Question & Answer

Hardaway earned $100,000 of compensation this year. He also paid (or had paid for him) $3,000 of health insurance (not through an exchange). What is Hardaway’s AGI in each of the following situations? (Ignore the effects of Social Security and self-employment taxes.)

Smithers is a self-employed individual who earns $30,000 per year in self-employment income. Smithers pays $2,200 in annual health insurance premiums (not through an exchange) for his own medical care. In each of the following situations, determine the amount of the deductible health insurance premium for Smithers before any AGI floor limitation.

Clem is married and is a skilled carpenter. Clem’s wife, Wanda, works part-time as a substitute elementary school teacher. Determine the amount of Clem’s expenses that are deductible for AGI this year (if any) under the following independent circumstances:

  Don Juan, a single taxpayer, is the sole owner, of DJ’s Inc., an S corporation. In 2024, DJ’s Inc. incurred a massive $600,000 business loss, all of which is allocable to Don Juan as the sole shareholder. Assume that the $600,000 loss is not limited by the basis, at-risk, or passive loss rules and that Don Juan has no other business income or business losses. How much of the $600,000 loss will Don Juan be able to deduct this year? What happens to any loss not deducted this year?

 Boodeesh is contemplating running a consulting business out of her home. She has a large garage apartment in her backyard that would be perfect for her business. Given that the garage apartment is separate from her house (about 30 feet behind her house), would the office be considered part of her home for purposes of the home office rules?

Assume Rita’s consulting business generated $13,000 in gross income for the current year. Further, assume Rita uses the actual expense method for computing her home office expense deduction.

Assume Rita’s consulting business generated $15,000 in gross income.

Brooke owns a sole proprietorship in which she works as a management consultant. She maintains an office in her home where she meets with clients, prepares bills, and performs other work-related tasks. The home office is 300 square feet, and the entire house is 4,500 square feet. Brooke incurred the following home-related expenses during the year. Brooke itemizes her deductions, and her itemized deduction for non-home business taxes is less than $10,000 by more than the real property taxes allocated to business use of the home. Unless indicated otherwise, assume Brooke uses the actual expense method to compute home office expenses.

Assume that in addition to renting the condo for 100 days, Alexa uses the condo for 8 days of personal use. Also assume that Alexa receives $30,000 of gross rental receipts, her itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction before considering expenses associated with the condo, and that her itemized deduction for non-home business taxes is less than $10,000 by more than the real property taxes allocated to rental use of the home.

Assuming Alexa receives $20,000 in gross rental receipts, answer the following questions:

Assume Alexa receives $30,000 in gross rental receipts.

a. What effect do the expenses associated with the property have on her AGI?

b. What effect do the expenses associated with the property have on her itemized deductions?

Assume Tamar uses the Tax Court method of allocating expenses to rental use of the property.

Assume Tamar uses the IRS method of allocating expenses to rental use of the property.

Dillon rented his personal residence at Lake Tahoe for 14 days while he was vacationing in Ireland. He resided in the home for the remainder of the year. Rental income from the property was $6,500. Expenses associated with use of the home for the entire year were as follows:

Anwer owns a rental home and is involved in maintaining it and approving renters. During the year he has a net loss of $8,000 from renting the home. His other sources of income during the year are a salary of $111,000 and $34,000 of long-term capital gains. How much of Anwer’s $8,000 rental loss can he deduct currently if he has no sources of passive income?

Rubio recently invested $20,000 (tax basis) in purchasing a limited partnership interest. His at-risk amount is $15,000. In addition, Rubio’s share of the limited partnership loss for the year is $22,000, his share of income from a different limited partnership is $5,000, and he has $40,000 in wage income and $10,000 in long-term capital gains.

a. How much of Rubio’s $22,000 loss is allowed considering only the tax basis loss limitations?

b. How much of the loss from part (a) is allowed under the at-risk limitations?

c. How much of Rubio’s $22,000 loss from the limited partnership can he deduct in the current year considering all limitations?

Larry recently invested $20,000 (tax basis) in purchasing a limited partnership interest. His at-risk amount is also $20,000. In addition, Larry’s share of the limited partnership loss for the year is $2,000, his share of income from a different limited partnership was $1,000, and he had $3,000 of dividend income from the stock he owns. How much of Larry’s $2,000 loss from the limited partnership can he deduct in the current year?

Rocco operates a beauty salon as a sole proprietorship. Rocco also owns and rents an apartment building. In 2024, Rocco had the following income and expenses. Determine Rocco’s AGI and complete page 1 (through line 11) and Schedule 1 of Form 1040 for Rocco. You may assume that Rocco will owe $2,502 in self-employment tax on his salon income, with $1,251 representing the employer portion of the self-employment tax. You may also assume that his divorce from Svetlana was finalized in 2016.

Describe the mechanical limitation on the deduction for interest on qualified education loans.

Explain why Congress allows taxpayers to deduct interest forfeited as a penalty on the premature withdrawal from a certificate of deposit.

Using the Internal Revenue Code, describe two deductions for AGI that are not discussed in this chapter.

What are the requirements to contribute to a health savings account? What limits are imposed on the contributions and deductions?

Explain why Congress allows self-employed taxpayers to deduct the employer portion of their self-employment tax.

Explain why Congress allows self-employed taxpayers to deduct the cost of health insurance as a for AGI deduction when employees can only itemize this cost as a medical expense. Would a self-employed taxpayer ever prefer to claim health insurance premiums as an itemized deduction rather than a deduction for AGI? Explain.

When a taxpayer receives a nonqualified distribution from a Roth IRA, is the entire amount of the distribution treated as taxable income? Explain.