Q:

Subject: Taxing Tax Returns

Mr. Kerstetter,

How is it that a personnel tax return from the previous year can be taxed?  This seems like double taxation on the income.  Am I off bases here?

Love your web site. Thanks for taking the time to keep it up.

A:

 I think you are misinterpreting things in regard to the taxation of tax refunds.

There is no taxation of federal income tax refunds because there is no deduction for federal income tax payments.  Occasionally, IRS does include some interest with their refund checks, such as from amended returns.  The interest portion only is required to be reported on the taxpayer's Schedule B for the year in which it is received, as is interest from banks and most other sources.

It is a different story for state income taxes.  Payments are deductible on the federal Schedule A for the year paid and withheld.  Under the long standing tax benefit rule, if any portion of the tax payments that were deducted on one year's tax return, and actually resulted in lower federal income tax, is received back as a refund from the state, it is required to be reported as income on the 1040 for the year in which the refund was either received or applied against future year state taxes.

I am as vocal a critic of the tax laws and the IRS when things are unfair as anyone.  In this regard, there really is no double taxation.  If they didn't have that requirement to pick up the state tax refund as income, it would be possible to literally manufacture bogus deductions.  A person could send in a bunch of state tax payments, deduct them on his federal Schedule A, and then get that same money back from the state tax free.  That wouldn't be fair.

State tax refunds aren't always taxable.  Obviously, they wouldn't be for people who don't itemize their federal deductions.  Likewise, for 2004 1040s, people who choose to deduct their sales tax instead of state income tax won't have to pick up any state tax refund as income.  I have also seen several cases where people have had large negative taxable incomes on their 1040s. Since the taxable income would have been negative even without the deduction for state income tax, any subsequent refund of those state taxes is not subject to federal income tax.  This is a classic illustration of the tax benefit rule.  If the deductions didn't result in any tax savings (benefit), its refund is not required to be included in future taxable income. 

I don't want to imply that the current system is a perfect offset.  Deducting too much of something on Schedule A is not accurately repaid by picking that same amount up on Page 1 of the 1040 (aka above the line adjusted gross income).  As I constantly mention, increases in AGI trigger dozens of additional ways in which taxes are increased because so many phase-outs and denials of tax deductions and credits are based on AGI, including the taxation of Social Security benefits.  To be perfectly fair with this, the state tax refund would be entered as a negative amount on the following year's Schedule A.  However, I'm not holding my breath for that to ever be the case.

I hope this adequately explains the issue of taxation of tax refunds and allays your fears of double taxation.

Kerry Kerstetter

 Follow-up:

 Wow.  Thanks for taking the time.  It is much appreciated.

 

- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 2/25/2005 03:48:00 PM Send this post: