http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/daily-tax-tip.xml Everyone wants to get as much back in their tax refund as possible, but tax laws are constantly added, changed, or updated. The J.K. Lasser Daily Tax Tip, brought to you by TaxACT, provide some insight into complex tax situations and offers helpful advice and guidance. Now that's something everyone can use! The Daily Tax Tip content is provided by America's all-time best selling tax guide, J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax Guide by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Tax advice provided by The Daily Tax Tip shall not be construed as a substitute for the advice obtained or given by a certified tax professional. en-us Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT 5 http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/daily-tax-tip.xml http://www.taxact.com/images/jk-lasser-rss.gif 88 21 Everyone wants to get as much back in their tax refund as possible, but tax laws are constantly added, changed, or updated. The J.K. Lasser Daily Tax Tip, brought to you by TaxACT, provide some insight into complex tax situations and offers helpful advice and guidance. Now that's something everyone can use! http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2877 "You can take advantage of a special seven-year statute of limitations to claim a refund due to a worthless security or bad debt. An amended return for the year the security or debt became worthless can be filed within seven years from the date your original return for that year had to be filed, or, if later, within two years from the date you paid the tax. For example, if you have held securities that you learn became worthless in 2004, you still have until April 17, 2012, to file for a refund of 2004 taxes by claiming a deduction for the worthless securities on an amended return (Form 1040X) for 2004." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2877 Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2876 "If you make an exchange of like-kind property and also receive cash or other property that is payable in one or more future years, you may report the gain using the installment method." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2876 Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2875 A transfer of installment obligations to your spouse or a transfer to a former spouse that is incident to a divorce is treated as a tax-free exchange unless the transfer is in trust. http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2875 Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2874 "If you do not charge a minimum interest rate, the IRS may do so. This would require you and the buyer to treat part of the purchase price as interest." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2874 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2873 An example of a contingent sale in which the selling price cannot be determined by the end of the year of the sale is a sale of your business where the selling price includes a percentage of future profits. You and your tax advisor should consult the technical rules in IRS regulation 15A.453-1(c) for details on reporting such sales. http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2873 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2872 "Where you transfer property to a related party, the IRS has two years from the date you notify it that there has been a second disposition to assess a deficiency with respect to your transfer." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2872 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2871 "If you sell property on the installment basis to a relative who later resells the property, you could lose the benefit of installment reporting." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2871 Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2870 "If a loan arrangement gives you the right to repay the debt by transferring an installment obligation, you are treated as if you had directly pledged the obligation as security for the debt. As a result, the loan proceeds are treated as a payment on the installment obligation, which will increase installment income for the year of the deemed pledge.�" http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2870 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2869 "The entire recaptured amount is reported in the year of sale on Form 4797, even though you report the sale on the installment basis. An installment sale does not defer the reporting of the recaptured deduction. You also add the recaptured amount to the basis of the sold asset on Line 12 of Form 6252 to compute the amount of the remaining gain to be reported on each installment. See the instructions to Form 6252." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2869 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2868 "If your property is foreclosed, the amount of the mortgage is treated as sales proceeds even if you do not receive anything on the sale." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2868 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2867 "You cannot defer to 2012 reporting of gain on a 2011 year-end sale of publicly traded securities, even if you do not receive payment until early January 2012." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2867 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2866 "If you reported a pre-2011 sale on the installment method, use Form 6252 to report any 2011 payments on the sale." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2866 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2865 "In an unusual case, the owner of office condominiums financed substantial improvements to the units by giving promissory notes to a contracting company that he controlled. Before paying off the notes he sold the units. He included the cost of the improvements in basis to figure his gain on the sale, but the IRS, with the approval of a federal district court, held that this was improper. The court held that as a cash-basis taxpayer, he could not include the face amount of the notes in the basis of the condominiums until the notes were paid." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2865 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2864 "If you own property with someone other than your spouse, then at the other owner's death your basis for the property equals your original contribution to the purchase plus the portion of the property's value that was includible in the gross estate of the deceased owner." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2864 Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2863 "If spouses jointly own property and one spouse dies, the surviving spouse generally receives a stepped-up basis of 50% of the date-of-death value. The IRS at one time took the position that the 50% stepped-up basis rule applied to pre-1997 spousal joint tenancies. However, after the Tax Court and two federal appeals courts allowed a surviving spouse a 100% stepped-up basis if the spousal joint tenancy was created before 1977, the IRS decided to follow the Tax Court decision and will no longer litigate the issue." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2863 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2862 "When you sell property received as a gift, it is possible that you may realize neither gain nor loss. You have neither gain nor losses if you sell for more than the date-of-gift value but not more than the donor's adjusted basis." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2862 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2861 The basis of gift property you receive generally depends on the donor's basis. Make sure you get this information from the donor. http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2861 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2860 "If you receive a gift of property from your spouse or you receive property from a former spouse in a divorce settlement, your basis for the property is generally the same as the spouse's basis." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2860 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2859 "To figure gain or loss on the sale of mutual-fund shares where purchases are made at various times, you may use an averaging method to determine the cost basis of the shares sold." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2859 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2858 "When you sell mortgaged property, you must include the unpaid balance of the mortgage as part of the sales price received, in addition to any cash." http://www.taxact.com/tax-tips/index.asp?tid=2858 Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT