You're almost there! Tax season will be over in less than a month, and we won't blame you if you're already thinking about the vacation that starts as soon as you file that last return.
Maybe you're going on a cruise to Hawaii, or you're going hiking in the Sierras. Both are wonderful vacations, I'm sure, but they don't come close to the story we heard last year of a tax attorney who went to Burning Man with his 22-year-old daughter.1
Burning Man is a weeklong arts festival in the Nevada desert ("the playa") that brings tens of thousands of people together in a community known as Black Rock City. Attendees ("burners") often adopt their own persona while on the playa, and the tax attorney went by the name Dr. DRE — short for disregarded entity.
Burners live together for the week under guiding principles like inclusion, decommodification, and self-expression.2 No money is exchanged on the playa; instead, burners are encouraged to gift goods and services to others.
What was Dr. DRE's gift to other burners? Free tax advice.
Feeling inspired to head to Burning Man in 2016? Tickets go on sale this week. But they're not tax deductible, even if you bring along Burning Man's 70-page 2014 tax return as reading material and try to claim the festival as a business expense.
1 www.techinsider.io/go-to-burning-man-with-parents-2015-9
2 http://burningman.org/culture/philosophical-center/10-principles/
At the FTB board meeting last week, FTB staff announced that they are considering a bus tour to promote Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Unfortunately for those who will be on the bus, it will be less like a tour bus rock stars travel in, and more like a mobile office.
The bus is actually a former Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster site bus. It has work stations that VITA volunteers would use to prepare returns. They would travel to some of the more remote areas of the state, where taxpayers may not have access to free VITA services.
The FTB said they are still working on the logistics for the plan, but BOE Chair Fiona Ma said that she would be willing to travel on the bus for part of the tour. They did provide a picture of the bus:
Here's a stumper for you … click below to reveal the answer.
You've decided to change your life, so you're leaving on a jet plane, stopping off in Colorado for a Rocky Mountain high,* then landing in California for a Barry McGuire concert. You miss the good ol' days of the Summer of Love so you move to California part of the way through the year so you can play guitar at the corner of Haight and Ashbury and sing "We're on the Eve of Destruction." Fortunately, you have a pension from the Florida teacher's union to sustain you during your six-month residency. How does California handle your Florida pension?
*The majestic mountain ranges put you in a good mood.
Answer:
(b) You are required to report the pension payments received for the months of California residency. The payments received when you are a nonresident are exempt from California taxation. (See Spidell's Analysis and Explanation of California Taxes® ¶22-606 Part-year residents)
Psst… If you call us on Monday 3/21 and say the secret phrase 'I got quizziCAL!', we'll send you an Analysis and Explanation of California Taxes book for $49 + tax. We offer same-day FREE shipping so you can start acing these quizzes fast!
Phone: (714) 776-7850
Austin Lewis loves classic rock, despite being born a few decades late, and he goes to more concerts than anyone else in the office. He's also a big baseball fan, and his worlds collided in 2014 when he saw Paul McCartney at Dodger Stadium.
Renée Rodda, J.D., when not writing, researching, and helping Spidell customers, enjoys riding her horses, Eli and Ava.
Diane Fuller is a gourmet cook with a refined taste in all things sweet. From traditional Japanese desserts to the best bacon donut that's ever appeared in our break room, Diane knows how to satisfy her sweet tooth. She also writes children's poetry!
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