* An
interesting item from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL by Richard Rubin – “Who Goes First on Your Joint Tax Return? Probably Not the Woman” -
“According
to a first-of-its-kind assessment from researchers from the U.S. Treasury
Department and the University of Michigan, men’s names were listed first on 88%
of joint returns filed by opposite-sex married couples in 2020. That figure has
trickled down a little since 1996, when nearly all returns—97%—listed the man’s
name first.”
However,
as the article points out –
“An
opposite-sex couple can put the man’s name first, start with the woman’s name,
list them in order of income, go alphabetically or begin with the spouse who
woke up earlier last Tuesday. It literally doesn’t matter one cent.”
In my 50
years of preparing 1040s I, and most fellow tax preparers I know, have historically
entered the husband’s name on the first line.
I do remember one client of my mentor many decades ago who insisted that
we put his wife’s name on the first line.
He was the only person who ever did this.
There
was another situation when it was “more better” to enter the wife’s name, and
Social Security number, first. I don’t
know if this still applies, but many years ago we were told that when the IRS was processing a return for matching purposes only the first Social Security number
entered on Page 1 of the return was used.
So, if the husband of a married couple owed back taxes from before
marriage or back alimony or child support or anything else that would be “recovered”
from a federal refund under the Federal Offset Program, putting the wife’s name
and number first would avoid a reduction of any refund.
The
long-ago client who requested we put his wife’s name first did not do it
for this reason.
* Matthew Toner discusses “How Much is your State’s 529 Tax Deduction Really Worth?” at SAVING FOR COLLEGE.COM.
New Jersey now
has a deduction for up to $10,000 in contributions to the NJBEST 529 plan on
the NJ-1040 for taxpayers with NJ Gross Income of $200,000 or less, regardless
of filing status.
* ENERGYSTAR.COM
has a good section on what equipment and improvements qualify for the newly
reinstated federal energy tax credit – go here.
New for 2023 and beyond – a credit for a Home
Energy Audit. Go here for more
information.
* Good news for business
taxpayers. At ACCOUNTING TODAY Michael Cohn reports “IRS opens online portal where businesses can file 1099 forms”.
* Kay
Bell suggests “10 reasons to file a tax return even if you don't have to” at
DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.
Here is
another reason (from an article in the February issue of my new ROBERT D FLACH’S THE 1040 LETTER) –
“To ‘start
the clock’ on the 3-year audit statute of limitations. The IRS normally has three years from the
due date of a return or the actual filing date, whichever is later, to audit a
Form 1040.”
* FYI, a
recent TAX FOUNDATION “Above the Line” newsletter reported (highlights are mine)
–
“New IRS
data on individual income taxes for tax year 2020 shows that the federal income
tax system continues to be progressive as high-income taxpayers pay the highest
average income tax rates. Half of taxpayers paid nearly 98 percent of all federal
individual income taxes.
The top 1 percent of
taxpayers paid over 42 percent of all federal income taxes in
2020, an increase from 33 percent in 2001. Meanwhile, the share paid by the
bottom 50 percent of taxpayers fell from 4.9 percent in 2001 to just over 2.3
percent in 2020.”
TTFN
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