* MISSOURI TAXGUY
Bruce McFarland explains “Employee vs. Contractor… How to Tell”.
* A @Tax Policy Center
tweet explained “A hit man can deduct his
cost of doing business. So can a prostitute. But firms that sell medical
marijuana cannot.” Howard Gleckman
pleads “Let Legal Marijuana Dispensaries Deduct Their Business Expenses” at
TAXVOX, the Tax Policy Center’s blog.
* Find out what
charities you should NOT donate to. The
CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING discusses the “Dirty Secrets of the Worst Charities”.
* Tom Herman of the
WALL STREET JOURNAL deals with a question I have often heard asked over the
years in “Working Seniors Must Still Pay Tax”.
“Q: I am 72, retired and went back to work.
At what point do I not have Social Security tax deducted from my pay?”
Actually I have
more often heard it in a different way.
A worker age 72 or older demands that payroll (sometime me) stop
withholding Social Security tax from their wages – he/she is age 72 and no
longer has to pay Social Security tax.
From the day you
are born till the day you die you must pay Social Security (and Medicare) tax
on all taxable wages. It doesn’t matter
if you are 2 years old or 97 years old.
There are no age limitations on the requirement for FICA withholding.
The confusion comes
from the old rules that at age 72 you could have unlimited earned income and
not have to pay back Social Security benefits.
* A “tweet” from
@PARKER TAX UPDATES led me to Parker’s discussion of a court case where “Lack of Signed Release Costs Noncustodial Parent Dependency Exemption and Child Tax Credit”.
It is very, very
important that if you are a non-custodial parent you MUST attach a signed Form
8332 if you want to be sure to claim your child as a dependent. In the past attaching a copy of the divorce
agreement may have been sufficient – but do not rely on this anymore.
If your spouse refuses
to sign the Form 8332, as required under the divorce agreement, you may want to
withhold alimony to the extent of lost tax benefits or go back to court. But discuss the problem with your divorce
attorney first.
Or when drafting
the divorce agreement spell out specific “penalties” if the custodial spouse
will not sigh the 8332.
It is very
important that you get your, or a, tax pro involved in the process of drafting
your divorce agreement.
As I said last year
in “Wandering Tax Pro On The Tax Aspects Of Divorce” at FORBES.COM –
“ . . while you would certainly want Arnie
Becker as your divorce attorney, you should have the divorce agreement reviewed
and approved by Stuart Markowitz before
signing it.”
I expect that this
cultural reference dates me.
* Speaking of
FORBES.COM, Peter J Reilly covers “Whole Life Insurance Tax Disasters” there.
* Did you know “IRS.gov provides a special section dedicated
to truckers and their taxes”? I
found out via a “tweet”.
Click here.
THE
FINAL WORD-
Every
year on the Saturday before the TONY Awards show I attend a matinee performance
of a musical comedy in New York City with friends. More often than not the musical is a revival
(the original production of which I have probably seen over my 50+ years of going
to Broadway). And every year the
production we have seen on Saturday afternoon wins at least one major TONY
Award on Sunday night.
This
past Saturday we saw PIPPIN. I had seen
the original with Ben Vereen, John Rubinstein, and Irene Ryan (Granny from “The
Beverly Hillbillies” tv show) 40 years ago.
And, true to form, PIPPIN won the TONY for Best Revival of a Musical as
well as Best Director of a Musical and Best Leading and Featured Actress in a
Musical – all well deserved.
I was
surprised that RODGERS AND HAMMERSTREIN’s CINDERELLA was included in the
musical revival category. The current
production is the first time it appeared on Broadway. It was originally written as a television
special – first with Julie Andrews and years later “revived” on tv with Leslie
Ann Warren.
TTFN
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