Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Helping real people win the tax game.

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Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2004

True, except in places such as the PRC, which charges corporations an annual minimum tax of $800 even if they had no activity at all.


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Loose lips…

Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2004

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Section 179 Recapture

Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2004

Q:

Kerry- You have a great Website with lots of good information.  Thank you for sharing your knowledge.  I elected to purchase a SUV in 2004 and will take the 179 deduction.  I have a LLC, but purchased it in my name and use it 95% for business.  I do not really like driving it.  It is OK for me to just give the Vehicle to my wife next year and let her inherit my cost basis which will be zero?  Seems like that would be too good to be true.  Thanks if you answer the question.

 

A:

Your “too good to be true” analysis is right on the money.

The law is very explicit that any Section 179 deduction has to be recaptured if the business use of the asset falls below 50% during its normal depreciable life, which would be five years in your example.

Your plan would still have some merit if you are just looking to shift some taxes into a future, possibly lower rate, tax year.  You could claim the Sec. 179 on your 2004 1040 and then pick almost that same amount up as income on your 2005 1040 when you convert the SUV to zero percent usage.  Actually, the recapture amount will be less than the full Sec. 179 because you only need to pick up as income the excess of what you claimed on your 2004 1040 over what the normal depreciation deduction would have been without the Sec. 179.

Good luck.  I hope this clears this matter up for you.  Your personal tax advisor should be able to help you decide if claiming the Sec. 179 under these circumstances is a good idea for you and your wife or not.

Kerry Kerstetter

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Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2004

National Sales Tax – Walter E. Williams’ take on the plan to eliminate the insane Federal income tax system and its effects on the out of control spending by our imperial rulers in DC who long ago stopped caring what the US Constitution says about authorized government activities.

 

What Social Security ‘crisis’? – We all know what they say about denial.  This idiot’s “solution” is to just repeal all of the Bush tax cuts for the evil rich and everything will magically balance out. 

 

Social Security Reforms Could Make or Break Careers – To say nothing of the people who are stuck with whatever our rulers force on us.

 

Don’t Count on Immediate Tax Overhaul

 

Who are the nation’s ‘cheapstates’? Try the blue ones.

 

Bush Criticized Over Social Security Plan

 

Bush’s Tax Overhaul May Be Incremental

 

Bush Social Security Plan Worries GOP 

 

Bush Plans a Media Blitz on Social Security

 

Krugman lies about personal accounts for Social Security

 

Details Cloud Support for Social Security Plan – The opponents of private property ownership are using similar tactics to fight any change to the Social Security system as they do to fight tax reform.  They scare everyone with so many different possibilities and details that the only recourse is to stick with the “devil we know” rather than take a chance on anything else that could possibly be worse for some people.

 

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Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2004

Treasury and IRS Issue Final Regulations on Student Exception from Employment Taxes

 

Study Indicates Tax Shelters Improve Companies’ Financials

 

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Quicken Rental Property Manager

Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2004

I just learned that Intuit has another what appears to be unnecessary product on the way to the market place, Quicken Rental Property Manager.  We have been using plain old QuickBooks just fine for keeping track of all rental activities for years and years.  Setting up a Class for each property makes it a very simple task to complete Schedule E.  If Intuit sends me a copy of this program to review, I’ll check it out; but I doubt if it will be any more useful than the Simple Start program I reviewed a few months back. 

As much as I love the QuickBooks programs, the folks at Intuit are creating a lot of unnecessary confusion with these various new versions that serve no useful purpose in the real world of accounting and taxes. Just a guess here; but it’s as if they set a goal of introducing a certain number of new products each year and quantity has taken precedence over quality. 

I wonder how many bad reviews of their products I am allowed before they kick me out of their Certified Pro Advisor program.  I guess we’ll find out if they continue to pump out stupid programs.

 

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Retirement Planning For Tax Protestors

Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2004

 

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Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2004

The Early-Retiree Problem. Another strain on the Social Security system.

 

The ‘Fair’ Tax – No argument here that the current income tax system punishes achievement and is counter-productive to a capitalist society.

 

Agency calls TV money man’s claims deceptive  – Another bubble has burst.  That wacko on TV, Matthew Lesko, and his free money schemes may not be on the up and up.  Who would have figured that?

 

Average American Spends over $250,000 on Automobiles – Thanks to AutoBlog for this article.  Amazingly, there is no mention of the fact that the financial wizards at the IRS long ago proved that vehicles cost much less to operate when used for charitable (14.0 cents per mile) or medical (15.0 cents per mile) reasons, than for evil money making endeavors (40.5 cents per mile).  Think of the savings if we only used our cars for charitable or medical trips.

 

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A FairTax Dream

Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2004

As artistically inept as I am, I was able to create this in a matter of seconds at this Tombstone Generator website.  I used 1913 as the IRS’s birthdate because that was the year the 16th Amendment was ratified.

 

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Action Heroes

Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2004

Ready for action, MoneyMan displays his weapons of choice.I guess last year’s addition of less traditional people to the gallery of action figures (aka dolls), such as political commentator (and real life doll) Ann Coulter, should have tipped us off that other professions would soon be represented with semi-lifelike plastic replicas.  

We financial pros now have MoneyMan to give to the younger generations so they too can dream of one day growing up to beat back IRS auditors and jump over tax shelters in a single bound. I doubt if MoneyMan could beat G.I. Joe in a fist-fight; but I’m sure he could reconcile a bank account much faster.

 

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