Non-Business Deductions Exemptions

Based in U.S.A. only

1(a): Which of the following are deductible, who reports the corresponding income if applicable, and why:

(i) Sam and his wife were married during a whirlwind trip to Law Vegas. The day after the nuptials, they decided they had made a mistake and split, though they never file for divorce. For the last five years, Sam has been sending her a check for 1K every month to “help her out.”

(ii) Same situation, but rather than sending a check each month, Sam gave his wife a credit card and pays the bill for what she spends, about 1K per month.

(iii) Evaluate (i) and (ii) above if they had filed for divorce, and there was a consent decree (agreement filed with and approved by the Court) to pay spousal support. Ignore the obvious malpractice on Sam’s attorney’s part.

(iv) Evaluate (i) and (ii) above if they obtained a legal separation, but decided to live together anyway.

(v) Michael runs his own business. In the course of his business, he needed to organize as an S-Corporation. He hired an attorney to handle this for him and seeks to deduct the attorney fees.

(vi) Michael is obviously not in the tax business, as he was audited in 2010. He hired a tax attorney to handle the audit and assist him. He seeks to deduct those fees.

(vii) Fiona makes a contribution to the NRA every year. She also contributes to the Arizona Humane Society. Are either or both of these donations deductible?

(viii) Madeline has 30K per year of income as well as 25K per year of investment income. There was a problem with her Medicare paperwork, and she failed to have insurance coverage in force when she slipped and broke her leg. Her medical expenses were 20K. Can she deduct those expenses?

1(b): Can the Taxpayer claim the following dependent(s)? Why or why not?

(i) Fiona’s niece is sixteen and has come to the U.S. from Ireland because her parents were in violent trouble. She moved in with Fiona in March and lived there throughout the year. Fiona paid for all of her expenses. Can Fiona claim her as a dependent? What if the niece’s friend stayed with Fiona too?

(ii) Same as above, but Fiona received checks intermittently from her sister. Those checks totaled 17K through the year. What should Fiona do to make sure she can claim Niece as a dependent?