| Pub. 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income |
2006 Tax Year |
Publication 525 - Main Contents
Generally, you must include in gross income everything you receive in payment for personal services. In addition to wages,
salaries, commissions,
fees, and tips, this includes other forms of compensation such as fringe benefits and stock options.
You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from your employer showing the pay you
received for your services. Include your pay on line 7 of Form 1040 or Form 1040A or on line 1 of Form 1040EZ, even if you
do not receive a Form W-2.
Childcare providers.
If you provide childcare, either in the child's home or in your home or other place of business, the pay you receive
must be included in your
income. If you are not an employee, you are probably self-employed and must include payments for your services on Schedule
C (Form 1040), Profit or
Loss From Business, or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040), Net Profit From Business. You generally are not an employee unless you are
subject to the will and
control of the person who employs you as to what you are to do and how you are to do it.
Babysitting.
If you babysit for relatives or neighborhood children, whether on a regular basis or only periodically, the rules
for childcare providers apply to
you.
Bankruptcy.
If, after October 16, 2005, you filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, you must allocate your
wages and withheld income tax.
Your W-2 will show your total wages and withheld income tax for the year. On your tax return, you report the wages and withheld
income tax for the
period before you filed for bankruptcy. Your bankruptcy estate reports the wages and withheld income tax for the period after
you filed for
bankruptcy. If you receive other information returns (such as Form 1099-DIV or 1099-INT) that report gross income to you,
rather than to the
bankruptcy estate, you must allocate that income.
The only exception is for purposes of figuring your self-employment tax, if you are self-employed. For that purpose,
you must take into account all
your self-employment income for the year from services performed both before and after the beginning of the case.
You must file a statement with your income tax return stating that you filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The statement
must show the allocation
and describe the method used to make the allocation. For a sample of this statement and other information, see Notice 2006-83
on page 596 of Internal
Revenue Bulletin 2006-40 at
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb06-40.pdf.
Miscellaneous Compensation
This section discusses many types of employee compensation. The subjects are arranged in alphabetical order.
Advance commissions and other earnings.
If you receive advance commissions or other amounts for services to be performed in the future and you are a cash-method
taxpayer, you must include
these amounts in your income in the year you receive them.
If you repay unearned commissions or other amounts in the same year you receive
them, reduce the amount included in your income by the repayment. If you repay them in a later tax year, you can deduct the
repayment as an itemized
deduction on your Schedule A (Form 1040), or you may be able to take a credit for that year. See Repayments, later.
Allowances and reimbursements.
If you receive travel, transportation, or other business expense allowances or reimbursements from your
employer, see Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses. If you are reimbursed for moving expenses, see
Publication 521, Moving
Expenses.
Back pay awards.
Include in income amounts you are awarded in a settlement or judgment for back pay. These include payments made to
you for damages, unpaid life
insurance premiums, and unpaid health insurance premiums. They should be reported to you by your employer on Form W-2.
Bonuses and awards.
Bonuses or awards you receive for outstanding work are included in your income and should be shown on your
Form W-2. These include prizes such as vacation trips for meeting sales goals. If the prize or award you receive is goods
or services, you must
include the fair market value of the goods or services in your income. However, if your employer merely promises to pay you
a bonus or award at some
future time, it is not taxable until you receive it or it is made available to you.
Employee achievement award.
If you receive tangible personal property (other than cash, a gift certificate, or an equivalent item) as an award
for length-of-service or safety
achievement, you generally can exclude its value from your income. However, the amount you can exclude is limited to your
employer's cost and cannot
be more than $1,600 ($400 for awards that are not qualified plan awards) for all such awards you receive during the year.
Your employer can tell you
whether your award is a qualified plan award. Your employer must make the award as part of a meaningful presentation, under
conditions and
circumstances that do not create a significant likelihood of it being disguised pay.
However, the exclusion does not apply to the following awards.
-
A length-of-service award if you received it for less than 5 years of service or if you received another length-of-service
award during the
year or the previous 4 years.
-
A safety achievement award if you are a manager, administrator, clerical employee, or other professional employee or if more
than 10% of
eligible employees previously received safety achievement awards during the year.
Example.
Ben Green received three employee achievement awards during the year: a nonqualified plan award of a watch valued at $250,
and two qualified plan
awards of a stereo valued at $1,000 and a set of golf clubs valued at $500. Assuming that the requirements for qualified plan
awards are otherwise
satisfied, each award by itself would be excluded from income. However, because the $1,750 total value of the awards is more
than $1,600, Ben must
include $150 ($1,750 - $1,600) in his income.
Donated accrued leave.
If your employer has adopted a leave-based donation program to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, you can elect to
give up vacation, sick, or
personal leave in exchange for cash payments your employer makes to a qualified tax-exempt organization for the relief of
those victims. Your employer
must make the payments to the organizations before January 1, 2007. These payments are not included in your income and you
do not get a deduction for
the payments made to the organization. For more information on qualifying organizations, see Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible
Contributions, in Publication 526, Charitable Contributions.
Government cost-of-living allowances.
Cost-of-living allowances generally are included in your income. However, they are not included in your income if
you are a federal civilian
employee or a federal court employee who is stationed in Alaska, Hawaii, or outside the United States.
Allowances and differentials that increase your basic pay as an incentive for taking a less desirable post of duty
are part of your compensation
and must be included in income. For example, your compensation includes Foreign Post, Foreign Service, and Overseas Tropical
differentials. For more
information, see Publication 516, U.S. Government Civilian Employees Stationed Abroad.
Nonqualified deferred compensation plans.
Your employer will report to you the total amount of deferrals for the year under a nonqualified deferred compensation
plan. This amount is shown
on Form W-2, box 12, using code Y. This amount is not included in your income.
However, if at any time during the tax year, the plan fails to meet certain requirements, or is not operated under
those requirements, all amounts
deferred under the plan for the tax year and all preceding tax years are included in your income for the current year. This
amount is included in your
wages shown on Form W-2, box 1. It also is shown on Form W-2, box 12, using code Z.
For information on the requirements and the amount to include in income, see Internal Revenue Code section 409A and
Notice 2005-1. The notice is on
page 274 of Internal Revenue Bulletin 2005-2 at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb05-02.pdf.
Note received for services.
If your employer gives you a secured note as payment for your services, you must include the fair market value (usually
the discount value) of the
note in your income for the year you receive it. When you later receive payments on the note, a proportionate part of each
payment is the recovery of
the fair market value that you previously included in your income. Do not include that part again in your income. Include
the rest of the payment in
your income in the year of payment.
If your employer gives you a nonnegotiable unsecured note as payment for your services, payments on the note that
are credited toward the principal
amount of the note are compensation income when you receive them.
Severance pay.
You must include in income amounts you receive as severance pay and any payment for the cancellation of your employment
contract.
Accrued leave payment.
If you are a federal employee and receive a lump-sum payment for accrued annual leave when you retire or resign, this
amount will be included as
wages on your Form W-2.
If you resign from one agency and are reemployed by another agency, you may have to repay part of your lump-sum annual
leave payment to the second
agency. You can reduce gross wages by the amount you repaid in the same tax year in which you received it. Attach to your
tax return a copy of the
receipt or statement given to you by the agency you repaid to explain the difference between the wages on your return and
the wages on your Forms W-2.
Outplacement services.
If you choose to accept a reduced amount of severance pay so that you can receive outplacement services (such as training
in résumé
writing and interview techniques), you must include the unreduced amount of the severance pay in income.
However, you can deduct the value of these outplacement services (up to the difference
between the severance pay included in income and the amount actually received) as a miscellaneous deduction (subject to the
2% of adjusted gross
income (AGI) limit) on Schedule A (Form 1040).
Sick pay.
Pay you receive from your employer while you are sick or injured is part of your salary or wages. In addition, you
must include in your income sick
pay benefits received from any of the following payers.
-
A welfare fund.
-
A state sickness or disability fund.
-
An association of employers or employees.
-
An insurance company, if your employer paid for the plan.
