Gene E. Utterback, EA <eagent[at]alliancetax.com> wrote:

- quote -

A point about that case that is frequently overlooked is
that the guy was technically "retired" at the time and was
collecting social security. I'm not sure you could stretch
that into supporting the notion that a (say) 25 year old
individual with no other means of support can accept an
endless series of dissimilar odd jobs without incurring SE
liability.

MTW

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

Bill wrote:

- quote -

I seem to recall reading that writing one book and earning
royalties from it has been found NOT to be ALWAYS a business.

IF a business, it's schedule C plus SE. If not, it's line
21 (with expenses being miscellaneous deductions subject
to the 2% rule).

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

Dick Adams wrote:

- quote -

I've decided that one discussion a week is all I can take
on the subject of hobby vs self-employment. Here's a site
dedicated to the taxation of writers (The Writers Pocket
Tax Guide):

http://www.foolscap-quill.com/writersptg/wptg2004.html

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

Dick Adams wrote:

- quote -

Sounds like WHILE she was writing it, it was a regular
occupation, as opposed to sporadic, sporific... horrific,
something like that. and you know what that means.

- quote -

"Prodessional"???? Been in the usequ beatha again, Dick?

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

"Dick Adams" <rdadams[at]smart.net> wrote:

- quote -

Look up the Bartok case. As I recall, Bartok was a retired
mechanic who took on one job to redo some church windows.
The church issued a 1099 and the IRS attempted to treat it
as SE income. The court held that since it was one time
only project that is was NOT SE income.

Gene E. Utterback, EA

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

Dick Adams posted:

- quote -

Well, one very admired friend of mine was heavily involved
in writing the tax code which has evolved into the mess we
deal with today. He's long retired from the IRS, and
sincerely sorry.

But Pub 17 has a very clear direction for authors who
receive royalties: they are considered independent
contractors and should file C or C-EZ plus SE. Sorry 'bout
that.

On the other hand, congratulations to your friend. That's
really terrific -- to get published and actually make
reasonable money for your efforts, and on the very first
try. Admirable.

Bill

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

I know it's a terrible thing to say but some of my best
friends are Auditors.

So Kathleen called me with a tax question (amazing since
I don't even prepare my own tax return). She got married
in 2000 (I did tell her just to shack up, but she's just
another woman who doesn't listen to me.) She was on about
an 80% travel schedule. When she was six months pregnant,
she took a one-year leave of absense and started writing a
book. The book (a novel) was published in September 2002.
Her royalties for 2003 (none in 2002) were $26,000 and
change. She has since gone back to work as an Audit
Supervisor. She never wrote a book before and has no plans
for writing another book.

Quite obviously she wants to declare the $26,000+ as other
income to avoid the nearly $4,000 in SE tax. Keep in mind
that us Auditors do not like being audited cause we know how
nasty other Auditors are (and that ain't humor).

How about some Prodessional Tax Preparer opinions on this!!

Dick

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->