Reba Dixon is a fifth-grade school teacher who earned a salary of $38,000 in 2018. She is 45 years old and has been divorced for four years. She received $1,200 of alimony payments each month from her former husband (divorced in 2016). Reba also rents out a small apartment building. This year Reba received $50,000 of rental payments from tenants and she incurred $19,500 of expenses associated with the rental. Reba and her daughter Heather (20 years old at the end of the year) moved to Georgia in January of this year. Reba provides more than one-half of Heather’s support. They had been living in Colorado for the past 15 years, but ever since her divorce, Reba has been wanting to move back to Georgia to be closer to her family. Luckily, last December, a teaching position opened up and Reba and Heather decided to make the move. Reba paid a moving company $2,010 to move their personal belongings, and she and Heather spent two days driving the 1,426 miles to Georgia. Reba rented a home in Georgia. Heather decided to continue living at home with her mom, but she started attending school full-time in January at a nearby university. She was awarded a $3,000 partial tuition scholarship this year, and Reba helped out by paying the remaining $500 tuition cost. If possible, Reba thought it would be best to claim the education credit for these expenses. Reba wasn't sure if she would have enough items to help her benefit from itemizing on her tax return. However, she kept track of several expenses this year that she thought might qualify if she was able to itemize. Reba paid $5,800 in state taxes and $12,500 in charitable contributions during the year. She also paid the following medical-related expenses for herself and Heather: Insurance premiums………………………………$5,795 Medical care expenses…………………………….$1,100 Prescription medicine …………………………..$ 350 Nonprescription medicine……………………..$ 100 New contact lenses for Heather………………$ 200 Shortly after the move, Reba got distracted while driving and she ran into a street sign. The accident caused $900 in damage to the car and gave her whiplash. Because the repairs were less than her insurance deductible, she paid the entire cost of the repairs. Reba wasn’t able to work for two months after the accident. Fortunately, she received $2,000 from her disability insurance. Her employer, the Central Georgia School District, paid 60% of the premiums on the policy as a nontaxable fringe benefit and Reba paid the remaining 40% portion. A few years ago, Reba acquired several investments with her portion of the divorce settlement. This year she reported the following income from her investments: $2,200 of interest income from corporate bonds and $1,500 interest income from the City of Denver municipal bonds. Overall, Reba’s stock portfolio appreciated by $12,000 but she did not sell any of her stocks. Heather reported $6,200 of interest income from corporate bonds she received as gifts from her father over the last several years. This was Heather’s only source of income for the year. Reba had $10,000 of federal income taxes withheld by her employer. Heather made $1,000 of estimated tax payments during the year. Reba did not make any estimated payments. Reba had qualifying insurance for purposes of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Required: a. Determine Reba’s federal income taxes due or taxes payable for the current year. Complete pages 1 and 2 of Form 1040 for Reba. b. Is Reba allowed to file as a head of household or single? c. Determine the amount of FICA taxes Reba was required to pay on her salary. d. Determine Heather’s federal income taxes due or payable.
> Explain why GDP per capita comparisons among nations are not a perfect measure of differences in economic well-being.
> Explain the differences among the Agency for International Development (AID), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
> What are some of the problems for LDCs of accepting foreign aid?
> The present choice between investing in capital goods and producing consumer goods now affects the ability of an economy to produce in the future. Explain.
> Suppose you are a factory manager. Describe how you might reach production goals under a system of pure capitalism and under a system of pure socialism.
> Karl Marx believed the market system was doomed. Why do you think he was right or wrong?
> “The schools are not in the business of pleasing parents and students, and they cannot be allowed to set their own agendas. Their agendas are set by politicians, administrators, and various constituencies that hold the keys to political
> Explain the advantages and disadvantages of any two of the three basic types of economic systems.
> Do you support a constitutional amendment to prohibit the federal government from imposing any trade barriers, such as tariffs and quotas, except in case of war or national emergency? Why or why not?
> Now consider Question 5 in terms of the law’s impact on domestic producers that export goods. Does this policy adversely affect domestic producers that export goods? Details from Question 5: Suppose the United States passed a law stating that we would n
> Would the U.S. government gain any advantage from using tariffs or quotas to restrict imports?
> Bill can paint either two walls or one window frame in 1 hour. In the same time, Frank can paint either three walls or two window frames. To minimize the time spent painting, who should specialize in painting walls, and who should specialize in painting
> For each of the following situations, indicate the direction of the shift in the supply curve or the demand curve for dollars, the factor causing the change, and the resulting movement of the equilibrium exchange rate for the dollar in terms of foreign c
> Consider an economy in equilibrium with an inflationary gap. Draw a graph where the equilibrium real GDP is $16 trillion and the price level of 150. Label this equilibrium E1 where the aggregate demand, AD1, intersects the short-run aggregate supply curv
> Why does a production possibilities curve have a bowed-out shape?
