HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ask@cbnews.cb.att.com (Arthur S. Kamlet)
Subject: Re: underpayment of estimated tax
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories,  Columbus, Ohio
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 18:58:52 GMT

In article <kukiobINNmue@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> tut@cairo.Eng.Sun.COM (Bill "Bill" Tuthill) writes:
>Our withholdings are way under our tax liability, owing to a strange
>combination of circumstances-- lower interest rates on our adjustable
...
>1. Are you supposed to pay estimated tax on interest income from CDs
>and T'bills?  I thought estimated tax was only due on sales of large
>blocks of stock.

To simplify:

You will have some taxes withheld, and perhaps you paid some through
estimated filings.

You will have income and taxes on that income.

You have the job to see that you have enough taxes withheld and make
sufficient extimated payments so you don't owe too much come filing
time.  That's it.  Doesn't matter if your income is from capital
gains or interest or dividends, or running your own business.  Or
all of those.

How much is "enough?"

Either:

  - 90% of 1991 tax      or
  -100% of 1990 tax

(There's an exception for very high income people whose income this
year exceeds $40,000 of last years'.  I'll ignore this here.)

So your job is to figure how much you need withheld/estimated.


>2. Does anyone have experience with requesting a waiver from penalty
>for underpayment of estimated tax?  Are such requests automatically
>denied, so that it is a waste of time asking for them?


Unless you meet the 90% or 100% rules above, or if you had a sudden
windfall -- like you won a lottery in December, I would not expect
your waiver to succeed.

>3. Why are the W4 withholding estimate instructions so screwed up?
>Our mortgage should be worth 3-4 standard deductions, yet we seem to
>come up short on withholding every year.


Probably because you already are entitled to take a standard
deduction, which assumes a "standard" amount of medical, charitable,
taxes, interest, etc expenses.  But if your own deductions exceed
the sdtandard then you take yours instead.  Unless your mortgage
payments and other deductions are much much more than the standard
decuction, you might be assuming the mortgage payment deduction
without subtracting the standard deduction!

Either that, or you place too much faith in the government.
-- 
Art Kamlet  a_s_kamlet@att.com  AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: jedwards@ms.uky.edu (Jonathan Edwards)
Subject: Re: Can we change the subject?
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 11:44:05 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
X-Bytes: 

mike@isg.llnl.gov (Michael E. Hummell) writes:

>> Similarly with utopian ideas about taxation.  [line repeated by ME ]
>My favorite is the one to implement a flat 10% federal tax.  Real easy to
>compute.  

Real easy to compute as long as you can easily define exactly what you're
taxing.  Unless it's something extremely simple (e.g., gross income,
including all things currently not taxed, such as Social Security,
child support, gifts, etc.), you'll likely push all the complexities
of the current tax law into the definition of "income"...

Jonathan (no, *I* wouldn't vote for a flat tax...)
From: hbonney@io.Tymnet.COM (Hugh Bonney)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Taxes - immigrant spouse
Date: 11 Apr 92 07:38:47 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: BT North America (Tymnet)
Originator: hbonney@io


    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? 
    
    She disappeared when I was at work Jan 14, 1992. It turned out 
    that she came here just to bounce through a quickie Reno divorce,
    get a British fiance visa and marry a rich Englishman. Divorces
    take a long time in H.K. and require grounds, and I got her out
    of China. She appears to be continuing her trading business in 
    the US in Reno although no large amount of money is involved. I
    have no idea of when she may get the British visa. Strange the
    U.K. will evidently go for this, yet turn away boat people.

    So anyway, shouldn't she file 1992 taxes before she leaves? 
    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.

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

    --------415-961-6286-------408-922-6198-work----Hugh-Bonney--
    hbonney@spiff.tymnet.com               dialcom  31000:hughb
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: gsk@khaki.asd.sgi.com (George S. Kong)
Subject: stock options, charitable contributions, and AMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 02:27:30 GMT

this year, i paid alternative minimum tax, partly because
i exercised some incentive stock options. the difference
between my option price and the fair market value on the
day of exercise is amt-taxable this year.

	1991_amt_taxable = exercise_day_value - basis

i will hold the shares for a year, to make them into a
long-term capital gain, and then donate them to charity.
the difference between my basis and the fair market
value on the day they are donated is amt-taxable.

	1992_amt_taxable = donation_day_value - basis

however, i already paid amt on at least part of that amount
in 1991. if i follow this simple rule, then i'm being
double-taxed on the "1991_amt_taxable" amount. what i'd
rather do is adjust my basis for amt purposes by this amount,
so that my basis becomes "exercise_day_value."

	1992_amt_taxable = donation_day_value - exercise_day_value

can i do that?

can i do it even if the difference between my amt tax and my
normal tax this year was less than the amount by which i
want to adjust my basis?

many thanks to anyone who has made it this far and can answer
my question!

