The Tax Preparation Blog

Archive for October, 2008

Question: Does anyone know about Proxy Marriages. My fiance is currently in a federal prison in Kentucky and I’m in CA.?

Don’t bash me ! He’s in there for not paying his taxes. We were able to work it out in a Federal court for him to due 366 days in exchange for payment. Only reason why we don’t really want to wait is because were expecting 2 new baby girls in October. Just because they weren’t conceived in wedlock doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be born in it. We had planned to wed before the court date but I was ill so we had to wait. He will be released in Feb 2010.

Answer: Good for you, having the courage and faith in him to stand by him. Luckily, you’re not marrying an axe murderer. That must have been some serious tax liability, BUT that doesn’t make him a bad person. Our tax code is so complicated and the bureaucrats in charge don’t want it simplified. Anyway – that’s another soap box…

Most states do not allow proxy marriages – a quick check of about.com’s marriage license rules – kentucky does not allow proxy marriages, and California allows them basically only if one party is active duty military stationed out of country.

Despite your good intentions, you may have to wait until he is home, or you may need to try to arrange a long weekend in Kentucky. Double check with someone at the Federal court – there may be exceptions to the proxy rule in the Federal Court System.

Best of luck

US must cut spending to save AAA rating, warns Fitch

Ratings agency issues the starkest warning to date that the US will lose its AAA credit rating unless cuts its budget deficit.

Backup Withholding for Form 1099-MISC

GUNARATNE – A.D. HEMASIRI

(retired Biomedical Engineer) beloved husband of Sheela, father of Chandana (Kalubowila Teaching Hospital), Janitha (Lake House), and Indrika (IDB), father-in-law of Kanchana (MRI), and Sarath (CTB Matugama), expired. Cremation at 3.00 p.m. on 18th Jan. 2010 at Kalutara North Cemetery.

Does Your Estate Plan Offer Full Generation Skipping Benefits?

If a declaration of independence had to be written for wealth transfer and preservation, you would not find the phrase “all generation skipping trusts are created equal.” A poorly drafted generation skipping tax (GST) trust simply bypasses one generation, while a more sophisticated plan provides for wealth to pass a multitude of generations with flexibility based on events or need.

Gifts, Gafts, Gefts – What Constitutes a Gift and a Principled Tax Policy Justification…

Question: Paystub Inaccuracy?

I noticed today, by comparing two paystubs, one from July and this last one, that YTD Federal Withholding was different, not to mention, that she has not been deducting withholding Federal Taxes, anyway, July said YTD was $147.00 (which is wrong), and this one says $106.00?? What is going on?? Could this have anything to do with the person getting paid under the table at work, the night auditor?

Answer: A couple of possibilities. The company could have changed the program used to perform the payroll function and failed to record the withheld taxes prior to the change. Or, a new owner may have acquired the company which could require that your payroll records start from scratch with the new employer. In that case you will get two Forms W-2.

The lack of withholding could be an error or the exemptions claimed on your Form W-4 could negate the necessity to withhold. FICA and Medicare taxes should still be withheld.

You should certainly bring the issue to the attention of the person(s) responsible for payroll in your company (both the withholding discrepancies and the lack of withholding) before year end so the matter can be resolved before 2006 W-2’s are issued.

The night auditor is not working in your state. Don’t worry about that.

More layoffs loom, Fresno County sheriff says

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says a projected budget deficit of about $6.5 million will force her to lay off more workers.

Question: What is tax fraud in Canada? What is perjury?

There was a recent question about this and that has prompted my questions.
My former spouse is working under the table and not claiming it as income and by doing so, she is getting spousal support for much higher than she should. She has schemed a good scheme. She withdraws money from her “employers” account making it look like he is making the withdraws. Very hard to trace indeed. Everyone around her knows this is going on. Is this an example of tax fraud? Could the person she works for get in trouble as well? Also if she lied under oath and on her financial disclosure, is that perjury?

Answer: Yes it is tax fraud and perjury.
The employer can be reported to CRA for not deducting EI and CPP. This is also tax fraud.
One audit by CRA of the employer and the whole thing will collapse.
You can report it here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nvstgtns/prvnc_tx-eng.html

Vancouver engineers its own urban dream

The city imposes notions of sustainability in its decisions on what, where and how to build. Still, it’s not quite the utopia. William Rees spent much of his childhood on his grandfather’s farm in the province of Ontario. What struck him once, after a day of working in the fields, was the sudden realization that everything on the dinner table — the chicken, the milk, the carrots — he had …

Local TV Matters PSA v8