Income Tax Return Project- NEED PROFESSIONAL EXPERT to write this assignment

ECON 138A Fall 2017 Income Tax Return Project Instructions: The following is a comprehensive tax return problem for the 2016 tax year. This problem consists of a summary of the documentation that normally would accompany the tax return information received from the client (e.g., W-2's, 1099's, 1098's, canceled checks, etc.). The assignment is to prepare the clients’ federal income tax return for the 2016 tax year. I have provided you the forms to use on GauchoSpace. Do not use any other forms than these forms that I have provided. You may print them out and hand-write the amounts, or you may interactively input amounts. If you interactively input amounts, be very careful about how you save the forms. The worst thing to do is to do a bunch of work, close the PDF, open it back up later and find that all your hard work is gone. When in doubt, print the form to PDF or in hard-copy form so that you have a backup. You will be using federal tax law applicable for the 2016 tax year. Therefore, I have included the 2016 forms where possible. In some cases, you have been provided 2017 forms and schedules. Please consider these 2017 forms to be 2016, even if they do not state this year. You will not be preparing the California tax return. You will only prepare the federal tax return. Do not use any forms other than those I have provided you. Round to the nearest cent – Therefore, please use only whole dollars on the tax returns. You are not permitted to consult tax preparation software such as TurboTax and Tax Slayer. There may be telltale indications of this in your final prepared returns, however I will not provide you an indication in these instructions of how I would tell that your return was copied from output from these software suites. If you turn forms in other than the PDF forms I have provided, I will not accept them. I can tell the difference between these official forms from the IRS, and forms that software programs produce, such as TurboTax and Tax Slayer. This is not a group assignment. Therefore, you must prepare your own tax return. This may be difficult for me to enforce, but it will be obvious to me if there are uncommon errors that are committed by multiple students, such as mis-adding a column in the exact same (wrong) way, or multiple students inputting an amount on the same very-obviously wrong line. Instances of students copying each other will be considered cheating.

In the normal course of preparing a tax return, questions will arise that require additional information. In this hypothetical case, additional information can be collected from the client by asking questions during certain class sessions only (I will not be responding to e-mailed questions regarding taxpayer facts), so plan your time and work on this project wisely. The reason for this is to make sure every person benefits from answers to various questions that might arise. However, the clients believe that their materials contain sufficient information to complete the return. I will play the part of the taxpayers and will answer your questions in class. When I play the part of the taxpayers, I will have no knowledge of tax return issues or law. I will answer your questions as best as I can. If a student asks me a question, I will answer, even if the question or information is irrelevant; remember, I am the taxpayer and I cannot say whether you need information or you don’t. I am relying on you to prepare my tax return accurately and completely. The times that you will “meet” with the taxpayers are during the regularly schedule classes on:

• Wednesday, November 15, and • Wednesday, November 29

The return is due by the beginning of your scheduled class on December 6. This may be turned in on paper at or before 5pm in class, or it may be submitted via GauchoSpace at or before 5pm. The taxpayer facts: Tyson and Kesha Miller are married and filing a joint return. Tyson’s social security number is 123-45-6789 and his date of birth is 1/1/1966. Kesha’s social security number is 112-11-1112 and her date of birth is 2/2/1970. They have two children as their dependents: Sean Miller (SSN:212-22-2222) whose date of birth is 3/5/1993. He is a student. Their second child is Alaina Miller (SSN:211-11- 1122) whose date of birth is 3/1/2006. They live at 321 Second Street Santa Barbara, CA 93103 Tyson is an engineer and works for a large aerospace company. Kesha is an elementary school teacher at a local public school. Tyson and Kesha have the following income from employment, as shown on their W-2’s: Wages, Tips and other compensation

$80,000 $40,000

Federal Income Tax Withheld $12,000 $6,000

Social Security Wages $80,000 $40,000 Social Security Tax Withheld $4,960 $2,480 Medicare Wages $80,000 $40,000 Medicare Tax Withheld $1,160 $580 California Withholdings $3,000 $1,500 During 2016, Tyson and Kesha received the following interest, dividends, and stock transactions:

• Kesha received $2,700 of interest from Trustmark National Bank.

• Tyson and Kesha had a joint savings account and received $1,000 of interest from Chase Bank.

• They have an investment account at TD Ameritrade. As of 12/31/2016, TD Ameritrade sent them a Form 1099 showing ordinary dividends of $2,000 and qualified dividends of $1,750.

• Tyson has an E-trade account. In it, he purchased and sold stocks as

follows:

Stock No of Shares

Date Purchased

Date Sold Per Share Cost

Per Share Selling Price

Blue 100 1/18/08 1/12/16 $80 $74 Green 50 1/11/03 8/10/16 $127 $157 Purple 120 1/1/16 2/1/16 $60 $30

Tyson and Kesha own a single-family rental unit at 456 Third Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103. They experienced the following receipts and disbursements:

• Rental income - $27,000 • Water/trash – ($960) • Gardening – ($1,200) • Property tax – ($5,750) • Mortgage interest – ($16,610) • Property manager – ($985) • Repairs and maintenance – ($1,370)

Other expense related to the rental property is $9,091 in depreciation

Tyson contributed $5,000 to his retirement plans (Individual IRA). He also paid $1,200/month as alimony to his ex-wife.

During 2016, Tyson and Kesha paid the following:

• $257 paid to DMV for Tyson’s vehicle license fee, and $182 paid to DMV for Kesha’s vehicle license fee

• $4,550 for doctors’ bills, $500 for medical prescriptions, and $4,380 for medical premiums

• $7,550 of the mortgage interest, $3,210 for property tax, $3,810 for

utilities, and $2,290 for fire and theft insurance for their principal house

• $3,300 to their Santa Barbara Community Church

• $4,800 to Goleta Presbyterian Church

Tyson and Kesha gave used clothing (cost of $1,100 and fair market value of $450) to the Salvation Army. All donations are supported by receipts and are in very good condition. During 2016, Tyson and Kesha attended a dinner dance sponsored by the Goleta Police Disability Association (a qualified charitable) organization. The Millers paid $400 for the tickets. The cost of comparable entertainment would normally be $160. During 2016, Kesha attended a seminar related to her job as a teacher. Yet the school district did not reimburse the travel expense of $1,250 and cost of the seminar of $900. She also paid $250 in unreimbursed school supplies for her classroom during the year. The Millers paid an income tax preparation fee of $850 (paid in May 2016 for 2015 return). Tyson’s Engineers Society dues and state license cost him $1,150. When they filed their 2015 state return in 2016, the Millers paid additional state income taxes of $950.