HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2020 was a year of
devastation and despair. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the life of
every single person on the globe. And Donald T Rump was still
President. The actions of Trump and his Administration exacerbated
not only the pandemic but every single problem and issue America faced.
2021 is a year of
hope. Vaccines to combat the virus have been developed, tested and
approved and will soon be available to all Americans. And a new
President, the polar opposite of Trump in terms of intelligence, competence,
integrity, and humanity, will be inaugurated later this month. Once
again, after 4 years of a national nightmare, a person of honor who cares about
something other than himself will occupy the White House – and the damage to
American values and democracy done by Trump and his deplorable Administration
will begin to be undone.
If things go well in
Georgia, despicable McConnell and the Republican Party, which totally abandoned
all integrity and credibility, and traditional Republican and conservative
beliefs and policies, by embracing and enabling delusional, demented and
dangerous Trump, will no longer control the Senate.
And hopefully 2021 will see
the investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of Trump
for his multitude of state and federal crimes.
I look forward to a return
to normalcy in 2021 – in our daily life and in the political life of America.
STARTING THE YEAR OFF
RIGHT
Taxpayers
are required to keep good, contemporaneous records of all items of income and
deduction in the manner prescribed by the IRS and the Tax Code.
For
many years now I have been wanting to create a comprehensive tax return
organizer for my clients, readers and the general public. Being stuck at
home during the pandemic I have finally been able to do it!
My
2021 INCOME TAX ORGANIZER, created for the federal income tax return (Form 1040
or Form 1040-SR), will help you keep track of all your income and deductions,
and gather and organize the information you will need to provide to your
professional tax preparer in 2022.
The
Organizer, which comes in an expandable binder, contains -
*
detailed text covering what is taxable and deductible and what information and
documentation you will need to properly prepared your 2021 tax return,
*
forms, schedules and worksheets for compiling and identifying the needed
information, and
*
pockets for you to keep statements, bills, receipts, and other documentation
during the year by category.
The
text (current as of November 2020) covers –
MY BEST TAX
ADVICE·
WHAT
TO GIVE YOUR PREPARER
WHO
MUST FILE A 2021 TAX RETURN
FILING
STATUS
DEPENDENTS
AND EXEMPTIONS
INFORMATION
RETURNS
INVESTMENT
SALES
2021
CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR TAX-DEFERRED RETIREMENT PLANS
REPORTING
GAMBLING INCOME
ADJUSTMENTS
TO INCOME
ITEMIZED
DEDUCTIONS (with specific details for each category)
DEDUCTIBLE
RENTAL EXPENSES
CHILD
CARE EXPENSES
ESTIMATED
TAXES
HOW
LONG MUST I KEEP MY TAX RECORDS
YEAR-END
TAX PLANNING
The
cost of the Organizer material is only $44.95 (includes shipping via Priority
Mail).
Send
your check or money order for $44.95, payable to Taxes and Accounting, Inc, and
your postal mailing address to -
TAXES AND ACCOUNTING,
INC
2021 TAX RETURN
ORGANIZER
POST OFFICE BOX A
HAWLEY PA 18428
I have been writing the popular tax
blog THE WANDERING TAX PRO -
http://wanderingtaxpro.blogspot.com - since the summer of 2001.
There are a lot of good posts coming at
TWTP this January about getting ready to prepare your 2020 tax returns.
THINGS NO
ONE EVER TOLD YOU
In 1972 I started my “apprenticeship” as a paid tax return
preparer for my uncle’s tax pro James P Gill, whose office was located just
off Journal Square in Jersey City NJ (where the “Jersey Bounce” started).
On my first visit to the office Jim took me to a desk in the outer
office. He gave me a copy of a client’s previous year’s tax return and a
briefcase full of papers that constituted the current year’s tax “stuff” and
told me to “jump in and swim”.
Jim would play NYC radio station WRFM - home of "American
Popular Standards" - all the time in our storefront office. I
learned the art and science of tax preparation listening to radio personality
Jim Branch and the music of Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence,
Mantovani, Henry Mancini, Jack Jones, Perry Como, Nat King Cole, and Frank,
Dean and Sammy.
And discovering "Things No One Ever Told You" from Jim
Aylward – “a collection of unusual facts, figures, and feats”.
So here, with a hat tip to Mr. Aylward, is my first thing no one
ever told you –
NOT EVERYONE LOVES CATS (THE MUSICAL, THAT IS)
In 2019 the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s CATS was
released, with a cast that included James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo,
Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, and Rebel Wilson.
I did not see it, and really have no desire to do so.
While it ran for years - 1982 until 2000 - and was a huge
money-maker, the Broadway production of CATS was not loved by many members of
the Broadway community.
Decades ago, I attended a class on the Broadway Musical at The New School
in NYC, which happened to coincide with the ninth anniversary of CATS on
Broadway. Each week a different representative of a Broadway “team” –
composer, playwright, producer, actor, theatre owner, etc. – spoke. We
heard from Wendy Wasserstein, Tony Randall, Charles Strouse, Manny" Azenberg,
and Rocco Landesman among others.
Every speaker had something bad to say about CATS.
