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Information about “FITT TAX WORKSHEETS”
A Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet to help you simplify the preparation of your
Federal Income Tax Return. You don't have to be a Lotus 1-2-3 expert
to take advantage of FITT.
Three new forms have been included with the most recent version:
~ Form 2210 - Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals and
Fiduciaries
~ Form 1116 - Computation of Foreign Tax Credit
~ Form 8615 - Computation of Tax for Children Under Age 14 Who Have
Investment Income of More Than $1,000
Forms 1040 and 2441, Schedules A, B, C, D, E, G and W can also be
produced. In addition to the official IRS forms and schedules, FITT
includes a number of the worksheets that appear within the Form 1040
instruction package, such as:
~ Taxable Refunds of State and Local Income Taxes, Social Security
Benefits
~ IRA Worksheets 1 and 2, Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction
~ Schedule SE Worksheet
Fill in the blanks on the screen forms and FITT automatically performs
all the calculations, comparisons, table look-ups and other required
checks and cross-references.
FILES290.TXT
Disk No: 290
Program Title: Fitt Tax Worksheets for 1988
PC-SIG version: 2.3
FITT is a Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet (or template) to simplify the process of
preparing a Federal Income Tax Return. It's designed so you don't have
to be an expert user of Lotus 1-2-3 in order to take advantage of FITT.
Forms 1040 and 2441, Schedules A, B, C, D, E, G, and W are produced.
Three new forms have been included with the 1988 version: Form 2210-
Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals and Fiduciaries, Form
1116-Computation of Foreign Tax Credit, and Form 8615-Computation of Tax
for Children Under Age 14 Who Have Investment Income of More Than
$1,000.
In addition to the official IRS forms and schedules, FITT now includes a
number of the worksheets that appear within the Form 1040 instruction
package. These worksheets are: Taxable Refunds of State & Local Income
Taxes, Social Security Benefits, IRA Worksheets 1 and 2, Self-Employed
Health Insurance Deduction, and the Schedule SE worksheet.
Usage: Financial.
Special Requirements: LOTUS 1-2-3.
How to Start: Type GO (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $35.00
File Descriptions:
FITT88 DOC Manual file.
FITT88 WKS Lotus worksheet file.
FITTCOMP DOC Manual file.
WHATSNEW DOC Manual file.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1985,86,87,88,89 PC-SIG, Inc.
FITT88.DOC
Federal Income Tax Template
(FITT)
Copyright 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 by Ronald A. Ruel
A Tax Preparation & Planning Aid
For Users Of Lotus 1-2-3 (tm)
1988 Version
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1. PREFACE.................................................... 1
2. INTRODUCTION............................................... 2
2.1 What is FITT?........................................ 2
2.2 What FITT is not..................................... 2
2.3 New Additions To FITT In 1988........................ 3
2.4 Hardware Requirements................................ 3
2.5 Software Requirements................................ 5
2.6 FITT Files........................................... 5
3. OVERVIEW................................................... 7
4. USING THE MENUS............................................ 10
4.1 The DATA, GO TO, and REINIT menus.................... 10
4.2 The PRINT menu....................................... 12
4.3 How to make a selection from a menu.................. 14
4.4 A shortcut for reaching a menu option................ 14
5. ENTERING YOUR INCOME TAX DATA.............................. 16
5.1 Order Of Data Entry.................................. 16
5.2 Cell Protection...................................... 16
5.3 Two alternative methods for data entry............... 16
5.4 Use of the @NA Value for "Switches".................. 17
5.5 Use of the @ERR Value as an Error Flag............... 18
5.6 A Few Words About Recalculation...................... 19
5.7 Data Entry Specifics................................. 19
5.7.1 Form 1040 - U.S. Individual Income Tax
Return......................................... 19
5.7.2 Form 1116 - Computation of Foreign Tax
Credit......................................... 22
5.7.3 Form 2106 - Employee Business Expenses........ 22
5.7.4 Form 2119 - Sale Or Exchange Of Principal
Residence...................................... 22
5.7.5 Form 2210 - Underpayment Of Estimated Tax By
Individuals.................................... 23
5.7.6 Form 2441 - Credit for Child and Dependent
Care Expenses.................................. 23
5.7.7 Form 4136 - Computation Of Credit For Federal
Tax On Fuels................................... 23
5.7.8 Form 4562 - Depreciation And Amortization..... 24
5.7.9 Form 4684 - Casualties And Thefts............. 24
5.7.10 Form 6251 - Alternative Minimum Tax -
Individuals.................................... 24
5.7.11 Form 8396 - Mortgage Interest Credit......... 25
5.7.12 Form 8582 - Passive Activity Loss
Limitations.................................... 25
5.7.13 Schedule A - Itemized Deductions............. 25
