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Tax Segment 6 - Filing a California Tax Return

 

Determining the filing status can be a little complicated. Although you may be the head of your house, you may not qualify for the head of household (HOH) filing status under state and federal tax laws. 

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Material needed to complete this assignment:

 

Segment 6 - Filing a California Tax Return

1. The following statement is true regarding the head of household filing status.

A. To qualify for head of household filing status, you must have a qualifying person who does not need to be related as long as he or she meets the requirements to be either a qualifying child or qualifying relative.
B. To qualify for head of household filing status, you must pay more than half the cost of keeping up your home in which you and your qualifying person lived on the last day of the year.
C. The Head of Household filing status is for taxpayers who are either unmarried and not an RDP or meet the requirements to be considered unmarried or considered not in a registered domestic partnership and maintain a home for a relative who lived in them for more than half the year.
D. All of the above.

2. An eligible foster child is a child for head of household purposes is a child

A. Placed with you by an authorized placement agency or by a judgment, decree, or other order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
B. Who attends school during some part of each of five calendar months during the year.
C. Who's gross income must be less than the federal exemption amount for the year in question.
D. You have legally adopted and after legal adoption, the child is considered your child by blood.

3. Generally, if two or more people keep up the same home, only one of the people could pay more than half the costs and qualify for the head of household filing status. When two or more families occupy the same dwelling,

A. Each family may be treated as keeping up a separate home if each family contributes to the support of the other family.
B. Each family may be treated as keeping up a separate home if each family maintains separate finances.
C. Each family may be treated as keeping up a separate home if each family maintains separate finances and neither family contributes to the support of the other family.
D. Both A and B above.

4. The taxpayer who provides more than half the cost of maintaining a separate home is treated as keeping up that separate home. To determine whether you paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home include

A. Costs of clothing and vacations.
B. Costs for education and transportation.
C. Costs for medical treatment and life insurance.
D. None of the above.

5. If someone lived with you for six months means that the person lived with you more than half the year for head of household purposes.

True False

6. If you have joint custody of your child, to qualify for head of household filing status, you must

A. Still meet all the requirements for the filing status.
B. Must have a child that must have lived with you for more than half the year.
C. Have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home.
D. All of the above.

7. If you were married as of the last day of the year, and you did not live with your spouse at any time during the last six months of the year, to determine how many days your home was your qualifying person's main home,

A. Add together half the number of days that you, your spouse, and your qualifying person lived together in your home.
B. Add together all of the days that you and your qualifying person lived together in your home without your spouse.
C. Both A and B above.
D. None of the above.

8. If you were married as of the last day of the year and you lived with your spouse at any time during the last six month of the year, you can qualify for the head of household filing status.

True False

9. You are considered to have chosen to treat your nonresident alien spouse/RDP as a resident alien if

A. You and your nonresident alien spouse/RDP filed as joint return in a previous year.
B. You chose to treat your nonresident alien spouse/RDP as a resident so you could file the joint return.
C. You have not revoked the choice to treat your nonresident alien spouse as a resident by the extended due date for filing the return at issue.
D. All of the above.

10. You are not in a registered domestic partnership if

A. You have never entered into a registered domestic partnership.
B. You filed a Notice of Termination of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State and the six-month waiting period for the notice to become final has passed.
C. Your registered domestic partnership was annulled and you did not enter into another registered domestic partnership after the annulment.
D. Any of the above.

11. Effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2007, RDPs under California law must file their California income tax returns using either the married/RDP filing jointly or married/RDP filing separately filing status. If you are an RDP, you may qualify to use the head of household filing status if

A. You are in the process of ending your relationship.
B. You meet the requirements to be considered not in a registered domestic partnership.
C. Both A and B above.
D. None of the above.

12. You were not in a registered domestic partnership if your registered domestic partnership was legally terminated under a final decree of dissolution. Neither a petition for termination nor an interlocutory decree of termination is the same as a final decree. Until the final decree is issued, an RDP remains in a registered domestic partnership.

True False

13. You must be entitled to claim a dependent exemption credit for your parent to be head of household. That is

A. Your parent must meet the requirements of a qualifying relative.
B. You must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was your parent's main home for the entire year.
C. Your parent's main home could have been his or her own home or any other living accommodation.
D. All of the above.

