Question Description

Please complete the 2016 federal income tax return for Joseph and Diana Cohen. Ignore the requirement to attach the form(s) W-2 to the front page of the Form 1040. If required information is missing, use reasonable assumptions to fill in the gaps.

Requirement

From 1040,Schedule A,Schedule B,Schedule C,Schedule D, Schedule SE, form 8949, form 6521, form 858

Joseph and Diana Cohen live in Pleasantville, New Jersey. Joseph is the Vice-President of Sales at a small start-up company. Diana is a former advertising executive who currently consults with former clients. She also serves on the board of directors of an advertising company. The Cohens have three children Rebecca (age 18), Alan (age 15), and David (age 12). In January, Rebecca left home to attend a liberal arts college. All three children qualify as Joseph and Diana’s federal income tax dependents. The Cohens plan to file a joint tax return. The Cohens provided the following information:

Joseph Cohen reported the following the following information relating to his employment during the year:

Employer

Gross Wages

Federal Income Tax Withholding

State Income Tax Withholding

Alternative Energy

$118,325

$29,230

$15,000

The above amounts do not reflect any income items described below. Joseph’s employer withheld all payroll taxes it was required to withhold. The entire Cohen family was covered by minimum essential health insurance during each month in 2016. The insurance was provided by Joseph’s employer, Alternative Energy.

Diana Cohen received the following revenue during the year (she uses the cash method of accounting).

Consulting revenue reported to her on a Form 1099-MISC, Box 7

High-end Retail$32,000

Jensen’s Health Products$8,500

Strategic Solutions$3,750

Board of director compensation reported to her on a Form 1099-MISC, Box 7

Natural Sunshine, Inc.$6,500

During the year, Diana paid the following business expenses:

Consultant-related:

Airfare$2,900

Hotel$1,450

Meals$390

Parking$320

Diana drove 290 business miles for her consulting-related activities (she has documentation to verify)

Board of Director-related:

Meals$125

Hotel$225

Diana drove 315 business miles for her board of director activities (she has documentation to verify)

Neither of Diana’s business activities required the filing of Form(s) 1099 to report payments she made during the tax year. In addition, Ms. Cohen drove a 2014 Lexus purchased on January 1, 2014 for all her business mileage. She drove the vehicle a total of 10,605 miles during the year for all purposes. Diana has written documentation to support the mileage amounts. She also has access to another vehicle for personal purposes.

The Cohens also received the following during the year:

Interest income from First Bank of New Jersey$320

Interest income from Patterson, New Jersey School District$200

Interest income from U.S. Treasury Bond$350

Interest income from General Mills corporate bond$400

Qualified dividend income from Rio Tinto$1,500

Qualified dividend income from Microsoft$750

Qualified dividend income from Cooper Tire$200

Qualified dividend income from Cardinal Health$425

Qualified dividend income from Union Pacific$140

Qualified dividend income from Procter & Gamble$190

Qualified dividend income from PepsiCo$225

Qualified dividend income from Kellogg$200

Qualified dividend income from Abbott Labs$275

Qualified dividend income from 3M$350

Dividend income (not qualified) from China Fund$2,000

The Cohens did not own, control or manage any foreign bank accounts, nor were they grantors or beneficiaries of a foreign trust during the tax year.

The Cohens had the following activity in their brokerage account during the year (all transactions were reported on a Form 1099-B. Basis information on each stock sale was reported to the IRS):

Sold 2,000 shares of Microsoft7/1/16$22,500

Sold 75 shares of Apple, Inc.4/15/16$28,750

Sold 350 shares of Cooper Tire10/14/16$14,700

Sold 1,000 shares of Cardinal Health9/3/16$35,000

Sold 50 shares of Union Pacific1/7/16$2,750

Purchased 100 shares of Procter & Gamble7/10/16$7,700

Purchased 350 shares of Cooper Tire11/1/16$14,000

Purchased 350 shares of PepsiCo5/14/16$32,000

Purchased 300 shares of Kellogg10/14/16$21,000

Relevant tax basis/holding period information related to sales of securities in the current year:

Purchased 2,000 shares of Microsoft on 5/1/16 for $21,000

Purchased 200 shares of Apple, Inc. on 3/8/14 for $90,000

Purchased 300 shares of Cooper Tire on 1/12/13 for $9,000

Purchased 50 shares of Cooper Tire on 6/28/16 for $2,000

Received 1,000 shares of Cardinal Health from Diana’s father as a gift on 10/10/00. Her father’s basis in the stock at the time of the gift was $7,000. Fair market value of the stock at the date of the gift was $41,000

Purchased 100 shares of Union Pacific on 9/5/15 for $6,000

The Cohens have a $43,000 long-term capital loss carryover from the prior tax year.