However, if you paid the premiums on an accident or health insurance policy, the benefits you receive under the policy are
not taxable. For
more information, see Other Sickness and Injury Benefits under Sickness and Injury Benefits, later.
Social security and Medicare taxes paid by employer.
If you and your employer have an agreement that your employer pays your social security and Medicare taxes without
deducting them from your gross
wages, you must report the amount of tax paid for you as taxable wages on your tax return. The payment is also treated as
wages for figuring your
social security and Medicare taxes and your social security and Medicare benefits. However, these payments are not treated
as social security and
Medicare wages if you are a household worker or a farm worker.
Stock appreciation rights.
Do not include a stock appreciation right granted by your employer in income until you exercise (use) the right. When
you use the right, you are
entitled to a cash payment equal to the fair market value of the corporation's stock on the date of use, minus the fair market
value on the date the
right was granted. You include the cash payment in income in the year you use the right.
Fringe benefits received in connection with the performance of your services are included in your income as compensation unless
you pay fair market
value for them or they are specifically excluded by law. Abstaining from the performance of services (for example, under a
covenant not to compete) is
treated as the performance of services for purposes of these rules.
See Valuation of Fringe Benefits, later in this discussion, for information on how to determine the amount to include in income.
Recipient of fringe benefit.
You are the recipient of a fringe benefit if you perform the services for which the fringe benefit is provided. You
are considered to be the
recipient even if it is given to another person, such as a member of your family. An example is a car your employer gives
to your spouse for services
you perform. The car is considered to have been provided to you and not to your spouse.
You do not have to be an employee of the provider to be a recipient of a fringe benefit. If you are a partner, director,
or independent contractor,
you also can be the recipient of a fringe benefit.
Provider of benefit.
Your employer or another person for whom you perform services is the provider of a fringe benefit regardless of whether
that person actually
provides the fringe benefit to you. The provider can be a client or customer of an independent contractor.
Accounting period.
You must use the same accounting period your employer uses to report your taxable noncash fringe benefits. Your employer
has the option to report
taxable noncash fringe benefits by using either of the following rules.
-
The general rule: benefits are reported for a full calendar year (January 1-December 31).
-
The special accounting period rule: benefits provided during the last 2 months of the calendar year (or any shorter period)
are treated as
paid during the following calendar year. For example, each year your employer reports the value of benefits provided during
the last 2 months of the
prior year and the first 10 months of the current year.
Your employer does not have to use the same accounting period for each fringe benefit, but must use the same period for all
employees who
receive a particular benefit.
You must use the same accounting period that you use to report the benefit to claim an employee business deduction
(for use of a car, for example).
Form W-2.
Your employer reports your taxable fringe benefits in box 1 (Wages, tips, other compensation) of Form W-2. The total
value of your fringe benefits
also may be noted in box 14. The value of your fringe benefits may be added to your other compensation on one Form W-2, or
you may receive a separate
Form W-2 showing just the value of your fringe benefits in box 1 with a notation in box 14.
Generally, the value of accident or health plan coverage provided to you by your employer is not included in your income.
Benefits you receive from
the plan may be taxable, as explained, later, under Sickness and Injury Benefits.
Long-term care coverage.
Contributions by your employer to provide coverage for long-term care services generally are not included in your
income. However, contributions
made through a flexible spending or similar arrangement (such as a cafeteria plan) must be included in your income. This amount
will be reported as
wages in box 1 of your Form W-2.
Archer MSA contributions.
Contributions by your employer to your Archer MSA generally are not
included in your income. Their total will be reported in box 12 of Form W-2, with code R. You must report this amount on Form
8853, Archer MSAs and
Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts. File the form with your return.
Health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA).
If your employer provides a health FSA that qualifies as an accident or health plan, the amount of your salary reduction,
and reimbursements of
your medical care expenses and those of your spouse and dependents, generally are not included in your income.
Health reimbursement arrangement (HRA).
If your employer provides an HRA that qualifies as an accident or health plan, coverage and reimbursements of your
medical care expenses and those
of your spouse and dependents generally are not included in your income.
See also Reimbursement for medical care under Other Sickness and Injury Benefits, later.
Health savings accounts (HSA).
If you are an eligible individual, you and any other person, including your employer or a family member, can make
contributions to your HSA.
Contributions, other than employer contributions, are deductible on your return whether or not you itemize deductions. Contributions
made by your
employer are not included in your income. Distributions from your HSA that are used to pay qualified medical expenses are
not included in your income.
Distributions not used for qualified medical expenses are included in your income. See Publication 969, Health Savings Accounts
and Other Tax-Favored
Health Plans, for more information.
Contributions by a partnership to a bona fide partner's HSA are not contributions by an employer. The contributions are treated as a
distribution of money and are not included in the partner's gross income. Contributions by a partnership to a partner's HSA
for services rendered are
treated as guaranteed payments that are includible in the partner's gross income. In both situations, the partner can deduct
the contribution made to
the partner's HSA.
Contributions by an S corporation to a 2% shareholder-employee's HSA for services rendered are treated as guaranteed
payments and are includible in
the shareholder-employee's gross income. The shareholder-employee can deduct the contribution made to the shareholder-employee's
HSA.
You may be able to exclude from your income amounts paid or expenses incurred by your employer for qualified adoption expenses
in connection with
your adoption of an eligible child. See Instructions for Form 8839 (Qualified Adoption Expenses), for more information.
Adoption benefits are reported by your employer in box 12 of Form W-2 with code T. They also are
included as social security and Medicare wages in boxes 3 and 5. However, they are not included as wages in box 1. To determine
the taxable and
nontaxable amounts, you must complete Part III of Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses. File the form with your return.
If your employer provides you with the free or low-cost use of an employer-operated gym or other athletic club on your employer's
premises, the
value is not included in your compensation. The gym must be used primarily by employees, their spouses, and their dependent
children.
If your employer pays for a fitness program provided to you at an off-site resort hotel or athletic club, the value of the
program is included in
your compensation.
De Minimis (Minimal) Benefits
If your employer provides you with a product or service and the cost of it is so small that it would be unreasonable for the
employer to account
for it, the value is not included in your income. Generally, the value of benefits such as discounts at company cafeterias,
cab fares home when
working overtime, and company picnics are not included in your income. Also see Employee Discounts, later.
Holiday gifts.
If your employer gives you a turkey, ham, or other item of nominal value at Christmas or other holidays, do not include
the value of the gift in
your income. However, if your employer gives you cash, a gift certificate, or a similar item that you easily can exchange
for cash, you include the
value of that gift as extra salary or wages regardless of the amount involved.
If your employer provides dependent care benefits under a qualified plan, you may be able to exclude these benefits from your
income. Dependent
care benefits include:
-
Amounts your employer pays directly to either you or your care provider for the care of your qualifying person while you work,
and
-
The fair market value of care in a daycare facility provided or sponsored by your employer.
The amount you can exclude is limited to the lesser of:
-
The total amount of dependent care benefits you received during the year,
-
The total amount of qualified expenses you incurred during the year,
-
Your earned income,
-
Your spouse's earned income, or
-
$5,000 ($2,500 if married filing separately).
Your employer must show the total amount of dependent care benefits provided to you during the year under a qualified plan
in box 10 of your Form
W-2. Your employer also will include any dependent care benefits over $5,000 in your wages shown in box 1 of your Form W-2.
To claim the exclusion, you must complete either Part III of Form 2441, Child and
Dependent Care Expenses, or Part III of Schedule 2 (Form 1040A), Child and Dependent Care Expenses for Form 1040A Filers.
(You cannot use Form
1040EZ.)
See the instructions for Form 2441 or Schedule 2 (Form 1040A) for more information.
You can exclude from your income up to $5,250 of qualified employer-provided educational assistance. For more information,
see Publication 970.
If your employer sells you property or services at a discount, you may be able to exclude the amount of the discount from
your income. The
exclusion applies to discounts on property or services offered to customers in the ordinary course of the line of business
in which you work. However,
it does not apply to discounts on real property or property commonly held for investment (such as stocks or bonds).
The exclusion is limited to the price charged nonemployee customers multiplied by the following percentage.
-
For a discount on property, your employer's gross profit percentage (gross profit divided by gross sales) on all property
sold during the
employer's previous tax year. (Ask your employer for this percentage.)
-
For a discount on services, 20%.
Financial Counseling Fees
Financial counseling fees paid for you by your employer are included in your income and must be
reported as part of wages. If the fees are for tax or investment counseling, they can be deducted on Schedule A (Form 1040)
as a miscellaneous
deduction (subject to the 2% of AGI limit).
Qualified retirement planning services paid for you by your employer may be excluded from your
income. For more information, see Retirement Planning Services, later.
Group-Term Life Insurance
Generally, the cost of up to $50,000 of group-term life insurance coverage provided to you by your employer (or former employer)
is not included in
your income. However, you must include in income the cost of employer-provided insurance that is more than the cost of $50,000
of coverage reduced by
any amount you pay toward the purchase of the insurance.
For exceptions to this rule, see Entire cost excluded, and Entire cost taxed, later.
If your employer provided more than $50,000 of coverage, the amount included in your income is reported as part of your wages
in box 1 of your Form
W-2. It is also shown separately in box 12 with code C.
Group-term life insurance.
This insurance is term life insurance protection (insurance for a fixed period of time) that:
-
Provides a general death benefit,
-
Is provided to a group of employees,
-
Is provided under a policy carried by the employer, and
-
Provides an amount of insurance to each employee based on a formula that prevents individual selection.
Permanent benefits.
If your group-term life insurance policy includes permanent benefits, such as a paid-up or cash surrender value, you
must include in your income,
as wages, the cost of the permanent benefits minus the amount you pay for them. Your employer should be able to tell you the
amount to include in your
income.
Accidental death benefits.
Insurance that provides accidental or other death benefits but does not provide general death benefits (travel insurance,
for example) is not
group-term life insurance.
Former employer.
If your former employer provided more than $50,000 of group-term life insurance coverage during the year, the amount
included in your income is
reported as wages in box 1 of Form W-2. Also, it is shown separately in box 12 with code C. Box 12 also will show the amount
of uncollected social
security and Medicare taxes on the excess coverage, with codes M and N. You must pay these taxes with your income tax return.
Include them in your
total tax on line 63, Form 1040, and enter “ UT” and the amount of the taxes on the dotted line next to line 63.
Two or more employers.
Your exclusion for employer-provided group-term life insurance coverage cannot exceed the cost of $50,000 of coverage,
whether the insurance is
provided by a single employer or multiple employers. If two or more employers provide insurance coverage that totals more
than $50,000, the amounts
reported as wages on your Forms W-2 will not be correct. You must figure how much to include in your income. Reduce the amount
you figure by any
amount reported with code C in box 12 of your Forms W-2, add the result to the wages reported in box 1, and report the total
on your return.
Figuring the taxable cost.
Use the following worksheet to figure the amount to include in your income.
Worksheet 1. Figuring the Cost of Group-Term Life Insurance To Include in Income
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1.
|
Enter the total amount of your insurance coverage from your employer(s)
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1.
|
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2.
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Limit on exclusion for employer-provided group-term life insurance coverage
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2.
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50,000 |
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3.
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Subtract line 2 from line 1
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3.
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4.
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Divide line 3 by $1,000. Figure to the nearest tenth
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4.
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5.
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Go to Table 1. Using your age on the last day of the tax year, find your age group in the left
column, and enter the cost from the column on the right for your age group
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5.
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6.
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Multiply line 4 by line 5
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6.
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| |
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7.
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Enter the number of full months of coverage at this cost
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7.
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8.
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Multiply line 6 by line 7
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8.
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9.
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Enter the premiums you paid per month
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9.
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|
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|
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10.
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Enter the number of months you paid the premiums
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10.
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11.
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Multiply line 9 by line 10.
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11.
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12.
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Subtract line 11 from line 8. Include this amount in your income as wages |
12.
|
|
If you pay any part of the cost of the insurance, your entire payment reduces, dollar for dollar, the amount you would otherwise
include in your
income. However, you cannot reduce the amount to include in your income by:
-
Payments for coverage in a different tax year,
-
Payments for coverage through a cafeteria plan, unless the payments are after-tax contributions, or
-
Payments for coverage not taxed to you because of the exceptions discussed later under Entire cost excluded.