> Consider an economy in equilibrium with a recessionary gap. Draw a graph where the equilibrium real GDP is $8 trillion and the price level of 150. Label this equilibrium E1 where the aggregate demand, AD1, intersects the short-run aggregate supply curve
> Exhibit 6 shows the monetarist monetary policy transmission mechanism. Assume the economy is in a recession. At each arrow, identify a reason why the transmission process could fail. Details from Exhibit 6: EXHIBIT 6 U.S. Balance of Trade, 1975-2016
> “A monetarist investigator might say that the sewer flow of 6,000 gallons an hour consisted of an average of 200 gallons in the sewer at any one time with a complete turnover of the water 30 times every hour.” Interpret this statement using the equation
> Using the demand and supply schedule for money shown in Exhibit 10, do the following: a. Graph the demand for money and the supply of money curves. b. Determine the equilibrium interest rate. c. Suppose the Fed increases the money supply by $100 billion.
> What are the basic motives for the transactions demand, precautionary demand, and speculative demand? Explain how these three demands are combined in a graph to show the total demand for money.
> Why is the shape of the aggregate supply curve important to the Keynesian-monetarist controversy? (Hint: Review Exhibit 6 in the chapter on aggregate demand and supply.) Details from Exhibit 6: EXHIBIT 6 U.S. Balance of Trade, 1975-2016 (billions o
> Based on the quantity theory of money, what would be the impact of increasing the money supply by 25 percent?
> Suppose the Federal Reserve’s trading desk buys $500,000 in T-bills from a securities dealer who then deposits the Fed’s check in Best National Bank. Use a balance sheet to show the impact on the bank’s loans. Consider the money multiplier and assume the
> Suppose you remove $1,000 from under your mattress and deposit it in First National Bank. Using a balance sheet, show the impact of your deposit on the bank’s assets and liabilities. If the required reserve ratio is 10 percent, what is the maximum amount
> In what form does a bank hold its required reserves? Assume the Fed has a 20 percent required reserve ratio. What amount of checkable deposits can be supported by $10 million in required reserves?
> Suppose, unfortunately, your mathematics and economics professors have decided to give tests two days from now and you can spend a total of only twelve hours studying for both exams. After some thought, you conclude that dividing your study time equally
> Although the Commerce Department, the Wharton School, the Federal Reserve Board, and other organizations publish economic forecasts and data on key economic indicators, they are not without armchair competition. For example, the chief executive of Stande
> Kyle, a single taxpayer, worked as a free-lance software engineer for the first three months of 2018. During that time, he earned $44,000 of self-employment income. On April 1, 2018 Kyle took a job as a full-time software engineer with one of his former
> Alice is single and self-employed in 2018. Her net business profit on her Schedule C for the year is $140,000. What is her self-employment tax liability and additional Medicare tax liability for 2018?
> Rasheed works for Company A, earning $350,000 in salary during 2018. Assuming he is single and has no other sources of income, what amount of FICA tax will Rasheed pay for the year?
> Brooke, a single taxpayer, works for Company A for all of 2018, earning a salary of $50,000. a. What is her FICA tax obligation for the year? b. Assume Brooke works for Company A for half of 2018, earning $50,000 in salary and she works for Company B f
> In 2018, Deon and NeNe are married filing jointly. They have three dependent children under 18 years of age. Deon and NeNe’s taxable income is $1,090,000, and they itemize their deductions as follows: real property taxes of $10,000, charitable contributi
> In 2018, Janet and Ray are married filing jointly. They have five dependent children under 18 years of age. Janet and Ray’s taxable income is $2,400,000, and they itemize their deductions as follows: state income taxes of $10,000 and mortgage interest ex
> Steve’s tentative minimum tax (TMT) for 2018 is $245,000. What is his AMT if a. His regular tax is $230,000? b. His regular tax is $250,000?
> In 2018, Juanita is married and files a joint tax return with her husband. What is her tentative minimum tax in each of the following alternative circumstances? a. Her AMT base is $100,000, all ordinary income. b. Her AMT base is $250,000, all ordinary i
> Corbett’s AMTI is $600,000. What is his AMT exemption under the following alternative circumstances? a. He is married and files a joint return. b. He is married and files a separate return. c. His filing status is single. d. His filing status is head o
> Olga is married and files a joint tax return with her husband. What amount of AMT exemption may she deduct under the following alternative circumstances? a. Her AMTI is $390,000. b. Her AMTI is $1,080,000. c. Her AMTI is $1,500,000.