Playwright Wendy Wasserstein, famous for “The Heidi Chronicles”,
told the class, “Anyone can put a cat on a tire. It takes wit to write
dialogue.”
WORKS FOR ME
I am always seeing fancy looking organizers on home improvement shows and in the aisles at STAPLES. It appears that some are rather expensive.
I get all my business and personal organizers absolutely free!
I have found that the various containers that food and household products come in are perfect organizers for holding different sized paper and binder clips, various sizes of sticky pads and smaller lined paper pads, stamps, pens and pencils, erasers, and other office and household supplies.
For one, there is the plastic containers that many “tv dinners” come in (the aluminum ones are no good). And the brown container that holds three crème-filled cupcakes in a package. They provide multiple sections for organizing clips.
The green, blue, and black containers that hold the Swiffer wet pads, or the generic alternative, come in several sizes and have many uses in the kitchen, bedroom, and office.
The round plastic containers that contain potato or macaroni salad from the supermarket or Blimpie are also good for holding small supplies.
I even make use of the metal Altoids containers.
Not only am I saving money, but I am recycling as well!
POLITICS
AND RELIGION
A sad development over the past few decades is
the appropriation of the conservative movement and the Republican Party by the
“Evangelical” political movement. In today’s political discourse,
conservatism is wrongly aligned with the anti-gay, anti-abortion and other
Evangelical political policies.
The political agenda of the Evangelicals and
the Religious Right is contrary to true conservative philosophy and politics.
The most basic principles of conservatism are
to Protect & Maximize Individual Rights and Ensure a Limited
Government. In "Five Principles of American Conservatism" at
THE COLLEGE CONSERVATIVE Matthew Dragonette explains principles –
“Individual Rights
First and foremost, society has a duty to
protecting the fundamental individual rights of its members. In American
politics, this means permitting individuals to pursue their interests and enjoy
freedoms that do not infringe on the rights of others.
Limited Government
In the same spirit as individual rights,
conservatives must commit to a limited government. In the American context
specifically, this means a commitment to constitutionally-assigned government
responsibilities. The scope of government must be narrow for two reasons.
First, a narrower scope maximizes individual rights and prevents government
from dominating its own people.”
Conservatism holds high the rights of the
individual citizen and calls for minimal involvement by the government in the
personal and business life of the citizen. The Evangelicals of the
Religious Right want the government to tell citizens how to live their lives by
legislating their specific religious beliefs.
Regarding the Supreme Court, the Republican
Party does not want true “conservative” judges. What it really wants is
“evangelical” judges.
The Evangelical agenda is also contrary to the
separation of Church and State that is a cornerstone of the
Constitution.
Freedom of religion and the separation of
Church and State are among the basic cornerstones of America, American values
and American “philosophy”. Every American has the right to worship and
believe as he or she so chooses – or to choose not to worship or believe.
The government cannot force anyone to choose one religion and set of beliefs
over any other, or to choose any religion or beliefs. No specific
religion or church can dictate government policy or legislation. The
Evangelical political agenda calls for ignoring this basic Constitutional
freedom.
Iconic conservative Barry Goldwater, the
politician often credited with sparking the resurgence of the American
conservative political movement in the 1960s, explained decades ago –
“I am a conservative Republican, but I
believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. The conservative
movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life
as they please as long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process.”
And warned us –
“Religious factions will go on imposing
their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that
religion has no place in public policy.”
Ronald Reagan explained –
“We establish no religion in this country,
we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and
state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not
believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are
free, and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief.”
Acting on your belief refers to your specific
individual behavior. If the religious beliefs of your chosen sect or
religion tells you that abortion is wrong – don’t have an abortion. If
the specific religious beliefs of your chosen sect or religion tells you that
homosexuality and same-sex marriage is wrong – don’t practice homosexuality and
do not marry someone of the same sex. But you cannot force someone with
different religions beliefs, or no religious beliefs, to act in accordance with
the specific religious beliefs of your chosen sect or religion - most
definitely not via legislation.
Unlike “love and marriage”, politics and religion
do not go together. A bumper sticker I saw a while ago says it all – “The
last time we mixed politics with religion people got burned at the stake.”
SURFIN’ USA
Back when I was growing up, we had 7 broadcast channels and there was always something to watch. Bruce Springstein once told us “57 Channels (And Nothin' On)”. But today’s reality is there are over 200 channels and there is still nothing on.
As an alternative to broadcast and cable there are several free online live tv options. Here are three that I watch regularly.
PLUTO-TV - http://pluto.tv
STIRR - http://stirr.com
PEACOCK TV - http://www.peacocktv.com/watch/home
PLUTO and PEACOCK allow you to watch shows from their “inventory” on demand as well as live.
ALWAYS LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING!
Last night there was an accident and Trump's personal library burnt down.
This is a huge catastrophe because BOTH of his books were lost, and he had only colored in one of them so far.
TALK TO YOU NEXT MONTH
Please share this “issue” with
your friends and family. Your comments on this issue are welcomed – email
me at rdftaxpro@yahoo.com with BOBSERVATIONS
COMMENT in the “Subject Line”.
