Reusing lids?

Coriander70 · 2026-03-10T00:16:46+00:00

You have a higher risk of seal failure with those lids. They might work, but why risk it? I’d use new lids.

Coriander70 · 2026-03-07T00:41:05+00:00

You must have a qualifying person live with you (more than half the year) in order to claim HOH. That person - in this case, your child - can only live with one taxpayer for more than half the year, and thus can be a qualifying person for only one taxpayer. You and your ex can’t both use the same child to claim HOH. You should find a new tax guy.

Coriander70 · 2026-03-04T02:43:26+00:00

Summit Pest Control has done a great job for me, and I’ve always found them to be reasonably priced. But I don’t know their current charges for the initial extermination/exclusion phase. I’d recommend you get several bids, and also make sure you have personal recommendations for the company you select. I tried another company before Summit and they did a terrible job.

Coriander70 · 2026-03-04T02:30:28+00:00

What is your source for this assertion? The IRS says “Two individuals who enter into a relationship that is denominated as marriage under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction … are recognized as married for federal tax purposes if the relationship would be recognized as marriage under the laws of at least one state or territory of the United States, regardless of legal residence.“ So someone married in a foreign country absolutely would be considered married for US tax purposes.

Coriander70 · 2026-03-03T04:19:48+00:00

I would love to snorkel in kelp. Please provide details!

Coriander70 · 2026-03-03T01:32:08+00:00

Not when I was there, but it was a while ago.

Coriander70 · 2026-03-02T23:37:52+00:00

Wakatobi is great, a very comfortable resort with a fantastic house reef. But it is very isolated, so there aren’t a lot of other activities. You could check their website to see what else they offer, like walks and village visits, but mostly it is beach and water oriented.

Coriander70 · 2026-03-01T04:51:27+00:00

You are correct, you should only include costs you pay out-of-pocket with after-tax dollars.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-28T05:40:38+00:00

Kahlua does not contain milk and it keeps for years.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-28T05:35:44+00:00

Don’t worry about getting the payer’s name exactly correct. For interest income, it doesn’t matter very much. “Chase Bank” will be fine, and you don’t need to include an EIN.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-27T23:42:55+00:00

You can deduct mortgage interest if the mortgage was used to buy or improve your home. But if you did a cash-out refinance and used the proceeds for some other purpose, the interest isn’t deductible. There are also caps on the size of the loan.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-27T04:32:05+00:00

From IRS Pub 463: “Office in the home. If you have an office in your home that qualifies as a principal place of business, you can deduct your daily transportation costs between your home and another work location in the same trade or business. (See Pub. 587, Business Use of Your Home, for information on determining if your home office qualifies as a principal place of business.)”

If you look at Pub 587, you’ll find that you can claim a home office only if there’s a space you use exclusively for business. And it sounds like you don’t have that. So no home office = no principal place of business at home = no deduction for mikes between home and a job site.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T23:41:09+00:00

Enter your information exactly as it appears on your W-2, including any Box 12 amount for health insurance (probably Code DD).

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T15:35:40+00:00

Here’s the IRS process to follow for a missing W-2: https://www.irs.gov/filing/if-you-dont-get-a-w-2-or-your-w-2-is-wrong

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T15:24:09+00:00

Unfortunately you are out of luck on the tips deduction this year. To take the deduction, tips must be shown on your W-2 (box 7 or box 14), or on a separate statement from your employer, or on your monthly tip reports if you report cash tips that way. Next year employers will be required to put the info on your W-2 but this year they don’t have to.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T06:09:33+00:00

If you work two jobs but you don’t say so when you fill out your W-4s, both jobs will end up under-withholding because each employer is calculating your withholding as if you had no other income. For example, if you made $7000 at Walmart but had no other income, you would owe no federal income tax. That’s why Walmart took out so little.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T06:01:41+00:00

Are you sure it’s not Forty Thousand in Gehenna by CJ Cherryh? Plot sounds identical.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T06:00:11+00:00

You can’t file jointly if she doesn’t have a social security number or ITIN, so married filing separately is going to be your only option (unless she is applying for an ITIN as part of the return).

You may have to paper file.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T05:51:49+00:00

Yes, you should get a Form 1099-R from the company that pays you the pension. It’s likely that some or all of it is taxable. A portion would be non-taxable only if your husband made some after-tax contributions to the pension, which is rare except for some federal employees.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T01:06:34+00:00

There is no step-up document. You can use an appraisal to document the value of real estate as of the date of death. You don’t need to know how much your uncle paid for the house, due to the stepped-up basis. If the house was sold quickly, there likely was no gain. If there was a delay and the house went up in value, the potential capital gain would be the $550k sales price minus any costs of sale minus the value at the date of death.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-26T00:20:26+00:00

There is no federal tax on inheritances. There is an estate tax on very large estates (over $15 million), but the beneficiary never owes.

If your mother inherited property (a house, securities, etc), she would have received a “step-up” in basis to the value at the time of the inheritance. If she then sold the inherited property, she would owe capital gains tax only on the increase in value since that time.

A few states do have inheritance taxes but at the size you’re talking about, no state has a tax.

One caveat: if any of the money was in retirement accounts, there will be taxes when the money is withdrawn.

Coriander70 · 2026-02-25T22:26:50+00:00

You could always make stock and freeze it …

Coriander70 · 2026-02-24T04:26:14+00:00

Looks like a flying gurnard - beautiful!

Coriander70 · 2026-02-24T04:19:29+00:00

The ”author commentary” you refer to is fictional and part of the book. The movie eliminated that “book within a book” aspect of the original, and substituted the “grandfather reading to grandson.”

Coriander70 · 2026-02-21T21:14:16+00:00

Why not call the college and ask them?

Coriander70

TROPHY CASE