TAX 4001 - Chapter 5 T/F

Fresh Bakery often has unsold donuts at the end of the day. The bakery allows employees to take the leftovers home. The employees are not required to recognize gross income because the bakery does not incur any additional cost.

A U.S. citizen who works in France from February 1, 2014 until January 31, 2015 is eligible for the foreign earned income exclusion in 2014 and 2015.

Brooke works part-time as a waitress in a restaurant. For groups of 7 or more customers, the customer is charged 15% of the bill for Brooke’s services. For parties of less than 7, the tips are voluntary. Brooke received $11,000 from the groups of 7 or more and $7,000 in voluntary tips from all other customers. Using the customary 15% rate, her voluntary tips would have been only $6,000. Brooke must include $18,000 ($11,000 + $7,000) in gross income.

Sarah’s employer pays the hospitalization insurance premiums for a policy that covers all employees and retired former employees. After Sarah retires, the hospital insurance premiums paid for her by her employer can be excluded from her gross income.

Mia participated in a qualified state tuition program for the benefit of her son Michael. She contributed $15,000. When Michael entered college, the balance in the fund satisfied the tuition charge of $20,000. When the funds were withdrawn to pay the college tuition for Michael, neither Mia nor Michael must include $5,000 ($20,000 – $15,000) in gross income.

Betty received a graduate teaching assistantship that was awarded on the basis of academic achievement. The payments must be included in her gross income.

A cash basis taxpayer took an itemized deduction of $5,500 for state income tax paid in 2014. His total itemized deductions in 2014 were $18,000. In 2015, he received a $900 refund of his 2014 state income tax. The taxpayer must include the $900 refund in his 2015 Federal gross income in accordance with the tax benefit rule.

Nicole’s employer pays her $150 per month towards the cost of parking near a railway station where Nicole catches the train to work. The employer also pays the cost of the rail pass, $75 per month. Nicole can exclude both of these payments from her gross income.

Zork Corporation was very profitable and had accumulated excess cash. The company decided to repurchase some of its bonds that had been issued for $1,000,000. Because of an increase in market interest rates, Zork was able to retire the bonds for $900,000. The company is not required to recognize $100,000 of income from the discharge of its indebtedness but must reduce the basis in its assets.

If a scholarship does not satisfy the requirements for a gift, the scholarship must be included in gross income.

Sam was unemployed for the first two months of 2014. During that time, he received $4,000 of state unemployment benefits. He worked for the next six months and earned $14,000. In September, he was injured on the job and collected $5,000 of workers’ compensation benefits. Sam’s Federal gross income from the above is $18,000 ($4,000 + $14,000).

In December 2014, Emily, a cash basis taxpayer, received a $2,500 cash scholarship for the Spring semester of 2015. However, she did not use the funds to pay the tuition until January 2015. Emily can exclude the $2,500 from her gross income in 2014.

Melody works for a company with only 22 employees. Her employer contributed $2,000 to her health savings account (HSA), and the account earned $100 in interest during the year. Melody withdrew only $1,200 to pay medical expenses during the year. Melody is not required to recognize any gross income from the HSA for the year.

Gary cashed in an insurance policy on his life. He needed the funds to pay for his terminally ill wife’s medical expenses. He had paid $12,000 in premiums and he collected $30,000 from the insurance company. Gary is not required to include the gain of $18,000 ($30,000 – $12,000) in gross income.

The earnings from a qualified state tuition program account are deferred from taxation until they are used for qualified higher education expenses. At that time, the amount taken from the fund must be included in the gross income of the person who contributed to the account.

Zack was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy on his wife. Zack had paid $20,000 in premiums on the policy. He collected $50,000 on the policy when his wife died from a terminal illness. Because it took several months to process the claim, the insurance company paid Zack $53,000, the face amount of the policy plus $3,000 interest. Zack must include $23,000 in his gross income.

Generally, a U.S. citizen is required to include in gross income the salary and wages earned while working in a foreign country even if the foreign country taxes the income.

Employees of a CPA firm located in Maryland may exclude from gross income the meals and lodging provided by the employer while they were on an audit in Delaware.

Mel was the beneficiary of a $45,000 group term life insurance policy on his wife. His wife’s employer paid all of the premiums on the policy. Mel used the life insurance proceeds to purchase a United States Government bond, which paid him $2,500 interest during the current year. Mel’s Federal gross income from the above is $2,500.

Agnes receives a $5,000 scholarship which covers her tuition at Parochial High School. She may not exclude the $5,000 because the exclusion applies only to scholarships to attend college.