Example.
You are 51 years old and work for employers A and B. Both employers provide group-term life insurance coverage for you for
the entire year. Your
coverage is $35,000 with employer A and $45,000 with employer B. You pay premiums of $4.15 a month under the employer B group
plan. You figure the
amount to include in your income as follows.
Worksheet 1. Figuring the Cost of Group-Term Life Insurance To Include in Income—Illustrated
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1.
|
Enter the total amount of your insurance coverage from your employer(s)
|
1.
|
80,000
|
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2.
|
Limit on exclusion for employer-provided group-term life insurance coverage
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2.
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50,000 |
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3.
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Subtract line 2 from line 1
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3.
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30,000
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4.
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Divide line 3 by $1,000. Figure to the nearest tenth
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4.
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30.0
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5.
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Go to Table 1. Using your age on the last day of the tax year, find your age group in the left
column, and enter the cost from the column on the right for your age group
|
5.
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.23
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6.
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Multiply line 4 by line 5
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6.
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6.90
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7.
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Enter the number of full months of coverage at this cost.
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7.
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12
|
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8.
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Multiply line 6 by line 7
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8.
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82.80
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9.
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Enter the premiums you paid per month
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9.
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4.15
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10.
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Enter the number of months you paid the premiums
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10.
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12
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11.
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Multiply line 9 by line 10.
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11.
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49.80
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12.
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Subtract line 11 from line 8. Include this amount in your income as wages |
12.
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33.00
|
The total amount to include in income for the cost of excess group-term life insurance is $33. Neither employer provided over
$50,000 insurance
coverage, so the wages shown on your Forms W-2 do not include any part of that $33. You must add it to the wages shown on
your Forms W-2 and include
the total on your return.
Entire cost excluded.
You are not taxed on the cost of group-term life insurance if any of the following circumstances apply.
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You are permanently and totally disabled and have ended your employment.
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Your employer is the beneficiary of the policy for the entire period the insurance is in force during the tax year.
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A charitable organization to which contributions are deductible is the only beneficiary of the policy for the entire period
the insurance is
in force during the tax year. (You are not entitled to a deduction for a charitable contribution for naming a charitable organization
as the
beneficiary of your policy.)
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The plan existed on January 1, 1984, and:
-
You retired before January 2, 1984, and were covered by the plan when you retired, or
-
You reached age 55 before January 2, 1984, and were employed by the employer or its predecessor in 1983.
Entire cost taxed.
You are taxed on the entire cost of group-term life insurance if either of the following circumstances apply.
-
The insurance is provided by your employer through a qualified employees' trust, such as a pension trust or a qualified annuity
plan.
-
You are a key employee and your employer's plan discriminates in favor of key employees.
You do not include in your income the value of meals and lodging provided to you and your family by your employer at no charge
if the following
conditions are met.
-
The meals are:
-
Furnished on the business premises of your employer, and
-
Furnished for the convenience of your employer.
-
The lodging is:
-
Furnished on the business premises of your employer,
-
Furnished for the convenience of your employer, and
-
A condition of your employment. (You must accept it in order to be able to properly perform your duties.)
You also do not include in your income the value of meals or meal money that qualifies as a de
minimis fringe benefit. See De Minimis (Minimal) Benefits, earlier.
Lodging for employees affected by Hurricane Katrina.
If your employer provides in-kind lodging to you (or your spouse or dependents), you may be able to exclude from income
part or all of the value of
this lodging. The exclusion is equal to the value of lodging furnished from January through June 2006, up to a maximum value
of $600 per month.
You can exclude this value only if you had your main home in the Gulf Opportunity Zone on August 28, 2005, and you
perform substantially all your
work in the Gulf Opportunity Zone for the employer furnishing the lodging. You cannot be a dependent of, or related to, your
employer. For information
on the Gulf Opportunity Zone, see Publication 4492.
Faculty lodging.
