Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Midwest Disaster Area

I have noticed a lot of returns from other accountants that missed the Midwest Disaster Area education credit booster. In short, students that attend a school in the Midwest Disaster Area can double their tax credit.

A full discussion on education credits would take a while and with tax season in full swing I don’t have the time to write a full article on the subject. Therefore, if your tax preparer does not bring up the subject, you should.

Several counties in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin qualify. There are other tax benefits to those in the listed area, including:
  • charitable giving incentives,
  • net operating losses,
  • education credits,
  • recapture of federal mortgage subsidy,
  • temporary relocation relief,
  • employee retention credit,
  • employer housing credit and/or exclusion,
  • demolition costs,
  • and an increase in rehabilitation credit.
Since too many tax pros are not asking the questions, you need to bring it up. The amount of money as stake is significant.