Generally severance payments made to terminated employees have been held by the US Tax Court to be FICA wages because the definition of "wages" for FICA purposes found in the Internal Revenue Code is so broad. "Wages" include all remuneration or money paid for employment...
I received a very interesting question from my last post on mortgage interest concerning allocation for tax deduction purposes. This post is a summary of research conducted in these regards on the National Association of Enrolled Agents web site. For example sake generally speaking if you have a...
With mortgage rates at levels not seen in generations and the banks finally starting to lend again many people have been calling with questions about the tax implications of refinancing. It can be a little confusing and this is my best attempt at explaining it...
I am so sick and tired of late night commercials selling snake oil. My latest angst comes from claims of tax free municipal bonds. Not all municipal bonds offer tax free interest so the next time slick Rick the broker harasses you to buy his...
IRS Publication 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities, includes a table of income source rules, including pay for personal services, interest, rents, royalties, income from natural resources, scholarship and fellowship grants, and guarantees of indebtedness. I must write from experience that identifying income is best accomplished if...
If you are delinquent on taxes you may be considering some IRS payment arrangement whereby your total tax liability will be considered satisfied in exchange for a payment plan that is less then the full amount owed. Two different plans that I have had success with...
I have had the pleasure of helping many people new to either living or conducting business in the USA determine their tax liability to the US Treasury and have grown increasingly surprised about the confusion over who or what type of entity is considered a...
It is no secret that the US Congress' growing inability to agree on matters of substance is both disturbing and frustrating. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) problem of not automatically adjusting for inflation is yet another example of the collective ineptitude of our elected officials....
Many people turning 70 see themselves in the prime of their life. A pervasive problem among this group is this idea of a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from their retirement savings accounts. Many people do not like to withdraw money from their retirement accounts particularly...
Your organization can indeed be a nonprofit organization within your state but not be tax-exempt with the IRS. The only way to obtain FEDERAL 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status is to file IRS Form 1023. I've done this many times and felt compelled to blog about it today because the...