Mauve Company permits employees to occasionally use the copying machine for personal purposes. The copying machine is located in the office where the higher paid executives work, so they occasionally use the machine. However, the machine is not convenient for use by the lower paid warehouse employees and, thus, they never use the copier. The use of the copy machine may not be excluded from gross income because the benefit is discriminatory.

Calvin miscalculated his income in 2012 and overpaid his state income tax by $10,000. In 2014, he amended his 2012 state income tax return and received a $10,000 refund and $900 interest. Calvin itemized his deductions in 2012, deducting $12,000 in state income tax and $30,000 total itemized deductions. As a result of the amended return in 2014, Calvin must recognize $10,900 of gross income.

John told his nephew, Steve, “if you maintain my house when I cannot, I will leave the house to you when I die." Steve maintained the house and when John died Steve inherited the house. The value of the residence can be excluded from Steve’s gross income as an inheritance.

Amber Machinery Company purchased a building from Ted for $250,000 cash and a mortgage of $750,000. One year after the transaction, the mortgage had been reduced to $725,000 by principal payments by Amber, but it was apparent that Amber would not be able to continue to make the monthly payments on the mortgage. Ted reduced the amount owed by Amber to $600,000. This reduced the monthly payments to a level that Amber could pay. Amber must recognize $125,000 income from the reduction in the debt by Ted.

In 2014, Theresa was in an automobile accident and suffered physical injuries. The accident was caused by Ramon’s negligence. In 2015, Theresa collected from his insurance company. She received $15,000 for loss of income, $10,000 for pain and suffering, $50,000 for punitive damages, and $6,000 for medical expenses which she had deducted on her 2014 tax return (the amount in excess of 10% of adjusted gross income). As a result of the above, Theresa’s 2015 gross income is increased by $56,000.

Ashley received a scholarship to be used as follows: tuition $6,000; room and board $9,000; and books and laboratory supplies $2,000. Ashley is required to include only $9,000 in her gross income.

Ed died while employed by Violet Company. His wife collected $40,000 on a group term life insurance policy that Violet provided its employees, and $6,000 of accrued salary Ed had earned prior to his death. All of the premiums on the group term life insurance policy were excluded from the Ed’s gross income. Ed’s wife is required to recognize as gross income only the $6,000 she received for the accrued salary.

When Betty was diagnosed as having a terminal illness, she sold her life insurance policy to Insurance Purchase, Inc., a company that is licensed to invest in these types of contracts. Betty sold the policy for $32,000 and Insurance Purchase, Inc., became the beneficiary. She had paid total premiums of $19,000. Betty died 8 months after the sale. Insurance Purchase, Inc., collected $50,000 on the policy. The company had paid additional premiums of $4,000 on the policy. Betty is not required to recognize a $13,000 gain from the sale of her life insurance policy and Insurance Purchase, Inc., is required to recognize a $14,000 gain from the insurance policy.

The taxpayer incorrectly took a $5,000 deduction (e.g., incorrectly calculated depreciation) in 2014 and as a result his taxable income was reduced by $5,000. The taxpayer discovered his error in2015. The taxpayer must add $5,000 to his 2015 gross income in accordance with the tax benefit rule to correct for the 2014 error.

Benny loaned $100,000 to his controlled corporation. When it became apparent the corporation would not be able to repay the loan in the near future, Benny canceled the debt. The corporation should treat the cancellation as a nontaxable contribution to capital.

Meg’s employer carries insurance on its employees that will pay an employee his or her regular salary while the employee is away from work due to illness. The premiums for Meg’s coverage were $1,800. Meg was absent from work for two months as a result of a kidney infection. Meg’s employer’s insurance company paid Meg’s regular salary of $8,000 while she was away from work. Meg also collected $2,000 on a wage continuation policy she had purchased. Meg must include $11,800 in her gross income.

Roger is in the 35% marginal tax bracket. Roger’s employer has created a flexible spending account for medical and dental expenses that are not covered by the company’s health insurance plan. Roger had his salary reduced by $1,200 during the year for contributions to the flexible spending plan. However, Roger incurred only $1,100 in actual expenses for which he was reimbursed. Under the plan, he must forfeit the $100 unused amount. His after-tax cost of overfunding the plan is $65.

Carla is a deputy sheriff. Her employer requires that she live in the county where she is employed. Housing is very expensive; so the county agreed to pay her $4,800 per year to cover the higher cost of housing. Carla must include the housing supplement in her gross income.

Workers’ compensation benefits are included in gross income if the employer also pays the employee while the employee is recovering from his or her injury.

If an employer pays for the employee’s long­term care insurance premiums, the employee can exclude from gross income the premiums but all of the benefits collected must be included in gross income.

For a person who is in the 35% marginal tax bracket, $1,000 of tax-exempt income is equivalent to $1,350 of income that is subject to tax.