Tax Liability

The Internal Revenue Service has seized the business of a Howard County contractor who once said that paying taxes with paper money is unconstitutional.The $6 million lien -- based on a reported tax liability from 1981 through 1986 -- has put 60 employees and 20 subcontractors out of work and affected 100 other businesses in the county.Fred Waters Allnutt was convicted in 1983 of evading state taxes.He had refused to file a state tax return or pay property taxes because he believed payment with Federal Reserve notes violated the U.S. Constitution.

Some members of Congress want to fire federal workers who are seriously delinquent on their taxes. Furthermore, if they had their way, prospective employees in deep tax arrears wouldn't even be considered for a job with Uncle Sam. The Republican-led House passed legislation last month that raised the consequences for federal civilian workers behind on their taxes, or anyone who wants to work for the government. Supporters say the measure is necessary to hold employees accountable, collect about $1 billion past due and foster confidence among Americans that public servants aren't ditching their tax obligations.

JOHN O. Requard Jr. waited 30 years to say it: He didn't leak Richard M. Nixon's income tax information to the press. And he thinks he knows who did. Sure, Requard says, he was there in late 1972 or early 1973 when another young Internal Revenue Service guy passed around microfilm prints showing Nixon paid a pittance in tax on a $200,000 salary. And yeah, he admits, he initially told IRS investigators he hadn't seen the prints - a misstatement that would haunt him. But he wasn't the one who dished the information to Jack White of The Providence Journal, blowing another hole in the Nixon presidency and allowing White to win the Pulitzer Prize, says Requard, who recently retired from the IRS. Although, now that he thinks about it, he kind of wishes he was. The illegal disclosure of Nixon's tax data in the fall of 1973 is obscured by more famous contemporary leaks such as that of the Pentagon Papers or those dispensed by Watergate's Deep Throat.

Editor's note: Every Sunday through the end of tax season, The Sun will run an edited transcript of Baltimoresun.com's weekly tax advice column featuring experts from the Sparks accounting firm SC&H Group who will answer reader questions. Submit questions at www.baltimoresun.com/ taxtalk To be eligible to convert IRA contributions to Roth contributions, income must be below $100,000. Should the conversion be removed from Form 1040, Lines 22 and 37 in order to remain below the $100,000 threshold?

SIXTEEN-year-old Lillian Gibbons earns $7 an hour as a cashier at Valley View Farms garden center in Cockeysville, but the high school junior says she gets a lot more out of the job. Her paycheck, she says, teaches her a lot about money management, from taxes to the temptations of an ATM card. "It's a source of constant, dependable income that I didn't have before when doing just babysitting," the Sparks teenager says. "With the paycheck, I'm learning this is how much I make and this is how much money I spend."

Some members of Congress want to fire federal workers who are seriously delinquent on their taxes. Furthermore, if they had their way, prospective employees in deep tax arrears wouldn't even be considered for a job with Uncle Sam. The Republican-led House passed legislation last month that raised the consequences for federal civilian workers behind on their taxes, or anyone who wants to work for the government. Supporters say the measure is necessary to hold employees accountable, collect about $1 billion past due and foster confidence among Americans that public servants aren't ditching their tax obligations.

Universal Security Instruments Inc.'Ticker ......... Yesterday'sSymbol ......... Cls. ..... Chg.USEC ........... 11/16 .. -1/32Period endedJUNE 30 ....... 1st qtr. ... Year ago ... Chg.Revenue ........ $3,358 ... $4,347 .... -22.8%Net Income ...... $16 * ... $(848) ** ... --Primary EPS ..... $0.01 ... $(0.26) ..... --Figures in thousands (except per share data)* Due to tax benefit carry-forward, no tax liability was incurred** Includes nonrecurring $450,000 charge arising from patent-infringement litigation and related expensesPub Date: 8/13/97

Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions through April 15.Q: In February 1997, I sold a sizable amount of stock. I file quarterly estimated federal taxes. Must I pay any of the capital gains tax from that sale during '97 or may I wait and pay when filing '97's tax return in '98?A: You may qualify for "safe harbor" estimated taxes by paying taxes equivalent to your 1996 tax liability and then paying the remainder, if applicable, at the time of filing in 1998.

