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2011 U.S. Tax Filing Tips

January 12, 2012— Tax season is upon us in the U.S. Here are a few tips to remember when filing your 2011 return that have been provided by the Worldwide ERC®.

Several items that can be deducted as moving expenses are often overlooked:

 
  • Tips given to moving staff and drivers.

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  • Mileage for driving second or third cars to new location in addition to a primary vehicle. The deduction for 2011 is 19 cents per mile from January 1 to June 30, and 23.5 cents per mile thereafter. 

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  • Lodging expenses in the departure location for one night after the household goods are packed, and one night in the new location on the day of arrival.

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  • Moving household goods from a location other than your main home, up to what it would have cost to move them from the main home.

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  • Storage of household goods for up to 30 days, including the cost of moving the goods into and out of storage.  Note that the costs for moving the goods into and out of storage remain deductible even if the goods are in storage more than 30 days.

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  • Expenses not reimbursed by your employer, such as extra crating, shipment of unusual items, tips to van line staff, etc.

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    And remember: You don’t have to itemize to deduct moving expenses.

    If the seller of your new house agreed to pay part of your mortgage points instead of reducing the sales price, you can deduct those points, even though the seller paid them.

    If you ever refinanced your mortgage, you can deduct the entire remaining balance of points paid on the refinancing in the year you sell your home.

    If your new job is for a different employer, and you earned more than $106,800 in 2011, you may have had too much deducted as contributions to Social Security. You can take a credit for the excess over $4,485.60 on line 69 of your Form 1040 tax return.  

    If you moved to one of the states with state and local sales taxes but no general income tax (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming), you may benefit from an itemized deduction for state sales taxes. The deduction was reauthorized by Congress for 2010 and 2011 at the end of 2010.

    If you paid a premium for mortgage insurance, you may be entitled to an itemized deduction as mortgage interest for the portion of the premium allocable to 2011. No deduction is available if your adjusted gross income is more than $110,000.

    If you claimed a homebuyer credit on your purchase of a home in 2008 through 2010, and you sold your home or stopped using it as your principal residence when you were transferred in 2011, you may have to repay on the 2011 return the entire credit taken. See IRS Form 5405 and its Instructions for details.  Repayment is always required for credits taken in 2008. However, for credits claimed in 2009 and 2010, note that if you sold the home and did not have a gain, none of the credit must be repaid.  In calculating gain, remember to subtract from the sale proceeds all purchase closing costs, and any improvements you made to the home during the time you owned it.

    This year’s return will be due on Tuesday, April 17, 2011, because the normal due date of April 15 is a Sunday, and April 16 is a holiday (Emancipation Day) in the District of Columbia.


    About AIReS

    AIReS, which was named to the 2011 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing independently owned businesses in the U.S., has over 30 years of experience providing best-in-class relocation management services. With six ISO registered U.S. offices and other strategically located employees located around the globe, AIReS is a recognized industry leader in delivering high quality relocation and assignment management services to leading corporations. The company boasts some of the industry’s highest annual customer-satisfaction scores and a client-retention rate of over 98%. For more information, please visit the AIReS website at www.aires.com.

     

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