Tax Flashcards
ATRA 2012
- Top marginal tax rate from 39.6% to 35%
- Top marginal rate of dividends taxed at the cap gains rate of 20%
Excise Tax
Taxed at the Federal, State or Local Level
Restricted to a specific item (tobacco, alcohol, etc)
Severance Tax
Tax on natural resources
FUTA
- Federal Unemployment Tax
- Tax only paid by employer.
Not subject to FICA
- Child under 18 working for parents
- Must be sole proprietorship or general partnership where parent is proprietor or partner.
Wages not subject to FUTA
- Child under 21 working for parents
- Parents working for child
Statutory source of tax law
- Internal Revenue Code
- new legislation originates in the House Ways and Means Committee
Administrative Source of Tax Law
Internal Revenue Service
Execution of the tax code.
Regulations: official interpretation of the tax code:
- proposed regulations - not binding
- temporary regulations - binding until a final regulation is issued
- final regulation - full force and effect of the code itseld
Revenue Rulings
- Revenue rulings: used to give taxpayers insight into how IRS will handle transaction
Private Letter Rulings
- Issued for PROPOSED transaction
- Issued to a specific individual to know how to treat a specific situation.
- Only applicable to the specific taxpayer, but can be used to see precedents.
Determination letter
- Issued for a COMPLETED transaction
- Requested from the district director when the taxpayer has engaged in a transaction and would like to know how to handle it.
Sources of tax law
- Statutory
- Administrative
- Judicial
Revenue Procedures
Detail internal practices and procedures in the IRS
Judicial sources of tax law
- The body of decisions from US courts
- case law.
General statute of limitations on collection of taxes
- 3 years for audits and refunds
- 10 years for IRS to collect the funds
Significant underestimated of income statute of limitations
>25% understatement
6 years
Fraud statute of limitations and penalty
- No statute of limitations
- Penalty: 15% per month up to 75% of underpayment
Collection of deficiency by IRS
10 years
Refund claim by taxpayer statute of limitations
3 years
Failure to file penalty
5% per month or part thereof (full amt if only late by 1 day) up to 25% max
If also fail to pay, this penalty is reduced by .5%/month
File - Five percent
Failure to pay penalty
- .5% per month or part thereof (full amt if only late by 1 day) up to 25% maximum.
- Cannot be waived. .5% = interest on the money
- Can be in addition to the failure to file penalty.
- Pay - Point 5 percent
Accuracy-related penalty
20% of underpayment to 30%
Audits
- Can represent a client during an audit: ACE - Attorney, CPA, Enrolled Angent
- Can be random, based on document-matching (w2, etc), or based on related transactions.
- Can be by mail or in-person
- concluded in 3 ways:
- No change
- Agreed
- Disagreed
Courts
- Tax Court
- US District Court
- US Court of Federal Claims
Required to pay the tax to access court
- US District Court
- US Court of Federal Claims
- Must pay first and then sue to get a refund.
Tax Court
- Tax only
- Don’t have to pay tax first
- No max claim
- No jury
- Throughout US
- Appeals to : US Court of Appeals
Tax Court - Small Claims
- only tax cases
- Don’t have to pay tax first
- Max claim: $50,000
- No jury
- Courts throughout US
- No appeals
US District Court
- Hears all types of cases
- Required to pay tax first and then sue for refund
- No max claim
- Jury trial
- Throughout US
- Appeals to US court of appeals
US Court of Federal Claims
- Hears claims against the US gov’t
- Required to pay tax first and then sue for refund
- no max claim
- no jury trial
- Only heard in DC
- Appeals to US Court of Appeals - Federal Circuit
Taxable Income
Income - deductions
Tax Liability
Taxable income * Tax rate
Income
- Gross amount received.
- Does not include proceeds of borrowed money or return of basis
Gross income
Income minus certain exclusions.
Includes:
- capital gains
- alimony received
- unemployment comp
- compensation
- royalties
- interest
- dividends
- distributions from most retirement plans
- self-employment income
AGI
Adjusted Gross Income
Gross income minus above-the-line deductions (deductions for AGI)
Taxable Income
- AGI minus
- The greater of the standard deduction or itemized deductions
- personal and dependency exemptions
Tax liability
Tax on taxable income minus credits
Income excluded from gross income
- Cap WEST Work
- Return of CAPital
- Things that make you Whole: life insurance, payments for bodily damage, workman’s comp.
- Education: tuition, fees, book, not including room and board
- Support: child support
- Transfers: gifts and inheritances
- Certain fringe benefits at work
- Also, sale of primary residence, muni bonds, scholarships/fellowships for education
Deductions for AGI
Above-the-line deductions.
4Samish
4S’s:
- Self-employed business expense
- Self-employed health insurance deductions
- Self-employed retirement plans
- Self-employment tax (1/2 FICA)
Alimony payments
Moving Expense - if qualified (50 miles with residency requirement)
IRA Contributions
Student Loan interest deductions
HSA Contributions
Also, penalty on time savings account (penalty on CD early-withdrawal), tuition, losses from the sale of business property
Deductions FROM AGI
Below-the-line deductions:
My Income Tax Check Comes Monday
Medical and dental payments over 10% AGI
Interest - personal residence mortgage, acquisition indebtedness and equity indebtedness, investment interest expense
Taxes paid - state and local income tax, real estate taxes, personal propery taxes, foreign taxes paid
Charitable contributions
Casualty - theft, each one subject to $100 floor, all casualties must be in excess of 10% of AGI
Misc expenses: unreimbursed employment expenses, property taxes on car if they are paid to state, gambling losses to the extent of winnings; tax preparation
Credits
- Earned Income Credit
- Child and dependant care credit
- Child tax credit - $1000 per child under 17
- American Opportunities Credit, Lifetime Learning Credit
- Foreign Tax credit
- Credit for elderly/disabled
- Adoption Credit
MAGI
Modified Adjusted Gross Income: AGI that is used to determine eligibility for a deduction FOR AGI.
e.g. to determine whether one can deduct IRA contributions add back the contributions to the AGI and that is MAGI for that deduction,
Additional Standard Deduction
- Additional standard deduction for each taxpayer or spouse who is 65 years or older or blind.
- Each person gets for each criteria.
Taxpayers ineligible for standard deduction
Must itemize:
- married, filing separate if either spouse itemizes
- nonresident alien or dual status alien
- individual filing return for short tax year bc of change in annual accounting period.
Personal and dependency exemptions
- deductions from AGI
- Personal exemptions - taxpayer and spouse
- Dependency exemption - each dependent.
- Phased out for high income
- Someone claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return cannot take an exemption on his/her own return.
Credits
- dollar for dollar reduction in tax liability
- Credit for taxes witheld
- Credits for estimated tax payments
- qualifying tax credits:
- child and dependent care credit
- child tax credit
- earned income credit
- education credits (AOC, LLC)
- retirement savings credit
Marital Status
- Determination is made at close of the tax year
- If spouse dies during tax year:
- MFJ can still be used if surviving spouse does not remarry in tax year.
- If remarriage, deceased spouse file MFS.
Abandoned spouse
- Legally married taxpayer can use HOH status
- Criteria:
- married
- files seperately from spouse
- house is principal place of abode of dependent child
- furnishes over 1/2 cost of maintaining household
- taxpayer is abandoned.
Surviving Spouse status
- similar to MFJ status in benefits
- spouse must have died during either of the 2 preceding tax years
- must maintain a household that is the principal residence of dependent child
- not remarried
- taxpayer and spouse were eligible to file joint return at time of death.
Head of household
- must maintain a household which is primary residence for more than half the year of:
- qualifying child
- qualifying resident
- can also maintain a separate household for father or mother who qualifies as dependent.
Qualifying Child
Must meet 4 tests:
- relationship test
- abode test
- age test
- support test
Qualifying child relationship test
- taxpayer’s child
- descendent of the taxpayer’s child
- taxpayer’s sibling, step-sibling, half-sibling
- descendent of taxpayer’s sibling, step-sibling, half-sibling
Qualifying child abode test
- live with tax payer at least 1/2 year
- temporary absences due to school, illness, etc. are ok.
Qualifying child age test
- under age 19
- student under 24 - enrolled as a full time student for at least 5 months of the year
- disabled not subject to age test
Qualifying child support test
- child does not provide more than 50% of own support
- scholarships are not considered to be support.
Qualifying relative tests
- relationship test
- support test
- gross income test
- not a qualifying child
Qualifying relative relationship test
- all criteria of child test
- parent or grandparent
- stepparent
- niece/nephew
- aunt/uncle
- in-laws
- any individual who lives more than 50% of the year with taxpayer (except ex-spouse)
Qualifying relative gross income test
- gross taxable income less than exemption amount (e.g. 4K)
Qualifying relative support test
- taxpayer pays more than 50% of support
- scholarships are not considered support
- exceptions:
- multiple support agreements (multiple children supporting parents
- children of divorced parents
Multiple support agreements
50% rule for support of relative is satisfied if:
- provides more than 10%
- Those who provide more than 10% also provide more than 50% of total support
- others who qualify for previous support sign a statement agreeing not to claim an exemption for this person.
