Please complete the 2017 federal income tax return for Carlos and Maria Gomez.

Tax Return Problem 6 -Individual (after Chapter 14)

 

Instructions:

 

Please complete the 2017 federal income tax return for Carlos and Maria Gomez.  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.

 

Carlos and Maria Gomez live in Lubbock, Texas.  The Gomezes have two children: Luis (age 14) and Amanda (age 12).  Both children qualify as federal income tax dependents of Carlos and Maria.  The Gomezes provided the following information:

 

• Luis’s social security number is 589-24-8432
• Amanda’s social security number is 599-74-8733
• The Gomez’s current mailing address is 543 West La Patera, Lubbock, Texas 79401

 

Carlos is a civil engineer.  For the first two months of the year, he was employed by West Texas Engineering (WTE).  However, he resigned his position with WTE to start his own engineering firm called Gomez Professional Engineers (GPE).  GPE is conducted as a sole proprietorship with Carlos being the sole owner.  GPE started business on January 1, 2017 and is located at 1515 West Industrial Road Lubbock, Texas 79401 (EIN 20-1616167).  Maria is self-employed as a part-time bookkeeper.

 

Carlos provided the following W-2 from WTE.

 

 

 

 

Carlos reported the following information for GPE’s business activities (GPE uses the cash method of accounting):

 

Revenues:

                Credit card receipts                                                         $352,000

                Cash receipts                                                                       648,000

                                Total revenue                                              $1,000,000

 

Expenses:

                Advertising                                                                             $5,450

                Insurance-professional                                                     15,750

                Office building rent                                                            62,000

                Equipment leases                                                                  6,050

                Travel                                                                                       14,200

                Meals and entertainment                                                  2,975

                Wages                                                                                    498,725

                Taxes and licenses                                                              44,875

                Employee health insurance                                             42,000

                Employee benefit programs                                           14,500

                Utilities                                                                                    37,425

                Office supplies                                                                     18,900

                Legal and professional fees                                            15,550

                Repairs and maintenance                                                10,000

                                Total Expenses                                              $ 788,400

 

GPE purchased and placed in service the following fixed assets in 2017: 

 

Item	Date Purchased	Amount
Laptop computers	March 1	$20,500
Printers	June 1	$6,500
Office furniture	October 10	$19,000

 

GPE does not want to claim any bonus depreciation or Section 179 expensing on any of these assets.

 

Carlos worked part-time on GPE business activities until he finished his employment with WTE early in the year.  Carlos worked full-time on GPE business activities for the rest of the year.

 

GPE filed Forms 1099 for payments made to contractors when required to do so.

 

Carlos and Maria paid $22,000 for health insurance for his family (for the time he was working at GPE).  This amount is not included in the GPE expenses listed above.  Neither Carlos nor Maria had access to employer-provided health insurance during the year while they were paying the premiums for this policy.  The entire Gomez family was covered by minimum essential health insurance during each month in 2017.

 

In need of cash, in February, Carlos withdrew $20,000 from his 401(k) account. He received the following Form 1099-R:

 

 

 

In addition, Carlos has established a SEP-IRA (self-employed retirement plan) using his business earnings from GPE.  He would like to make the maximum contribution possible to this plan for 2017.  Assume that Carlos will file his tax return by April 15, 2018 and Carlos will contribute to his SEP IRA the full amount allowable by the date he files the return.

 

Maria received the following Form 1099-MISC from her bookkeeping activities for her largest client:

 

Maria received an additional $4,000 from clients who were not required to issue Maria a Form 1099-MISC.

 

During the year, Maria paid the following business-related expenses:

 

• Paper                                                                            $365
• Toner                                                                            $450
• Meals                                                                            $580

 

Maria purchased and placed in service the following fixed assets for her business in 2017: 

 

Item	Date Purchased	Amount
New laptop computers	March 1	$1,850
New laser printers	March 1	$    840
New computer software	April 2	$    400

 

Maria would like to recover the cost of these business assets as soon as possible.

               

Maria owns a 2014 Acura.  She started to use the Acura for her business on January 1, 2016.  She drove 2,050 business miles during 2017 (she has documentation to verify).  She drove the vehicle for a total of 10,000 miles during the year (7,950 personal miles).  She also has access to another vehicle that she can use for personal purposes.

