The IRS Deductions Blog

Archive for December, 2008

Items on Amazon Right Now for Deductible Employee Benefits:

Large deductible plans vs. self-ins. (Risk Management/Employee Benefits): An article from: National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management $5.95 This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on July 22, 1991. The length of the article is 1225 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. Y…

Insurer goes high deductible–for its employees.(Practice Trends): An article from: Clinical Psychiatry News $5.95 This digital document is an article from Clinical Psychiatry News, published by International Medical News Group on February 1, 2005. The length of the article is 636 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citat…

Use high-deductible health plans to win more worksite sales.(Worksite Marketing): An article from: National Underwriter Life & Health $5.95 This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Life & Health, published by The National Underwriter Company on November 29, 2004. The length of the article is 893 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web br…

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.

Pre-Paid Legal Life Events Employee Benefit Plan

Question: Health Insurance for my family while I am active duty?

My ship date is August 10th & I am really confused with how Tricare works. Could I get feedback on costs, type of plan(Prime/Standard), etc? I have a wife and son. My wife prefers not to see a health care provider on post. I’ve been searching for info but no sites out there seem to have the exact costs(deductibles, co-pay, premiums) I would really appreciate all the help.

Answer: When your wife and kids are enrolled in DEERS they will be automatically enrolled in Tricare Standard.

Standard has co-pays and deductibles, and is great for people who want the freedom to choose their own civilian doctor, but it does cost a bit more. Usually standard is the most useful is you have health insurance from another source. Unless you visit a tricare network provider, you’re usually responsible for filing claims. You get little priority at an on-base military treatment facility (MTF). The deductible is $100 for a family or $50 for an individual. Copay is usually 20% for a non-network doctor, or 15% if you use a network provider.

Tricare Prime is the one that most AD family members enroll in. You get first priority to on-base treatment, or you can choose a civilian tricare network primary care manager to handle your healthcare. They can refer you to another civilian doctor if you need specialty care. There is no annual deductible. There is usually no co-pay.

Get onto the tricare website and compare plans.

http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/ProfileFilter.do?puri=%2Fhome%2Foverview

Or, if you live near a base you can drive there and visit the Tricare Service Center (usually located at the hospital or clinic) and talk to someone directly. That’s what I did, and it was a LOT more helpful. Or there’s also a telephone number you can call. (what part of the country are you?)

I prefer prime. I’d recommend prime for your son as well. Look at standard for your wife and decide if the flexibility combats the out-of-pocket costs

Edit:

You’re responsible for enrolling them in DEERS first though (form 1172…I think you’ll do that at basic). Once you enroll them in DEERS, your wife will need to go and get her dependent ID card.

Once they’re in DEERS, whoever wants tricare prime will need to be enrolled in tricare prime. If she enrolls by the 20th of the month, coverage starts up the first of the coming month. After the 20th it takes another month. for example, enrolling by June 20 means coverage starts July 1, but enrolling on June 21 means coverage starts August 1.

There’s no enrollment for Tricare standard, it’s automatic through DEERS.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Tricare Deductible:

Preferred Health Technology Chooses Companion Data Services for Data Hosting

COLUMBIA, S.C., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Preferred Health Technology Inc. (PHT) has selected Companion Data Services (CDS) to provide data center hosting and related services for PHT’s A-Claim™ health care and payments-transaction gateway and processing system.

Question: W-4 Question?

on Page 2 of W-4, ” Deductions and Adjustments Worksheet”, questions number 4, it asks me to Enter an estimate of your 2007 adjustments to income, including alimony, deductible IRA contributions, and student loan interest. For me, I have 401k, medical insurance, and FSA that’s deductible. So what number should I enter for this line? Add up all the deductible, or my salary minus the deductible (or AGI)? Thanks.

Answer: Zero. The things you mention are already out of your income pre-tax, and aren’t claimed on your return as adjustments or deductions.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Deductible From Agi:

Tax losses on the sale of a rental home

Dear Tax Talk, We purchased a vacation home in December 2005 with the intention of holding onto it for five years. Well, we purchased at the wrong time and now we need to get out.

Fire Insurance

Open World Travel Company offers Vietnam visa arrangement for free if travelers book service on the company website.

Most visitors to Vietnam need a visa to enter the country. Visas are exempted for the citizens of the countries, which have signed a bilateral or unilateral visa exemption agreement with Vietnam, tourist visa may be valid for 15 to 30 days.

Visa exemption:
Vietnamese people that hold foreign passports and foreigners who are their husbands, wives and children are exempt from visa requirements to enter Vietnam and are allowed to stay for not more than 90 days. In order to be granted visa exemption certificates at Vietnamese representative offices abroad, overseas Vietnamese need conditions:

Foreign-issued permanent residence certificate (PRC) with the validity of at least six months since the date of entrance.

Visa exemption paper (VEP) is granted by Vietnamese appropriate authorities.
Those who expect to stay more than 90 days must apply for visa according to current stipulations before their entrance.

Bilateral visa exemption agreement
Citizens of Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Laos holding valid ordinary passports are exempt from visa requirements and are allowed to stay for not more than 30 days.
Citizens of China, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, and Rumania holding valid ordinary passports for official mission and citizens of 52 countries holding valid diplomatic or official passports are exempt from visa requirements. The duration of staying is stipulated in certain cases. For more information, please visit le website of Ministry of Foreign Affaires.

Unilateral visa exemption
Visa with 30-day validity is exempted for officials from ASEAN secretariat holding different kinds of passports.

Citizens of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Japan and South Korea holding different kinds of passports are exempt from visa requirements and are allowed to stay for not more than 15 days.
Others who want to enter Vietnam must be provided with a visa.

Tourist visa is valid in 30 days.

Visa is issued at the Vietnamese diplomatic offices or consulates in foreign countries. Visa is possibly issued at the border gates to those who have written invitations by a Vietnamese competent agencies or tourists in the tours organized by Vietnamese international travel companies.

Application files for visa: the entrance application (printed form); two 4×6 cm photos; passport and fee for the visa issuance.

Visa extension: Served by all international travel companies. Check it out at

http://www.vietnamvisasupport.com/apply.html

Open World Travel Company offers Vietnam visa arrangement for free if travelers book service on the company website.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Standard Deduction And Exemption 2009:

Standard Deduction Amounts increased

Married couples who’ve been submitting joint returns for a while will notice their Standard Deduction Amount has jumped substantially in recent filing years.

Question: What Tax Deductions are there for public school teachers?

list what federal tax deductions teachers may claim for their professional expenses.

Answer: YOu can deduct $250 of out of pocket expenses on Line 23 of the 1040, and the rest of your out of pocket expenses on Form 2106.

Items on Amazon Right Now for Need Tax Deductions:

TurboTax Home & Business Federal + E-file + State 2011 $59.99 This tax software features the EasyStep® Interview for a step by step guide to efficient calculations in deductions, investment sales history and other tax-related issues. Ideal to use if you are a sole-proprietor, consultant, 1099 contractor, self-employed or a single-owner of LLCs; this software features ItsDeductible®, Audit Risk Meter® and Cost Basis Lookup to help accurately calcu…

TurboTax Home & Business Federal + E-file + State 2011 for PC [Download] $71.11 TurboTax Home & Business: For your self-employment & personal income taxes…

H&R Block At Home Deluxe 2011 Win [Download] $20.93 H&R Block At Home: Deluxe–Homeowners/Investors, Federal H&R Block At Home Deluxe is the right choice for those with more complex tax situations to easily complete their federal returns. It includes the H&R Block tax expertise you trust–plus H&R Block’s maximum refund guarantee. H&R Block At Home Deluxe includes everything you need to easily complete your federal taxes–with the tax expertise y…

First-Time Landlord: Your Guide to Renting out a Single-Family Home (USA Today/Nolo Series) $16.76 Whether or not you call yourself a “landlord”, when you rent out a house you’ll want to do it right! The “Landlording 101″ course for new rental property owners who are first-time landlords by way of an inheritance, divorce, investment, purchase for a family member, or a move to a new house. 90% of small properties are owned by individual landlords, and millions in this group are balancing the…

IRS warns taxpayers to check tax preparers’ credentials

Hang up a shingle that says you’re an income tax preparer, and you are one. “Currently, anyone can prepare a federal tax return for anyone else for a fee,” warned IRS Commissioner Doug Schulman during a teleconference on Monday. “There is no national standard for return preparers and varying degrees of oversight,” he said.