5.7.14 Schedule B - Interest And Dividend Income.... 26
5.7.15 Schedule C - Profit Or Loss From Business.... 26
5.7.16 Schedule D - Capital Gains And Losses........ 26
5.7.17 Schedule E - Supplemental Income Schedule.... 26
5.7.18 Schedule F - Farm Income and Expenses........ 27
5.7.19 Schedule R - Credit For The Elderly And
Disabled....................................... 27
5.7.20 Schedule SE - Computation Of Social Security
Self-Employment Tax............................ 27
5.8 Reinitializing Specific Forms and Schedules.......... 28
6. DISCLAIMER................................................. 29
L I S T O F F I G U R E S
Figure 1: FORM portion of the DATA, GO TO, & REINIT menu
trees.................................................... 11
Figure 2: SCHEDULES portion of the DATA, GO TO, & REINIT menu
trees.................................................... 12
Figure 3: WORKSHEETS portion of the DATA, GO TO, & REINIT
menu trees............................................... 12
Figure 4: FORM portion of the PRINT menu tree................ 13
Figure 5: SCHEDULE portion of the PRINT menu tree............ 13
Figure 6: WORKSHEET portion of the PRINT menu tree........... 13
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 1
1. PREFACE
If you decide to make use of this program, and find it to be of
value, I ask that you become a registered user by sending $35.00
to:
Ronald A. Ruel
665 Clinton Avenue
Washington Township, N.J. 07675
As a registered user, you are entitled to support. In addition,
you will be notified of future releases or revisions to the current
release. Developing a model of this complexity requires many, many
hours of painstaking work. The continued development of this
product since 1984 is a direct result of your financial support.
Regardless of whether you make a contribution, you are encouraged
to copy and share this program with others under the following
guidelines:
- Do not distribute this program in connection
with any other product.
- Do not make the program available for any
consideration or fee. A nominal fee not to
exceed $10.00 may be charged to defray the cost
of reproduction and distribution.
- This program must be distributed in unmodified
form, and include this documentation file.
Reference is made in this manual to the following:
Lotus 1-2-3 is a copyrighted program of the Lotus Development
Corporation. IBM is a trademark of the International Business
Machines Corporation.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 2
2. INTRODUCTION
This manual should help you get the most out of using the Federal
Income Tax Template. It is not necessary for you to read this
document all the way through before you get started. FITT is menu
driven, and its use should be more or less self-explanatory. It
is a good idea to at least read through the sections which deal
with the specific forms and schedules that you will be using.
If you wish to get started immediately, start up Lotus 1-2-3,
retrieve the worksheet file called FITT88.WKS, and watch what
happens.
This document assumes that you have some basic familiarity with
Lotus 1-2-3. You should know how to retrieve and store worksheets.
You should also understand the concepts of cell protection, and
recalculation. These topics will be touched on briefly, but this
is not intended to be a tutorial on how to use Lotus 1-2-3.
2.1 What is FITT?
FITT stands for Federal Income Tax Template. FITT is a Lotus 1-2-3
worksheet (or template) intended to simplify the process of
preparing a Federal Income Tax Return. It has been designed to be
easy to use. You do not have to be an expert user of Lotus 1-2-3
in order to take advantage of the capabilities of FITT.
FITT contains a total of 24 tax forms and schedules, making it one
of the most comprehensive tax programs available anywhere. This
means that the vast majority of taxpayers can prepare their entire
Federal Income Tax return using FITT88. In fact, most people will
need to use only four or five of these forms and schedules.
You use FITT by simply filling in the "blanks" on the appropriate
tax forms shown on the screen in the same way you would normally
fill out the actual forms. FITT takes care of all the calculations
that need to be made including carrying over information from one
form to another, looking up numbers in the tax tables, etc.
After you've entered the information, FITT will print out those
forms that you need in order to file your return. According to the
Internal Revenue Service, you cannot computer-generate a tax form
that requires a signature and establish tax liability. This means
that the 1040 cover page must be government-issue.
2.2 What FITT is not
FITT is not a tax advisor. No tax software package can be a
substitute for competent professional advice in what is clearly a
complex field. If you are in doubt about any aspect of your income
tax preparation, do yourself a favor and consult an expert.
Furthermore, this document is not an income tax instruction manual.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 3
Many of the instructions from the tax forms have been reproduced
in an abbreviated form within FITT for your convenience, however
it is a good idea to have the actual 1040 package of forms and
instructions available for reference as you use this program.
