The State sought a writ of prohibition to bar the Commission from compelling the production of medical marijuana records and cited constitutional provisions making those records confidential. But the Constitution also makes medical marijuana records available for the licensing process, which includes review before the Administrative Hearing Commission, so the Commission had authority to compel the production of medical marijuana records. Circuit court did not err in quashing its preliminary writ.
A husband and wife have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a fraud scheme that included wrongly receiving food assistance, a false bankruptcy and lying to the IRS, according to officials. Abraham Elsaghir of Dearborn, Mich., pleaded guilty to one count of false statement to an agency of the United States, one count of federal income tax evasion, and one count of bankruptcy fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Samar Elsaghir of Dearborn, Mich., pleaded guilty to one count of false statement to an agency of the United States and one count of federal income tax evasion. They both pleaded before Judge Laurie J. Michelson, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. According to information in the plea agreements, in May 2017, Abraham and Samar Elsaghir filed a voluntary chapter 7 petition in bankruptcy and received a discharge of their debts in August 2017. However, the Elsaghirs falsified their bankruptcy report by underreporting their income.
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The educator expense deduction allows eligible teachers and administrators to deduct part of the cost of technology, supplies and training from their taxes. They can only claim this deduction for expenses that were not reimbursed by their employer, a grant or other source.
Who is an eligible educator The taxpayer must be a kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide. They must also work at least 900 hours a school year in a school that provides elementary or secondary education as determined under state law.
Things to know about this deduction Educators can deduct up to $250 of trade or business expenses that were not reimbursed. As taxpayers prepare to file, they should remember to keep receipts after making any purchase to support claiming this deduction with their tax records.
The deduction is $500 if both taxpayers are eligible educators and file their return using the status married filing jointly. These taxpayers cannot deduct more than $250 each. Qualified expenses are the amounts the taxpayer paid with their own funds during the tax year.
Here are some of the expenses an educator can deduct:
• Professional development course fees • Books • Supplies • Computer equipment, including related software and services • Other equipment and materials used in the classroom • Personal protective equipment, disinfectant, and other supplies used for the prevention of the spread of coronavirus
Expenses for COVID-19 protective items. These items include, but are not limited to:
• Face masks • Disinfectant for use against COVID-19 • Hand soap • Hand sanitizer • Disposable gloves • Tape, paint, or chalk to guide social distancing • Physical barriers, such as clear plexiglass • Air purifiers • Other items recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be used for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19
This deduction is for unreimbursed expenses paid or incurred during the 2021 tax year. Taxpayers should keep records, such as receipts and other documents that support the deduction with other tax documents. Eligible taxpayers will claim the deduction on Form 1040, Form 1040-SR or Form 1040-NR, attaching Schedule 1, Additional Income and Adjustments to Income.
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Home prices soared almost 19 percent higher in 2021 as a severe lack of supply and low borrowing costs poured fuel on housing costs. The S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller housing price index, an important gauge of home prices, rose 18.8 percent annually in December 2021, tracking the highest calendar-year increase in more than 30 years. The index rose 1.3 percent in December after seasonal adjustments, with prices rising in all 20 metro areas covered by S&P.
Home prices have risen rapidly since spring 2020, when pandemic-driven stimulus, lockdowns and interest rate cuts spurred a sharp increase in home sales. The intense demand drove prices higher as buyers competed for a limited supply of houses and builders were unable to keep up amid pandemic restrictions. While home sales fell off in 2021, housing prices steamed ahead with buyers competing for dwindling inventory. Supply chain disruptions, shipping delays and other pandemic-related snarls have also hindered builders from filling the shortfall.
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Some parents who have a legal agreement with their child’s other parent about who claims the child on their taxes may have some questions this tax season about the child tax credit and the 2021 recovery rebate credit. Here’s what people in this situation need to know before filing their 2021 federal tax return.
Economic Impact Payments and the Recovery Rebate Credit The third Economic Impact Payment was an advance payment of the 2021 recovery rebate credit. The IRS used taxpayers’ 2020 or 2019 tax information to determine eligibility and amounts. Here’s what this means for people who share a qualifying dependent:
• If an eligible taxpayer did not receive a third-round Economic Impact Payment for a qualifying dependent they will claim on their 2021 tax return, they can claim the 2021 recovery rebate credit, regardless of any Economic Impact Payment the other parent received.
• If a taxpayer received a third-round Economic Impact Payment for a dependent they won’t claim on their 2021 tax return, they are not required to pay back all or part of the Economic Impact Payment if, based on the information reported on their 2021 tax returns, they should have received less.
Child Tax Credit The IRS determined who received 2021 advance child tax credit payments based on the information on taxpayers’ 2020 tax returns, or their 2019 return if the IRS hadn’t processed the 2020 return. In other words, the parent who claimed the Child Tax Credit for a qualifying child on their 2020 return would have received the advance child tax credit payments in 2021. Here’s what that means for these parents:
• Families who knew they would not claim a child on their 2021 return had the option to unenroll from receiving monthly payments by using the Child Tax Credit Update Portal at IRS.gov. People who did not unenroll and received monthly payments during 2021 for a child they won’t claim on their 2021 tax return could have to repay those payments when they file. They may be excused from repaying some or all of the excess amount if they qualify for repayment protection.
• An eligible parent who did not receive advance payments for a qualifying child will be able to claim the full amount of the child tax credit for that child on a 2021 tax return even if the other parent received advance child tax credit payments.
Get the correct information to file an accurate return Taxpayers who received these advance credits in 2021 need to compare the total amount they received with the amount they’re eligible to claim. Individuals can view the total amount of their payments through their individual Online Account. If spouses received joint payments, each of them will need to sign into their own account to retrieve their separate amounts.
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Courts are on the verge of shutting the door, once and for all, on “net winners” from the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme who refuse to pay back fictitious profits they received in the two years before commencement of the liquidation in bankruptcy court under the Securities Investor Protection Act.
In the latest opinion on February 17, District Judge Colleen McMahon of New York granted summary judgment in favor of the Madoff trustee for more than $2.6 million, plus prejudgment interest since 2010 at 4%. Regarding the Madoff customers who took out more cash than they invested, she said that they “have wasted the [Madoff] Trustee’s time and resources and the Court’s as well.”
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The Education Department will cancel federal student loans for at least 1,800 students who attended DeVry University, once one of the nation’s largest for-profit college chains, because it fraudulently lured in applicants for years with vastly inflated claims about their career prospects, according to the New York Times. The department has stepped up its discharges of debts for students who were victimized by their schools, and this decision is its first approval of fraud claims involving a school that is still operating. These claims are just the beginning, according to officials. They are encouraging other students who attended DeVry during the time it was making its false promises to apply for relief. Despite DeVry’s advertisements claiming that 90 percent of its graduates found work in their field of study within six months, only 58 percent did in reality. Department officials said that school officials knew of the discrepancy and ignored complaints from alumni. Up until this point, the department had only taken action against schools that had already closed down.
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Guo Wengui, the exiled Chinese businessman and former partner of Trump political strategist Steve Bannon, filed for bankruptcy less than a week after a judge ordered him to pay $134 million for moving and keeping a yacht out of the reach of creditors, Bloomberg News reported. Guo sought chapter 11 protection from creditors in Connecticut late Tuesday, estimating assets of no more than $500,000 and liabilities of as much as $500 million, according to court papers. In the U.S., bankruptcy pauses lawsuits against a filer while a plan to repay creditors is sorted out. Judge Barry Ostrager of New York state court said Guo has racked up fines of $500,000 a day over 268 days for moving and keeping a yacht, the Lady May, outside the court’s jurisdiction in violation of a prior order. Ostrager told Guo to pay the sum in five business days. The Lady May made news in 2020 when Bannon, a partner in a media venture with Guo, was arrested on unrelated federal charges while on board. The yacht was purchased for 28 million British pounds in 2015 ($38 million today).
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The most-awarded luxury cruise line in the industry, Crystal Cruises, unceremoniously shuttered its doors without a word to consumers and travel agents. Its parent company, Genting Hong Kong, abandoned it leaving a trail of debt—to travelers, agents, employees, and vendors. Although $4.6 million in outstanding fuel bills were central to Crystal’s demise, the signs of trouble appeared weeks earlier in a string of dominoes triggered by the insolvency of a German shipyard. Through it all — a petition to wind up the company, layoffs, a halt to future sailings — Hong Kong was still assuring Crystal employees that the brand was not in jeopardy.
In fact, passengers were still on ships. By early February, when the line’s new 200-passenger expedition ship, the Crystal Endeavor, disembarked its final passengers in Ushuaia, Argentina, the cash had run dry. “Genting HK effectively washed their hands of Crystal when they filed liquidation in Bermuda,” says Jack Anderson, who served as president of Crystal Cruises until the company dissolved its operations on Feb. 11. “At that point our relationship with Genting was effectively severed, and we were cut loose to fend for ourselves,” he told Bloomberg.
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Hertz Corp., battling hundreds of customers who say they were falsely arrested for auto theft after renting cars, was ordered by a federal judge to disclose how many renters it accuses every year. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath sided with advocates for 220 people suing Hertz who argued more details about Hertz’s internal anti-theft program should be public. In various documents filed in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, the car renter has demanded that data on how many theft reports it files every year be blocked out of court papers to prevent rivals from using the information to tarnish Hertz’s reputation. The U.S. Trustee, CBS News, and advocates for people suing Hertz for false arrest argued that the information should be made public. Court documents show that some of the customers who rented cars were jailed and in at least one case held at gunpoint just hours after paying for a rental.
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