Receive Your Refund Faster With Direct Deposit

Article Summary: 

• Speed 
• Security 
• Convenience 
• Options 
• Funding an IRA 

Don’t wait around for a paper check. Have your federal (and state, if applicable) tax refund deposited directly into your bank account. Selecting Direct Deposit is a secure and convenient way to get your money into your pocket more rapidly. 

• Speed - When combining e-file with direct deposit, the IRS will likely issue your refund in no more than 21 days.
   
• Security - Direct deposit offers the most secure method of obtaining your refund. There is no check to lose. Each year, the U.S. Post Office returns thousands of refund checks to the IRS as undeliverable mail. Direct deposit eliminates undeliverable mail and is also the best way to guard against having a tax refund check stolen.
   
• Easy - Simply provide this office with your bank routing number and account number when we prepare your return and you’ll receive your refund far more quickly than you would by check.
   
• Convenience - The money goes directly into your bank account. You won’t have to make a special trip to the bank to deposit the money yourself.
   
• Eligible Financial Accounts - You can direct your refund to any of your checking or savings accounts with a U.S. financial institution as long as your financial institution accepts direct deposits for that type of account and you provide valid routing and account numbers. Examples of savings accounts include: passbook savings, individual development accounts, individual retirement arrangements, health savings accounts, Archer MSAs, and Coverdell education savings accounts.
   
• Multiple Options - You can deposit your refund into up to three financial accounts that are in the your name or your spouse’s name if it is a joint account. You can’t have part of the refund paid by paper check and part by direct deposit. With the split refund option, taxpayers can divide their refunds among as many as three checking or savings accounts at up to three different U.S. financial institutions. Check with your bank or other financial institution to make sure your direct deposit will be accepted.
   
• Deposit Can’t Be to a Third Party’s Bank Account - To protect taxpayers from scammers, direct deposit tax refunds can only be deposited into an account or accounts owned by the taxpayer. Therefore, only provide your own account information and not account information belonging to a third party.
   
• Fund Your IRA - You can even direct a refund into your IRA account. 

To set up a direct deposit, you will need to provide the bank routing number (9 digits) and your account number for each account into which you wish to make a deposit. Please have these numbers available at your appointment. 

For more information regarding direct deposit of your tax refund and the split refund option, we would be happy to discuss your options with you at your tax appointment.

Tuition for School to Treat Learning Disabilities is Deductible

Article Highlights: 

• Tuition To Treat Learning Disabilities is Deductible 
• Medical Deduction 
• Special Teaching Techniques 

IRS has privately ruled that for a child diagnosed with multiple learning disabilities, tuition paid to attend a school designed to assist students in overcoming their disabilities and developing appropriate social and educational skills was a deductible medical expense. 

Treating a child's learning disabilities can place a heavy financial burden on parents. As the ruling illustrates, the tax law may help by allowing a deduction for the cost of educating such a child. 

However, like other deductible medical expenses, this cost is deductible only to the extent that medical expenses for the year cumulatively exceed 10% (7.5% through 2016 if the taxpayer is age 65 or over) of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income. 

Medical care includes the cost of attending a special school designed to compensate for or overcome a physical handicap, in order to qualify the individual for future normal education or for normal living. This includes a school for the teaching of Braille or lip reading. The principal reason for attending must be the special resources for alleviating the handicap. The cost of tuition for ordinary education that is incidental to the special services provided at the school, and the cost of meals and lodging supplied by the school also is included as a medical expense. The distinguishing characteristic of a special school is the substantive content of its curriculum, which may include some ordinary education, but only if the ordinary education is incidental to the school's primary purpose of enabling students to compensate for or overcome a handicap. 

IRS ruled that where the school uses special teaching techniques to assist its students in overcoming their condition and that these techniques along with the care of other staff professionals are the principal reasons for the child’s enrollment at the school then the school is a “special school”. Thus the child’s tuition at the school in those years he is diagnosed as having a medical condition that handicaps his ability to learn are deductible. 

The Tax Court has also held and IRS has privately ruled that, where a school attended by a student with a medical problem doesn't qualify as a special school because the ordinary education isn't incidental to the special services provided, the costs of the special program or special treatment (but not the entire tuition) may still be a deductible medical expense. 

If you have questions related to this or other medical deductions please give this office a call.

www.paulandersoncpa.com

Don't Overlook Spousal IRA

Article Highlights:

• Spousal IRA 
• Compensation requirements 
• Maximum Contribution 
• Traditional or Roth IRA 

One frequently overlooked tax benefit is the “spousal IRA.” Generally, IRA contributions are only allowed for taxpayers who have compensation (the term “compensation” includes: wages, tips, bonuses, professional fees, commissions, alimony received, and net income from self-employment). Spousal IRAs are the exception to that rule and allow a non-working or low-earning spouse to contribute to his or her own IRA, otherwise known as a spousal IRA, as long as the spouse has adequate compensation. 