George S. Kong,  Silicon Graphics, Inc.,  (415)962-3281  gsk@sgi.com

Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: ff76@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (Jhinuk Chowdhury)
Subject: Futures (commodities) and tax returns - Urgent!
Followup-To: misc.taxes,misc.invest
X-Newsgroups: misc.invest
Organization: University of North Texas
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 20:23:01 GMT
X-From: ff76@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (Jhinuk Chowdhury)

X-Sender: usenet@mercury.unt.edu (UNT USENet Adminstrator)
X-Organization: University of North Texas
X-Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 06:57:42 GMT

This is a question about reporting the net loss (or gain) on a tax return
resulting from trading in futures contracts.

I had always thought that gaines (or losses) from trading futures contracts
were ordinary capital gains (or loss) as in the case of gain/loss from trading
in stocks.  After spending several hours with IRS Publication 550, it seems
that a futures contract is known as a _Section 1256 Contract_ (p. 42, pub 550)
and has to be treated differently, as follows:

1.  "Section 1256 contracts open at the end of the year, or terminated during
the year, are treated as 60% long term and 40% short term, regardless of how
long the contracts were held."  (pg 49, pub 550)           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2.  In order to report a gain or loss from such trades, one must use Form 6781
to figure gains and losses, before entering the amounts on Schedule D (pg 43,
pub 550).

Could some you with experience in theses matters, PLEASE let me know if my
understanding of the matter (as expressed above) is indeed correct?  It's so
close to April 15, and I am panic-sticken as usual.  I would apprreciate a
response *immensely*.   With best regards,      - Jhinuk.

Jhinuk Chowdhury,       FF76@VAXB.ACS.UNT.EDU

Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: jedwards@ms.uky.edu (Jonathan Edwards)
Subject: Re: How do u keep track of miles for STD car deduction?
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 22:46:25 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
X-Bytes: 

tpradeep@cs.tamu.edu (Pradeep K Tapadiya) writes:

>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? 

You keep a written log...
From: spp@zabriskie.berkeley.edu (Steve Pope)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: need help -- foreign tax credit
Date: 13 Apr 1992 14:55:14 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley -- ERL
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: zabriskie.berkeley.edu

2 questions about foreign tax credit (form 1116):

(1) Category of income -- I have a garden variety foreign mutual
fund.  Is this a "passive activity" or some other category?

(2) Income subject to foreign taxation -- the fund paid both
interest and dividends, but only one of these categories was
actually taxed.  Are both categories combined "income subject
to foreign tax"?  Or only the one?

thanks,

steve
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: pearson@tsd.arlut.utexas.edu (N. Shirlene Pearson)
Subject: Re: what constitutes a mo
Organization: Applied Research Labs, University of Texas at Austin
Distribution: misc
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 20:52:22 GMT

>Jeff Jackson, in a message to All on 04-09-92 at 9:15pm, said:

>JJ/3Is it possible to borrow from, say, my parents, using my condo as
>   3collateral have have that considered a mortgage for tax purposes?  (Or
>   3does a mortgage have to be a bank loan).
>   TMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM>

>>               Yes, perfectly OK.  Make the deal look as much
>>              like an arm's-length transaction as possible.

More specifically, if you borrow from your parents at a rate
that is out of line with the current mortgage rates, then you
may be asking for trouble unless you are very careful.

There are some very specific IRS statements concerning renting to relatives,
and I suspect the analogous applies here.
To have a relative rent from you and to be able to treat
that rental property as an investment (or business property)
--- you must charge the current rental rates that you could get
regardless of their being related to you.

Shirlene Pearson
pearson@titan.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu
From: spp@zabriskie.berkeley.edu (Steve Pope)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Jerry Brown tax proposal -- facts?
Date: 7 Apr 1992 16:44:48 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley -- ERL
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: zabriskie.berkeley.edu

Candidate Brown has proposed two taxes, one a "flat"
income tax to replace FICA and FIT, and a second that
has been described in the media as a "National Sales Tax"
or a "VAT".

Yesterday I heard that the media is misrepresenting the latter --
that it is not a sales tax or VAT, but rather a tax on
corporation revenues (a similar but not identical concept).
Further, that the idea originated in the Hoover Institute (!)

Can anyone clear this up for me?  I know it's far-fetched that
any such radical change will come about, but I'm curious
as to what sort of tax we're talking about.

-- steve
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: bruce@Data-IO.COM (Bruce Reynolds)
Subject: Re: Flaw in Chipsoft Turbotax reported on CNN 4/12
Organization: Data I/O Corporation
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 18:14:48 GMT

This message was downloaded from the TurboTax BBS by me.  It was
written by Chipsoft.  I have no association with TT, other than by
purchase of the product.