 

Maria started her bookkeeping service in 2014 and she uses the cash method of accounting.  She is the only person performing services in the business.  She did not make any payments that would have required her to file a Form 1099.

 

On January 3, 2017, the Gomezes sold their prior principal residence.  They purchased that residence in 2012 and had lived there full-time until they sold it this year.  They originally purchased the home for $310,000.  The Gomez family has never claimed any tax depreciation (nor were they allowed to) on the home.  The sales price of the home was $405,000.  The home is located at 45 East Entrada Trail, Lubbock Texas 79401.

 

The Gomez family purchased (and moved into) their current residence at 543 West La Patera, Lubbock, Texas 79401 in late January of 2016.  The La Patera residence is 2,000 square feet.  The purchase price of the residence was $500,000 (building value was $350,000 and the lot value was $150,000).  The mortgage on the purchase was $300,000.  Expenses relating to the La Patera residence were as follows:

 

 

 

Property taxes                                                                                   $10,750

                                Utilities                                                                                                 $3,000

                                Insurance                                                                                            $2,000

In addition to the primary mortgage on the home, the Gomezes borrowed $150,000 on a home equity line of credit (“HELOC”) against the La Patera home.  They received the following Form 1098 relating to the line of credit:

 

 

 

 

They used the funds from the line of credit borrowed funds to pay off personal debts on credit cards and take a European vacation. 

 

Maria utilized a room in the La Patera home for her bookkeeping business.  The room was used exclusively on a regular basis as Maria’s principal place of business.  Maria wants to maximize her home office deduction related to this use.  The room she uses is 200 square feet.

 

In the summer of 2017, the Gomez family rented out the La Patera residence to another family.  The La Patera residence is situated along the ninth green of the famous Lubbock Country Club (LCC).  The LCC hosted the U.S. Senior Open golf tournament this year.  The Gomez family rented their residence to a golfer participating in the event for $1,000 per day for 10 days (the home office remained locked and off limits to the renters, however).  During this time the Gomez family went on vacation touring the west coast of the United States.  The Gomez family incurred $1,500 of cleaning and other expenses associated with the 10-day rental period.

 

Maria owns 20 acres of vacant ground within the city limits of Lubbock.  Maria acquired the land as a gift from her parents on July 1, 2010.  The land was valued at $4,000 per acre on the date of the gift.  Her parents purchased the land in 1994 at a price of $500 per acre.  Maria has held this land as an investment since she received it.  On September 15, 2017 Maria exchanged this land with a development company that plans to develop the 20 acres (Maria and the development company are not related parties).  In exchange for the 20 acres, Maria received a condominium in Lubbock that was valued at $160,000.   The building was valued at $120,000 and the land was valued at $40,000.  The condominium is located at 990 El Mar, Unit A, Lubbock Texas 79401.

 

Maria first rented out the El Mar unit on October 1, 2017.  The revenue and expenses from the rental unit from October through December are as follows:

 

                                Rental revenue                                                 $3,600

                                HOA fee expense                                             $300

                                Property taxes paid                                         $225

                                Utilities expense                                              $350

 

No Form(s) 1099 were required to be filed for this rental.

 

The Gomezes also received the following Forms 1099 for the year:

 

 

The Grand Junction City bond was issued in 2014.

 

 

The Lubbock Texas School District bond was issued in 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gomezes 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 Gomezes paid the following expenses during the year (in addition to the personal residence-related items listed above):

 

Dentist (unreimbursed by insurance)                                                                      $   500

Doctors (unreimbursed by insurance)                                                                     $1,750

Prescriptions (unreimbursed by insurance)                                                           $   425

Vehicle property tax based upon value                                                                   $ 1,950

Contribution to qualified charities                                                                             $3,500

 

The Gomezes did not pay any state income taxes during the year.

 

Other Information

 

The Gomezes made timely federal estimated tax payments for 2017 as follows:

 

                April 15, 2017                                                     $11,000

                June 15, 2017                                                     $11,000

                September 15, 2017                                        $11,000

                January 15, 2018                                               $11,000

 

The Gomezes want to contribute to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.  The Gomezes would 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.