The maximum amount that a non-working or low-earning spouse can contribute is the same as the limit for a working spouse, which is $5,500 for years 2013 through 2015. If the non-working spouse is age 50 or older, the spouse can also make “catch-up” contributions (limited to $1,000 for 2013 through 2015), raising the overall contribution limit to $6,500. These limits apply provided the couple together has compensation equal to or greater than their combined IRA contributions. 

Example: Tony is employed and his W-2 for 2015 is $100,000. His wife, Rosa, age 45, has a small income from a part-time job totaling $900. Since her own compensation is less than the contribution limits for the year, she can base her contribution on their combined compensation of $100,900. Thus, Rosa can contribute up to $5,500 to an IRA for 2015. 

The contributions for both spouses can be made either to a Traditional or Roth IRA, or split between them, as long as the combined contributions don't exceed the annual contribution limit. Caution: The deductibility of the Traditional IRA and the ability to make a Roth IRA contribution are generally based on the taxpayer’s income: 

• Traditional IRAs – There is no income limit restricting contributions to a Traditional IRA. However, if the working spouse is an active participant in any other qualified retirement plan, a tax-deductible contribution can be made to the IRA of the non-participant spouse only if the couple's adjusted gross income (AGI) doesn't exceed $183,000 in 2015 (up from $181,000 in 2014). This limit is phased out in 2015 for AGI between $183,000 and $193,000 (up from $181,000 and $191,000 in 2014).
   
• Roth IRAs – Roth IRA contributions are never tax-deductible. Contributions to Roth IRAs are allowed in full if the couple’s AGI doesn’t exceed $183,000 in 2015 (up from $181,000 in 2014). The contribution is ratably phased out for AGI between $183,000 and $193,000 (up from $181,000 and $191,000 in 2014). Thus, no contribution is allowed to a Roth IRA once the AGI exceeds $193,000. 

Example: Rosa, in the previous example, can designate her IRA contribution to be either a deductible Traditional IRA or a nondeductible Roth IRA because the couple’s AGI is under $183,000. Had the couple’s AGI been $188,000, Rosa’s allowable contribution to a deductible Traditional or Roth IRA would have been limited to $2,750 because of the phaseout. The other $2,750 could have been contributed to a nondeductible Traditional IRA. 

Please give this office a call if you would like to discuss IRAs or need assistance with your retirement planning.

Retirement Savings: the Earlier, the Better

Article Summary: 

• Teenagers and young adults 
• Tax-free accumulation 
• Earned income requirement 
• Roth IRA 

Generally, teenagers and young adults do not consider the long-term benefits of retirement savings. Their priorities for their earnings are more for today than that distant and rarely considered retirement. Yet contributions to a retirement plan early in life can enjoy years of growth and provide a substantial nest egg at retirement. 

Due to its long-term benefits of tax-free accumulation, a nondeductible Roth IRA may be the best option. During most individuals’ early working years, their income is usually at its lowest, allowing them to qualify for a Roth IRA at a time where the need for a tax deduction offered by other retirement plans is not important.

Because retirement will not be their focus at that age, young adults may balk at having to give up their earnings. Parents, grandparents, or other individuals might consider funding all or part of the child’s Roth contribution. It could even be in the form of a birthday or holiday gift. Take, for example, a 17-year-old who has a summer job and earns $1,500. Although the child is not likely to make the contribution from his or her earnings, a parent could contribute any amount up to $1,500 to a Roth IRA for the child.* 

But keep in mind that young adults, like anyone else, must have earned income to establish a Roth IRA. Generally, earned income is income received from working, not through an investment vehicle. It can include income from full-time employment, income from a part-time job while attending school, summer employment, or even babysitting or yard work. The amount that can be contributed annually to an IRA is limited to the lesser of earned income or the current maximum of $5,500. 

Parents or other individuals who contribute the funds need to keep in mind that once the funds are in the child’s IRA account, the funds belong to the child. The child will be free to withdraw part or all of the funds at any time. If the child withdraws funds from the Roth IRA, the child will be liable for any early withdrawal tax liability. 

Consider what the value of a Roth IRA at age 65 would be for a 17-year-old who has funds contributed to his or her IRA every year through age 26 (a period of 10 years). The table below shows what the value will be at age 65 at various investment rates of return. 

Value of a Roth IRA—Annual Contributions of $1,000 for 10 years beginning at age 17
Investment Rate of Return	2%	4%	6%	8%
Value at Age 65	$23,703	$55,449	$127,900	$291,401

What may seem insignificant now can mean a lot at retirement. Individuals who are financially able to do so should consider making a gift that will last a lifetime. It could mean a comfortable retirement for your child, grandchild, favorite niece or nephew, or even an unrelated person who deserves the kind gesture. 

*Amounts contributed to an IRA on behalf of another person are nondeductible gifts by the donor and are counted toward the donor’s annual $14,000 (2014 and 2015 gift exclusion per done).

If you would like more information about Roth IRAs or gifting contributions to a Roth on behalf of someone else, please contact this office.