WHAT’S THE BUZZ? TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ – WEDNESDAY EDITION

* Clients often ask me “When to Take Social Security”.  I am not a Social Security expert, and have no experience, training, or knowledge that would allow me to answer this question for them.

To the rescue comes the Wall Street Journal’s WEEKEND INVESTOR, with a post on the subject that discusses several websites that have calculators and other resources to help you answer this question.

* My current commute in NJ is 2½ rooms – as I work out of a (tax-deductible) home office.  When I move to PA my commute will be 1 room!

Kay Bell reminds us of a tax-free fringe benefit for those who use a vehicle to commute, specifically a bicycle, in her post “Bicycling Commuters, You Might Qualify for a Tax-Free Workplace Benefit” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.

* The TAX POLICY BLOG of the Tax Foundation gives us a map of the “Percentage of Filers Making Over $200,000” for tax year 2010.

New Jersey is #2 (I have heard that before – in a different context), with 5.26% of its resident filers earning over $200,000.  Connecticut is #1at 5.46%.  New York and California are #6 and #7 at about 3.92% each.  Mississippi is at the bottom of the list, with only 1.42%

This is a follow up to last week’s map of the “Percentage of Federal Income Tax Revenue from Filers Making Over $200,000”.  Connecticut was #1 again, but NJ was #3 (beaten by NY).

* The Tax Foundation trifecta ends with a slide show for "Putting a Face on America's Tax Returns", with “All the data you need to understand taxes on the poor, rich, middle class, and the Top 1%”.

* Trish McIntire of OUR TAXING TIMES “Learned a Couple of Things” from a recent CCH article.

* Joe Kristan of THE ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG returns from a week-off “gone fishing” with a beefy “Tax Round-Up”.

* A current tweet led me to an older post that I had missed during my tax season hiatus.  Peter Reilly speaks the truth when he says it is “Unfair To Knock Romney For Getting An Extension” at his FORBES.COM blog. 

As Pete points out, it would have been impossible for Mitt to file a proper return 2011 by the April deadline –

“The reason it is not possible is because Mr. Romney is a partner in several partnerships.  Likely those partnerships are partners in other partnerships, some of which are also partners in partnerships.  Big fleas have little fleas.”

The deadline for filing a partnership return is the same as the deadline for filing a 1040.  I know from personal experience that many, if not most, partnership K-1s are not sent out until after the initial April filing deadline.  This is the source of several of my GD extensions.

And while, as a preparer, I personally hate GD extensions, I recognize that they are often necessary, and agree with Pete when he says –

“So if your tax preparer is telling you that it might be a good idea to extend, don’t hold it against him too much.  Also don’t think that filing an extension is some sort of moral failure or not doing it should allow you to feel superior.”   

* Tax pros – don’t forget my Special Summer Savings.

TTFN