> How was the income tax formula for individuals changed for 2018 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
> In 2018, Sven is single and has $120,000 of regular taxable income. He itemizes his deductions as follows: real property tax of $2,000, state income tax of $4,000, mortgage interest expense of $15,000 (acquisition debt of $300,000). He also has a positiv
> In 2018, Nadia has $100,000 of regular taxable income. She itemizes her deductions as follows: real property taxes of $1,500, state income taxes of $2,000, and mortgage interest expense of $10,000 (acquisition debt of $200,000). In addition, she receives
> Sylvester files as a single taxpayer during 2018. He itemizes deductions for regular tax purposes. He paid charitable contributions of $7,000, real estate taxes of $1,000, state income taxes of $4,000 and mortgage interest of $2,000 on $30,000 of acquisi
> Brooklyn files as a head of household for 2018). She claimed the standard deduction of $18,000 for regular tax purposes. Her regular taxable income was $80,000. What is Brooklyn’s AMTI?
> In 2018, Carson is claimed as a dependent on his parent’s tax return. Carson’s parents provided most of his support. What is Carson’s tax liability for the year in each of the following alternative circumstances? a. Carson is 17 years old at year-end and
> In 2018, Sheryl is claimed as a dependent on her parent’s tax return. Sheryl did not provide more than half her own support. What is Sheryl’s tax liability for the year in each of the following alternative circumstances? a. She received $7,000 from a par
> Henrich is a single taxpayer. In 2018, his taxable income is $450,000. What is his income tax and net investment income tax liability in each of the following alternative scenarios? a. All of his income is salary from his employer. b. His $450,000 of tax
> Lacy is a single taxpayer. In 2018, her taxable income is $40,000. What is her tax liability in each of the following alternative situations? a. All of her income is salary from her employer. b. Her $40,000 of taxable income includes $1,000 of qualified
> In 2018, Jasmine and Thomas, a married couple, have taxable income of $150,000. If they were to file separate tax returns, Jasmine would have reported taxable income of $140,000 and Thomas would have reported taxable income of $10,000. What is the couple
> John and Sandy Ferguson got married eight years ago and have a seven-year-old daughter Samantha. In 2018, John worked as a computer technician at a local university earning a salary of $152,000, and Sandy worked part-time as a receptionist for a law firm
> Troy operates an editorial service that employs two editors. These editors often entertain authors to encourage them to use Troy's service. This year Troy reimbursed the editors $3,000 for the cost of meals and $6,200 for the cost of entertaining authors
> In 2018, Jack is single two children, ages 10 and 12. Jack works full-time and earns an annual salary of $195,000 as a consultant.. Jack files as a head of household and does not itemize his deductions. In the fall of this year, he was recently offered a
> George recently received a great stock tip from his friend, Mason. George didn’t have any cash on hand to invest, so he decided to take out a $20,000 loan to facilitate the stock acquisition. The loan terms are 8 percent interest with interest-only payme
> On January 1 of year 1, Nick and Rachel Sutton purchased a parcel of undeveloped land as an investment. The purchase price of the land was $150,000. They paid for the property by making a down payment of $50,000 and borrowing $100,000 from the bank at an
> Shaun bought 300 shares of Dental Equipment, Inc. several years ago for $10,000. Currently the stock is worth $8,000. Shaun’s marginal tax rate this year is 24 percent, and he has no other capital gains or losses. Shaun expects to have a marginal rate of
> Christopher sold 100 shares of Cisco stock for $5,500 in the current year. He purchased the shares several years ago for $2,200. Assuming his marginal ordinary income tax rate is 24 percent, and he has no other capital gains or losses, how much tax will
> For 2018, Sherri has a short-term loss of $2,500 and a long-term loss of $4,750. a. How much loss can Sherri deduct in 2018? b. How much loss will Sherri carryover to 2019 and what is the character of the loss carryover?
> Diana and Ryan Workman were married on January 1 of last year. Diana has an eight-year-old son, Jorge, from her previous marriage. Ryan works as a computer programmer at Datafile Inc. (DI) earning a salary of $96,000. Diana is self-employed and runs a
> Consider the following letter and answer Shady’s question. To my friendly student tax preparer: Hello, my name is Shady Slim. I understand you are going to help me figure out my gross income for the year…whatever that means. It’s been a busy year and I’m
> Ken is 63 years old and unmarried. He retired at age 55 when he sold his business, Understock.com. Though Ken is retired, he is still very active. Ken reported the following financial information this year. Assume Ken files as a single taxpayer. Dete
> Explain why the medical expense provisions are sometimes referred to as “wherewithal” deductions and how this rationale is reflected in the limit on these deductions.
