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Back to Basics Part I – Overview of 1040
Filed under: Back to Basics | Tags: 1040, above the line, adjusted gross income, adjustments to income, Alternative Minimum Tax, AMT, basics, below the line, charitable contributions, childcare credit, credits, direct deposit, educator expenses, energy efficient upgrades, exemptions, filing status, first-time home buyer credit, health savings account contributions, Household employees, interest, itemized deductions, medical expenses, miscellaneous itemized deductions, moving expenses, other taxes, paid preparer, real estate taxes, retirement plan contributions, self-employment taxes, student loan interest, tax return, taxes, tuition and fees, understanding
Leave a comment Originally published in the Cedar Street Times
October 17, 2014
On Wednesday October 15, the 2013 personal tax filing season came to a close. Or at least it did for most timely filers. People who requested the six-month extension finally had to lay down their cards, or face increased penalties, and being branded delinquent by the taxing authorities. But I am sure you had your returns done long ago!
It is hard to believe that 2014 is rapidly drawing to a close, and soon we will start filing taxes all over again. This coming year, I would like to challenge you to spend some time looking at your tax returns and learning something new. I am a firm believer that everyone should have at least a basic understanding of the flow of a tax return. This document is a linchpin in your financial life. Let’s spend a few minutes talking about the big picture. You may wish to do this with a copy of a 1040 close at hand.
Tax returns can be hundreds of pages long with many supporting forms and schedules, but it all boils down to a two page summary whether you are John Doe or Warren Buffett…this is your Form 1040. Essentially, the first page lists your income, adjusted by a few preferential items leaving you with your all important “adjusted gross income.” “Below the line,” as it is known, is the second page, and lists your deductions and credits, calculates your tax, and determines what you owe or will get refunded.
Looking at page one in more detail, the top section captures your name, mailing address, and Social Security number. There is also a somewhat passe little box to designate three dollars of the tax you are already paying to the Presidential Election Campaign fund. If you want to learn more about this, I wrote an entire article on its history on April 18th. You can find it at www.tlongcpa.com/blog.
The first real section is where you designate your tax return “filing status” – single, married, head of household, etc. This is very important because it determines how much your standard deduction is and how quickly you will climb the tax brackets as your income increases. Your status is determined by rules, not choice. That said, married people do have the choice of the generally unfavorable Married Filing Separate status.
The next section deals with “exemptions.” This is where you list the dependents in your household – generally your children up through college (even if away at college). A parent or someone not even related can qualify, but they have to meet strict limiting rules. You get an exemption from your taxable income of $3,950 (2014 amount) for each of your dependents. Children under 17 may also qualify you for child tax credits which would go on page two.
The income section falls next. Wages from your job, interest, dividends, business income, rental income, sales of stock, money received from retirement accounts or plans, pensions, social security, etc.
After getting your total income figure, you then are allowed certain favorable “above the line” deductions for things like educator expenses, moving expenses, retirement plan contributions, health savings account contributions, student loan interest, tuition and fees, etc. After subtracting these adjustments, you arrive at your AGI (adjusted gross income). AGI is a key figure and is used in a lot of calculations which could affect your taxes in many areas. Above the line deductions are therefore preferable for that reason, but also because they will have a direct impact on taxable income. Below the line deductions such as itemized deductions are less certain and do not impact your AGI.
The taxes and credits section is at the top of the second page. This is where you get to subtract all your itemized deductions listed on Schedule A- things like medical expenses, taxes paid, interest, charitable contributions, and miscellaneous other deductions (like tax preparation fees!). If you don’t have many itemized deductions you get the standard deduction instead (for example – $12,200 for married status) as determined by your filing status from the first page.
Next, the number of exemptions you claimed on the first page is multiplied by $3,950 (2014) and that is subtracted out to leave you with your taxable income. Your tax is then calculated using tax tables and other rules.
With income generally in the $100,000 to $200,000 range ore more, you may also hit alternative minimum tax (AMT). In simple terms, AMT is a parallel tax system that has a different set of rules and allows less deductions. You calculate the AMT system on every return. If the AMT tax calculation yields a larger tax bill than the regular system, you pay the incremental difference as alternative minimum tax. Real estate taxes and miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to two-percent such as unreimbursed employee business expenses are common items that get kicked out in the AMT system.
Next you get to subtract any tax credits you may have. Tax credits are a dollar-for-dollar reduction of tax owed and are therefore more valuable than deductions, which only save you a fraction on the dollar. Depending on your circumstances there are credits for education, childcare, children in general, energy efficient upgrades, etc.