Children of divorced parents
- noncustodial parent can claim dependent if divorce decree specifies or custodial parents issue waiver
Qualifying relative join return test
- qualifying relative must not be filing MFJ with a spouse unless it is filed only to claim a refund.
Qualifying relative citizen or residency test
- dependent must be a citizen or national of the US or a resident of the US, Canada, or Mexico during some part of the year.
Standard deduction for a dependent
(dependent files own tax return)
- The greater of:
- $1,050 or
- earned income of the taxpayer plus $350 up to standard deduction of normal standard deduction for taxpayer’s filing status.
- Any additional SD’s for age or blindness are added.
Kiddie Tax
- Only amount of UI over 2100 is taxed at parents rate
- All earned income is taxed at child’s rate
- The UI under $2100 may be taxed at KR or not at all.
- child under 19 or full-time student under the age of 24.
- 1st subtract the 2100 from the unearned income to get how much is taxed at parents rate.
- Then calculate gross income and deduct SD to get taxable income.
- Subtract amt taxed at parents rate from taxable income.
- Then we have amt taxed at kid rate.
- Net Unearned Income (NUI) is amount taxed at that the parents rate.
- NUI = unearned income - $2,100
Income from discharge of indebtedness
Generally taxable
Inc/Ex. Muni Bonds
Excluded
Incl/Ex: Life insurance Proceeds
Generally excluded, except if transfered for value
Accelerated Death Benefits
- Excluded if person is terminally ill and used for qualifying care expenses.
Incl/Ex: Income from Roth IRA
Excluded if qualified
Incl/Exc: Educational Savings Bonds
Amount used to pay for qualified expenses. Proportionally taxed if sold for more than paid for educational expenses.
Incl/Excl: Improvements by tenants
Excluded
Incl/Excl: Gifts/Inheritances
Excluded
Incl/Excl: Compensation for sickness/injury
Excluded
Incl/Excl: Child Support
Excluded
Incl/Excl: Alimony Payments Received
Included
Incl./Excl: Property Settlements
Transfer of property under divorce agreement
Excluded
Incl/Excl: income from discharge of indebtedness
- If in bankruptcy, excluded
- If other discharge, included (e.g. short sale)
Incl/Excl: Scholarships
Excluded if pays for tuition and expenses, but included to the extent that it pays for room and board and was not payment for work.
Incl./Excl: Distaster Relief Payments
Excluded
Incl/Excl: qualified foster care payments
Excluded
Incl/Excl: Gifting of debt instruments
Gifting of bonds.
Donor and donee must report the interest based on the number of days it was owned by each during the year.
Qualified Dividend
- Distributed by US corp or qualified foreign corp
- Held for the 120 days before and after ex-dividend date.
Taxation of annuity payments if taken out prior to annuitization
(pre-1982 and post-1982)
Issued, pre-1982 annuity, taxed on FIFO basis - excluded until return of all capital.
Issued post-1982 annuity, taxed on LIFO basis
Under 59 1/2, pre-82 gains subject to 10% penalty; post-82 all subject to 10% penalty.
Annuitization tax
(post-1986)
- Exclusion ratio only applied until recovered all of basis, then 100% taxable
- Exclusion amount = (Investment in the contract/expected return) * annual distributions
- (pre-1982 exclusion ratio remains the entire time)
Surrender of annuity
- If surrendered for cash surrender value, the amount in excess of basis taxed as ordinary income.
- 10% if distribution prior to 59 1/2
Incl/Excl: Prizes and Awards
- Generally included.
- Scholarships generally not included unless for room and board.
- Employment achievement awards- as long as part of non-qualified plan, not available to all employees under $400 excluded.
- $1,600 for qualified plan (written plan that does not discriminate in favor of HCE’s)
Alimony taxation
In order to be alimony payment must be:
- in cash
- must be received by the spouse under divorce/separation agreement.
- agreement must not identify payment as ‘not alimony’
- payee and payor must not be members of the same household
- there cannot be any liability to make payments after the death of the recipient.
Alimony Recapture
- If alimony is front-loaded in the first 2 years by more than $15,000, than recapture come into play.
- Can be front-loaded by up to $37,500 in the first 2 years with no recapture.
