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  • Monthly Archives: October 2011

    Unemployment Loans – Consequences of Joblessness

    Labor organizations have a very specific definition of what it means to be an unemployed person. Unemployment is a condition involving a person who is capable of work, wants to work, and who has been unable to find work within four weeks of his or her last employment.

    A person or a family who goes for a full month without a paycheck has a pretty good assessment of how well they are doing financially. Or how well they are not doing. If there is only one bread winner in the family, sources of cash can dry up quite quickly, forcing the need for an unemployment loan.

    Lack of Cash Is Not the Sole Consequence

    Being gainfully employed is one of the lynchpins of a stable and happy life. Being without the cash to buy the most rudimentary necessities can be depressing by itself. Add to that the stress of feeling worthless, facing the day-to-day hassle job-hunting requires, and watching helplessly as the bills start to accumulate, can lead to unpleasant physical, and even mental, poor health.

    Depending on the amount of time unemployed, stress syndromes or mental depression can become quite severe. One would think taking out an unemployment loan to add to the heap would only exacerbate the problem. The fact is, it might be just the ticket to keep up your confidence and set your spirits high.

    Unemployment Loan Variates

    The unemployment loan that would be the most expensive to take would be the unsecured loan. This loan relies solely upon your promise to repay and your signature. Since it does present a rather risky business venture for the lender, interest rates are rather high to cover that risk. Also, loan amounts may not be high enough to meet all your present needs. The size of the loan will determine the length of time your repayment terms cover, usually within one to ten years.

    How To Get A Tax Deduction On Your Automobile Donation

    Selling a vehicle or doing away with an undesired auto is a hassle. If you decide to sell, you should make the car sale-worthy or risk action from an unhappy customer. The price of fixing a car is often not well worth the small amount of gain. Dealer trade-ins are not always a good choice either, and also the fair market tax deduction you simply might find that the greatest benefit comes from donating an automobile to charity. Donate your automobile or vehicle and save the anxiety, tension, time, and funds involved, while reaping some important personal rewards as well.

    However, to make sure that your engagement will be dealt with correctly as well as remain eligible for a deduction you must keep in mind of the following things: Initially you have to check up on the charitable organization first and see if the particular charity is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. Otherwise, your deduction may be disqualified. Authorized charities are usually listed in IRS Publication 78, (which is accessible from the IRS site) your church, synagogue, mosque, or temple might not be listed yet still qualify. Next, see how much of your donation goes to the charity. A 2003 survey by the Government Accountability Office found out that non profit organizations often got as low as 5 percent of a contributed car’s claimed value after processing as well as fundraising expenses. Therefore ask the charity’s development office what portion of the sale price the charitable organization will receive. And lastly, consult the Better Business Bureau’s National Charity Reports Index, that rates non profit organizations on 20 accountability standards. Another nonprofit watchdog is Charity Navigator. It reports what share of a group’s donation really would go to good works.

    Federal Income Tax Dependency Test

    Support Test

    Taxpayer must have provided over 50% of total support, OR

    Two or more persons shared the support and together they provided more than 50% of the total support.

    The dependent must be a member of the household, or closely related to BOTH contributors.

    Those sharing support must mutually agree which will claim the exemption.

    Form 2120 Multiple Support Declaration must be signed by all contributors and filed with their tax return.

    Gross Income Test

    The dependent must have made less than the gross income requirement for the tax filing year.

    The only exception to this rule is if the dependent is the taxpayer’s child, under the age of 19 years at the end of the tax year, or is a full-time student during at least 5 months of the year and is under the age of 24 years old.

    Gross Income Does Not Include:

    tax-exempt income

    income earned by a totally and permanently disabled person at a sheltered workshop operated by a tax exempt organization or government agency.

    Gross Income Does Include:

    gross receipts from rental property

    income from Schedule C

    Citizenship Test

    The dependent must be a U.S. citizen, resident or national, or resident of Canada or Mexico.

    After the finalization of an adoption, the citizenship test does not need to be met if the adopted child lived with the taxpayer and was a member of the household for the entire year.

    Joint Return Test

    No exemption may be claimed for a dependent who files a joint return.

    Exception: a joint return filed only to claim a refund of tax withheld when neither spouse is required to file and there is no tax liability.

    Reasons Why You Should Report All Your Income To The IRS

    To some people, the temptation to keep some incomes from the IRS is usually too high to be ignored. However, the ramifications of this, when one’s fibs are finally discovered, are usually not pleasant. By simply referring to it as income tax, it implies that the IRS is guaranteed of a piece of just about every type of income one receives. So trying to hide some earnings from the IRS may end up costing one dearly.

    I bet you know by now that your real income can be traced in one way or the other. This is possible because the amount reported on the tax document can be compared to what is on the taxpayer’s Form 1040 (or 1040A or 1040EZ0) by the tax agents. For your information, the Internal Revenue Service acquires not only a copy of workers’ W-2 forms but also gets copies of the many other statements detailing taxpayers’ incomes.

    It is possible though that at times, some individuals get taxable money that is not documented by third parties. This is common among the self-employed folks, but is not a justification for you to keep the funds for yourself.

    If your earnings are less than $600, you are not required to be issued a 1099-MISC by a payer. To be safe, you are still required to report those payments of $599.99 and less; do that and stay safe.

    Small business that fall under Schedule C filers are usually the prime tax audit targets by the IRS. This is due to the fact that it is easy for someone to under-report or to completely omit some income from a return. Another area that is usually under microscopic scrutiny from the IRS is professions where individuals routinely receive tips.