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2022 tax season filing tips
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2022 tax season filing tips for seniors
By Marianne Hering
You may be working in the same career, switching to a different job or adjusting to retirement, but regardless of your employment status, it’s tax season. Unlike last year, we will not get extra time to file—so it’s time to gather your documents and get to it! To help you prepare, tax expert Kate Bell answered some pertinent tax questions.
Q: What should I know about the Recovery Rebate Credit for 2021 filing? A: Did you receive the third economic impact payment (also called the recovery rebate credit that arrived between March 2021 and December 2021) of $1,400 per eligible household member? The IRS is sending out Letter 6475 to taxpayers who may not have received the proper amount. The IRS could have this amount wrong, so verify the amount you and your family received before entering it in your tax return.
Q: What life events may affect my taxes? A: Did you buy or sell a house, move, retire, start a business, take care of a dependent, become dependent, change banks or close a brokerage account? All these events can affect your filing or the amount you owe. Q: What is the best way to file? A: E-filing and direct deposit are still the fastest way to get your taxes filed and receive your refund. Because the IRS has a backlog of around 6 million paper returns from last year, filing on paper will cause delays with your refund. Note: There are many “free” sites for e-filing federal returns, but you may be charged a fee for state filing. Q: When are taxes due? A: Here’s that info direct from IRS. gov: “For the 2021 tax return, the due date is April 18, 2022, because of the Emancipation Day holiday in Washington, DC. Taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts have until April 19, 2022 because of the Patriots’ Day holiday in those states.” Extensions can be requested, but you still need to estimate what you owe and pay it by the April deadline for your state.
Q: I started my own business in 2021. What do I need to know?
A: Depending on the type of business, you’ll most likely need to fill out a schedule C. In general, you should track expenses and income, and then pay estimated taxes. You would do best to consult with an enrolled agent for specifics on which expenses you should be tracking. For example, if you began as an Uber driver, you should track mileage, fuel, mechanical expenses and parking fees. You will need to decide during the first year a car is put into service if you will take standard mileage, or if all the expenses of the vehicle are for work.
Q: What tax benefits are retirees entitled to? A: Colorado allows a pension/annuity subtraction for two groups: • Taxpayers who are at least 55 years of age as of the last day of the tax year. • Beneficiaries of any age (such as a widowed spouse or orphan child) who are receiving a pension or annuity because of the death of the person who earned the pension. What are those subtraction amounts? • Qualified taxpayers who are
under age 65 as of the last day of the tax year can subtract the smaller of $20,000 or the taxable pension/annuity income included in federal taxable income. • Taxpayers who are 65 years of age or older as of the last day of the tax year can subtract the smaller of $24,000 or the taxable pension/annuity income included in federal taxable income. For more information, review the FYI Income 25 guidance publication at https://tax.colorado.gov. Q: What tax benefits are retired military service members entitled to?
A: A retired service member may claim one of two subtractions for all or part of the military retirement benefits that are included in their federal taxable income. The subtraction that may be claimed depends on the retired service member’s age at the end of the tax year. For more information on these subtractions, visit the Retired Servicemembers web page and review guidance publication FYI Income 21 publication at https://tax. colorado.gov. Q: I’m a retired railroad employee. What should I know about my taxes? A: Here’s an answer straight from the state tax code: “Federal law exempts railroad retirement benefits from state income taxes. The railroad retirement benefits subtraction is allowed on the Subtractions from Income Schedule (DR 0104AD) for any railroad retirement benefits reported on Form RRB-1099 or Form RRB-1099-R and included in a taxpayer’s federal taxable income.” For more information, review FYI Income 25.
Q: What can I do to ensure accuracy? A: Save a copy of all your tax returns and the supporting documents. These can help you review for next year and correct any discrepancies. The IRS has three years to let you know if they found any issues. Q: I have a complex return. Where can I find help? A: Taxpayers with more complex tax returns should contact an enrolled agent, which means this provider has been tested by the IRS for certification.
To ensure your tax preparer is enrolled, visit IRS.gov and search for the “active enrolled agents listing.” The list is organized by state and then by alphabetical last name of the agent. ■
Free tax help for qualifying seniors
Free tax preparation
AARP Tax Aide provides free tax assistance. Appointments are required. Bring picture IDs, Social Security/ITIN cards, last year’s tax return and all documents to accurately complete your return, including letters from the IRS if you had identity theft, receipt of the economic impact funds, or the letter 6419 if you received Advanced Child Tax Credit payments.
Mesa County
Call 970-589-3789 or 970-2105705 or go to www.cotaxaide. org/appt to schedule online. All taxes are prepared at Wells Fargo, 359 Main St. in Grand Junction, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Montrose
Call the Montrose Pavilion Senior Center at 970-252-4889 to make an appointment. All taxes will be prepared at the Montrose Senior Center, 1800 Pavilion Drive.
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Sunset Slope Quilters spread love and comfort
By Jan Weeks
In an age of high tech and throwaway thinking, there are people who still craft the old-fashioned way. Sunset Slope Quilters encourages members to stitch for pleasure, for heritage, for charity, and for the upcoming Mesas to Monuments quilt show April 8-9 at Grand Junction Convention Center.
“The quilt show provides an opportunity for our members to show their work to the community and to inspire fellow quilters,” said Judy Allerheiligen, the show’s co-chair.
Sunset Slope Quilters is a 501(c)4 organization that has been stitching since 1986. Members provide comfort and warmth to the community by donating their creations to St Mary’s and Community Hospital’s oncology centers, Latimer House, Western Slope Center for Children, Homeward Bound, and more. The fire department has received quilts to give to victims of house fires, and each house that Habitat for Humanity builds receives a housewarming quilt. Shelter pets receive beds as well.
Once a year, quilters host a “sew-in” to make quilts for charities. Members bring their own sewing machines and materials, and stitch away. Most of the projects have been started at home, and this meeting is a chance to show and sew in an atmosphere of camaraderie.
Sonia Sanderson began quilting 50 years ago when she became intrigued with “stained glass” quilts, in which each block is separated by a black strip that imitates the leading in a stained glass window.
Debbie Wolfe, 72, brought her project, a quilt made of tiny hearts using the English paper piecing method in which fabric is shaped around paper hearts. Wolfe started the Healing Hearts quilt on Valentine’s Day 2021 to commemorate Americans who had died of COVID.
She intended to make one heart for every victim but when the death toll moved past 800,000, she realized she couldn’t hand stitch quickly enough, so now each heart represents 200. She plans to exhibit the finished quilt at this year’s show, then display it at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden.
Wolfe said, “It was never intended to be my quilt. It belongs to the people.”
When COVID hit, Sunset Slope Quilters rose to the occasion and sewed and donated thousands of masks and other PPEs.
The quilt show’s co-chair Judy Allerheiligen said that in addition to the local and on-going charity work, the group responds to onetime needs.
“We donated not only quilts but Sunset Slope Quilters sew and donate 250 Christmas stockings each year, which are filled by Social Services, for foster children in Mesa County.
fabric, tools and sewing machines to the victims of the Paradise fire in California,” she said. “We sent quilt blocks for a project in Australia to make quilts for their wildfire victims.”
And the Marshall fire victims will be receiving new quilts, too.
Sunset Slope Quilters meet at Canyon View Vineyards Church’s South Chapel, 736 24 1/2 Road, on the second Wednesday of the month. Visitors are always welcome.
For more information, visit www. sunsetslopequilters.com or contact Allerheiligen at 970-201-6212 or Janet Wheeler at 970-216-6865. You can also find pages for the club and the show on Facebook. ■
Mesas to Monuments Quilt Show
April 8, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. April 9, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Grand Junction Convention Center The upcoming show brings 22 vendors from five states to show their fabrics, tools, and notions for sale in one location. Admission to the show is $5. Children under 12 are free.
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Town & Country Finance
Local mortgage experts save you time and money
By Tom Ryan
One of the hallmarks of our current culture is how quickly new products come on the market. Home financing options are no different. It’s difficult to keep track of the many types of home loans and how they differ.
Because of the vast and sometimes complicated differences, it’s important to deal with a local broker who can help you determine the loan that’s the best fit for your situation. Plus, local loan officers are attuned to the local market and prices.
When it comes to mortgage loans, Shelly Smith and the team at Town & Country Finance in Fruita combine local know-how with personalized service.
Smith, owner of the Fruita-based mortgage company, believes that an important decision like a home loan should not be rushed. She puts her 27 years of knowledge and experience to work for Grand Valley residents, assisting them with all of their mortgage endeavors and providing them with an experience that’s both personal and professional.
Whether you’re consolidating your debt, refinancing your home, or buying your first house, Smith and her staff have the expertise to make the process fast, easy and painless.
Smith is especially attuned to the needs of seniors, being that she is one herself. She especially loves hearing their stories.
“I love hearing about their lives— what they did in their careers, the children they had, the spouses they’ve laid to rest,” she said.
One loan program that Town & Country’s older clients often find attractive is a reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage is a great option for homeowners age 62 and older who want to leverage the equity they’ve built up in their home without selling, refinancing, or taking out a home equity loan and therefore incurring another monthly payment.
For those who don’t want to or are unable to make an additional payment because of limited cash flow or poor credit, a reverse mortgage may be your only option.
Unlike a typical mortgage, a reverse mortgage doesn’t require the homeowner to make any loan payments. It can provide a lump sum or line of credit that can be accessed as needed, based on how much of the home has been paid off and its market value. A reverse mortgage allows homeowners can stay in their homes as long as they keep up with property taxes, maintenance and insurance.
For more information about reverse mortgages and other loan programs, stop by Town and Country Finance, 122 E. Aspen Ave. in Fruita, or call 970-858-4752 and schedule a free consultation. ■
Town & Country Finance owner Shelly Smith
Shelly Smith
Owner & Loan Originator
NMLS # 273372 shelly@tcfinance.net
Can I afford to sell my house???
I receive many calls from seniors who are struggling with the decision of whether to sell their current home or not. Typically this is because it is too large, too much lawn care or too many stairs. It’s crazy how all these things were wonderful 20 years ago! Time certainly has a way of catching us by surprise. In our market today, many seniors are finding that even if they have a lot of equity and thus a great down payment, they are faced with purchasing a home that is priced higher than they want to spend. Most don’t want a payment higher than what they currently have especially if they have no payment at all.
So, give this some thought. What about purchasing that new home with a reverse mortgage? The process is simple and will allow you to nearly double your buying power.
For example: Let’s say you own a home valued at $450,000. You have a mortgage of $200,000, payments of $1,200 and equity of $250,000 (for simplicity we will leave out closing costs and commissions, etc.) You were hoping to purchase a home and pay cash, but everything you are seeing costs at least as much as the home you are selling. And certainly there is a very limited inventory at $250,000.
With a reverse, you could purchase a new home with a purchase price of $450,000, put $225,000 down (approximate numbers), not have a principal and interest payment and put $25,000 in the bank! This means you increased your buying power from $250,000 to $450,000, have no mortgage payment AND put money in the bank! It can be a great solution and an exciting new adventure!
The amount of reverse loan you qualify for is dependent on your age and some other factors, so it’s always a good idea to call if you are contemplating this type of financing.
And remember, the bank does not take the title to your home! This is the objection I hear more than any other! A reverse is a loan with your home as collateral. You are free to sell it at any time and will it to your heirs at which time they will sell and retain the equity.
The weather is getting warmer and everyone is looking forward to getting outside! See you in April!
970-858-4752
122 E. Aspen Avenue | Fruita, CO 81521 tcfinance.net |
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SCAN QR CODE WITH A PHONE CAMERA TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE By Denise Thiery
From somewhere in the midst of a heartfelt bear hug came a loud pop!
“Was that you or me, and which aged joint was it?” I asked my husband.
“Beats me,” he said, “but nothing seems to have fallen off, so I guess we’re okay.”
My husband has had surgical repairs on both knees, followed by replacements of both, then a re-do of one replacement which failed. Then his cervical spine issues required the implanting of metal screws and plates in his neck. It’s like being married to the bionic man.
In fact, he has so much metal in his body that I came up with a plan. I would buy a huge magnet and force him to accompany me against his will to every mall and craft show. That plan failed when I found out that metal joint replacements are made of titanium, which is not magnetic. Drat!
Then my own joints began to fail me. The rotator cuff in my shoulder tore and the bicep detached, requiring surgery and months of therapy. When I filled out the orthopedic surgeon’s survey, one of the questions was, “Can you throw a softball overhand with the affected arm?”
“Well, no,” I answered, “but that has more to do with my lifelong complete lack of athletic ability than the torn shoulder. Let me alter that answer a bit. I can throw a softball overhand, but it will slam into the ground about 18 inches in front of me, and it will not matter which arm I use. It’s like asking me if I can roll a bowling ball down the alley with the affected arm. I can, but it still will be a gutter ball regardless of which arm I use.”
He should have asked me something more relevant to me personally, like, “With the affected arm, are you able to scoop ice cream from a pint that’s been buried in the back of the freezer for at least six months?”
My answer would be, “Yes, I will make that happen, even if it causes the affected arm to snap off at the shoulder. Tape the spoon to my stump. Let’s be honest, though. No pint of ice cream has ever lasted six months in my freezer. Sometimes it doesn’t even make it home from the store, which is why there is a spoon in the glove compartment of my car.”
My shoulder surgery was followed by months of painful physical
therapy. I needed lots of help bathing and dressing. This prompted me to ask my husband why he could get a bra off me in mere seconds when we were young, but it now took him at least 10 minutes of fumbling frustration and hilarity to put one on me.
Then one of my knees needed surgical repair. If you’re doing the math, that’s six knee surgeries between us, even though we have the standard issue of two legs each. I am worried that I will have to carry my husband around (now that my shoulder has healed) by hopping on my one good leg until it too fails.
When I was young and all my joints were functional and pain-free, I used to wonder why seniors often backed out of parking spaces without even turning their heads to look first. Now I get it. It’s because their arthritic necks have seized up like the motor on my old Buick when I ignored the “low oil level” warning light.
My own arthritic neck has begun to painfully snap, crackle and pop like breakfast cereal, and causes my husband to peer into the room and ask, “Are you making popcorn? I’ll take a bag of that.”
I’d throw my head back and laugh if each movement of my head didn’t feel like being stabbed in the neck with an ice pick. I flipped him off instead, but due to the arthritic, swollen joint in my middle finger, which makes an abrupt turn at about a 30-degree angle, it just looked like I was pointing out the nearest window. “What?” he asked, peering out the window. “Do we have company?” I threw the nearest pillow at him, and I distinctly felt something pop in my other shoulder. ■
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Self-love can be tricky
Try this daily practice to love your body well as it ages
By Margaret Dulaney
My friend Hayden suggests that as we age and grow less cute, we might be wise to compensate for the loss of good looks with good cheer.
Emerson writes, “There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us.”
My friend Patty, who has made it into her 60s with a congenital kidney disease, likes to tell her body every day how proud she is of it. How grateful she is that it has bravely fought to give her a long life on the planet.
I am beginning to suspect that for those of us who have been graced with long life, the attainment of self-love could be our last challenge to enlightenment. I am not talking about ego, or pride, but a certain grateful recognition for the bodies that have carried us through our years on the earth, and will hopefully carry us far into old age.
Our bodies might be viewed as a sort of mobile home—temporary housing. These vehicles undoubtedly benefit from our care and attention to maintenance, but eventually they will break down. They weren’t built to last forever.
To criticize them when they begin to show the inevitable signs of age seems rather small-spirited of us.
“Oh look at that rust spot on the passenger door—unsightly!” we might say. “My roof looks like hell, my tires are all bald, there are pebble cracks in every window, and my wiper blades fell apart years ago. This old beater is a piece of junk. The poor thing!”
Wouldn’t it be kinder to say, “Oh, this grand old tank of mine has carried me through so much: through days of blistering heat, nights of frigidity, through wild storms, and traffic jams so backed up we thought we’d never move again. What a blessing this dear old jalopy has been.”
Patty’s husband Chris gave her one of his kidneys several years ago. I’d say he’s pretty well set for an eternity of Christmas gifts. This organ, twice the size of either of Patty’s original kidneys, works like a bear. This isn’t the only calamity Patty’s mobile home has suffered. She’s had breast cancer, twice. She’s had car accidents, horse accidents, dog accidents (that’s when you trip over a dog and break your bones). Her body has been carved up, patched together and rearranged, but she’s still rolling—and with enormous good cheer.
Patty likes to say to her body, “I love you, you are enough. You are enough for me.” After which she might take the dear old thing out for some fresh air and fruit.
Some, when faced with living out a life in a compromised body, will suggest, “Well, consider the alternative,” by which, of course, they mean death. But death, the transition out of our earthly suits and into our heavenly suits, is not only inevitable but, I presume, a welcome change—like going on a long
Sarah tells me that she will perform certain tasks, such as thoroughly cleaning her kitchen after her evening meal, as an exercise in self-love.
“Let’s do this for Sarah,” she says to herself. “She will be so happy in the morning to wake to a sparkling kitchen as she dashes to get ready for the day.”
I’m considering adopting this practice. “Oh dear, Margaret seems to be having an ancient day, today,” I might say to myself, “Maybe she needs a lift? Let’s take her out for a spin, give her a little shot of sunshine.”
camping trip and finally returning home to take a hot bath and put on fresh clothes.
My friend Sarah refers to any uncomplimentary, old age rumination as “Methuselah thinking.” This is when one sees oneself as an ancient ruin, of no more use to society than an old phone booth. If the criticism that we sometimes place on our aging selves came from someone else, we would consider it heartless.
“Look at that thing? It can hardly climb a hill these days without sputtering. And that paint job! Pathetic!”
Self-love is a tricky assignment, made more interesting as our bodies age.
It appears that the most dreadful thing that could be said of the aging is, “Oh, she’s let herself go, poor thing.” Or, “Look at that guy. He’s a shadow of his former self.”
I was just on vacation with an 83-year-old friend who asked where she might find a scale to weigh herself every day. She didn’t want to put on a pound. Good gravy! When do we get to let go of that crazy gym teacher in our heads?
This tight grip on our youth can be so limiting. Every age offers us its gifts. Perhaps we should be flattered when someone suggests we have “let ourselves go.” “Hooray!” we might counter, “I’ve been working toward that goal my entire life.”
“Youth is wasted on the young,” they say, but perhaps we could say the same of aging. “Age is wasted on the aging.” It is certainly wasted when we grumble about our mobile homes, when we refuse to let go of the way we rolled in our younger years, when we fuss about our paint job, our tire pressure, our power steering…
Patty, in order to thank her body for its resilience, will take it out to a yoga class. “Let me do you a favor,” she will offer. “Let me take you out to a stretch class and make you feel better.”
I suspect the best fuel on which we could run our mobile homes is simple appreciation. No matter the make or model, the finest, most energy-efficient food for our bodies is probably gratitude.
I’m thinking of a new daily practice.
“Good morning, you dear old thing,” I might say to my body. “What a fine job you’ve been doing all these years. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, and especially don’t take any grief from that person who lives in your head. You are enough, dear, you are enough.”
After this reassuring pep talk, I might offer it an outing of some sort.
“Today, my good friend, I’m going to fill your tank with love, and roll around the neighborhood, waving a cheerful hand.” I might offer. “Let’s go, shall we? We’ll toot around with the windows open, blowing kisses to the world.”
Margaret Dulaney is an author, playwright and essayist, and founder of the spoken word website www. listenwell.org. Her book, “The Parables of Sunlight,” is about leaving New York City and finding hope in the country. ■
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