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Itemized Deduction or Standard?

naveed — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:39:46 -0800

I have donated about 11,400 to charity. I'm filing married filing jointly, so my standard donation is 10,900. I really don't have much in the way of other deductions. Should I use the 11,400 itemized deduction? Or use the 10,900 standard deduction and use the donations as deductions for next year?

Tax deductions for food donations?

greggish — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:34:07 -0800

Can grocery retailers claim a tax deduction for the market value of donated food, or just the cost of that food? I've been given both answers - but only one can be right, right? Here's the background question-prompting situation to this question: I'm trying to figure out the tax incentives for farms to donate their surplus goods to food-distributing charities. Apparently farms can write off the cost of producing the food that they donate, which essentially amounts to the labor, seed, and fertilizer. This doesn't add up to much, so with little tax incentive the farmers let a lot of surplus food go to waste. (If they could write off the market value of their food, however, many say they would be eager to donate the surplus.)

This would seem like less-than-optimal tax policy, especially if in fact retailers do get to write off the market value of the food they donate. Although, if retailers only get to write off the price they paid to purchase the food they ultimately donated, then it seems like there's less of a complaint on the farmer's behalf here.

If anyone can provide clarity on the matters of both retailers *and* farms, well, that would be great.

Deducting an Unpaid Moving Bill on a Tax Return

Stilus — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:48:17 -0800

Can I deduct moving expenses on an unpaid mover bill on my tax return? In March of 2007 I moved from New Jersey to Alaska, but am unable to pay the movers to deliver my property until my wife cashes out her stock from her former employer. The property is currently undelivered and unpaid for, but I did get billed for it in 2007. Can I deduct this as a "moving expense" for 2007? Further information: the bill is for $10,000+ on an almost 4000 mile move. I moved specifically because I was hired for a job in Alaska and even started work the day after I came up. I also have $1,100 in storage rental cost (the moving company is holding the items locally while my wife and I wait on the money to be available), and roughly $1,500 in plane ticket costs. Can I deduct these as well?

Unfortunately due to bureaucracy nonsense and my hiring supervisor being new and making a mistake, my employer refused to cover my moving costs.

I'm willing to eat the costs because the job allows me to provide for my wife and child better than both of our retail jobs did in the past. But I would like to recoup as much as I can in tax deductions.

So basically I'm looking at 2007 job related moving costs that I can't pay for (and get delivered) until April 2008 . Do I have a hope of claiming these at all for 2007 or 2008 or does this opportunity fall into purgatory?

Thanks in advance for advice from any who have experience with moving expense deductions on tax returns.

Deducting Child Care Expenses

yet.another.boston.question — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:24:07 -0800

TAX-Filter: Please help me understand the difference between: (a) Deducting child care expenses from my taxes, (b) claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit on my tax return, and (c) Using a section 125 Flexible Spending Account to pay for child care expenses. Can I combine all of these, or is it one or the other? Are (a) and (b) the same thing?

I am so confused!

As inevitable as death…

NotMyselfRightNow — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 13:25:33 -0800

Recommendations on a good online summary/overview of educational tax credits and deductions in the US? Some details: I’m an adult, living in Mass, working full time and attending grad school. Expenses are tuition, books, supplies, etc. I’m just looking to get an idea of what (if any) of my expenses might work in my favor come 15 April. And yes, I know you’re not my tax professional, and I should talk to a tax professional. I will, but want to do some homework ahead of time. Thanks!

Writing off a home office used for volunteer work?

taumeson — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:11:31 -0800

I write off my home office every year as a legitimate business expense. This year I did not focus on freelance projects and did a lot of volunteer/pro bono work. What do I need to know about writing it off this year? I'll seek out a CPA, but I'd like to be knowledgeable first. Anybody ever get themselves into a similar situation? The reason I'm asking is because I know you need to "materially participate" in a business in order to write it off, but this year I won't have any income from the business...I still used my office weekly, however it was for work I didn't expect to be paid for. I figure this is analogous to somebody trying to start a start-up, for instance.

UK Tax Matters

missmagenta — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 01:54:25 -0800

I'm recently self-employed and I need some advice about tax deductions. I'm going to be getting a new, rather expensive computer but I also want to make sure I have enough money to pay my taxes. The computer will be used for business and home use - so where do I stand tax deduction-wise? I want to do the right thing but I dont want to pay more tax than I should.
So if I buy something that will be used for work and play do I deduct all/part/none of the costs from my profits? The computer will cost nearly £5,000 will this get me a big red flag on my accounts if I deduct the whole cost?
I also read something about deducting the cost of business equipment over a number of years - depending on how long it will be in use - does this apply here?

On a related topic - I may potentially have a large job coming in paying about 5x what I would normally make for the whole year - I know theres going to be a huge tax bill on that this year but my question is - do I need to save most of it to pay my tax bill for the next year then wait for a rebate a year later or will the fact I've only been in business a few months mean I wont get an estimated bill for a couple of years?

What can a commissioned retail salesperson deduct?

camfys — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 12:12:09 -0800

My mom is a commissioned retail salesperson for Gucci. Because she gets $13k/yr. in alimony, she always owes when she does her taxes. If she itemizes this year, what could she deduct? Hair/nails? Makeup? Magazines? Dry cleaning? Jewelry? Any info would be appreciated. We're trying to figure out whether to just let me do her taxes online as I have done in the past, or if there is a possibility of her not owing the IRS $200/month by itemizing.

Also, are her credit card statements good enough for receipts?

Thank you.

Tax deductions for freelancers

blim8183 — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:33:52 -0800

I'm an aspiring filmmaker, is the new camera I just bought tax deductible? Although I hope to be a filmmaker, I'm currently working as a web producer so the camera doesn't have much to do with my actual job. However, I bought it so that I could start doing freelance videography on the side. I don't have a business or anything, I just find freelance gigs through craigslist and friends, can I still deduct all my camera equipment from my taxes?

Along the same lines, I'm also doing freelance web work and am need of a laptop. It's the same situation as the above where I don't have a business setup, I'm just finding odd jobs, I can deduct the laptop if I get one?

Can I deduct moving expenses?

phrenq — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:23:32 -0800

It's tax time, and it shows. My question is about moving expenses: Can I deduct them for a move from CA to NY, even though I kept the same job and am now telecommuting? Earlier this year, my employer was running out of office space, so they extended an offer to allow some employees to move long-distance and telecommute, if they wished. I took them up on it.

It looks like I technically meet the IRS's requirements for deducting moving expenses: The new location (my home office) is over 2000 miles away from my old home and office, and I work full time out of my home, so I'll meet the 39 week requirement.

But the move was only marginally job-related: we mostly chose to move to be closer to home. The offer from my employer just made it a lot easier.

Can you deduct losses due to crime?

knave — Fri, 04 Mar 2005 18:09:11 -0800

Followup to an earlier question: Can you deduct financial losses incurred due to a car break-in on your taxes? I spent $700 repairing the car to (almost) the condition it was in before the incident, plus another $150 to get a new stereo. Someone told me there is a category called "personal loss" or something, but I'm turning up nothing in my searches... Any ideas? (USA-specific)

Of course, even if it does turn out to be real, I have to wait until next year since this happened in January.