Wednesday, February 10, 2010
FLORESCENT LIGHT FOR MY OFFICE
I've been working in the dark too long with just the regular light bulbs.
I sent an e-mail to "maintenance" at the company that manages my condo. However, the e-mail was opened by the Manager of the company who thought I was trying to get free service. I had previously spoken to Jeff, the maintenance guru, who told me he could install a florescent light fixture. So, I called Jeff and he said he could install it on Tuesday after he got off work.
Jeff arrived on schedule.
He had to spend a lot of time on the light switch and finally had to get a new one since ths old one had a dimmer switch.
Finally, the got everything done and now I no longer feeling I am having to work in inadequate light.
I do accounting and tax work, and need adequate lighting in my office to work.
My home office was designed as a den, but we use the living room as our den.
We live near Turtle Creek which is where the expensive houses start.
Our condo unit is on Blackburn Street.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Section 1031 Exchange
1031 Exchange:
If you sell certain property and have a taxable gain, you can defer taxes if you structure it as a Section 1031 exchange. Equipment used in a business could qualify, but if old equipment is traded in on new equipment, it is not necessary to use a Sec. 1031 intermediary. In the case of a rent house, however, you are not likely to trade in an old house on a new house. You are more likely to sell the old house, then, after a delay, buy a new rent house which gives rise to the possible need to use the provisions of Section 1031.
The following example illustrates the process:
Day 1: Sell rent house FOR $ 110,000 with funds going to a qualified intermediary.
The house cost $ 100,000 and is fully depreciated so the basis for
gain/loss is zero. If there is no section 1031 exchange, then the entire $110000 would be taxable as ordinary income.
Day 45 (or earlier): [1] Identify the Replacement property ( new rent house) which
will cost of $ 200,000—consisting of $110000 down payment derived from the sale of the old house and a mortgage for $ 90,000.
[2]Complete the “identification of Replacement
Property” and give it to the qualified intermediary. NOTE: this can be
done before the 45th day if the replacement property is identified earlier.
Day 180: This is the deadline. The replacement property must be
acquired by the 180th day.
There will be a deferred gain of $ 110,000 on the old house.
The new house will have a depreciation basis of $ 90,000 ($200,000
minus the deferred gain). NOTE: The $ 90,000 basis assumes NO
value for the land. If the land was worth $25,000 then the depreciable
value would be reduced to $ 65,000.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
File even if you can't pay
File your tax return even if you can’t pay. If you can’t file, request an extension and pay what you think you owe—or at least part of it.
Here is what the IRS says:
Taxpayers who owe taxes and don’t file their tax return by the deadline may face interest on the unpaid taxes and a failure-to-file penalty. Interest and penalties add to the total amount a taxpayer owes. Filing by the deadline allows taxpayers to avoid the failure-to-file penalty, even if they can’t pay all or some of their taxes by the deadline. Taxpayers who can’t file their return by the deadline can request an extension of time to file. However, an extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay.