbus, Ohio
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 18:37:58 GMT

In article <1993Jan26.222951.9908@ichips.intel.com> mikel@ichips.intel.com writes:
>I'm starting to work on my personal taxes for this year, and I'm wonder how
>I can claim a hobby as a deduction.  I've been roadracing motorcycles for
>the past two years, and have gotten serious during the '92 season.

For hobby-type businesses, you should be able to show your intent to
operate a business and not a hobby.  This could mean:

 - Register your business with the state, if appropriate
      (Or incorporate)

 - Advertise as a business

 - Business letterheads/cards

 - Business checking account

 - Keeping a good set of books and business records

 - State sales tax license  

The IRS also has a 2-out-of-five guideline:  Your business should
show a profit in at least two-out-of-five years.  This is applied
primarily to hobby-type businesses.  But if you open a dry-cleaning
store, you could probably operate at a loss every year and the IRS
would still allow those losses.

If your hobby-type business generates profits (and taxes) every
year, you probably need less proof of a business.
-- 
Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: J035470@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM
Subject: Re: Which tax prep book to use?
Organization: Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 07:18:49 PST

------------------------- Original Article -------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Which tax prep book to use?
From: eire@bluemoon.use.com (Chris Clinton)
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 93 13:54:16 EST
Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[024])

lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) writes:

> In article <1993Jan11.204748.6366@meiko.com>
>    hardesty@meiko.com (Robert Hardesty) writes:
> >I am trying to decide which tax prep book is best to use.  There
> >seems to be some that are put out by Cusumer Reports, Money, H&R Block
> >among others and I was wondering which one to choose.
>
> It is amazing how few people pick up the best value in the field:
>
> 	IRS Publication 17: Your Federal Income Tax
>
> It is roughly equivalent in level of coverage to each of the above, and
> it is free at your nearest IRS office (or by mail: Call 1-800-TAX-FORM).
> --
> / Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer	Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM
>   CMC Network Products / Rockwell Int'l	Telephone: +1-805-968-4262	
>   Santa Barbara, CA 93117-3083		TeleFAX:   +1-805-968-8256


I called the IRS on Dec 2nd and subsequently got a note to say that
pub 17 was not available yet.
I called again last week and got a similar note in yesterdays mail.
Whats the point in them "supposedly" publishing a book when they do
not have it available at the most important time in the tax year!!!!


Rgds     .......Chris

Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet)
Subject: Re: Question of 1099-G, Icome tax overpayment
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories,  Columbus, Ohio
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 18:24:51 GMT
Keywords: overpayment, 1099-G

In article <1993Jan21.135752.21684@osf.org> wwang@osf.org (Weidong Wang) writes:
>
>I received a notice (Form 1099-G) from Mass Dept of Revenue, saying that I had
>a $131.16 tax overpayment in 1991.
>
>I looked my record and it shows that this amount is exactly the refund I got 
>from Mass DOR for 1991.
>
>Now my question is: what does this 1099-G mean? I had received tax refund in 
>past years, but this is the first time that i have recieved such a notice.

Yes, 1099-Gs are relatively new.

>It says that this information is also being furnished to IRS. Does it mean that
>since I did an itemlized deduction for 1991, and since I deducted extra state
>tax, now I have to repay the tax for this extra amount? 1991 is the first time
>I did an itemlized deduction.

If you deducted at least $131.16 then, yes, you have to declare the
$131.16 as income (if you paid less than $131, declare that amount)


>BTW, how does a state DOR know that I filed a federal tax return with itemlized
>deduction?

They don't care.  If they gave you a refund they give you a 1099G.
-- 
Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: schemers@leland.Stanford.EDU (Roland Schemers)
Subject: Moving expenses...
Organization: Distributed Computing Group, Stanford University
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 22:36:37 GMT

Ok. I got $2K in moving expenses in 92, and it cost me about ~$2.5K.
Will Stanford be shipping me some form that contains the moving expenses
they gave me? Or should I just add $2K on to my taxable income. 

Thanks!




-- 
Roland J. Schemers III              |            Networking Systems
Systems Programmer                  |            G16 Redwood Hall (415)-723-6740
Distributed Computing Group         |            Stanford, CA 94305-4122
Stanford University                 |            schemers@Slapshot.Stanford.EDU
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: flowers@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Margot Flowers)
Subject: Re: Which tax prep book to use?
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 20:50:11 GMT

In <6oVoXB1w165w@bluemoon.use.com> eire@bluemoon.use.com (Chris Clinton) writes:
>I called the IRS on Dec 2nd and subsequently got a note to say that
>pub 17 was not available yet.
>I called again last week and got a similar note in yesterdays mail.
>Whats the point in them "supposedly" publishing a book when they do
>not have it available at the most important time in the tax year!!!!

