Read the following letter and help Shady Slim with his tax situation. Assume that his gross income is $172,900 (which consists only of salary) for purposes of this problem.
December 31, 2018
To the friendly student tax preparer:
Hi, it’s Shady Slim again. I just got back from my 55th birthday party, and I’m told that you need some more information from me in order to complete my tax return. I’m an open book! I’ll tell you whatever I think you need to know.
I had to move this year after getting my job at Roca Cola. I moved on February 3 of this year, and I worked my job at Roca Cola for the rest of the year. I still live in the same state, but I moved 500 miles away from my old house. I hired a moving company to move my stuff at a cost of $2,300, and I drove in my car. I got a hotel room along the way that cost $65 (I love Super 8!).
Can you believe I’m still paying off my student loans, even after 15 years? I paid a total of $900 in interest on my old student loans this year.
Since Roca Coca (my employer) never started a retirement plan, I decided I should probably start saving for my golden years. I contributed $3,000 to what the bank referred to as a regular IRA (or was it an REM?). Oh yeah. I also did a little investing this year. I bought a limited partnership interest in Duds Ltd. for $10,000. I thought it was going to be a real winner, but this year they took a bath. My portion of the loss was $8,000. Well, at least I did not actually do any work for Duds, and I get the tax deduction—right?
That should be all the information you need right now. Please calculate my adjusted gross income and complete page 1 of Form 1040. You’re still doing this for free, right?