2.3 New Additions To FITT In 1988
For those of you who have used previous versions of this product
in past years, there are a few significant additions in FITT88
worth mentioning. Three new forms have been included: Form 2210-
Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals and Fiduciaries, Form
1116-Computation of Foreign Tax Credit, and Form 8615-Computation
of Tax for Children Under Age 14 Who Have Investment Income of More
Than $1,000..
In addition to the official IRS forms and schedules, FITT now
includes a number of the worksheets that appear within the Form
1040 instruction package. These worksheets are: Taxable Refunds
of State & Local Income Taxes, Social Security Benefits, IRA
Worksheets 1 and 2, Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction, and
the Schedule SE worksheet.
An extra navigational aid has been added to the menus. In addition
to the NEXT and PREVIOUS options which appear on all intermediate
level menus, the lowest level menus now include a FIRST option.
This will bring you directly back to the first menu in the series.
Previous, you had to use MAIN to go all the way to the top, and
then proceed back down, or use PREVIOUS to back out one level at
a time.
The reference manual no longer includes a complete set of all the
printed forms and schedules. A number of people suggested that
they be deleted since anyone who wants to print a complete set can
easily do so directly from the FITT Print menu.
This has several advantages. The resulting reduction in the size
of the documentation file allows all the FITT files to reside on
the distribution diskette in uncompressed form. This saves you the
trouble of having to "unsqueeze" the files onto another disk before
you can use them. This also cuts down on the time required to
download these files from bulletin board systems.
These are the main differences that will be obvious to previous
users.
2.4 Hardware Requirements
FITT will run on any computer that can run Lotus 1-2-3, and has
sufficient memory to accommodate the FITT worksheet. The minimum
memory required may vary from machine to machine, and even from
configuration to configuration on a given machine.
Once you have loaded Lotus 1-2-3, FITT88 consumes about 206K of
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 4
memory under version 1A, and about 204K of memory under version
2.01. The improved memory allocation scheme employed in version
2 doesn't significantly reduce the memory required because FITT is
a very "dense" worksheet with little wasted space.
On most configurations, this probably means you'll need 512K of RAM
to load the entire worksheet. Hopefully, this will not be a
problem to the vast majority of you since memory limitations are
becoming less of an issue these days.
If you don't have sufficient memory to load the entire worksheet,
Lotus 1-2-3 will beep and display the MEMORY FULL indicator in the
upper left corner of the screen. If this is the case, you should
check to see how much of the worksheet got loaded in. You may find
that FITT can still be used.
Lotus 1-2-3 loads worksheets a row at a time starting from the
upper left corner and ending with the lower right corner. The
structure of FITT has been designed with this in mind. The most
critical portions of the worksheet, and the most commonly used
forms and schedules have been positioned so that they will be
loaded into memory first.
Therefore, it is quite likely that you can still make use of FITT
without the benefit of some of the less frequently used forms at
the bottom of the worksheet. If you get the MEMORY FULL error
message, press the Esc key to clear the error. Then use the GO TO
menu to move to each of the forms and schedules you need to prepare
your particular tax return and check them to see if they are
intact.
I will gladly produce special versions of FITT88 containing
specific forms and schedules for registered users who want a subset
of the complete package to fit within limited memory.
There are no special printer requirements. The tax forms and
schedules are printed without the use of set-up strings to perform
any special printer control functions. This enables any text
printer to be used. All of the printed reports are based on an 80
character print line, and a 66 line page.
This means that you can insert your own setup string within
worksheet to accommodate any special requirements of your printer.
For example, if you have an HP LaserJet printer, the page length
default is normally 60 lines. You could change it manually by
using the front control panel each time you use FITT, or you could
use the Print Options Setup (/PPOS\027.......) command to specify
the appropriate setup string to change the page length to 66 lines.
Lotus 1-2-3 will then send this sequence of characters to the
printer at the start of each printing operation.
If you enter a setup string, remember to save the worksheet so that
it is retained for future use.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 5
2.5 Software Requirements
FITT was written and tested using Lotus 1-2-3 Release 1A. I do not
know whether there were any differences in the worksheet structure,
or the macro command language under release 1 that will prevent
FITT from working properly. If you've got release 1A, there is no
problem. If you've got release 1, try it and see if it works.
FITT88 is compatible with the 1-2-3 release 2 and 2.01 as well.