The next section is “Other Taxes.” There are a handful of other taxes people might incur , such as tax on taking money out of retirement plans too early, household employee taxes, repaying a first-time home buyer credit, etc. The most common, however, is self employment taxes. Business owners must pay the employer and employee side of their Social Security and Medicare taxes. After you add these taxes and determine your total tax liability, you then look at the payments section to see was has been paid in or credited to your account, and whether you will end up owing, or getting a refund.
At the bottom of the second page, you can choose things like direct deposit, or applying the payment to the following year. You can also designate a third party such as the tax preparer to be able to discuss the return with the IRS, if the IRS wants to discuss it. At the bottom, a paid preparer also has places to sign and fill out.
In two weeks we will start examining Schedule A – Itemized Deductions.
Prior articles are republished on my website at www.tlongcpa.com/blog.
Travis H. Long, CPA is located at 706-B Forest Avenue, PG, 93950 and focuses on trust, estate, individual, and business taxation. He can be reached at 831-333-1041.
Filing an Amended Tax Return
Filed under: General, Refunds | Tags: 1040X, 540X, amended, amendment, April 15, math error, October 15, refund, tax return, underreported, www.irs.gov
Leave a comment Originally published in the Cedar Street Times
May 2, 2014
It’s May! The sun is shining and the grass is green. There is plenty of daylight in the evenings and summer is just around the corner. You even have your tax returns complete. Things are looking good! As you mosey out to the mailbox and pull out today’s haul, you see a letter with an unusually interesting stamp, one kind of like your dad used to collect…then it hits you, “Wait a minute, did I claim the deduction for donating Dad’s stamp collection to the museum! I even spent $300 on the appraisal, and I completely forgot about it! And my taxes are already done!”
Fortunately for the hypothetical you as well as everyone else, there is a cure-all remedy elixir called an amendment.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides form 1040X and the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) provides form 540X to facilitate this process for individuals. The ‘X’ comes from the fact that you must be eXtra crazy to want to do your taxes again. Actually, I have no idea where the ‘X’ comes from, but it is probably rooted in something – just like 401(k) plans. Many people don’t realize 401(k) is simply the Internal Revenue Code Section that lays down the rules for that particular type of retirement plan. Somebody was not having a creative day when they came up with that one. But I digress…
The IRS version and the FTB version of amendments follow a similar format with a column of the original amounts reported, a column for the net change, and a revised column. They do not cover all lines in the tax returns, however, but selected key lines as well as subtotals for other things. Any affected schedules and statements are re-prepared in full in the corrected manner and attached to the returns. The returns must be paper filed, and if there are changes to amounts reported for tax withholdings, the physical copies of the forms showing the withholdings must be attached.
Simple math errors are generally corrected by the taxing authority computer systems, and a change letter is sent automatically, so you generally don’t have to file an amendment if for some reason you noticed an arithmetic error on the return. With computer tax preparation so prevalent, it is rare to see this unless the return is hand-prepared. As a side note of interest, every client hand-prepared return I have re-prepared in the past ten years, aside from something basic like a single person with a W-2 or a pension, has had preparation errors – a tribute to the complexity of our tax code today.
If you missed something large and underreported your taxable income significantly, it is to your benefit to amend as soon as possible as interest and penalties will continue to grow. You could also be assessed a 20 percent accuracy related penalty.
The IRS generally gives you three years to file an amendment and the FTB gives you four years. More specifically and to illustrate, if you filed your 2013 1040 return on or before April 15, 2014, you have until April 15, 2017 to file your 1040X amended tax return. If you filed for an automatic extension until October 15, then you have until the earlier of 1) three years from the date you actually file the return or 2) three years from October 15. If however, you are delinquent on paying the tax you owe, and you have an outstanding balance that carries on for a period of time, that time frame could be extended as you have at least two years (one for California) after the date you actually pay the tax to file an amendment.
After filing an amendment, don’t hold your breath waiting for a response, as it typically takes two or three months to process the returns. If you are curious, however, you can check the status of your return at http://www.irs.gov.
I have worked with quite a number of people over the years where we have gone back to file amended tax returns to claim missed deductions from the past and obtain a refund. If the amendment can yield a greater refund than the cost of preparing the amendment, it is certainly worth considering!
Prior articles are republished on my website at www.tlongcpa.com/blog.
IRS Circular 230 Notice: To the extent this article concerns tax matters, it is not intended to be used and cannot be used by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law.
Travis H. Long, CPA is located at 706-B Forest Avenue, PG, 93950 and focuses on trust, estate, individual, and business taxation. He can be reached at 831-333-1041.
Travis H. Long, CPA, Inc. Blog 