Arcane Tax Rules

TerryinMD · Mar 6, 2002

cedarranch,

The IRS to figure out all of my deductions - my Lord no.... /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Heck, they have trouble enough just trying to explain simple rules to the nonbelievers. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif I'd rather leave it to the software developers to ask me the proper questions. Much easier than sitting down with HR Block with a couple of hours of training and having to listen to people scream over the WalMart speaker system. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

However, one of the nice things that has happened in the past few years is that the IRS has been mandated to justify their case rather than the poor taxpayer having to defend every little omission. Finally, its that the taxpayer is innocent until proven guilty rather than the opposite.

Terry

Wingnut · Mar 7, 2002

Chuck ... I'm SHOCKED! I thought you would enjoy this time of the year as much as I do ... since you get to reward the government for the wonderful job of "Nany State".
Heh heh

Child tax credits? Oh yeah ... something else I don't qualify for ... just get to subsidize. I was thinking that there should be some sort of subsidy upon retirement for those of us that didn't have kids ... to reward us for years of subsidizing other people's children. That's why I enjoy my tax statements so much ... school taxes, college taxes, FICA, all that wonderful stuff I get to pay for but not use .... certainly makes one wonder how I managed to form my "user pay" theorums.

Arcane tax rules? Hmm ... how about the different tax rates? Aren't they actually reversed? Don't the people who pay the least get the most services from the government?

Wing(anti-tax)nut

Chuck52 · Mar 7, 2002

Wingie, Wingie, Wingie,

Don't you realise that our government is the representative for our species and clearly must encourage the continuation of said species. I done my part, and like an old stud bull I expect to be rewarded for my efforts!/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Chuck

Wingnut · Mar 8, 2002

Chuck, chuck, chuck ... ooooooh that hutrs.
I caught some of the crappola from our government about the confirmation hearings last night on the news.
If they're representative of our species ... well, now you know the reason I was against having any kids ....

Hey ... how do old stud bulls get rewarded anyway? I thought it was something like supplying acquaintences with prairie oysters and steaks???

Jeff396 · Mar 8, 2002

One year just before my wife and I were married she filled out both of our taxes. We were in nearly identical startup jobs so she did them both exactly the same way. Hers made it through and mine got rejected. We had a discrepancy when we were subtracting a number and what to do if the number ended up negative. Do we put in 0 or the actual negative number. You call their help service and they don't know how to do it and then they tell you they are not responsible for the correctness of any advice they give. Now where can I get a job like that? Power without responsibility or accountability/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff

Bird · Mar 8, 2002

You call their help service and they don't know how to do it and then they tell you they are not responsible for the correctness of any advice they give

Yep, it is amazing, ain't it, Jeff? I tried an experiment one year; called the IRS 3 days in a row with the same question. Of course, I got 3 different people and sure enough, 3 different answers. I asked about deducting the cost of a computer I had bought for business use; one said I couldn't do it, one said I could depreciate it over a number of years, and one said I could deduct the entire amount that one year (which is what I did)./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

DVerbarg · Mar 8, 2002

I asked about deducting the cost of a computer I had bought for business use; one said I couldn't do it, one said I could depreciate it over a number of years, and one said I could deduct the entire amount that one year (which is what I did).

One of the best forms for a small business and deducting capital type expenses in the first year, as opposed to depreciation, is the top section of form 4562 (this is from memory). Up to some $20k. There are a couple rules about what types of expenses are allowed but they are pretty logical.

Bird · Mar 8, 2002

Dave, it was several years ago and I wasn't working for a small business. I was working on a salary for the city, tried to budget for a desktop computer and it got cut out of the budget. So I bought one myself and took it straight to the office; used it only for city business, and did deduct the cost on my personal income tax.

DVerbarg · Mar 8, 2002

So I bought one myself and took it straight to the office;

Now that is dedication to your work! Not too many people would be willing to do that. Done some similiar things myself over the years, its a good feeling to believe in what you are doing enough to voluntarily invest personally back into the work. Above and beyond the call of duty, another reason you are a "star" here on TBN.

Wingnut · Mar 8, 2002

And here I thought I was the only one crazy enough to do that. Bird. I had one I'd brought to the office years ago because the companies offering was too feeble for my taks ... and last year I chose to buy a new laptop to use at work so Ididn't have to choose between the desktop I'm using to do the heavy work or an anemic laptop in place of it ...
But ... darn it ... I never thought of deducting it from my taxes. Guess i'll have to see if I still have the receipts sitting around ...