Don't You Wish YOU Could Deduct Your Hobby From YOUR Taxes?

[Dr.House]

From the link:



I find it rather pathetic that people choose to use this particular stick to beat Romney... his wife has MS and horse riding is good for her. So she got into it... and gets slammed for it, solely because her husband has the audacity to run against the messiah.

The envy is so thick you need a chain saw to get through it.

From what I understand, her horse is predicted to do really well in London 2012. I think that's great. I'm all for Olympic success for my country. It's good for the nation. Why am I not surprised that the bitter hacks can't bring themselves to cheer her on. Freaks.

I can picture some of them rooting for another country because of who owns the horse...

Politics trumps everything with them...

 

[BDBoop]

If you think this matters, I wouldn't dismiss the drooling so easily...

Honey - you're not actually a doctor. Therefore, you don't get to decide people are mentally ill because you disagree with them.

I formulate opinions based upon comments stated, sugar lumps...

The complaint department is over there ------->

Larry, Darryl and his other brother Darryl are in charge.

 

[BillyV]

Clearly there is something wrong with the tax system when rich elitists can pay for slick tax lawyers and get phony deductions like this!!! If Willard isn't an elitist, then I'd like to see the Average Joe try to deduct the cost of their hobby from their taxes and get away with it!

Willard deducts more from his taxes for his dancing horse hobby than the average person makes in a year. Do you think this will be one of the unspecified deductions Willard will eliminate to pay for his tax cuts for the rich??? Discuss:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/u...m.html?_r=2&smid=tw-nytimespolitics&seid=auto

“Folks,” Mr. Colbert said, “the image of Romney as a privileged princeling ends today, because now Mitt is just your average blue-collar fan of dressage.”

To show it can take a joke, the United States Equestrian Federation distributed 500 foam No. 1 fingers here, a cheeky reference to a prop Mr. Colbert used in his skit as he clutched a beer bottle in his other hand and cheered, “Woo!”

The equestrian federation even recorded spectators waggling the red foam fingers for a YouTube video it planned to offer as a “rebuttal” to Mr. Colbert. Mrs. Romney, too, put one on.

“I think having someone like Mrs. Romney so interested in horses is certainly helpful for our sport, and we’re all very happy,” Mr. Ebeling said. “Bring it on.”

But as Mr. Colbert’s satire suggested, the scrutiny may not be entirely a blessing for Mr. Romney’s image as a man in touch with the concerns of average Americans. As millions tune in to the Olympics in prime time this summer, just before Mr. Romney will be reintroducing himself to the nation at the Republican convention, viewers are likely to see “up close and personal” segments on NBC about the Romneys and dressage, a sport of six-figure horses and $1,000 saddles. The Romneys declared a loss of $77,000 on their 2010 tax returns for the share in the care and feeding of Rafalca, which Mrs. Romney owns with Mr. Ebeling’s wife, Amy, and a family friend, Beth Meyers.

Well, the reality is somewhat different. The allowed loss for 2010 was $50; since it's a passive activity, the Romneys have to earn money from the investment before they are allowed to deduct the losses. And for the record, it's unlikely the $77,000 was all "care and feeding"; an investment in a horse can be depreciated over 5-7 years and this horse was valued at $250,000. So when (or if) any income is earned from the venture, they will be allowed to take these expenses into account. Would you feel differently if this was an investment in a NASCAR racing team (I think Mitt knows some owners)? The rules would be very similar for a passive investor like Mitt; passive losses can only be offset against passive income. You'd rather see the rules written so you have to invest $250,000 in year one with no income, and then when your car (or horse) wins a $1 million prize you can't recover the cost you expended in making the $1 million?

Clarifying the record on Mitt Romney's $77,000 loss on Olympic horse Rafalca

 

[Katzndogz]

Should Ann Romney not have to put any money she got from the horses on her taxes? Is prize money, stud fees, or whatever else she got tax free?

No! Well imagine that. She has to claim income from the horses on her taxes, and gets deductions from them too.

 

[edthecynic]

From the link:

What began as therapy became a hobby and then, as her husband Mitt Romney puts it, an “addiction.” He said recently, “She's convinced [dressage helped] her regenerate her strength and renew that vigor, and so she cares very deeply about this sport and about horses...I joke that I'm going to send her to Betty Ford for addiction to horses."

I find it rather pathetic that people choose to use this particular stick to beat Romney... his wife has MS and horse riding is good for her. So she got into it... and gets slammed for it, solely because her husband has the audacity to run against the messiah.

Except Mrs Willard does not ride that horse, Jan Ebeling is the rider!!!
What is truly pathetic is how Willard's ass-kissers hide behind the MS every time their elitism is exposed!

 

[Ariux]

Well, the reality is somewhat different. The allowed loss for 2010 was $50; since it's a passive activity, the Romneys have to earn money from the investment before they are allowed to deduct the losses. And for the record, it's unlikely the $77,000 was all "care and feeding";

Right, not all "care and feeding", $77,000 is just Romney's 1/3 share of "caring and feeding". So, "all" care and feeding would be about $230,000 PLUS whatever money the horse did bring in

Why do you point out to our gallery of idiots that the allowed loss was only $50? Eventually, Romney will deduct the whole $77,000 (against unrelated investment income), which is not the conclusion that idiots reading your post will reach.

In any case, I believe that loss should be limited to whatever money the horse brings in. This is not a real investment. The intent isn't to make money; it's to show the horse to Romney's friends or for the wife to ride herself for fun. This another difference between the rich and the middle-class, their toys are tax deductible while our toys aren't. (Of course, how this is structured, whatever income the horse did earn doesn't show up any place on Romney's tax return)

It's a dancing horse (not at all as interesting as it sounds). How big are the prizes in that game? Apparently not nearly enough to cover "care and feeding". You know as well as I that by the time this horse is turned into glue, it will have provided the Romneys with several hundred thousand in net losses.

 

[Ariux]

FYI, I reviewed Romney's tax return, and it looks like it was done by a f-ing idiot. First, I believe this horse should be counted as a hobby, not an investment. I also found numerous other things that look like errors or blatant dishonesty. (I'm not a tax expert, I'm just not an idiot) Another example, Romney has a charitable deduction of over a million dollars in pizza stock to the Tyler Foundation. It appears that Romney is deducting the current market value, not the basis. If he's doing this, it's giving him an excessive deduction (the market value over the basis). The market value hasn't been realized as income, so it shouldn't be deducted.

 

[Ariux]

What is "state tax refund with no tax benefit"? Romney is claiming a $306,000 deduction/loss (Line 21 "other income") for that.