Adamsky Law Offices Blog

Seniors can benefit from the new economic stimulus law enacted on February 13th, but it appears that you will need to file an income tax return to do so. Seniors, disabled veterans, and veterans' widows will receive $300 payments if they earned $3,000 in Social Security or veterans' disability benefits in 2007. In addition, workers who earned at least $3,000, but not enough to pay income taxes, will be eligible for payments of $300. For higher income individuals, the law provides rebate checks of up to $600 per individual. The stimulus payment begins to phase out for individuals with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) over $75,000 and married couples who file a joint return with AGI over $150,000. In order to get a rebate, you will need to file an income tax return even if you do not have any tax liability. You will need to report your Social Security income on the tax return. This does not necessarily mean you will be taxed on your Social Security income, but you must report it

Driving, to Americans, especially those of us in the suburbs, is a symbol of our independence and a necessary part of life. We want and need to keep driving as long as we can, and getting old shouldn’t stop us. But, there may come a time when you shouldn’t drive anymore. Will you know if it’s time to stop driving? Will your loved-ones be able to tell you when they see it? How will you and your family deal with your inability to drive? These are all questions you should explore and answer now before you face this difficult situation. You must first know the signs of unsafe driving. They include: driving at inappropriate speeds (either too fast or too slow), trouble staying in your lane, problems making turns, getting lost frequently, a slower response rate, stopping for no reason, getting frequent tickets, and being easily distracted. One or two of these may not indicate a problem, if they happen infrequently, but many and frequent occurrences should make it clear that you, or y

My mail box is filled with tax reporting documents at this time of year. All of my banks, brokers and employers are sending the IRS information on what I earned last year. I’ll have to file a return and report them all, or be subject to criminal and civil sanctions. Is there any way out of this? Some people think so, and have come up with many novel arguments why they don’t have to pay the tax. But, I’m not going to try any of them, and you shouldn’t either. The IRS recently issued a detailed report on the major “Frivolous Tax Arguments” and why they don’t work. You can read the entire 70-page report on the IRS website if you like, but I have summarized a few key sections in this article. Argument 1.: The Tax System is “Voluntary” so you don’t have to file a return. The tax system is “voluntary” in that it is controlled in the first instance by the taxpayer. We get to “voluntarily” report our income, calculate the appropriate tax, and then pay it. The system does not do it fo