magusat999
New Member
I retired (separated) from work last year in July (California) and moved to Georgia in September. My intention was and is to freelance in Georgia in Photography and Graphic Arts. I received a refund from CALPERS and that is all I have to work with and live on unless and until I replace my void of a monthly check with income. CALPERS took penalties of my refund, of course - but as I was figuring my taxes I was being asked to pay even more - Federal an extra 10% penalty and California with it's extra 9% because I "made" over a certain amount. These amounts total to half of what I have! Calpers said they would deduct all of the penalties... but they didn't and now I get sticker shock at tax time.
My questions about this are:
1) I was able to reduce IRS liability to almost nothing due to the "working with public safety" exemption. I was not a Policeman, Firefighter nor an EMT - but the provision states "not limited to". I worked as a City Security Officer, and I was an Emergency Responder. I worked with the public for a local government and I provided First Aid, CPR and Disaster help / recovery. I was required to respond to any public emergency the City might have, so I believe I qualify for the exemption. I am not 100% sure, so I'm asking here.
Also, is there a similar exemption for California? This time California seems to be the one that is hard to reduce - and they want a lot of money!
2) I was using TaxAct and at a certain point it asked me if I had medical bills in the last 24 months. I'm not clear what the impact of that is, but I did have a medical emergency - THIS year, which ended up with me having a 60k medical bill, because I had no health care at that period of time - I didn't add that info because I am unclear if this year has anything to do with last year; or if that is a "cannot afford to pay taxes" provision. Is there any clarity on this?
3) Speaking of medical bills - can you get relief due to a crippling bill - or only if you actually "pay" a bill?
4) As I stated above, I moved to work in a different profession. There are tax cuts if you moved for working purposes - but is that only if you have an employer? What if you moved to become self employed or other working situations? What if you moved to work in a different state but circumstances prevent you from getting started right away - can you still claim it, and moving expenses - or not?
Thanks for any help on any of these issues, in advance. My appreciation.
My questions about this are:
1) I was able to reduce IRS liability to almost nothing due to the "working with public safety" exemption. I was not a Policeman, Firefighter nor an EMT - but the provision states "not limited to". I worked as a City Security Officer, and I was an Emergency Responder. I worked with the public for a local government and I provided First Aid, CPR and Disaster help / recovery. I was required to respond to any public emergency the City might have, so I believe I qualify for the exemption. I am not 100% sure, so I'm asking here.
Also, is there a similar exemption for California? This time California seems to be the one that is hard to reduce - and they want a lot of money!
2) I was using TaxAct and at a certain point it asked me if I had medical bills in the last 24 months. I'm not clear what the impact of that is, but I did have a medical emergency - THIS year, which ended up with me having a 60k medical bill, because I had no health care at that period of time - I didn't add that info because I am unclear if this year has anything to do with last year; or if that is a "cannot afford to pay taxes" provision. Is there any clarity on this?
3) Speaking of medical bills - can you get relief due to a crippling bill - or only if you actually "pay" a bill?
4) As I stated above, I moved to work in a different profession. There are tax cuts if you moved for working purposes - but is that only if you have an employer? What if you moved to become self employed or other working situations? What if you moved to work in a different state but circumstances prevent you from getting started right away - can you still claim it, and moving expenses - or not?
Thanks for any help on any of these issues, in advance. My appreciation.