Here are answers from members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants to readers' tax questions. The Sun will publish answers through April 15.Q: I'm 61 years old and retired. My retirement income comes from monthly withdrawals from an IRA mutual fund. From each month's distribution, I have 20 percent deducted for federal income taxes. My total federal tax bill never exceeds 20 percent of my income. Do I have to submit federal quarterly estimated tax forms?A: No, as long as you know that your federal balance due after subtracting your withholding is less than $500.

WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service said yesterday that it has updated an online calculator to help Americans determine whether they owe the alternative minimum tax. "This tool helps people learn quickly whether they're going to be paying this tax," IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said. Most taxpayers can get an answer within five or 10 minutes by entering data into the calculator, he said. The calculator is an electronic version of an IRS worksheet that helps determine whether a taxpayer needs to fill out Form 6251, which determines any minimum tax liability.

SIXTEEN-year-old Lillian Gibbons earns $7 an hour as a cashier at Valley View Farms garden center in Cockeysville, but the high school junior says she gets a lot more out of the job. Her paycheck, she says, teaches her a lot about money management, from taxes to the temptations of an ATM card. "It's a source of constant, dependable income that I didn't have before when doing just babysitting," the Sparks teenager says. "With the paycheck, I'm learning this is how much I make and this is how much money I spend."

Each Wednesday through April 21, baltimoresun.com's tax experts will answer your questions this tax-filing season. Our experts are Jim Dupree of the Maryland office of the Internal Revenue Service in Baltimore and, this week, Gregory S. Horning of Stout, Causey & Horning in Hunt Valley. To be included next week, please use the form at the right side of this page to submit your questions. My wife, my son and I live in Baltimore. My wife had a job in Baltimore; I worked in Newark, Del., all of last year.

JOHN O. Requard Jr. waited 30 years to say it: He didn't leak Richard M. Nixon's income tax information to the press. And he thinks he knows who did. Sure, Requard says, he was there in late 1972 or early 1973 when another young Internal Revenue Service guy passed around microfilm prints showing Nixon paid a pittance in tax on a $200,000 salary. And yeah, he admits, he initially told IRS investigators he hadn't seen the prints - a misstatement that would haunt him. But he wasn't the one who dished the information to Jack White of The Providence Journal, blowing another hole in the Nixon presidency and allowing White to win the Pulitzer Prize, says Requard, who recently retired from the IRS. Although, now that he thinks about it, he kind of wishes he was. The illegal disclosure of Nixon's tax data in the fall of 1973 is obscured by more famous contemporary leaks such as that of the Pentagon Papers or those dispensed by Watergate's Deep Throat.

Now that consumers are able to view their own credit scores, I requested mine, confident that it would be at the higher end of the scale. I was shocked to learn that at 671 mine was considered "below average." The greatest negative, 40 points, was due to a collection matter that took place a number of years ago against my husband. It was a business debt, not a personal debt, but that's not how it was reported. After learning my score, I sent a letter to the creditor's collection attorney trying to enlist his help in removing this from our credit report, but I never heard from him. You expected rather a lot from an attorney hired by your husband's creditor.

Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions through April 15. Q. We're planning to adopt a child this year and I understand that we can receive up to a $5,000 tax credit for adoption. How does this work? A.You may claim a nonrefundable credit in the year the adoption is finalized of up to $5,000 for qualified adoption expenses for each eligible child by filing Form 8839. The limit is $6,000 for each eligible child with special needs.

TO WATCH the Congress this past week trying to fashion a tax cut that will appeal to average Americans, still satisfy social and religious conservatives and at the same time please the wealthiest constituencies is like watching a bunch of roosters trying to lay an egg.The problem with all these various tax-cut packages they're bickering over comes when you do the arithmetic. Crunch them through a cheap calculator and apply them to individual or typical taxpayers and huge tax cuts that leap from a newspaper headline have a way of shrinking to a monthly tax savings equal to the price of a six-pack and a boiled potato.

Two sisters have filed a lawsuit against Monica L. Coleman, co-founder of the bankrupt downtown financial advisory firm of Coleman Craten LLC, alleging that she defrauded them of about $200,000 in retirement money.And a former bar owner, who closed her bar and restaurant to relocate it in the Coleman Craten Financial Club downtown, is suing Coleman, alleging that Coleman reneged on a promise to pay her $150,000, and failed to repay a debt of $39,000.In both lawsuits, Monica Coleman's husband, Richard A. Coleman Sr., is for the first time named as a co-defendant.