Ask a CPA

Yes. If you meet the exclusive and regular use criteria, ownership of a cooperative apartment will qualify for a home office deduction. You may deduct depreciation based on your stock interest in the cooperative. Speak to your local CPA about your home office deductibility.

No. You can choose not to carry back your NOL. If you make this choice, then you can use your NOL only in the carryforward period. (This choice means you also choose not to carry back any alternative tax NOL.)
To make this choice, attach a statement to your original return filed by the due date (including extensions) for the NOL year. This statement must show that you are choosing to waive the carryback period under section 172(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
If you filed your return timely but did not file the statement with it, you must file the statement with an amended return for the NOL year within 6 months of the due date of your original return (excluding extensions). Enter “Filed pursuant to section 301.9100-2” at the top of the statement.
Once you choose to waive the carryback period, it generally is irrevocable. If you choose to waive the carryback period for more than one NOL, you must make a separate choice and attach a separate statement for each NOL year.
Speak to your local CPA about the tax strategies invovled and the election form that must accompany the current year's return that caused the net operating loss.

If, in the current year, your taxable income is a negative amount due to a large business loss, then it appears you have a net operating loss. Simply stated, a net operating loss is the excess of allowable deductions over your gross income computed under the law in effect for that loss year with the required adjustments. On Nov. 6, 2009, President Obama signed The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which included provisions that extend the net operating loss (NOL) carryback period to five years for taxpayers incurring losses in tax years ending after Dec. 31, 2007 and beginning before Jan. 1, 2010. Typically, taxpayers are allowed to carryback an NOL to the previous two years, or may elect to forgo the carryback of an NOL and just carry forward an NOL. You can choose not to carry back your NOL. If you make this choice, then you can use your NOL only in the 20-year carryforward period. (This choice means you also choose not to carry back any alternative tax NOL.) Speak to your local CPA about filing IRS Form 1045 or about filing an amended return 1040X to use the carryback NOL.

When the general business credit exceeds the limitation in the current year, the excess or unused credit may be carried back 1 year and forward 20 years. Speak to your local CPA about carrying back a unused credit and filing an amended IRS, Form 1040X to claim the current year's unused credit.

The PSAT in year 2011 are given October 12 and October 15. Verify these dates with your High School guidance counselor.

Test Dates are October 1, 2011, November 5, 2011',December 3, 2011 January 28, 2012, March 10, 2012, May 5, 2012, June 2, 2012. Regular Registration Closes-September 9, 2011, October 7, 2011 November 8, 2011, December 30, 2011, February 10, 2012, April 6, 2012, May 8, 2012. Verify these dates with your High School guidance counselor.

The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills (while some tasks require integrating multiple skills) and all tasks focus on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed during the iBT. The test cannot be taken more than once a week.

2012 ACT Test Dates are 2/11/12 and 4/14/12 and 6/9/12 & Registration Deadlines are 1/13/12 and 3/9/12 and 5/4/12. Verify these dates with your High School guidance counselor.

The ACT Assessment is a standardized college entrance examination that measures knowledge and skills in English, Math, Reading and Science. The exam consists of 4 multiple choice tests. Here's an overview of the past ACT tests: English included 75 questions and allowed 45 minutes. It included punctuation, grammar and usage, strategy, sentence structure, organization and style; Math included 60 questions and allowed 60 minutes. It included Pre-Algebra, Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, Coordinate Geometry, Plane Geometry and Trigonometry; Reading included 40 questions and allowed 35 minutes. It included Humanities, Prose Fiction, Social Studies, and Natural Sciences; Science Reasoning included 40 questions and allowed 35 minutes. It included Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Physical Science. Students are not penalized for incorrect responses. The composite score is the average of the four scaled scores.

the SAT is the benchmark standardized assessment of the critical reading, mathematical reasoning, and writing skills students have developed over time and that they need to be successful in college. Each year, more than two million students take the SAT. Nearly every college in America uses the test as a common and objective scale for evaluating a student's college readiness.