Do not mail me questions about this.  I just downloaded the info; I did
not write it.  OK?

TurboTax tech support BBS 12/24 619 453 5232
			  9600 619 453 4165

--bruce
################################################################################


To ALL users reguarding the CNN broadcast -

Thank you for your inquiry about the recent publicity reguarding
TurboTax's calculations.  We welcome the opportunity to set the
record straight.

The item in question concerns TurboTax's flow of information from
the Schedule D to form 4952.  With reguard to the calculation in
question, ChipSoft consulted both the IRS forms and regulations,
which were not clear.  ChipSoft then directly contacted the
representative at the IRS responsible for Form 4952 and was informed
that there was no definative regulation or ruling on this subject
and that various interpretations were possible.

In the absence of a definative IRS or court directive, ChipSoft chose
an interpretation which it believes is justified based upon the
judgements of it's tax staff.*

There are many areas of the tax code that are subject to differing
interpretations.  Therefore, our software has a special feature that
specifically identifies how every calculation on every form is made.
It also has a feature that allows the user to substitute a different
calculation instead, if desired.

Illustrated below is the DOS Personal 4952.  In question is the comment
line "Capital gains from Schedule D".  It is important to note that our
interpretation does not flow Capital Losses to this line.  If you wish
to include this value, you may enter a number (for example -500.00) in
the value input cell "Net investmet income adjustment" which will
reflect your Schedule D Capitol Losses.

3 Total investment interest expense. Add lines 1 and 2.....(3)  0.
>  Net investment income/loss from KD1 Worksheets..             0.
>  Investment income from Schedule B...............             0.
>  Capital gains from Schedule D...................             0.
>  Net Royalty income from Schedule E..............             0.
>  Net investment income adjustment................             0.

4 NET INVESTMENT INCOME. See instructions..................(4)  0.

If you have any further questions on the above, please leave a message
to SysOp in the DOS, MAC, WIN, or SALES conferences.  Please do not post
in the TAX or USERS GROUPS conferences as these are not support
conferences.  Thank you for your support.


* Tax Staff:  Includes CPA's, Enrolled Agents, and Tax Analysts

-post
Lori (SysOp)
From: Mary Parlett McKnight <MCKNIGHM%UNION.BITNET@SHSU.edu>
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Military Pension and Deductible IRA Contribution
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 17:01 EDT
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List

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?



Thanks!



Mary McKnight

mcknighm@gar.union.edu
From: Joseph Halucka <U953073%RUTADMIN.BITNET@SHSU.edu>
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: subscribe
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 12:55 EDT
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List

subscribe fedtax-l joseph halucka - rutgers university
From: klett@SHSU.edu
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: RE: Can we change the subject?
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 16:09:06 CDT
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List

I concur 100%... lets get back to basics..
From: carl@Cayman.COM (Carl Heinzl)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: business startup ques
Date: 8 Apr 92 12:24:12 GMT
Distribution: misc
Organization: Cayman Systems Inc., Cambridge, MA
In-reply-to: hilary.miller@execnet.com's message of 5 Apr 92 18:04:08 GMT
bcc: carl


>               If you are a cash-basis taxpayer and you acquired
>               them in years during which you were not engaged in
>               a trade or business, you have lost the opportunity
>               to deduct their cost.

So he better first sell them then RE-BUY them.  The first sale would
NOT be income because he presumably bought them for retail price and
when he re-purchased them it would be IN a year in which he's doing
business :^)

I wonder if this is legal :^.

-Carl-
--
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: mats@netcom.com (Mats Wichmann)
Subject: Re: How do u keep track of miles for STD car deduction?
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 23:01:01 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

alien@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (Tom von Alten) writes:

>In misc.taxes, tpradeep@cs.tamu.edu (Pradeep K Tapadiya) writes:

>> How does one keep track of the miles covered on business?

>Some kind of log or journal, showing date, miles, destination(s) would
>be my guess.

>> More specifically, how do you prove to IRS that you actually have
>> travelled x miles on business? 

>If you had some evidence of the business transacted at the destination/date
>in your log, that should be proof enough.  If they want to get ugly, who
>knows whats good enough?  You can't *ask* them, 'cause they only give you
>the right answer half the time...

The log is sufficient.  You might need to verbally explain whom you went
to meet, or the purpose of the trip, but no further written documentation
will be required.  If you use calendaer/notebook systems (like Daytimers,
for example) this is good place to enter your business miles.
-- 
Mats Wichmann
Systems Software Consultant
alruna!mats@ossi.com (or mats@netcom.com)
From: letemad@igc.org (Linda J. Etemad)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: Question on STD car deduction 27.5c
Date: 7 Apr 92 17:07:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: igc.1427800038
Nf-ID: #R:1992Apr6.181546.27781@netlabs.co:196577426:cdp:1427800038:000:33
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!letemad    Apr  7 10:07:00 1992


o get new clients is deductible)
From: cnp@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (chaitanya.patel)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Question about IRS rule
Date: 9 Apr 92 16:49:59 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewsj.1992Apr9.164959.714
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T


Is it a rule that if you owe more than $1000.00 to IRS or if IRS has to 
refund you more than a $1000.00, the you may be panelized???


