Switched Keys

Several exemptions are available for the Affordable Care Act. Many of the exemptions are simple and only require tax preparers to look up a value in a table. The exemption for income below the filing threshold is a simple one to look up. Similarly, in states like Texas, an exemption is available for household income below 138% of federal poverty level. One of the exemptions, however, requires some calculations. The calculations aren't particularly complex, but the tax preparer must look up at least four different items when calculating marketplace coverage affordability.… more »

In many cases claiming the education credit for clients is relatively easy. If there are only taxpayer expenses, you only need to determine the amount of qualifying expenses (QE). In many cases that is reported on the 1098T. Add required expenses paid… more »

Everyone is talking about the challenges of ACA for tax preparers. Now that the season is well under way, the challenges may not seem that formidable. My experience is that most people have coverage or have exemptions based on filing threshold. … more »

Wednesday was our first day of VITA locally. Taxpayers came in at a steady, but not fractic, pace. The slightly earlier opening of the program will help smooth out the demand for the first three weeks. As always there were a few unusual or new issues.… more »

I’ve been talking and writing about education credits intermittently for a year. I’ve written articles, notified accountants, designed flyers, prepared tools for tax professionals, and am readying for making presentations. My latest contribution… more »

Over the past year I've written long articles and prepared materials for an Education Credit Toolkit. Some of it may be intimidating since it gets into the tax code and regulations. This is a brief set of instructions for reporting education credits in… more »

Introduction If all of your financial records are maintained in Excel spreadsheets then you may be missing out on many of the advantages of using Access databases. Microsoft Access may already be available in your version of Microsoft Office. It is a… more »