14. In meeting the residency test, a temporary absence may be for all of the following, except:

A. Due to illness.
B. Education, business, vacation or military service.
C. Incarceration.
D. None of the above.

15. To qualify for head of household filing status, your qualifying relative's gross income must be less than the federal exemption amount for the year in question.

True False

16. If two or more taxpayers including a parent claim the same child as a qualifying child for a particular tax year, the person shall be treated as the qualifying child of the taxpayer who is

A. A parent of the person.
B. If none of the taxpayers is a parent, the taxpayer with the highest adjusted gross income for the taxable year.
C. Either A or B above.
D. If none of the taxpayers is a parent, the person with whom the taxpayer resided the most.

17. For 2010, you were married or an RDP at the end of the year if

A. You were never married and never entered into a registered domestic partnership.
B. You received domestic partnership, or you filed a Notice of Termination of Domestic Partnership with the California Secretary of State and the six-month waiting period for the notice to become final has passed.
C. Your spouse/RDP died in 2010 and you did not remarry or enter into another registered domestic partnership.
D. None of the above.

18. A registered domestic partner is a person who has filed a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the California Secretary of State.

True False

19. To be head of household, you must provide more than half of a person's total support during the calendar year to meet the support test. To determine whether you have provided more than half the support,

A. Find in the table published for income guidelines.
B. Compare the amount you contributed for the person's support to the entire amount of support the person received from all sources.
C. It is only required that the person be related to you.
D. None of the above.

20. You are considered to have chosen to treat your nonresident alien spouse/RDP as a resident alien if

A. You and your nonresident alien spouse/RDP filed a joint return in a previous year.
B. You chose to treat your nonresident alien spouse/RDP as a resident so you could file the joint return.
C. You have not revoked that choice by the extended due date for filing the return at issue.
D. All of the above.

21. I was married at the end of the year. Can someone other than my child qualify me for the Head of Household filing status?

A. No. Because you were married.
B. Yes. As long as that person is not older than you.
C. Yes. Your spouse can qualify you for the Head of Household filing status.
D. None of the above.

22. Can I qualify for the Head of Household filing status if the person that qualifies me did not live with me during the year?

A. Yes. Because your child does not need to live with you to qualify you.
B. Yes, if the person is your parent, he or she does not have to live with you to qualify you.
C. No. Everyone has to live in your household in order for you to qualify for the head of household filing status and there are no exceptions.
D. None of the above.

23. I was married at the end of the year. Can I qualify for the Head of Household filing status if I lived with my wife during part of the last six months of the year?

A. Yes, as long as you did not live together on the last day of the year.
B. Yes, as long as you did not live together for more than six months of the year.
C. No. Because you were married and therefore you do not meet certain requirements to be considered unmarried.
D. None of the above.

24. Can I qualify for the Head of Household filing status even though the qualifying person is not my relative?

A. No. Only certain relatives can qualify you for the Head of Household filing status.
B. Yes, as long as this person lived in your home for the entire year.
C. Yes, because the person does not have to be your relative as long as you paid for their total support.
D. Being related has nothing to do with the Head of Household filing status.

25. The Head of Household (HOH) filing status gives you the benefit of

A. A lower tax.
B. A higher standard deduction that the that of Single or Married Filing Separately filing status.
C. A higher tax rate and a lower standard deduction.
D. Both A and B above.

26. You paid $5,100 in child care, you are single and earned $28,000 for the entire year, and you have one qualifying child. What is your child and dependent care expenses credit for tax year 2010?

A. $840.
B. $420.
C. $1,428.
D. $714.

27. I want to file my return and have no tax liability. If I claim the child and dependent care expenses credit, would I still get a refund for California based on my Child and dependent Care expenses credit?

A. Yes, tax liability can be zero, and you can still qualify because for California credit is refundable.
B. No, the amount of credit is limited to the amount of tax liability and is non-refundable.
C. No, even if you have tax, the child and dependent care credit would not cancel it and thus there is no reason to claim it.
D. No, California does not have a Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit.

28. Juan and Maria Escobedo are married and keep up a home for their two pre-school children. In tax year 2010, they claimed their children as dependents. Juan earned $25,200 and Maria earned $8,200. They paid $5,900 in work related child care expenses. What is their credit?

A. $1,475.
B. $737.50
C. $1,711
D. $738

29. To claim the Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit for California, you must complete and attach to your California tax return the following:

A. Federal Form 2441 or Schedule 2.
B. FTB Form 3506.
C. Federal Form 3102 or Schedule 3.
D. Federal Form 2106 or Schedule C.

30. In tax year 2010, if your gross income is $45,000 and your federal child and dependent care expenses credit amount was $480, then your California Credit is

A. $206
B. $0
C. $240
D. $206.40

31. For Federal the child and dependent care expenses credit is a non-refundable credit and for California the credit is

A. Not allowed.
B. Amount of credit if is always greater than Federal credit.
C. The same as federal.
D. A refundable credit.

32. What is the percentage of the federal Child and Dependent Expenses Care credit that is allowed for California for taxpayers who earned more than $100,000 in 2010?

A. 42%
B. 50%
C. 63%
D. 0%

33. In tax year 2010, to qualify for the California child and dependent care expenses credit, your federal adjusted gross income must be less than

A. $40,000
B. $70,000
C. $100,000
D. $15,000

34. In tax year 2010, if you are head of household and you would like to qualify for renter's credit, you would not qualify if your income is over what amount?

A. $34,936
B. $68,824
C. $66,544
D. $69,444

35. If for more than half of the year, you lived in the home of a parent, foster parent, or legal guardian in 2010 who can claim you as a dependent, then

A. You do not qualify for the renter's credit.
B. You prepare a renter's qualification record and divide the credit accordingly.
C. You qualify to claim the credit because everyone in the household qualifies as long as you pay at least $1.00 of rent.
D. Since you are a dependent, you still qualify for $30 of renter's credit.

36. The non-refundable renter's credit qualification record must be kept with your records; therefore, you should not mail it.

True False

37. To qualify for Renter's credit, you must have paid rent for at least 6 months of the tax year and your principal residence must have been in California.

True False

38. If your filing status was married filing separate, you cannot claim the California renter's credit.

True False

39. If a single employer withheld California State Disability Insurance (SDI) from your wages at more than 1.1% of your gross wages,

A. Contact the employer for refund.
B. Claim excess SDI on your Form 540/540A.
C. Contact the state of California for a refund.
D. You cannot get a refund because once W2 is filed it is too late.

40. You may be entitled to claim a credit for excess SDI on Form 540/540A if

A. You had two or more employers during 2010.
B. You received more than $93,316 in wages.
C. The amounts of SDI withheld appear on your forms W2.
D. All of the above

41. I you discover that you made an error on your California income tax return after you filed it, use Form 540X to correct your return.

True False

42. For purposes of claiming the California Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit, if your child turns age 13 during the year

A. The child is not a qualifying person because he has to have been under age 13 at the end of the year.
B. The child's age does not matter as long as he is your dependent.
C. The child is a qualifying person only for the part of the year he or she was 12 years old.
D. The child is not a qualifying child because the child has to be in pre-school.

43. In tax year 2010, my wife did not work all year because she was not able to care for herself for the entire year. I worked and earned $21,050. We have one qualifying child for the Child and Dependent care credit. We paid $2,000 for child care. How much credit can we qualify for?

A. $620
B. $310
C. $1,000
D. $744

44. You are single and only paid rent for one month in 2010. You qualify to claim the renter's credit.

True False

45. If you do not e-file your tax return, you will receive your refund check just as fast because almost everyone is e-filing and there are less paper returns to be processed.

True False

46. If there is no difference between your federal and California income or deductions, do not file a Schedule CA (540).

True False

47. Who is a qualifying individual for the Child and Dependent Care Credit?

A. A dependent of the taxpayer under 13 years of age.
B. A dependent of the taxpayer who is physically or mentally unable to care for him or herself.
C. Spouse of the taxpayer who is physically or mentally unable to care for him or herself.
D. Any of the above

48. One of the requirements to qualify to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit for California is that

A. You paid for care so you (and your spouse/RDP) could work or look for work.
B. Your qualifying child is over 13 years of age just as long as he or she is not over 19.
C. Your adjusted gross income must be more than $100,000 for 2010.
D. You have no earned income for 2010.

49. Your must pay at least 50% of the amount owed by April 15, 2011 to avoid interest and penalty charges.

True False

50. You qualify for the Nonrefundable Renter's Credit if you rented a property for more than half the year that was exempt from California property tax in 2010.

True False

 

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