> Grayson is in the 24 percent tax rate bracket and has the sold the following stocks in 2018: Date Purchased Basis Date Sold Amount Realized Stock A 1/23/1994 $7,250 7/22/2018 $4,500 Stock B 4/10/2018 14,000 9/13/2018 17,500 Stock C
> Matt and Meg Comer are married and file a joint tax return. They do not have any children. Matt works as a history professor at a local university and earns a salary of $64,000. Meg works part-time at the same university. She earns $31,000 a year. The co
> Matt and Lori were divorced in 2016. Pursuant to the divorce decree Matt receives $10,000 of alimony each month. Use an available tax service to determine if the alimony Matt receives is taxable. Would your answer change if Matt and Lori still live toget
> Dahlia is in the 32 percent tax rate bracket and has purchased the following shares of Microsoft common stock over the years: Microsoft common stock Date Purchased Shares Basis 7/10/2008 400 $12,000 4/20/2009 300 $10,750 1/29/2010 500
> John bought 1,000 shares of Intel stock on October 18, 2014 for $30 per share plus a $750 commission he paid to his broker. On December 12, 2018, he sells the shares for $42.50 per share. He also incurs a $1,000 fee for this transaction. a. What is John
> Hayley recently invested $50,000 in a public utility stock paying a 3 percent annual dividend. If Hayley reinvests the annual dividend she receives net of any taxes owed on the dividend, how much will her investment be worth in four years if the dividend
> Dana intends to invest $30,000 in either a Treasury bond or a corporate bond. The Treasury bond yields 5 percent before tax and the corporate bond yields 6 percent before tax. Assuming Dana’s federal marginal rate is 24 percent and her marginal state rat
> Matt recently deposited $20,000 in a savings account paying a guaranteed interest rate of 4 percent for the next 10 years. If Matt expects his marginal tax rate to be 22 percent for the next 10 years, how much interest will he earn after-tax for the firs
> Katie is a shareholder in Engineers One, a civil engineering company. This year, Katie’s share of net business income from Engineers One is $200,000. Assume that Katie’s allocation of wages paid by Engineers One to its employees is $300,000 and her alloc
> Roquan is an attorney and practices as a sole proprietor. This year, Roquan had net business income of $90,000 from his law practice. Assume that Roquan pays $40,000 wages to his employees, he has $10,000 of property (unadjusted basis of equipment he pur
> Compare how the return of capital principle applies when: (1) a taxpayer sells an asset and collects the sale proceeds all immediately, and (2) a taxpayer sells an asset and collects the sale proceeds over several periods (installment sales). If Congress
> Stephanie is 12 years old and often assists neighbors on weekends by babysitting their children. Calculate the 2018 standard deduction Stephanie will claim under the following independent circumstances (assume that Stephanie’s parents will claim her as a
> During 2018, your clients, Mr. and Mrs. Howell, owned the following investment assets: Investment Assets Date Acquired Purchase Price Broker’s Commission Paid at Time of Purchase 300 shares of IBM common 11/22/2015 $10,350 $100 200 shares of
> Fred currently earns $9,000 per month. Fred has been offered the chance to transfer for three to five years to an overseas affiliate. His employer is willing to pay Fred $10,000 per month if he accepts the assignment. Assume that the maximum foreign earn
> Trevor is a single individual who is a cash-method calendar-year taxpayer. For each of the next two years (year 1 and year 2), Trevor expects to report AGI of $80,000, contribute $8,000 to charity, and pay $2,800 in state income taxes. a. Estimate Trevo
> Anne’s marginal income tax rate is 32 percent. She purchases a corporate bond for $10,000 and the maturity, or face value, of the bond is $10,000. If the bond pays 5 percent per year before taxes, what is Anne’s annual after-tax rate of return from the b
> Joe and Jessie are married and have one dependent child, Lizzie. Lizzie is currently in college at State University. Joe works as a design engineer for a manufacturing firm while Jessie runs a craft business from their home. Jessie’s cr
> Shauna Coleman is single. She is employed as an architectural designer for Streamline Design (SD). Shauna wanted to determine her taxable income. She correctly calculated her AGI. However, she wasn’t sure how to compute the rest of her taxable income. Sh
> Tiffany is unmarried and has a 15-year-old qualifying child. Tiffany has determined her tax liability to be $3,525, and her employer has withheld $1,500 of federal taxes from her paycheck. Tiffany is allowed to claim a $2,000 child tax credit for her qua
> Camille Sikorski was divorced last year. She currently owns and provides a home for her 15-year-old daughter. Kaly lived in Camille’s home for the entire year and Camille paid for all the costs of maintaining the home. She received a salary of $105,000 a
