Q: You wrote a story that said any mortgage interest for periods of "personal use" of a rental property is deemed personal interest and therefore nondeductible. (See 10/6/03 issue.) But couldn't that personal portion be treated as "second residence" mortgage interest and therefore be deducted? J.W., via e-mail
Small Business Tax
Section 179 vehicles should be a key part of your small business tax deduction strategies. Can Section 179 property fit in with your business tax strategies?
Let Business Management Daily help you get each and every rental property depreciation credit and business tax deduction you’re entitled to.
Q: In a recent Mail Call, you correctly answered a reader by saying that a tax refund would not be reduced by a Roth IRA contribution. (8/11/03 issue) But in stating that Roth IRA contributions don't affect current tax liability, aren't you omitting the use of the retirement tax credit? M.A.C., Union Beach, N.J.
Q: The annuity I bought a couple of years ago charges high maintenance fees. Will I have to pay any penalties if I withdraw my funds and switch to a different investment with lower fees? C.R., Mt. Pocono, Pa.
Q: We have a vacation home at the Jersey shore. We normally only use the house ourselves two weeks in September. But this year my teenage son and his friends spent a few weekends there in the fall. Do we have a tax problem? G.A., Mahwah, N.J.
Say your parents or in-laws are semiretired and still earning a bit of income, but you're helping them financially. They also watch your young children while you and your spouse work.
You probably can't claim a dependency exemption for your parents because their income surpasses a certain level.
You probably saw all the fanfare this month surrounding President Bush's signing of the Medicare reform law, the biggest rewrite of Medicare in its nearly 40 year history.
But, unless you're on Medicare, you probably thought the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 contained nothing for you. Well, you were wrong.
Seven years ago, my parents gave their house in upstate New York to the children and their spouses. (There are five of us; four are married.) My parents paid $150,000 for the house, and now it's worth more than $500,000. Now that both parents have passed away, we're thinking of selling the home. But we're not sure if that's a good idea from a tax perspective and whether we'd qualify for the home-sale exclusion. What do you think?
Gain fast tax relief from a NOL.
Pay no tax instead of low tax.
The 2003 tax law slashed income taxes for most taxpayers. But what if you show a net operating loss (NOL) and no taxable income at year-end?
... older Americans