If you are an employee of an educational institution or an academic health center and you are provided with lodging
that does not meet the three
conditions above, you still may not have to include the value of the lodging in income. However, the lodging must be qualified
campus lodging, and you
must pay an adequate rent.
Academic health center.
This is an organization that meets the following conditions.
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Its principal purpose or function is to provide medical or hospital care or medical education or research.
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It receives payments for graduate medical education under the Social Security Act.
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One of its principal purposes or functions is to provide and teach basic and clinical medical science and research using its
own
faculty.
Qualified campus lodging.
Qualified campus lodging is lodging furnished to you, your spouse, or one of your dependents by, or on behalf of,
the institution or center for use
as a home. The lodging must be located on or near a campus of the educational institution or academic health center.
Adequate rent.
The amount of rent you pay for the year for qualified campus lodging is considered adequate if it is at least equal
to the lesser of:
-
5% of the appraised value of the lodging, or
-
The average of rentals paid by individuals (other than employees or students) for comparable lodging held for rent by the
educational
institution.
If the amount you pay is less than the lesser of these amounts, you must include the difference in your income.
The lodging must be appraised by an independent appraiser and the appraisal must be reviewed on an annual basis.
Example.
Carl Johnson, a sociology professor for State University, rents a home from the university that is qualified campus lodging.
The house is appraised
at $100,000. The average rent paid for comparable university lodging by persons other than employees or students is $7,000
a year. Carl pays an annual
rent of $5,500. Carl does not include in his income any rental value because the rent he pays equals at least 5% of the appraised
value of the house
(5% × $100,000 = $5,000). If Carl paid annual rent of only $4,000, he would have to include $1,000 in his income ($5,000 -
$4,000).
Moving Expense Reimbursements
Generally, if your employer pays for your moving expenses (either directly or indirectly) and the expenses would have been
deductible if you paid
them yourself, the value is not included in your income. See Publication 521 for more information.
No-Additional-Cost Services
The value of services you receive from your employer for free, at cost, or for a reduced price is not included in your income
if your employer:
-
Offers the same service for sale to customers in the ordinary course of the line of business in which you work, and
-
Does not have a substantial additional cost (including any sales income given up) to provide you with the service (regardless
of what you
paid for the service).
Generally, no-additional-cost services are excess capacity services, such as airline, bus, or train tickets, hotel rooms,
and telephone services.
Example.
You are employed as a flight attendant for a company that owns both an airline and a hotel chain. Your employer allows you
to take personal flights
(if there is an unoccupied seat) and stay in any one of their hotels (if there is an unoccupied room) at no cost to you. The
value of the personal
flight is not included in your income. However, the value of the hotel room is included in your income because you do not
work in the hotel business.
Retirement Planning Services
If your employer has a qualified retirement plan, qualified retirement planning services provided to you (and your spouse)
by your employer are not
included in your income. Qualified services include retirement planning advice, information about your employer's retirement
plan, and information
about how the plan may fit into your overall individual retirement income plan. You cannot exclude the value of any tax preparation,
accounting,
legal, or brokerage services provided by your employer. Also, see Financial Counseling Fees, earlier.
If your employer provides you with a qualified transportation fringe benefit, it can be excluded from your income, up to certain
limits. A
qualified transportation fringe benefit is:
Cash reimbursement by your employer for these expenses under a bona fide reimbursement arrangement is also excludable. However, cash
reimbursement for a transit pass is excludable only if a voucher or similar item that can be exchanged only for a transit
pass is not readily
available for direct distribution to you.
Exclusion limit.
The exclusion for commuter highway vehicle transportation and transit pass fringe benefits cannot be more than a total
of $105 a month.
The exclusion for the qualified parking fringe benefit cannot be more than $205 a month.
If the benefits have a value that is more than these limits, the excess must be included in your income.
Commuter highway vehicle.
This is a highway vehicle that seats at least six adults (not including the driver). At least 80% of the vehicle's
mileage must reasonably be
expected to be:
-
For transporting employees between their homes and work place, and
-
On trips during which employees occupy at least half of the vehicle's adult seating capacity (not including the driver).
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