The Tax Preparation Blog

Archive for May, 2010

Question: French or Chinese?

I live and work in Melbourne Australia, I grew up in an Asian country – not China – and I am a second generation Chinese. I don’t speak a single word of Chinese, despite looking very Chinese and yes I find French very exotic…
I am a tax accountant…
Do you think I should learn French or Chinese? Chinese sounds very hard…
Does that mean I need to move interstate to setup the business together Miss Schlonky? But Victoria is so good

Answer: I think you should learn Chinese, then leave your dodgy job and come set up a non-dodgy Asia specialised international taxation practice with me

Answer 2:
That’s a good point but Sydney is my favourite city, which would make it a bit tricky for us Well, whatever you do, you don’t have to work with dodgy people forever so keep your chin up and remember you’re worth a lot more than they can give you credit for.

French could be more fun… maybe if you spoke Chinese, other people would talk back at you really fast because they think you are Chinese. So you could be more mysterious and surprising with French. I am no good at learning Vietnamese – monosyllabic spoken languages are so awkward when you naturally run all your words and syllables together. I found German a lot easier just as you will find French easier too.

(p.s. I recently quit my job and set up solo – it’s awesome! I don’t even have to record my time billing if I don’t feel like it and now I always knock off at 5pm. yay )

Principles of Income Tax for Accountants A guide to the principles of income tax aimed at tertiary students of accountancy….

The best brains of the public accounting world: the restricted membership of the army accountancy advisory panel, 1942-1945. (2007 Vangermeersch … article from: Accounting Historians Journal $9.95 This digital document is an article from Accounting Historians Journal, published by Academy of Accounting Historians on December 1, 2009. The length of the article is 12110 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: “The best…

Income Tax Law for Accountants …

---

Some ‘underwhelmed’ after Henry review

While Kevin Rudd’s proposed tax reforms have provided a number of sweeteners for small businesses, some have been left feeling decidedly underwhelmed.

Australian Tax Highlights 10 April 2010 – A short summary of recent tax developments in Australia.

Question: why am I paying short term capital gains of 37%?

before entering my short term capital gains to Tax Turbo, I had a refund of $1,821 from Fed, $78 from from State. After entering my short term capital gains of $17,334, I ended up owning $3,059 to Fed, $1,482 to State, wondering if I’m paying 37% tax from my gains? (something like 28% to Fed and 9% to State)I’m filling married filing jointly, with 2 young children, zero exemptions on both of our w-4. AGI of $120,271 including my capital gains. I mean, I know that the calculation is right because this is straight from the Table/worksheet, but the part I don’t understand is why there is so much difference between A. before entering my gains and B. after entering the gains. Can someone help me?

Answer: That sounds about right. ST gains are taxed at your marginal rate and you’re close to the 28% Federal bracket.

Property questions abound in a divorce situation

While divorce can be an emotional roller coaster, the one area that needs reasoned, dispassionate, businesslike treatment is what to do with the real property assets of the divorcing duo. Divorce – Law – Family law – Relationships – Legal Information

Question: Can one deduct BOTH sales tax and state income tax on federal return?

As I was going through the questions, using TaxAct online, I used its tool to estimate the sales tax I had paid to the state of Texas.
Because I moved this year, I had also paid income tax to the state of Oregon.
It then took only the higher of the two numbers, instead of using both.

I paid income tax to Oregon for 10 months, and Sales tax to Texas and Austin for 2 months.
Can I deduct both?

Is this a flaw in the Taxact software OR is this the tax law?

I knew I should have made my move date January 1, to simplify the tax stuff.
Thank you

So people who live in states which do charge both, can’t deduct both either.
Interesting.

Answer: Sorry, but you can only claim either state and local income tax or sales tax. Your move from a state with no sales tax to a state with no income tax does not provide an exception.

More than half of Nueces County property owners receive lower appraisals

Decline in housing market causes drop

Homeless Giveaway #3 Part 1 Austin Atheists Helping the Homeless

Question: Filing income tax in Quebec?

Regarding filing taxes with Revenue Canada:
I’m filing my taxes online; must I enter both my T4 and Relevé 1 forms? (It asks me which forms I need; T4 and RL-1 are seperate checkboxes). I originally filed my taxes with just my T4 and ended up with a very low return, and after entering the RL-1 it more than doubled. I’m worried I’m just filling in the numbers twice.

Regarding filing taxes with Revenu Quebec:
I am a Manitoba resident living in Quebec since July 2008. Therefore, I imagine I am not yet a “QC resident” as I have not lived here for a full year. I resided here Dec 31 2008; must I file taxes with Revenu Quebec as well?

Answer: You are a resident of the province where you lived on 31 December. If you are a resident of Quebec you must file a TP-1-D-V

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/formspubs/t1gnrl/menu-eng.html

“Select the province or territory in which you resided on December 31, 2008.”

T4s are given by employers outside Quebec, RL-1s are given inside Quebec. You enter both forms on your T1 AND the TP-1-D-V

QuickBooks for Mac 2012 $129.50 Easily manage your businessProductInformationQuickBooks for Mac 2012 is small business accounting that lets youorganize your finances all in once place so you can quickly find whatyou need.  Easily create invoices and track your businesssales and expenses – and get reliable records for tax time. QuickBooks for Mac 2012 is set up in minutes and is easy tolearn and use along with looking a…

Estate and Trust Administration For Dummies $10.19 Executing an estate or a trust fund is a big responsibility. Estate & Trust Administration For Dummies contains advice for handling estates and trusts of any size. It offers solid pointers on reading and interpreting a will and other documents, and helping heirs avoid paying too much (or too little). It also shows you how to take care of a loved one’s estate in the event that a will or trust wa…

---

Sunrise Pleased by Court’s Dismissal of HCP Litigation

MCLEAN, Va., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sunrise Senior Living, Inc.

President Bill Clinton – Global Citizenship: Turning Good Intentions into Positive Action