Sunday, November 16, 2014

2014 Boomer Deduction Worksheet

If you like the blog, buy my book: Everyday Taxes.  A chapter for all major life events, with specific military details for each - and inexpensive!

This is for 2014 - 2015 is HERE (but the only software instructions are linked below.  No new software instructions for 2015)
If you are filing 2016 taxes, you should be on the 2016 Worksheet which is HERE

Military Submariners serving on two crew ballistic missile or guided missile boats are eligible to deduct lodging and other expenses when their "Tax Home" (the sub) is unavailable. Sometimes this is called the FBM Deduction. There are many discussions of what exactly is deductible, but this worksheet will work in most situations and make it easy to determine what amounts to enter on various forms or enter into tax prep software. If you find this worksheet useful, and it saves you money on taxes, consider making a donation.

Here are links to instructions for entering the results in popular tax software programs:

Tax Slayer 
Turbo Tax download or store bought (see link below for 10% refund bonus offer) 
Turbo Tax Online
H&R Block at Home (store bought or download)

I'm working on these as we speak, and will post more as they're done, but, if you want to get started, Turbo Tax and Amazon will give you a 10% kicker to any refund you have deposited as an Amazon Gift Card.  Here's a link:

TurboTax Deluxe 2014 Fed + Fed Efile Tax Software + Refund Bonus Offer

Boomer Deduction Worksheet for Tax Preparation - 2014
Numbers are for entries into software or initial form entries.

(A) Days of Refit assist in 2014 __________
(B) Days of Off Crew in 2014 __________
(C) Distance from Home to Off Crew Bldg __________
(D) Distance from Home to Waterfront __________
(E) Rent (do not include any mortgage info here)*__________
(F) Average Monthly Utilities __________
(G) Do you go home for lunch every day? __________
(H) Number of people (including wife and kids) sharing your residence___________

(I) Total Days with boat unavailable (A) + (B) = _____________
(J) Monthly Housing Costs (E) + (F) = ______________

Form 2106 Computation Worksheet Entries:
(K) Lodging and Incidental Expenses ((I) / 30 x (J))/H = _____________
(L) Laundry and Cleaning Expenses (I) / 7 x $10 = ______________
(M) Meal Expense (I) x Per Diem Rate from Table below = ______________

(N) Business Mileage:
If (G) is NO:
( (A) x (D) x 2 ) + ( (B) x (C) x 2 ) = ______________

If (G) is YES:
( (A) x (D) x 4 ) + ( (B) x (C) x 4 ) = ______________

Per Diem Rates (assumes reasonable distance form base):
Glynn County, GA $56
Other GA Counties around Kings Bay $46
Florida (around Jacksonville) $51
Kitsap County, WA $46
King County, WA $71
Pierce County, WA $61
Other counties look up in IRS Pub 1542 or http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877
*You deduct mortgage interest, taxes and mortgage insurance premiums directly on Schedule A


HERE is an Excel Spreadsheet based on this worksheet

13 comments:

  1. has anyone made this into an excell spread sheet? if not could you?
    the
    "(K) Lodging and Incidental Expenses ((I) / 30 x (J))/H ="
    is confusing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will attempt to do so this year and post a link in the form. Have to fininsh my book first though!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Does that mean I divided by J then divided by H

    ReplyDelete
  4. Some have pointed out that BAH and BAS can be considered reimbursement. I'm on the fence on this. If you want to include it, here's how I would do it:

    Take BAS and divide by 30 and multiply by (I) from the Boomer Worksheet. Note the smaller of this and (M) from the worksheet. We'll call this (O)

    Take BAH and divide by 30 then by (H) from the worksheet then multiply by (I) from the worksheet. Note the smaller of this number and (K) from the worksheet. We'll call this (P)

    Reimbursements are (O) + (P)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Created Excel Spreadsheet. Added link to post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. (K) Lodging and Incidentals .... ( [(I)/30] x [(J)/(H)] )

    I hope that will help to clear up any confusion with which mathematical operator goes with what. It looks daunting but it's really not.

    If I understand it correctly, the first bracket converts the boat's days unavailable into months. The second bracket returns only the sailor's portion of the monthly expenses. When multiplied together you get the deductible (the sailor's) portion of the home expenses for the period that the boat is unavailable to him/her. (Gee I really hope I didn't screw that up)

    ReplyDelete
  7. You nailed it. Since it's all multiplication and division, it can technically be done in any order, with no parenthesis: I / 30 * J / H or I * J / 30 / H

    or:

    IxJ
    ----
    Hx30

    ReplyDelete
  8. Give the spreadsheet a try. Then you don't have to do any math at all!

    ReplyDelete
  9. what is bas and bah on spreadsheet

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some believe basic allowance for housing and subsistence is a reimbursement. The spreadsheet is designed to account for that if desired. I would ignore it.

      Delete
  10. Should the boomer letter have days counted that habitability is not available on the ship as "off-crew days" and call them on-ship, birthing not available? If a barge was used, but no galley, nor enough birthing for the entire crew, does that count as birthing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some boats will report refit assist days but that doesn't really meet the requirements.

      FYI, there is a 2017 form for your use.

      Delete

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