- quote -

I have just throughly exeamined Form 1040A for 2006 and I
can assure everyone that there is no place to deduct
charitable contributions in any amount. There is, however, a
line for claiming a retirement savings contribution credit
which if, perused briefly, can confuse readers, especially
if they lock on the term "contribution". The credit is
allowed if the taxpayer has limited income and makes a
retirement contribution: 401K, 403B or other retirement
plan. Taxpayers still must use Sch. A with Form 1040 to
deduct any charitable contributions.

Linda Dorfmont E.A., CFP, CSA

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- quote -

By taking the standard deduction you are allowed to deduct
even more than if you deducted all your contributions on
Schedule A.

- quote -

Where on Form 1040A can you deduct $500 of charitable
contributions?

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RichT wrote:

- quote -

You can elect to itemize if you want to. I do it all the
time, because Oklahoma's standard deduction is so low
compared to Federal.

- quote -

*boggle* There's no $500 charitable contribution allowed on
the 1040A. Where exactly are you proposing entering such a
thing on the 1040A?

Phoebe

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"RichT" <sr71emr[at]comcast.com> wrote:

- quote -

Where did you find that? What line of the 1040A would you
put it on?

The IRS is very clear as to what form is required to claim
any charitable deduction:

<quote from PUB 17"Form 1040 required. To deduct a charitable
contribution, you must file Form 1040 and itemize
deductions on Schedule A. The amount of your
deduction may be limited if certain rules and
limits explained in this chapter apply to you."
<end quote
I would be very suppressed if there is some way to add a
$500 charitable deduction to a 1040A instead of using a 1040
and Schedule A.

If I am wrong, I am sure that others will correct me, but I
don't think there are any freebees for those who don't have
enough deductions to itemize.

--
-Ernie-

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- quote -

NO, it does NOT. None of your deductions (including
charitable contributions) can be claimed on form 1040A.
Assuming you have enough to itemize, you MUST use Schedule
A, and the only way to use Schedule A is to file form 1040.

You are seriously confused on this point, regardless of the
number of years you have been "doing" your own taxes. Things
change.

- quote -

Again, you miss the point. You can't use form 1040A because
you must report your stock sale on Schedule D, regardless of
whether you had a gain or a loss. Schedule D can only be
filed with form 1040, there is no comparable Schedule to go
with the 1040A form.

- quote -

To repeat, IT WILL NOT give you any advantage. Your
assumptions are flawed, therefore your argument is kaka.

- quote -

Again with the weird assumptions?

- quote -

Obviously, nothing has been learned here.

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- quote -

A limited charitable deduction without itemizing has been
discussed for several years, but never passed. Where on the
1040A do you think it is allowed?

--
Don EA in Upstate NY

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"RichT" <sr71emr[at]comcast.com> writes:

- quote -

Form 1040A does NO SUCH THING.

What line on 1040A are you referring to?

The only way to take *any* charitable deduction is Schedule
A of Form 1040.

Further, Form 1040 lets a taxpayer do anything they can do
on one of the "shorter" forms.

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.arlington.ma.us

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"Ernie Klein" <ecklein[at]pacbell.net> wrote:
- quote -

The reason it doesn't make sense to you did not read and
comprehend the rest of my post. Since you snipped it I'll
leave it upto you to determine what I said

- quote -

For me and perhaps thousands of others, yes it does, see
below

- quote -

Yes one of the 'goodies' I refered to and you're right, I
missed that during my quick scan of the form

But

It appears that you are the one that seems confused on the
other issue. I'll try to explain. Since my deductions
allowed on Sch A do not come to a certain level I must take
the Std Ded. It's close but no cigar. I have a fairly large
contribution for charities that are worth $100's but they
are disallowed becuase I cannot use Sch A. Form 1040A allows
the charitible contributions at least to the $500 level, but
since I need to claim my (very) insignificant cap loss on
Sch D I can't use 1040A. In fact loss/gain must be reported
to establish basis as was pointed out in an earlier
post.....In this case the 1040A form would give me the
advantage, albeit only a couple a hundred bucks. One of the
problems with striving to become debt free is that if you
trade stocks you will never be able to take a tax advantage
of giving stuff away to the less fortunate. Wierd! Next
time I will be able to use 1040A because I'll be a bit more
smarter about when I trade my company's stock awards.