Can somebody clarify it please.

Thanks,
Chaitanya.
From: awong@cns.caltech.edu (A Lyons)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re:  unsubscribing
Date: 10 Apr 92 03:44:24 GMT
Organization: Fedtax-L<==>Misc.Taxes Gateway
X-Gateway-Source-Info: Mailing List

Send to LISTSERV@SHSU.EDU with the message body :

SIGNOFF FEDTAX-L

at least that what it says in the intro I got from this list.

Al
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: jimh@sequent.com (Jim Harrie)
Subject: Re: Home Office Deuction -- to take or not?
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems Inc.
Distribution: misc
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 18:29:33 GMT

In article <21175@venera.isi.edu> jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes:
>
>I'm currently paying on my mortgage, so I get ~100% of my payments are
>deducted as itemized interest.
>
>However, I work as a freelance witer out of a home office in my condo.
>Is there any reason I SHOULD be taking the home office deduction?  I
>don't see it as having any benefit.
I can think of several reasons why you should NOT:
1) It complicates your taxes when you sell the house. Once you claim a
   section of your condo as a home office, it is treated differently on
   your tax returns especially when you sell it. 
2) The IRS is VERY stinky about home office deductions. Do you have
   clients whom you see in the condo office? Is there a separate entrance
   for them? These are two criteria the IRS looks at.
3) I looked into this for my wife is who is a freelance court
   reporter. The amount I could write off wasn't worth the chance of
   being audited.
4) I read something in Lasser's tax guide about someone who 
   claimed a home office. The IRS denied it. The person went to court
   where the tax court ruled in his favor. The IRS chose to ignore the
   ruling. 

I'm no CPA and have only a vague understanding of our tax mess but, in
the area of home offices, I wouldn't take a chance unless the gain is
substantial.

>
>jas
>--
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Jeffrey A. Sullivan		| Senior Systems Pgmr -- with a difference!
>jas@venera.isi.edu		| Information Sciences Institute
>jas@isi.edu                    	| University of Southern California


-- 
 Jim Harrie 	Technical Support Engineer
 Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. (503) 578-5778 
 Internet: jimh@sequent.com
 UUCP:	uunet|tektronix|ogicse!sequent!jimh
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
From: jedwards@ms.uky.edu (Jonathan Edwards)
Subject: Re: Single or Married ?
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 11:17:21 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
X-Bytes: 

suresh@uts.amdahl.com (Suresh Padmanabhan) writes:


>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 ??

If you are a citizen or a resident alien, your wife can elect to file as
a resident alien as well even though she may not meet the criteria that
one must normally meet to be treated as a resident alien.  The instructions
for form 1040NR may be of help to you...
From: mccrate@wdi.COM (mail account for Joe McCrate x2681)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: including forms
Keywords: 1098
Date: 14 Apr 92 00:39:42 GMT
Organization: Western Digital - Imaging, Mtn. View, CA

In article <1992Apr6.182807.10955@ms.uky.edu>, jedwards@ms.uky.edu (Jonathan Edwards) writes:
> 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...



You never should send in these forms.  You put the data from them on your
tax return and keep them.


Joe.
From: pinkas@caraway.intel.com (Israel Pinkas)
Newsgroups: misc.taxes
Subject: Re: When do "change your residence?" (state taxes)
Date: 15 Apr 92 02:40:01 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Software Technologies, INTeL Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
In-reply-to: jlaplant@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu's message of 11 Apr 92 22:25:21 GMT

jlaplant@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (John R Laplante) writes:

> Question: how do you know when you have stopped being the resident of one
>     state and started being the resident of another?

[ Details of move deleted. ]

What difference does it make?  Since you posted to misc.taxes, I assume
that you are interested in the tax implications.  There are none.

You should receive a bunch of W2, 1099, and 1098 type statements from
various employers, banks, and government agencies (tax refunds,
unemployment, etc.)  These will show what money was earned in which state.

Many states may require you to pay income tax on money earned while you
lived in that state, even though you earned the money in another state.
Since each state has different rules on this, I would suggest that you
contact the state agency, or a tax preparer that is familiar with the laws
in your new state regarding out of state income.

-Israel
--
Disclaimer: The above are my personal opinions, and in no way represent
the opinions of Intel Corporation.  In no way should the above be taken
to be a statement of Intel.