On Point Accounting & Tax

If you are an unmarried dependent student, you must file a tax return if your earned or unearned income exceeds certain limits. To find these limits, refer to Dependents under Who Must File, in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

Even if you do not have to file, you should file a federal income tax return if you can get money back (for example, you had federal income tax withheld from your pay or you qualify for a refundable tax credit).

Let a professional do a professional's job. If you are like most business owners and CEOs, you take full pride in the services or products your company provides. You want to focus your time and energy on business strategy and goals. Outsourcing the accounting department to a dedicated, highly skilled professional services firm allows you to do exactly that. By outsourcing your accounting to On Point Accounting & Tax , you'll save valuable time in your day, reduce operating costs and gain peace of mind.

A manufacturer's product costs are the direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead used in making its products. (Manufacturing overhead is also referred to as factory overhead, indirect manufacturing costs, and burden.) The product costs of direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead are also "inventoriable" costs, since these are the necessary costs of manufacturing the products.

Period costs are not a necessary part of the manufacturing process. As a result, period costs cannot be assigned to the products or to the cost of inventory. The period costs are usually associated with the selling function of the business or its general administration. The period costs are reported as expenses in the accounting period in which they 1) best match with revenues, 2) when they expire, or 3) in the current accounting period. In addition to the selling and general administrative expenses, most interest expense is a period expense.

Social security benefits include monthly retirement, survivor and disability benefits. They do not include supplemental security income (SSI) payments, which are not taxable. The amount of social security benefits that must be included on your income tax return and used to calculate your income tax liability depends on the total amount of your income and benefits for the taxable year.

To find out whether any of your benefits may be taxable, compare the base amount for your filing status with the total of:

• One-half of your benefits.
• All of your other income, including tax-exempt interest.

The base amount for your filing status is:

• $25,000 if you are single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er),
• $25,000 if you are married filing separately and lived apart from your spouse for the entire year,
• $32,000 if you are married filing jointly,
• $0 if you are married filing separately and lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year.

If you are married and file a joint return, you and your spouse must combine your incomes and social security benefits when figuring the taxable portion of your benefits. Even if your spouse did not receive any benefits, you must add your spouse's income to yours when figuring on a joint return if any of your benefits are taxable.

You can figure the taxable amount of the benefits on a worksheet in the Instructions for Form 1040, Instructions for Form 1040A, or in Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits.