The IRS Deductions Blog

Archive for September, 2008

Question: PMI (Private Mortgage INSURANCE)- deductible?

In a recent magazine article, I read that you could deduct PMI paid in 2007 on your taxes. It gave no details or guidlines/ IRS rules. I have been to the IRS site and can’t figure it out.

Answer: There’s a line on Schedule A for PMI. However you must have taken out the mortgage as a purchase money mortgage (NOT a re-fi) in 2007 to qualify. And only the PMI that’s attributed to 2007 may be deducted. If what you paid covered more than just 2007, you must pro-rate it.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Rules:

MFA Financial, Inc. Announces 2009 Dividend Tax Information

MFA Financial, Inc. , a real estate investment trust , today announced tax information regarding its dividend distributions for the tax year ended December 31, 2009.

Follow the Simple Rules to Home Ownership

Question: Is this homeowner’s insurance assessment deductible on my Louisiana return?

I am using turbotax to do my return this year. I live in Louisiana. I was prompted to enter in my 2008 homewoner’s insurance info. It then asks for LA Fair Plan Regular Assessment amount. My homeowners says “2005 LA Fair Plan Emergency Assessment: $150″ . Is this what I am propmted to enter? Is this what is deductible?

Answer: From the instructions of LA form R-540INS

Information concerning the assessment amounts and Insurance Declaration Page – The amount of this assessment may appear as separate line items on what is referred to as the “Declaration Page” of your property insurance premium notice. The Declaration Page names the policyholder, describes the property or liability to be insured, type of coverage, and policy limits. Depending on the location of the insured property, these line item charges may be listed as: Louisiana Citizens FAIR Plan REGULAR Assessment, Louisiana Citizens FAIR Plan EMERGENCY Assessment, Louisiana Citizens Coastal Plan REGULAR Assessment, and/or Louisiana Citizens Coastal Plan EMERGENCY Assessment. Your total allowable credit is the total of these amounts, if they are shown on the Declaration Page.
Important note: If you are a customer of the Louisiana Citizens Insurance Corporation and you paid the Tax Exempt Surcharge, this surcharge may not be claimed.

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Teachers, district reach agreement

After rejecting a contract for the first time in 40 years and working without a contract for months, Bellevue Public Schools and teachers agreed to a 4 percent compensation increase for the 2009-10 school year.

Marine Insurance Agency, Jacksonville NC

Gourmet fruit baskets quickly emerged as a way to deliver a gift of special items that the recipient would never buy for himself, but would probably enjoy. Depending on the tastes and experiences of the recipient, gourmet fruit gift baskets can contain almost anything imaginable. In addition to the usual assortment (high-quality, peak-of-ripeness fruits; rare aged cheeses; or jams and jellies), gourmet bottled items — such as chestnuts in brandy, various wines and assorted breads and crackers –- are often the dominating items in the basket.

Canned meats and fine smoked fish from around the world have made their way into many of today’s fruit baskets from numerous suppliers. Delicious spreads and exotic foreign foods quite often make their first appearances in holiday gift baskets.

Popular gourmet gift baskets differ from culture to culture, especially in the melting pot of America. There are so many different religious and sectarian groups living in America that a large number of extremely isolated manufacturers of gourmet fruit gift baskets have sprung up to cater to these diverse groups. You’ll find stores in ethnic neighborhoods, offering select items in baskets designed for the people in the area or even the tourists who come by to shop there. In one neighborhood you’ll find gourmet fruit gift baskets that contain a selection of caviars and wines from Russia, not available elsewhere. In other neighborhoods you can find items not available anywhere else — at any price — unless you purchase the gift basket they were packaged in.

Gourmet fruit gift baskets have become such a hot item that many ethnic items are launched in America through the fruit basket business. There are mail order companies and websites that cater to individual groups of people and offer them items they haven’t sampled since they left the old country. Through the Internet it is actually possible to contact small companies throughout the world that will ship gourmet fruit gift baskets, full of specific items from the very towns that immigrants used to live in before they made the trip to America. Imagine how it must feel to receive a basket of gourmet goodies from the small town in Germany, or Spain or Russia that you were born in. No other gift and no other form of gift giving are as personal and as satisfying as a gourmet fruit gift basket, chock-full of items that cater to the specifically individual tastes and background of the recipient.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Deductible Gift Recipient Status:

Briefly: Feb. 20

Upcoming meetings, concerts, noteworthy events and more for the Plymouth area.

The TappyBear Foundation

Question: how do we meet the deductible on our healthcare plan?

We had a health-fund but have used it up, and before our insurance can be used we still need to pay out about 300 to meet our deductible. How do we pay it?

Answer: If your health fund is used up, you will owe the rest of the deductible out of pocket. Remember, though the insurance company cant see if you actually pay the deductible to the care provider, the claims only show what applied to the deductible. So, if you need to you can set up a payment plan with your care provider for the rest of the deductible. Usually, any claim that does not apply a copay is going to apply to your deductible until it is satisfied. The amount that goes toward your deductible is the amount the insurance company has contracted with your care provider. They will accept that amount as payment in full. Thus, the on said claims will go toward deductible, until it shows satisfied on your claims.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Healthcare Deductible:

News in brief

Here are a selection of brief news items from this week’s paper edition, and possibly a few news briefs that didn’t make it in the paper.

Small Businesses Face Rising Health Care Costs

Items on Amazon Right Now for Standard Deduction Amounts 2009:

IRS TAX TIPS – Five Important Facts about Dependents and Exemptions

When you prepare to file your tax return, there are two things that will factor into your tax situation: dependents and exemptions. Here are five important facts the IRS wants you to know about dependents and exemptions before you file your 2009 tax return. 1. If someone else claims you as a dependent, you may still be required to file your own tax return. Whether or not you must file a return …