Category: Taxes
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Tax deduction for contributed time or services
I’ve often had the opportunity to work as the volunteer accountant, trustee or adviser for some great charitable organizations. In the course of this work, I meet plenty of other like-minded generous people. One amazingly common misperception that many of these people share is a misunderstanding of the tax treatment of donated time or services.…
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The trouble with solar energy
Clean, renewable, sustainable: what’s not to love? Solar power in the U.S. has grown primarily trough the use of tax subsidy programs. Yet even after decades of these socially expensive tax credits solar power amounts to only about 1% of the energy we use today. Over the next ten years solar power is expected to grow by…
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More on disappearance of book-to-tax accounting feature
I’ve been involved in some online discussions as to why Intuit apparently introduced this book-to-tax feature after I completed my tax filing last year but then removed the feature when I needed it this year! Intuit gave no explanation either online or when I called except to sat that it will be re-introduced after the…
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CPA communication with a prior tax preparer
Is it ever appropriate for a CPA tax preparer to communicate with the prior CPA tax preparer in order to gain an understanding of a proposed tax engagement? Consider this situation: Prospective tax client presents his prior tax returns with a request to prepare the current tax return and all appears to be in order except…
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The brave new world of personal income tax services
This message posted on an online tax forum this week just about says it all: “I normally prepare my own taxes through Turbo Tax; however this year it is telling me I owe an outrageous amount of money and I’ve never owed in previous years. I need someone else to take a look at it for…
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Misunderstandings of tax treatment of health insurance
An article in Forbes earlier this month was apparently misunderstood by some readers. PPACA is certainly difficult and some issues are not yet resolved. But we should not let that confusion undermine our understanding of basis tax principles governing the treatment of health insurance premiums paid by an employer. I suggest that it would be good…
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Form 1095A will arrive in early February
Q: Do you know how I can get a 1095A form for taxes to declare the amount of health insurance paid for 2014? A: The 1095A comes from the health insurance company or the insurance exchange in early February. If you don’t receive it by February 15 contact the member services number on your insurance ID card.…