- The amount of alimony recaptured in year 3 = r3
- R3 = P1 + P2 - 2P3 - 37500
- In the 3rd year, payor must add to income, payee deducts.
- Can be used to defer income tax until in a lower bracket in a later year.
Inputed Interest for Loans
Interest set at AFR - Applicable Federal Rate
Lender pays the tax
- Less than 10K, no inputed interest (can be 24K if 14K gift exclusion, plus 10K)
- If borrower has less than 1K net investment income, no inputed interest up to 100K
- For loans between 10 and 100K, pay inputed interest on lesser of net investment income or difference between AFR and below-market rate.
- For loans over 100K, difference between AFR and market rate
Tax Benefit Rule
If someone deducts an expense one and year gets reimbursed the next year, reimbursement must be included gross income
Incl/Excl: Gambling Winnings
Included
Incl/Excl: Jury Duty Pay
Included
Incl/Excl: Executor Fees
Included
Incl/Excl: Compensatory Damages
Included unless it is for bodily injury (making one whole).
Incl/Excl: Punitive damages
Included
Incl/Excl: Foster care payments
Some payments can be excluded.
Incl./Excl.: disaster relief payments
Generally excluded, but depends on disaster.
Exceptions to cash method
- OID’s
- Constructive receipt - if, e.g. dividend was issued but hasnt been received, counted as received.
- Loans
Exceptions to the accrual method
- Prepaid income
- advance payment for goods/services
- string attached: contingency/due diligence
Foreign Earned Income
- Qualified resident or citizen of the US may exclude $100,800 of earned income abroad.
- tax home in foreign country AND
- be a resident of the country for a full tax year OR
- be in that country for 330 days or more during 12 month period
Taxation of fringe benefits
- all fringe benefits are included in gross income unless a specific IRS provision excludes it OR
- the employee pays out of pocket for it.
Incl/Excl: Employer-paid medical insurance
Exclude
Incl/Excl: Employer payment of employee medical expenses
Exclude
Incl/Excl: Reimbursement of employee medical expenses after the year paid by employee
If deducted in prior year, must include
Incl/Excl: Group Term Life Insurance
- An employer can deduct total amount
- Premiums for up to 50K of coverage may be excluded from gross income.
- Must be available to all employees.
- Over 50K, use uniform premium table (table 1 rate) to determine premiums that are includable as gross income (in cents per $1,000 of coverage) and multiply by 12.
Incl/Excl: Meals and Lodging
- Excluded if provided for the convenience of the employer and on the employer premises.
Incl/Excl: No add’l cost service
- Excluded if there is no financial detriment to employer.
- Goods/services must be offered in the regular course of business.
- Airline employees stand-by; parking garage attendant.
- Must be nondiscriminatory
Incl/Excl: Employee discount
- Excluded if:
- for services, discount up to 20%
- for products, discount off profit margin. Can sell at cost
- Must be nondiscriminatory
- Deductible to employer
Incl/Excl: Lodging
Excluded if:
- On the employer premises
- Is furnished for the convenience of the employer
- Is a requirement of the job
Incl/Excl: Employer Gym
Excluded if:
- operated by employer
- located on premises
- all of the use of the facility is for employees and families.
Medical Expenses
Deductible over 10% of AGI (7.5% if 65 or older)
Qualified expenses are those
- Health insurance premiums (after tax - if self-employed, not subject to 10%. Then it’s an above-the-ling deduction)
- Capital Expenditures - chair-lift, etc. - Only deductible minus the amount of added-value to home.
- Nursing Homes/Special Schools
- Travel (based on mileage and lodging ($50/per person per night for up to 2 people)
- Non-deductible - elective cosmetic surgery, gym, marijuana, OTC
Capital Expenses for Medical Reasons
- Subject to 10% AGI Floor for all medical expenses.
- Deductible minus amount of increased home value (appraisal not deductible)
- If not increased value (for chair-lift, etc), no appraisal necessary
- Other expenses related to the capital expenses also deductible (extra electricity, water bill, etc)
Reimbursement for Medical Expenses
Only deduct amount not reimbursed.
If reimbursed in the year after, must add that amount to AGI.
Charitable Deductions
Deductible in current year and addtional 5-year carryforward.
Deductible less goods/services received
For donations that result in rights to buy season tickets, 20% of donation is deductible.
PNOF - Private non-operating foundation
If not enough money is going to public good.
Less charitable donation is deductible
Educational Assistance Programs
- Up to $5,250 maybe excluded from employee’s gross income.
- must be nondiscriminatory
- Any amount is deductible to employer