The Tax Man Cometh!

[downer]

I didn't give any false info when completing my tax forms, so I'm not too worried. There is some room for interpretation of their definitions though.

But I wasn't posting about my personal situation really. I was thinking that right now, even for all those people who may have offices on campus, it does not count if campus is closed and the governent is telling people to stay home.

[clean]

??  IF you claim a home office deduction, are you essentially depreciating part of your house?  IF so, will the depreciation need to be recaptured when you sell your house??
In other words, isn't the paperwork hassle not worth the change in taxes, not to mention the extra documentation?

I am pretty fluent in taxes otherwise, but not for rental property or the home office sorts of deductions. Even when I had schedule C income, I didn't try to deduct for a home office, and that was more than 5 years ago, so things may have changed since I last explored it.

In any event, I am not planning to take advantage of it on next year's taxes. 

But I am interested in the answers to my questions.

[hmaria1609]

*Bumping an old thread*
Tax time! Share away...
This year our community volunteer tax prep partners have changed their service operations to the public. For example, AARP is providing remote help and provided special information packets for the public.

[dismalist]

I have no problem paying taxes in this low tax, low service country. I have grave difficulties in filling out the forms. This is all unnecessary.

[arcturus]

I filed my taxes last week. I finally got my W4s figured out such that I only owed the state an additional $7 and my federal was close to the actual amount as well (slight overpayment there). 2020 was the first year that I used a Roth 403b, so my total tax paid was higher than the past, both in absolute $$ and effective tax rate. But I think it is worth it (for me) to get more $$ into Roth space at this time/income.

[apl68]

I filed my federal and state forms weeks ago.  Just waiting for my refunds.

We're getting our usual trickle of patrons wanting tax forms at the library.  You can still bulk-order paper forms and booklets through the Taxpayer Forms Outlet Program, and we do so each year.  People invariably start asking about them in January, weeks before they arrive.  They no longer send much of an assortment--just the biggies.  And of course there's no longer a separate 1040-EZ for those of us who have very simple finances.  We can always locate and print any less-common forms that somebody may need.  I've not found that no longer having 1040-EZ complicates things too much.

State forms come separately.  They always get here before the federal forms.

[ab_grp]

This is the first year in several that we don't have to wait until mid-March for a particular tax form, which always screws up timing with our accountant (who understands, at least).  But now some other forms are under review, so who knows when they will be ready.  I don't feel like getting everything together until everything is available, but I guess I'll get going on it soon.  We had to file an adjustment last year due to the burdensome investment, and that led to some complications, but hopefully they will be worked out without too much trouble.

[apl68]

This is the first year in several that we don't have to wait until mid-March for a particular tax form, which always screws up timing with our accountant (who understands, at least).  But now some other forms are under review, so who knows when they will be ready.  I don't feel like getting everything together until everything is available, but I guess I'll get going on it soon.  We had to file an adjustment last year due to the burdensome investment, and that led to some complications, but hopefully they will be worked out without too much trouble.

We've had years when the library couldn't get forms until mid-March!  We also had a year when our TFOP order apparently went awry and I had to bum forms off of other libraries to have something for our patrons.  Try explaining THAT to patrons!

[Vkw10]

Taxes filed and payment made. I used the IRS withholding calculator to adjust withholding last year, but was a bit too enthusiastic. My goal was to drop from a $3500 refund to a $100 refund, but I ended by owing $200. Still glad I did it, because I boosted savings several thousand.

[apl68]

This is interesting.  We just received a package of Errata sheets for Forms 1040 and 1040-SR, IRA Deduction Worksheet--Schedule 1, Line 19.  Line 3 of the worksheet should read "Enter the amount from Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 9."

I doubt many people around here even have IRAs.  Which means that the people who have already taken instructions from us are probably not going to be in trouble over this.  We're going to have to tip these in to the relevant instruction booklets.

[Parasaurolophus]

The Tax Man  seems to think I made ~$15 000 more than I did, which is confusing.

[hmaria1609]

We've had years when the library couldn't get forms until mid-March!  We also had a year when our TFOP order apparently went awry and I had to bum forms off of other libraries to have something for our patrons.  Try explaining THAT to patrons!

There was one year the IRS was late distributing forms to the public.

We got a limited quantity of tax materials at my branch library last month--our couriers delivered them during their regular routes. One of my colleagues printed out a selection of federal forms so we can provide them to the public upon request.
Today I gave a patron one of the AARP info. envelopes about tax help along with the tax materials he wanted.

In past years, I've heard stories from patrons who've gone to the local IRS field office and had varying service mileage.

[polly_mer]

Our taxes are done.  To answer one of clean's questions: it absolutely is not worth our effort to deal with a home office deduction and I do have an office that is not used for anything else except web browsing on the big screen with a keyboard.  The marginal costs incurred ($500 in new furniture and office stuff, extra utilities) is just not worth it.

Our rental income and the relevant expenses ars worth the effort because that's tens of thousands of dollars.  We're getting a huge refund this year because of rental losses from a tenant who paid less than half of their rent.

[hmaria1609]

From WTOP Radio online: Virginia and DC have extended tax filing deadlines until May 17.
https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/03/va-income-tax-deadline-extended/
Maryland announced an extension last week.

[polly_mer]

The federal government extended the deadline https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-day-for-individuals-extended-to-may-17-treasury-irs-extend-filing-and-payment-deadline

Most states followed the feds last year for extending deadlines.  The trend appears to be states following again this year.