2014-2015 Individual & Employee Federal Tax Update (Currently Unavailable)

Author: Vern H.

In this course, Vern discusses the current Tax Codes, cases and rulings affecting individual taxation. Learn the tax issues and provisions impacting your clients' tax returns.

Publication Date: November 2014

Designed For
All tax practitioners, both public and industry, who need the latest - and necessary - tax changes for their clients.

Topics Covered

• Worrying about the extender bill provisions.
• Warning you about the possibility of tax reform and what it may look like.
• Understanding the rules about switching to married filing separate after filing joint.
• Talking about the return of the personal exemption phaseout and itemized deduction phaseout haircuts.
• Seeing how a student loan caused parents to flunk the support test.
• Looking at the ways divorce attorneys can goof up the alimony and dependency rules for a divorced couple.
• Marveling at the 0%, 15% and 20% capital gain rates for the high income taxpayers.
• Reviewing the stock basis reporting rules on Form 1099-B and Form 8949.
• Learning how the sale of an asset was converted from capital gain to services taxed as ordinary income.
• Puzzling about how Bitcoin has become a tax issue.
• Whining about how SEC rules on money market funds complicated tax reporting.
• Moving on to the nasty FBAR and FATCA reporting forms and requirements for both foreign income and foreign assets.
• Reviewing miscellaneous gross income items including scholarships, foster care, annuities, cancellation of debt, personal injury awards, community property income, Native American per capita payments and even taxable frequent flyer bonus awards.
• Followed by a myriad of adjustments to gross income such as health savings accounts and prepaid tuition accounts.
• Glancing at the increase of the Medical AGI haircut from 7.5% to 10% and planning around the itemized deduction phaseout rules.
• Learning how the IRS is successfully denying the home mortgage interest deduction.
• Glancing at taxpayers trying to deduct gambling losses and work clothes.
• Reviewing the general rules on both casualty losses and theft losses.
• Planning to avoid the 3.8% Net Investment Income tax on unearned income.
• Closely examining the new individual mandate for health coverage.
• Learning how to properly file in new Form 8965 to exempt clients from the individual mandate.
• Understanding how to transfer health coverage information on new Form 1095's to Form 1040 when calculating the individual mandate penalties.
• Learning how to properly complete the Premium Tax Credit reconciliation Form 8962, another new form this year.
• And closing with examining all the individual tax credits, including the AMT patch, which has now been made permanent.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize key tax changes affecting individual and employee taxation.
• Identify numerous tax issues and provisions impacting your clients' or employer's tax returns.
• Apply various tax rates and computations to scenarios just like those you see in your office, to better prepare you for the upcoming tax season.

Level
Update

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Taxes (9 hours)

Program Prerequisites
A basic understanding of tax preparation.

Advance Preparation
None