2008 Tax Thread

A few things:

1. How do I prove what percentage of my cell phone usuage goes to work?

2. I am itemizing with miles. I drove near 6,000 for the paper last year and for part of the year we got $ .27, part of the year $ .32 and part of the year $.30 per mile. Do I have to differentiate on my taxes the difference in how much I was reimbursed?

3. Does anyone know if I will avoid capital gains for selling my house, since the reason it was sold was because of divorce?

 

1) I still haven't seen a W-2 form. Worse, there are three employers from three different states and the previous employers all had my address months ago.

2) When I do get them, should I go the TurboTax route, try H&R Block or go the freetaxusa route that Write-Brained suggested?

Thanks in advance.

 

File whichever ways saves you the most in taxes.
Just because you didn't live under the same roof doesn't mean you have to file separately.

 

I always go turbotax because it's incredibly easy. e got two in the mail today. Still waiting on three, plus one 1098.

 

1. I don't know. My account lets my wife & I deduct a portion of our cellphone bill as a work expense. So talk to an accountant about your question.

2. I believe you do. Since the government's mileage reimbursement rate is fixed and yours varied, you should break it down to play it safe.

3. Go here: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p523/ar02.html#d0e2017
It says you can exclude up to $250,000 from the gain on your house if the ownership and use tests are met and if in the previous two years you didn't exclude the profits on the sale of another house.
* Owned the home for at least 2 years (the ownership test), and
* Lived in the home as your main home for at least 2 years (the use test).

You must pass both tests to be able to exclude the gain. If you moved out early as part of a divorce settlement, I'm not sure how that effects the tests, you'd have to talk to an accountant about that.

 

... so it will work on three W-2s in three different states? (The banks understand things better ... already have my 1099s)

 

You'll have to buy extra state forms, but you'd have to do that on any of those sites. The three W-2s will work on the federal forms and then it will deduct which W-2s go on which state forms for you. It transfers basically everything from your federal over to your state for you.

 

Big thanks, spup.

Now for those wonderful publishing companies to actually send me those forms ....

 

You'll get one state free if you buy the mid-grade version. Remember that. It will help when you're buying the other two and I believe (you might check on this) that you want to do the state you're currently a resident in before any of the others.

 

TurboTax is the greatest. Never pay full price for it, though -- there are tons of ways to get discounts. Fidelity customers get a break, for instance.

And remember that if you're getting a refund, you essentially loaned the government your money interest-free.

 

That's why I don't understand how it can be counted on income, though I suppose technically it was our income, but they're getting money off it twice between their own interest and the additional taxes we have to pay in the next year.

 

spup,

I didn't see the money either. It was directly charged to the company. However, there were forms for it mailed to me, and I had to count it as a benefit of some sort.

Just keep an eye out in the mail. Your company may have found a loophole, but I got my ass handed to me for moving.