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"RichT" <sr71emr[at]comcast.com> wrote:

- quote -

You still seem to be very confused. You say you have been
itemizing since 1980 and in the same sentence you say
"...and also not being able to itemize". This doesn't make
sense.

- quote -

The 1040A form is just a simplified version of the 1040
form. It does not give you any advantage over the 1040
form. If you qualify to use the 1040A form, it can reduce
the amount of paper you have to print and send (there is no
advantage if you e-file).

Exactly why do you seem to think that there is some other
advantage of using the 1040A over the 1040?

Just what are the "goodies" you think you can get by filing
a 1040A instead of the 1040?

BTW, Line 42 on the 1040A is where you put the telephone tax
credit.

--
-Ernie-

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"Phil Marti" <prm20871[at]verizon.net> wrote:
- quote -

Thanks all for your responses. And perhaps I am a bit
confused but have been itemizing since 1980 with or w/o
these fandangled tax s/w programs just not much with stocks
and also not being able to itemize. The rule I did not know
was that they would count it all as income because no cost
basis was established. But that makes sense...Good point. My
angle was as silly as it may sound, is that if I didn't need
to report the few $$ loss and since I don't have enough
deductions to itemize then I can't take advantage of some of
the other goodies that are on schedule A but that are also
(but not the telephone tax) on 1040A as well. As it turns
out I make too much for that form any way. Soooo, as usual
they got me coming and going...

Thanks again for clarifying,
Rich

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"RichT" <sr71...[at]comcast.com> wrote:

- quote -

The IRS receives a copy of the 1099-B. If you don't report
the sale, the IRS sends you a nice letter wherein they
figure your cost basis as zero and the rest as pure profit.
And since they will take their time getting around to
sending you the letter, they will add in penalty and
interest as well. So save yourself some trouble and file
the Schedule D.

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- quote -

Do you mean that you want to file Form 1040 Schedule A -
Itemized Deductions? Form 1040A is different from Schedule
A. Form 1040A is a short tax return form that does NOT allow
you to itemize deductions for contributions, sales tax, etc.

I don't understand why you think that reporting a tiny loss
on a sale of stock would prevent you from itemizing
deductions. You can do both by filing Form 1040 with
Schedule A for your itemized deductions and Schedule D for
the stock loss. The itemized deductions and the stock loss
both help to reduce the amount of tax you have to pay.

You can get the telephone tax refund no matter what form you
file, regardless of your income, loss, or deductions.

If you are confused about tax forms and how to report your
income and deductions, you should seek professional help.

Bob Sandler

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"RichT" <sr71emr[at]comcast.com> writes:

- quote -

You're not making sense -- you *can't* take charitable
donations and the sales tax deduction on a 1040A. To claim
them you have to file a 1040 (with a Schedule A).

As for the stock sale, unless you report it on Sched D, the
IRS will assume you have a *gain* for the full amount of the
proceeds (i.e. absent a Sched D, the IRS will assume zero
basis).

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.arlington.ma.us

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sr71emr[at]comcast.com (RichT) posted:

- quote -

If you've made a stock sale -- and, presumably, received a
1099-B -- you must file Schedule D in order to record your
cost basis, and "prove" the amount of the loss. Otherwise,
the entire proceeds shown on the 1099-B will be considered
as income.

Also, filing Schedule D has nothing to do with deducting
charitable contributions or taxes paid -- which would be
itemized on Schedule A. The telephone excise tax credit
refund is also unrelated, and can be taken no matter which
forms you use to file.

It seems you have a basic misunderstanding, and you should
seek some clarification -- either by consulting a
professional preparer, or taking advantage of one of the
many "Free Tax Help" options available. (VITA or AARP
TaxAide, for example.)

Bill

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"RichT" <sr71emr[at]comcast.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes.

- quote -

You are very confused. So odd when taxes are invovled <g> .

Stock sales go on Schedule D of the 1040.

Itemized deductions (charitable, state/local tax) go on
Schedule A of the 1040. Since it sounds like you've not
itemized before, make sure that your total itemized
deductions are more than the standard deduction.

The telephone excise tax credit goes on line 71 of the 1040.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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Must I file for a stock sale loss. Issue is - the loss is
tiny compared to the advantages I can take by filing a 1040A
so that I can take advantage of my considerable charitable
contributions, the sales tax for this year, telephone excise
credit etc.

Thanks
Rich

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