The Cohens received a New Jersey state income tax refund of $400 in May of 2016. The Cohens received the refund because they had overpaid their New Jersey state individual income tax in 2015. On their 2015 Federal income tax return, the Cohens deducted and received tax benefit for all state tax income taxes paid in 2015.

Diana is a 10% owner in an advertising agency named Bright Ideas (“BI”) (EIN 20-1234567). BI is a Subchapter S corporation. The company reported ordinary business income for the year of $150,000. Diana received a K-1 from BI reporting her allocation of this business income. Diana acquired the stock several years ago. Her basis in the stock before considering her 2016 income allocation was $92,000. Diana is a passive owner with respect to this entity.

Diana is also a 20% owner in Natural Sunshine, Inc. (“NS”) (EIN 24-9876543). NS is a Subchapter S corporation. The company reported an ordinary business loss for the year of ($80,000). Diana received a K-1 from NS reporting her allocation of this business loss. Diana acquired the stock several years ago. Her basis in the stock before considering her 2016 loss allocation was $45,000. Diana is a passive owner with respect to this entity.

Joseph received 5,000 shares of restricted (common) stock from his employer on July 1, 2016. The terms of the restricted stock grant are such that if Joseph is still employed by Alternative Energy on July 1, 2021 the entire 5,000 shares will vest and become his property. Joseph, upon the advice of his tax advisor, prepared and filed an IRC Section 83(b) election on July 8, 2016. On July 1, 2016, the shares were valued at $5 per share. Joseph estimates the value of the shares in five years will be at least $150 per share. Joseph notified Alternative Energy about the IRC Section 83(b) election in a timely manner. None of the income tax consequences of this restricted stock grant was included in the $118,325 reported as part of Joseph’s gross wages (see above).

In May, Joseph was injured in a home accident. The injury prevented Joseph from working for about a month. During this time, Joseph received $15,000 in disability payments attributable to a disability insurance policy. The disability policy premiums were paid on Joseph’s behalf as a nontaxable fringe benefit.

The Cohens paid the following expenses during the year:

Dentist (unreimbursed by insurance)$1,500

Doctors (unreimbursed by insurance)$ 2,425

Prescriptions (unreimbursed by insurance)$ 675

Real property taxes on residence$7,525

Vehicle property tax based upon value$1,250

Mortgage interest on principal residence$12,550

Margin interest paid to broker$600

Contribution to United Way$2,000

Contribution to American Cancer Society$5,000

Contribution to neighborhood drive to oppose development project$500

Contribution to the Temple Mount Synagogue$12,000

Fee paid to Mouser, Johnson, and Hintze CPAs for tax preparation$450

The Cohens also donated clothing, electronics, furniture and other household goods to the Salvation Army of Pleasantville, New Jersey on April 15, 2016. Estimated thrift value of the goods donated was $275.

Miscellaneous Information

On September 1, the Cohens paid $200 in foreign taxes attributable to the dividend received from the China Fund.

During the year, the Cohens paid a portion of Rebecca’s tuition to attend The College of Liberal Arts of New Jersey (CLA). They also purchased Rebecca’s school books. Rebecca attended the spring/summer and the fall semesters as a full-time student. In total, the Cohens paid $9,000 for tuition and $2,000 for books. Rebecca used $6,000 from a scholarship she received from CLA to pay the remaining $6,000 of tuition for the year. Rebecca was not required to perform any services as a condition of accepting the scholarship. Rebecca was not employed during the year. CLA’s address and employer identification number (EIN) is as follows:

The College of Liberal Arts of New Jersey

65 Ivory Tower

Penns Grove, NJ 08069

EIN- 22-5698324

The Cohens would like to contribute to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. The Cohens would also like to receive a refund (if any) of tax they may have overpaid for the year. Their preferred method of receiving the refund is by check.