During the first decade or two of my accounting and tax life, I always felt that everyone knew more than I did. I was always a bit intimidated by the depth of knowledge other CPAs, EAs and attorneys seemed to have – and prayed that I could know just a little more of what they knew.
Effective this tax season, our clients have had the option of deducting $5 per square foot, up to 300 square feet – instead of using the complex Office in Home rules. That provides for a maximum deduction of $1,500.
Wow! I just read an article about a woman who died six years ago and no one noticed. (Talk about a senior’s biggest fear.) It seems that she had so much liquidity in her bank account that her automatic payments lasted that long – before her mortgage company finally foreclosed.
After a divorce, if both spouses stay on title, they can both take advantage of their full personal residence exclusion of $250,000 – as long as one of them continue to use it as a personal residence AND this is specified in the divorce decree (a good reason to get along during the divorce negotiations).
A couple of years ago, a reader told me that he was very perplexed. He was trying to prepare his daughter’s tax return, but was coming up with a huge tax bill. Why?
I have been preparing tax returns for a very, very long time. Yet, I usually feel as if I know nothing. So, when someone asks me a question, even when I am pretty sure of the answer, I look it up.