Tax Relief BlogMike Habib, EA Tax Relief & Tax Problem Resolution
IR-2009-16, March 3, 2009
Articles Posted in IRS Problem
Innocent Spouse Tax Relief
Widow entitled to equitable spousal relief for some years
Martinez, TC Memo 2008-165
Major Tax Changes
President’s FY 2010 budget will propose many major tax changes for businesses and individuals
“A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America‘s Promise,” the Administration’s preview of its FY 2010 budget, is available at http://www.omb.gov
Energy tax incentives
Energy tax incentives in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Mike Habib, EA Tax Relief & Tax Problem Resolution The recently enacted “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (the 2009 economic stimulus act) includes a package of tax incentives to encourage investments in renewable energy projects or more-efficient technologies. I’m writing to give you an overview of these new provisions. Please call our offices for details of how the new changes may affect you, your investments, or your business.
Long-term extension and modification of renewable energy production tax credit. The new legislation extends the placed-in-service date for wind facilities for three years (through December 31, 2012). It also extends the placed-in-service date through December 31, 2013 for certain other qualifying facilities: closed-loop biomass; open-loop biomass; geothermal; small irrigation; hydropower; landfill gas; waste-to-energy; and marine renewable facilities.
Making Work Pay tax credit
“Making Work Pay” tax credit in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Mike Habib, EA Tax Relief & Tax Problem Resolution
The recently enacted “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (the 2009 economic stimulus act) contains a wide-ranging tax package that includes tax relief for low and moderate-income wage earners, individuals and families with college expenses, and home and car purchasers. The centerpiece of the tax package–and at $115 billion its single largest component–is a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $400 per year for individuals, or $800 per year for couples. Here the details of this new credit:
- Eligible individuals will receive an income tax credit for two years (tax years beginning in 2009 and 2010). The new credit, like other tax credits, will reduce a person’s tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Wage earners who don’t earn enough to pay income taxes will be able to claim the difference as a tax refund.
- The new credit is the lesser of (1) 6.2% of an individual’s earned income or (2) $400 ($800 in the case of a joint return). In other words, for individuals with earned income above roughly $6,451 ($12,902 for couples), the credit maxes out at $400 ($800 for couples). For the last half of 2009, workers can expect to see perhaps $13 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. That reduction goes down to about $9 per week next year.
- Nonresident aliens do not qualify for this credit. Neither do estates, trusts, or individuals who can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.
- The credit is available in full only if AGI (adjusted gross income, with some modifications for highly specialized income) doesn’t exceed $75,000 for an individual ($150,000 if you file a joint return). The credit is phased out at a rate of two percent of the eligible individual’s AGI above $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return). So no credit is allowed for individuals with AGI of $100,000 or more, or for joint filers with AGI of $200,000 or more.
- Unlike the $600 per worker lump-sum rebates issued last year, the credit can be received as a reduction in the amount of income tax that is withheld from a paycheck, or through a credit on a tax return.
- Since the credit is based on taxable wages and thus unavailable to many retired people and other whose income does not come from wages, the new law includes a one-time payment of $250 to retirees, disabled individuals and SSI recipients receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration, and Railroad Retirement beneficiaries, and to veterans receiving disability compensation and pension benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The one-time payment is a reduction to any allowable Making Work Pay credit. Similarly, a one-time refundable tax credit of $250 is provided in 2009 to certain government retirees who are not eligible for Social Security benefits. This one-time credit is a reduction to any allowable making Work Pay credit.
Get tax relief and resolve your tax matters by contacting the tax firm of Mike Habib, EA at 877-788-2937 or online at myirstaxrelief.com
Tax changes affecting individuals and families
Tax changes affecting individuals and families in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Mike Habib, EA Tax Relief & Tax Problem Resolution
The recently enacted “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (the 2009 economic stimulus act) contains a wide-ranging tax package that includes tax relief for low and moderate-income wage earners, individuals and families with college expenses, and home and car purchasers. I’m writing to give you an overview of the more widely applicable tax changes affecting individuals and families in the new law. Please call our offices for details of how the new changes may affect you and your family.
Foreign tax credit generators
Audit mistakes by the IRS
TIGTA assesses how well IRS Examination function scrutinizes all open tax periods during audits [Audit Report No. 2009-30-034]:
IRS Examination function employees do not always appropriately inspect and examine prior and/or subsequent year tax returns when warranted, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) said in a new audit.
Auditors reviewed 68 statistical sample cases and found that 13 (or 21%) of the cases warranted scrutiny of additional returns but none were selected for examination. In 26 (or 38%) of the 68 cases, “there was no evidence that examiners inspected either the prior or subsequent year return to identify similar issues to the years under examination or if large, unusual, or questionable items existed that would warrant examination,” the audit said. Factors that might be considered include the comparative size of an expense, if the nature of the item is significant, the beneficial effect of the manner in which an item is reported, and missing items on the return.
Offer in compromise tax relief
IRS not obligated to accept offer in compromise
Bennett, TC Memo 2008-251
Independent contractor tax relief
Seventh Circuit classifies computer programmer as an independent contractor
Suskovich v. Anthem Health Plans of Virginia, Inc., (CA 7 1/22/2009) 103 AFTR 2d ¶2009-385
The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, affirming a district court, has concluded that a computer programmer was an independent contractor and not an employee.
