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Did you know that some of your gifts could be included in your income tax calculation?

But only those that the IRS says are "not really" gifts.

Let's break this concept down.   

Also, keep in mind that there is a tax that is entirely separate from income tax and it is called "gift tax." It has its own tax return and its own set of tax rules. But gift tax is beyond the scope of this post. 

1.  Gifts are generally excluded from gross income.

Not so fast. If it doesn't walk like a duck or talk like a duck, can you really call it a duck? 

First of all, the income produced by the gift must be reported. Thus, if the tree is the gift, you don't report it but you must report the apples it produces. Or, if the gift is a house, you don't report the house but you report the rental income you get from the tenants.   

Secondly, you can't simply slap on the name "gift" just to avoid including it in your income tax calculation. In one case interpretting the taxation of gifts, the Supreme Court described "gifts" as being characterized by "a detached and disinterested generosity out of affection, respect, admiration charity or like impulses."

The Haiti earthquake was in 2010, but lawmakers are allowing charitable tax deductions for Haiti relief contributions in the 2009 income tax calculation.

We've already discussed the tax benefits of donating to Haiti relief in an earlier post in this blog. But now, 2009 taxpayers have an added tax incentive to donate to Haiti.   

In January of this year, the House of Representatives unanimously approved a measure to allow the deductions of cash donations to Haiti earthquake relief on the donor's 2009 tax returns, instead of having to wait until 2010 to take the charitable tax deductions. The measure allows this deduction for donations made between January 12 and February 28. 

Here's the interesting part about the new measure -- a donor can also deduct those $10 text-for-Haiti messages.  In order to substantiate those donations, the donor would need to keep their cell phone records on file.   

The Congressional intent behind this measure is simple. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Charles Rangel (D-NY) said that the bill was to provide "immediate benefit for those who have already given and an incentive for those who are considering giving."

The city of Costa Mesa, California, has just become the next in a long line of cities whose anti-solicitation ordinances aimed at day laborers have become the subject of a lawsuit. According to the Los Angeles Times, this will be the eighth federal suit in California alone over these ordinances in the last 12 years. The preceding suits have been settled or won by the laborers. One case is still awaiting a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

What is "gross income" and more importantly, why do we even care?

This is one of the most pivotal of income tax questions. 

"Gross Income" is one of the most important income tax rules and it really is a starting point in income tax calculation and in understanding how much you owe Uncle Sam. 

Now, let's confuse you by getting all taxxy and legal. Don't worry, we'll ease the pain and translate these income tax rules, once we're done with the legal jargon.

Section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code defines "gross income" as: 

All income, from whatever sources derived.

Can you see the problem with that definition? It's exceedingly broad and doesn't really define much. In fact, it essentially just defines "income" as "income."  It's somewhat like saying "the definition of 'dog' is 'a doglike animal'."

Perhaps a little elaboration is in order.  

The rights of unwed parents have always been a little tricky to define by law. However, it is even trickier for courts to decide on the parental rights of unwed fathers versus unwed mothers. According to Hofstra Law Professor Joanna Grossman, "unwed fathers in most states do not have the same rights as unwed mothers vis-à-vis their children."

However, that does not mean that the rights of unwed fathers do not exist. Grossman describes a case recently decided by the Supreme Court of Nebraska (In re Adoption of Corbin J.), where and unwed father protested against the adoption of his son by the man who had married the boy's mother.

The court ultimately decided that when an unwed father acts like a father and performs parental obligations, then he is entitled to some form of parental rights. When the unwed father performs paternal commitments, he should be granted legal rights regarding his child. 

 So, you slaved away all year baking that fabulous cake.

But now, with April 15 around the corner, that mean-old IRS wants a bite of that cake. It's tax time and you have to fill out your Form 1040, also known as filing federal income tax returns. 

So how much cake will you give the IRS? 

Why the cake analogy? Well, federal income tax law is not the most user-friendly area of the law, not even for tax lawyers.  And frankly, income tax calculation can be quite boring to read about. 

Nobody likes taxes.

But cake- that's a different story.  Who doesn't like cake?

The slow march toward integrating openly gay servicemen and women into the U.S. military appears to have begun with testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee today in Washington D.C. Testifying before the committee was Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen. The New York Times reports that in an unusually strong statement, Adm. Mullen told the committee, "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do."

Illegal immigrants typically are loathe to report abuse they suffer because of fear of deportation; but there is a ray of hope for them with the U visa.

We wrote about how undocumented immigrants are more likely to suffer from wage theft in our Law and Daily Life post here. The New York Times quotes Susan Bowyer, the managing lawyer for the Oakland office of the International Institute of the Bay Area as saying, "Undocumented immigrants are unbelievably vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and victimization because their fear of detection keeps them from reporting that victimization."

The Obama Administration is at work on re-evaluating and overhauling the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, more often known as No Child Left Behind. With some bi-partisan support in Congress, the Administration is looking at changing several key provisions of the education law.

On Friday, the regulations implementing the standard known as mental health parity were issued. These health regulations will implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. The late Senator Ted Kennedy was also a major force in the passage of that bill.