Funny, Pub 17 itself came in my yesterday's mail (1/20), 352 pages, free.
From: FOSS_SAN%BENTLEY.BITNET@SHSU.edu
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: subscribe to discussion list
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 12:09 EDT
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List

Hello,  my name is Sandra Foss and I am an accounting major at Bentley
College in Waltham, Massachusetts.  My e-mail address is
Foss_Sand@bentley
I am a sophomore this year and plan to graduate in 1995.  From there I will
continue into graduate school to earn my MBA.  Please add me to your mailing
list for this discussion group.  I am very interested in what practicing
accountants feelings and attitudes are.  Thank you.  Please send a confirmation
of my subscription as soon as you can.  Thanks,  Sandra
From: ov@head-cfa.harvard.edu (Olaf Vancura)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Deductions for Charitable Contributions
Date: 26 Jan 93 14:09:29 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA,  USA

Just a couple questions on charitable contributions deductions, e.g.
Church groups, Boy Scouts, Salvation Army, etc.

1) Can one list these deductions on form 1040A, or is the 1040 
necessary?

2) Do these contributions have to amount to more than 2% of adjusted
gross income, in whole or in part?  I have heard that certain deductibles
now require that they be at least at this 2% level.  Does this now
hold for charitable contributions as well?

Thanks ahead of time,

Olaf Vancura
ov@cfa257.harvard.edu
From: smothers@nauvax.ucc.nau.edu
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Turbotax Release Date?
Date: 25 Jan 93 19:34:30 GMT
Organization: Northern Arizona University


      I bought Turbotax headstart edition in which it promised to send the
updated version by mid January. Well here it is late january and no hide
nor hair of it. Has anyone out there in tax land got the update yet?
Reply here or e-mail me at the above address.

mark
Xref: sparky misc.taxes:4258 misc.invest.real-estate:1239
From: smith@navajo.rc.arizona.edu (dennis smith)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes,misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Down payment for a rental.
Date: 22 Jan 93 22:12:20 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721

Can we consider our down payment for a rental property as a second
mortgage, so we can recover our investment, say in 5-10 years?

Because of zoneing problem we have been asked to put down 40%. 
This way we are losing a lots of bussiness expenses for interest that we
are not paying. You may say that so what you are going to save the
interest that you are not paying. Now consider this. If we can pay
interst to ourselves we can show no net income and therfore we don't
have to pay both Self Employment and Income taxes. The only tax we have 
to pay is Income tax ( A saving of about 15% on net income due to 
Social security and MediCare). I know that by doing this we will 
decrease our adjusted basis in the property and therefore the chance 
to claim a big lost, but this is not our concern at this time.  

2- How do you treat the principle payments on a loan. I know they are
not deductable, but do you treat them as income to owner ?. I think this
is the case since they are not going to be included in expenses then
they are part of net income.
From: tegammk@prism.gatech.EDU (Mike Kazmierczak)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Home offices deduction case
Date: 25 Jan 93 22:34:29 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <CARL.93Jan25163749@atlantis.Cayman.COM> carl@Cayman.COM (Carl Heinzl) writes:
>
>Actually this isn't usually a very big deduction compared to others
>that are available.  Consider a 200k house (the depreciation period is
>27.5 years, btw) - that's (200k/27.5)/7 = $1038.96.  So, if you're in
>the 31% bracket it means an extra $322 in tax refund.  
>
 Plus I believe that when you sell the house, you have to recapture most, if
not all of your depreciation. So you hold a small part of the gov's money for
a while (not a bad thing). But it isn't the end of the rainbow.



Mike


-- 
Mike Kazmierczak
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332
uucp:	  ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!tegammk
Internet: tegammk@prism.gatech.edu
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: steinman@hslrswi.hasler.ascom.ch (Jan Steinman,- Bytesmiths -,Tel x3946)
Subject: Re: Can I have a SEP also?
Reply-To: steinman@hslrswi.hasler.ascom.ch
Organization: Bytesmiths
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 06:44:07 GMT

In article Lvr@taligent.com, cep@taligent.com (Christophe Pettus) writes:
>In article <C1BuBw.yD@news.iastate.edu> TW.A51@isumvs.iastate.edu (Jim Berg) writes:
>>I am employed full-time... am covered by an employer retirement
>>plan... and operate a small in-home business.
>>
>>My question is...  Am I able to contribute to... and deduct from my
>>taxes... a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)?
>
>Basically, yes.  There are businesses that cannot use an SEP, but most
>small home-based businesses can.  The IRS publication "Retirement Plans
>for the Self-Employed" goes into this in horrendous detail.

Ah, but keep in mind that your SEP contribution will be based on your Sched C
*net income*, not your total. If your small business is really small, the SEP
deduction doesn't amount to much! This keeps those with "hobby businesses"
(those that make small amounts the requisite 2/5 of the years, and lose big
time the other 3/5) from exploiting SEP as part of their tax dodge.

: : Jan Steinman, Bytesmiths			   steinman@hasler.ascom.ch : :
: : 2002 Parkside Court, West Linn, OR 97068-2767 USA	    +1 503 657 7703 : :
: : Beundenfeldstrasse 35, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland	    +41 31 999 3946 : :

Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: nrathnam@foohost.shearson.com (Natarajan Rathnam)
Subject: Flexible Spending Account
Keywords: FSA
Organization: Lehman Brothers, NY
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 19:52:09 GMT

I am a self employed and I have an S-corporation. I handle all my tax papers
myself. I came across Flexible Spending Account recently. I like to take 
advantage of this but I don't know what kind of paper work that I should
do to take advantage of it.

I would appreciate if anybody can post something or send me mail about this

Thanks
Nat Rathnam

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Natarajan Rathnam		~	Consultant at Lehman Brothers
(212) 464 - 3868		~	388 Greenwich Street, NYC, NY 10013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: pstephan@mcs.kent.edu (Paul H. Stephan)
Subject: Re: Tax Calculation spreadsheet?
Originator: pstephan@condor.mcs.kent.edu
Organization: Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Kent State University
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 03:22:48 GMT

In article <1993Jan23.010031.27252@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> tony2@prefect.cc.bellcore.com (gozdz,antoni s) writes:
>In article <1jq21vINNjvi@tamsun.tamu.edu> mcguire@cs.tamu.edu (Tim McGuire) writes:
>>A few years ago, I developed a reasonably good spreadsheet for 
>>filling out my 1040 form.  Since that time, I have changed
>>computers, moved, and can't find my old floppies, anyway.  
>>
>>I thought, no problem, I'm sure I can find a free/share/ware
>>tax calculation spreadsheet on an archive site, somewhere.
>>But I didn't seem to locate any.  Can anyone point me in the 
>>right direction?  Right now I use either Lotus (for compatibility
>>with my HP95LX) or an old copy of Supercalc 3.  I have QuatroPro
>>available at work, though I've  not used it.
>>
>>Tim McGuire
>>mcguire@cs.tamu.edu
>>
>
>Why not use amtax92? It's on the oakland site in the
>pub/msdos/taxes directory (IP 141.210.10.117.)
>
>Tony
>tony2@cc.bellcore.com

I too would like to find a spreadsheet to use for my taxes.  One reason
for this over amtax92, Turbotax,... is that a spreadsheet would be free
as opposed to a yearly fee.  I've already invested in a spreadsheet
program, why not use it rather than putting out more money for another
program whose functionality is probably beyond my simple needs.

If anyone can point us to one it would be greatly appreciated.

Paul H. Stephan
pstephan@mcs.kent.edu
From: weyyi@acuson.com (Weyyi Wang)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Tax softwares for Microsoft Windows 3.X
Summary: Software under Window 3.X to file your federal/state taxes
Keywords: Tax software
Date: 26 Jan 93 18:08:12 GMT
Distribution: misc
Organization: Acuson; Mountain View, California


    A software company in Mtn. View - Wintax, developed a product under
Window 3.X to file your federal/state income taxes. It has built-in federal
and state tax forms in Windows so you can get hard copies right after you
finish the form filling. It has separate GUI to interact with you in a Q & A
style so you don't have to be the tax expert to file the tax form anymore.
The package is on sale for $29.00 until the end of February, 1993.

		Wintax:  P.O. 894
			 Mtn View, CA 94042
			(415)856-0106
			(408)746-0603

-- 
-Weyyi Wang  415-694-5435
Xref: sparky misc.taxes:4309 misc.invest:17144
From: stuczyns@presto.ig.com (Martin Stuczynski)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes,misc.invest
Subject: Income tax ?
Date: 26 Jan 93 17:38:52 GMT
Article-I.D.: presto.Jan.26.09.38.52.1993.14618
Followup-To: poster
Organization: IntelliGenetics Inc., Mtn. View, Ca.


A couple of general questions:

 Can I deduct medical/dental expenses (not covered by insurance) from my
taxable income?


Is there such a thing as a self directed IRA or 401K? If so how does
one set one up? I'd like to set up a 401K by myself as I don't like
the investment options offered by my employer's 401K.



Thanks in advance,

<marty@presto.ig.com>