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“Personal Finance: Some timely tax tips - Sacramento Bee” plus 2 more

Personal Finance: Some timely tax tips - Sacramento Bee
More from ka-Ching! - Minneapolis Star Tribune
'Alice in Wonderland' tops weekend box office - MENAFN

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Personal Finance: Some timely tax tips - Sacramento Bee

Posted: 14 Mar 2010 01:01 AM PST

Like it or not, the April 15 tax deadline is fast approaching. With a month to go, here's a roundup of timely tax tips.

Disaster aftermath

Wildfires, mudslides, floods: For thousands of Californians – including Auburn residents burned out of their homes in the 49 fire last summer – tax time offers a flicker of relief.

In many cases, disaster-related expenses not covered by insurance can be taken as a 2009 tax deduction.

And last week, the state Franchise Tax Board extended that relief to residents in six counties affected by severe winter storms in January and February this year. It includes Calaveras, Siskiyou and four Southern California counties.

Normally, those hit this year would have to wait until 2011 to take a tax deduction. But FTB officials say the exception is a way to speed up refunds to taxpayers who suffered the brunt of a natural disaster.

"This allows them to take the loss on their 2009 return and rebuild their lives," said FTB spokeswoman Brenda Voet.

Victims of natural disasters can qualify for a "casualty loss" deduction for expenses not covered by insurance or other reimbursement.

To qualify for a federal income tax deduction, those losses usually need to be substantial, according to the Insurance Information Institute. If you were significantly underinsured or had a large catastrophe deductible, you may have a sizable unreimbursed casualty loss. (For details, see IRS Publication 547 at www.irs.gov or order it at (800) 829-3676.)

But disaster tax relief may not be quite as good as it sounds. "There's a lot of misunderstanding," said Anna Maria Galdieri, an Oakland-based CPA who has specialized in disaster tax issues since the Oakland hills fires of 1991.

The tax refund amounts can be disappointing, she said. Take the case of an uninsured renter whose home or apartment is damaged by a flood or wildfire. If the personal and household goods have a depreciated value of $10,000, his or her tax benefit may be only $2,600 (based on 6 percent state and 20 percent federal tax brackets) – even though it may cost $50,000 to replace everything in today's dollars.

"The tax law is not there to reimburse you for your entire disaster loss … It's there to give you some relief, but not complete relief," said Galdieri.

Because individual circumstances vary, get advice from a tax professional.

In other tax-related items:

Charity checkoff

Want to give back at tax time?

There are 15 different charitable organizations that can accept your voluntary, tax-deductible donation, made by simply checking a box on your California tax return. The causes range from Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer research to sea otters and food banks. For a complete list: www.checkoffcalifornia.org/home.html.

Donations can be as small as $1 but the average is about $12, said FTB spokeswoman Denise Azimi.

"It's a convenient way to give to these charities," Azimi said. "It's totally voluntary and the charities are listed on the 540 tax form."

Donations cannot be made on an amended return, only your original tax return. And like any charitable donation made this calendar year, you must wait until 2011 to deduct it.

Last year, more than 400,000 Californians checked the donation box, raising a record $4.9 million for participating charities.

Check your W-2s

By now, your employers' wage statement (W-2) should have arrived and be ready for your tax-crunching. Tax advisers recommend that you make sure it accurately reflects your income and that your Social Security number is correct.

Because of layoffs, bankruptcies and other turmoil in the job sector, it's possible some of your W-2s may be missing. To check on your wages and withholding as reported by employers and other financial institutions, go to "MyFTB" at www.ftb.ca.gov. You can also view estimated tax payments made last year and your previous tax returns.

To open a "MyFTB" account online, you'll need your Social Security number and a "customer service number." For questions, call the FTB's consumer help line at (800) 852-5711.

Have a personal finance question? Contact The Bee's Claudia Buck at (916) 321-1968.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Posted: 14 Mar 2010 12:46 PM PDT

Everyone's heard of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. But there are dozens of other programs that dish out funds for homeownership.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

'Alice in Wonderland' tops weekend box office - MENAFN

Posted: 14 Mar 2010 11:48 AM PDT

'Alice in Wonderland' tops weekend box office

By MarketWatch

Last Update: 2:54 PM ET Mar 14, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- "Alice in Wonderland" topped the box office for the second straight weekend and became director Tim Burton's highest grossing movie, according to a media report Sunday.

The 3-D fantasy, based on the popular novel and starring Johnny Depp, earned $62 million. The Disney DIS movie has a domestic total of $208.6 million, topping the total of Burton's 2005 film, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Hollywood.com said.

In second place was "Green Zone," starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass, with $14.5 million. The thriller was produced by Universal, a division of General Electric GE.

"She's Out of My League," a romantic comedy from Paramount, a division of Viacom VIA, was in third, while "Remember Me," starring Robert Pattinson, was in fourth.

In fifth place, was the Martin Scorsese thriller, "Shutter Island."

Personal Finance

Sunday, March 14, 2010