> Demarco and Janine Jackson have been married for 20 years and have four children who qualify as their dependents (Damarcus, Janine, Michael, and Candice). The couple received salary income of $100,000, qualified business income of $10,000 from an investm
> Peggy is a rodeo clown, and this year she expended $1,000 on special “funny” clothes and outfits. Peggy would like to deduct the cost of these clothes as work-related because she refuses to wear the clothes unless she is working. Under what circumstances
> Marc and Michelle are married and earned salaries this year of $64,000 and $12,000, respectively. In addition to their salaries, they received interest of $350 from municipal bonds and $500 from corporate bonds. Marc contributed $2,500 to an individual r
> Jeremy and Alyssa Johnson have been married for five years and do not have any children. Jeremy was married previously and has one child from the prior marriage. He is self-employed and operates his own computer repair store. For the first two months of
> L. A. and Paula file as married taxpayers. In August of this year they received a $5,200 refund of state income taxes that they paid last year. How much of the refund, if any, must L. A. and Paula include in gross income under the following independent s
> This year Evan graduated from college, and took a job as a deliveryman in the city. Evan was paid a salary of $67,300 and he received $700 in hourly pay for part-time work over the weekends. Evan summarized his expenses below. Calculate Evanâ
> Last year Acme paid Ralph $15,000 to install a new air-conditioning unit at its headquarters building. The air conditioner did not function properly, and this year Acme requested that Ralph return the payment. Because Ralph could not repair one critical
> Elroy, who is single, has taken over the care of his mother Irene in her old age. Elroy pays the bills relating to Irene’s home. He also buys all her groceries and provides the rest of her support. Irene has no gross income. a. What is Elroy’s filing sta
> Mel and Cindy Gibson’s 12-year-old daughter Rachel was abducted on her way home from school on March 15, 2018. Police reports indicated that a stranger had physically dragged Rachel into a waiting car and sped away. Everyone hoped that the kidnapper and
> Hank, a calendar-year taxpayer, uses the cash method of accounting for his sole proprietorship. In late December he performed $20,000 of legal services for a client. Hank typically requires his clients to pay his bills immediately upon receipt. Assume hi
> Describe the consequences for failure to file a tax return and late payment of taxes owed.
> Using the facts from the previous problem, when should Hank send the bill if he expects his marginal tax rate to be 35 percent next year? 24 percent next year? Data from Problem 44: Hank, a calendar-year taxpayer, uses the cash method of accounting for
> All else being equal, should taxpayers prefer to exclude income or defer it? Why?
> Using the facts in problem 43, what interest rate does Surething Inc. need to offer to make Hugh indifferent between investing in the two bonds? Data from problem 43: Hugh has the choice between investing in a City of Heflin bond at 6 percent or a Sure
> Using the facts from the previous problem, when should Reese pay the bill if she expects her marginal tax rate to be 35 percent next year? 24 percent next year? Data from Problem 42: Reese, a calendar-year taxpayer, uses the cash method of accounting f
> What is a §481 adjustment, and what is the purpose of this adjustment?
> Using the facts in problem 40, if Scot and Vidia earn an additional $80,000 of taxable income, what is their marginal tax rate on this income? Ho1w would your answer differ if they, instead, had $80,000 of additional deductions? Data from problem 40: S
> Manny, a calendar-year taxpayer, uses the cash method of accounting for his sole proprietorship. In late December he performed $20,000 of legal services for a client. Manny typically requires his clients to pay his bills immediately upon receipt. Assume
> Tim is a single, cash-method taxpayer with an AGI of $50,000. In April of this year Tim paid $1,020 with his state income tax return for the previous year. During the year, Tim had $5,400 of state income tax and $18,250 of federal income tax withheld fro
> Simpson, age 45, is a single individual who is employed full-time by Duff Corporation. This year Simpson reports AGI of $50,000 and has incurred the following medical expenses: a. Calculate the amount of medical expenses that will be included with Simp
> In each of the following independent cases, indicate the amount (1) deductible for AGI, (2) deductible from AGI, and (3) neither deductible for nor deductible from AGI before considering income limitations or the standard deduction. a. Ted paid $50 rent
