Exam 5: Gross Income and Exclusions

Jack and Jill are married. This year Jack earned $72,000 and Jill earned $80,000 and they received $4,000 of interest income from a joint savings account. How much gross income would Jack report if he files married-filing-separate from Jill?

Community property laws dictate that income earned by one spouse is treated as though it was earned equally by both spouses.

Helen is a U.S. citizen and CPA, who moved to London, England three years ago to work for a British company. This year, she spent the entire year in London and earned a salary of $110,000. How much of her salary will she be allowed to exclude from gross income in the U.S.?

Wherewithal-to-pay represents the principle that a realized transaction should require a taxpayer to sell other assets in order to pay income taxes.

Karl works at Moe's grocery. This year Karl was paid $43,000 in salary but he was allowed to purchase his groceries at 10% below Moe's cost. This year Karl spent $3,600 to purchase groceries costing Moe $4,000 and worth $6,000. What amount must Karl include in his gross income?

Taxpayers meeting certain home ownership and use requirements can permanently exclude up to $1,000,000 of realized gain on the sale of their principal residence.

George purchased a life annuity for $3,200 that will provide him $80 monthly payments for as long as he lives. Based on IRS tables, George's life expectancy is 100 months. How much of the first $80 payment will George include in his gross income?

Claim of right states that income has been realized if a taxpayer receives income and there are substantial restrictions on the taxpayer's use of the income.

This year Zach was injured in an auto accident. As a result, he received the following payments. Zach received $18,000 of disability pay. Zach has disability insurance provided by his employer as a nontaxable fringe benefit. Zach's employer paid $4,300 in disability premiums for Zach this year. Zach's hospital bills totaled $4,500 and were paid by his health insurance. Zach has health insurance provided by his employer as a nontaxable fringe benefit. Zach's employer paid $6,250 in health insurance premiums for Zach this year. What amount must Zach include in his gross income?

Qualified fringe benefits received by an employee can be excluded from gross income.

This year Joseph joined the board of directors. Besides his director's fees, Joseph received the following employee benefits: The stock bonus consisted of 5,000 shares of Bell stock given to Joseph as compensation. At the time of the transfer the stock was listed at $4 per share. What amounts, if any, should Joseph include in gross income this year?

In January of the current year, Dora made a gift of stock to her granddaughter. At the time of the gift, the stock was worth $15,000. Several months later in the same year after the gift, a $500 dividend was declared on the stock and paid to Dora's granddaughter. What amount must Dora's granddaughter include in her gross income for the current year?

Rhett made his annual gambling trip to Uwin Casino. On this trip Rhett won $250 at the slots and $1,200 at poker. Also this year, Rhett made several trips to the race track, but he lost $700 on his various wagers. What amount must Rhett include in his gross income?

Shaun is a student who has received an academic scholarship to State University. The scholarship paid $14,000 for tuition, $2,500 for fees, and $1,000 for books. In addition, Shaun's dormitory fees of $8,500 were paid by the University when he agreed as a condition of receiving the dormitory fees to counsel freshman on campus living. What amount must Shaun include in his gross income?

Identify the rule that states that income has been realized when a taxpayer receives the income and there are no restrictions on the taxpayer's use of the income (e.g., no obligation to repay the amount):

Gross income includes all income realized during the year.

This year Barney purchased 500 shares of Bell common stock for $20 per share. At year-end the Bell shares were only worth $2 per share. What amount can Barney deduct as a loss this year?

Loretta received $6,200 from a disability insurance policy that she purchased directly this year. Loretta must include all $6,200 in her gross income.

Henry works part-time on auto repairs and restoration projects. This year Henry was paid $5,400 for repairs he made to his neighbor's auto. Henry's neighbor promised to pay Henry another $2,200 in cash next year. Henry's brother borrowed $4,100 in cash in December of this year and gave him a negotiable promissory note for $4,300 due in three months with interest. Henry sold the note in January of next year for $3,500. Finally, Henry restored a car for the football coach. The coach paid him this year with a pass to next year's football games. The pass is worth $750. Compute Henry's gross income for this tax year assuming that he uses the cash basis of accounting.

Lisa and Collin are married. Lisa works as an engineer and earns a salary of $116,000. Collin works at a beauty salon and reported wages of $45,000. Lisa received $500 of interest from corporate bonds and $250 of interest from a municipal bond. Lisa acquired these bonds prior to her marriage to Collin. Collin's father passed away on April 14. He inherited cash of $50,000 and his baseball card collection, valued at $2,000. As beneficiary of his father's life insurance policy, Collin also received $150,000. The couple spent a weekend in Atlantic City in November and came home with gambling winnings of $1,200. Collin was injured in an accident at the salon. He was unable to work for a month, but during this time he received $5,000 from disability insurance he purchased several years ago. Collin also received $2,000 in workman's compensation, and $1,500 from the salon for the emotional trauma he suffered from the accident. Calculate Lisa and Collin's gross income for this year assuming they will file married joint.