Today TaxMama® hears from Cassandra in the TaxQuips Forum, who really IS a Mystery Shopper. “I am a mystery shopper and work for 30+ different companies. To some, I give my Social Security number – to others my EIN. Do I need to report the income I e

Today TaxMama® hears from RG in the TaxQuips Forum with an oxymoron. “Can an irrevocable living trust be changed by the person that created it?” Hi RG, Well….do you know what irrevocable means? It means you cannot revoke the trust. I

Today TaxMama® hears from Kyong in the TaxQuips Forum with a sad question. “Nov 15, 2011 was the last day to file a tax court petition. The Tax Court petition was filed using Fedex Saver, which is not one of the designated private delivery services lis

Today TaxMama® hears from Grace in the TaxQuips Forum with an interesting question. “I understand that if you rent/lease your home for production filming for 14 days or less, then that income you earn is “exempt” from California and Federal taxes.

Today TaxMama® hears from Gina in the TaxQuips Forum who’s going around in circles. “I have not been able to get in contact with my tax guy for months. I’m afraid he may be ill, dead or out of business – and I live too far away to go to his offic

Today TaxMama® hears from Andrea in the TaxQuips Forum who needs help. “My husband and I are trying to set up a turnkey small business and need a virtual terminal to run credit card information. Because of our bad credit history we are being rejected w

Today TaxMama® hears from Lee in the TaxQuips Forum who wants clarification. “Are property taxes lower when a house is in a trust?” Dear Lee, No. The property tax is based on whatever the general rule is in your area. In California, if

Today TaxMama® hears from Nick in the TaxQuips Forum who is angry. “This year I saw some disturbing instances where independent contractors were issued 1099-MISC for higher amounts than they were actually paid. Some of contractors were paid in cash and

Today TaxMama® hears from Lloyd in the TaxQuips Forum with a little problem. “I paid someone in Thailand approximately $15K a year to do data entry for me. IRS is not happy that I did not issue a 1099-misc to her. Until now, she did not have ITIN or So

Today TaxMama® hears from Ivan in the TaxQuips Forum who seems to be concerned. “I have found lots of info on filing gift tax returns – penalties – life time exclusions. But what I cannot find is, what if someone makes a gift(s) to a child, or anyo