The first time you retrieve FITT, it will take longer than usual
because Lotus 1-2-3 is converting the file from Release 1 to
Release 2 format as it loads it in. When you save it, the file
name extension becomes WK1 instead of WKS, signifying that the
worksheet is in Release 2 format. The next time this file is
retrieved, the conversion won't have to be repeated, and it will
load more quickly. Note that the original file (FITT88.WKS) remains
intact.
I had also hoped to provide FITT88 in directly executable form by
using one of the spreadsheet compilers that are available from
third party vendors. Unfortunately, the compiler I tried was
unable to successfully process this worksheet for some reason.
Since I haven't had time to pursue this problem, FITT88 still
requires the use of Lotus 1-2-3 for now.
2.6 FITT Files
FITT consists of a collection of three separate files. The
worksheet file is named FITTyy.WKS. The yy after the acronym
signifies the last two digits of the tax year for which this
version was designed. In this case, the file is named FITT88.WKS
because it is the version to be used in preparing the federal tax
return for the 1988 tax year. Those of you who are users of Lotus
1-2-3 will recognize the familiar WKS extension which signifies
that the file is a Lotus 1-2-3 release 1A worksheet.
This documentation is contained in a file called FITTyy.DOC. It
is a plain ASCII text file which can be displayed or printed by
using the DOS TYPE command.
A third file called WHATSNEW.DOC contains the contents of section
2.3. This file is intended for experienced users who don't like
reading manuals in order to find out what has changed. (I'm one
of these people.)
There is a fourth file called FITTCOMP.DOC. It contains a chart
that compares FITT88 with 13 other commercially available tax
preparation programs. The chart shows which forms and schedules
are supported by each program. Personally, I think FITT88 compares
quite well, but you be the judge.
FITT is distributed in two ways. It is available directly from me
on diskette, and it can be downloaded from many bulletin board
systems. On bulletin boards, FITT is distributed in the form of
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 6
an archive file called FITTyy.ARC. This file contains the
worksheet (FITTyy.WKS), this documentation file (FITTyy.DOC), and
the whats new file (WHATSNEW.DOC). The fourth file is kept
separate, and is called FITTCOMP.ARC. The distribution diskettes
I send out contain all four files in their normal uncompressed
form.
To run FITT, start up Lotus 1-2-3, place a diskette containing the
file FITTyy.WKS in the drive which is the default start up
directory for 1-2-3 (usually B), or copy the file into the
subdirectory on your hard disk which serves as the default for
Lotus 1-2-3, and enter the following key strokes:
/FRFITTyy~ (~ signifies the ENTER key.)
FITT will start up by itself, and display the title screen.
Pressing the ENTER key will get you to the main menu. That's all
there is to it.
It is important that you keep the original worksheet file intact
in case you decide to reinitialize any of the forms or schedules
back to their original state. There is a set of menus to
facilitate this, but it requires that the original copy of
FITTyy.WKS be available in the default directory of 1-2-3. For
this reason, you should make a copy of FITTyy.wks, assigning it a
different name, and use this copy instead of the original.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 7
3. OVERVIEW
FITT has been designed to be as easy to use as possible. The tax
forms and schedules included in FITT have been modeled after the
actual forms. A "fill-in-the-blanks" approach is used so that the
data can be entered in the same way that it is on the actual tax
forms. Some changes in format were inevitable due to constraints
imposed by Lotus 1-2-3 and the display screen. The form layout and
text are close enough to the actual forms so that there should be
no confusion.
While FITT will considerably simplify tax return preparation, its
greatest value is probably in tax planning, and examining the
implications of different filing strategies. For example, it can
be used to easily determine whether a married couple would be
better off filing separate returns, or filing a joint return.
After you fill out Schedule A, it will automatically compute the
standard deduction to which you are entitled, compare this with
your itemized deductions, and use whichever are greater. If you
complete Schedule D, FITT will figure the Alternative Tax
Computation and use it if it results in less tax compared to the
tax schedules.
FITT can also be used to prepare Pro Forma returns during the year
to estimate your tax liability in advance, so you can take action
to minimize it. In addition, it can help you determine the right
amount to be withheld from your salary. If too much is being
withheld, then you're giving Uncle Sam an interest-free loan. If
too little is being withheld, you may be subject to penalties and
have to make estimated tax payments.
FITT is based on the U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and
contains the following forms and schedules:
Form 1040 - U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
Form 1116 - Computation of Foreign Tax Credit (Individual,
Fiduciary, or Nonresident Alien Individual)
Form 2106 - Employee Business Expenses
Form 2119 - Sale Or Exchange Of Principal Residence
Form 2210 - Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals
and Fiduciaries
Form 2441 - Credit For Child And Dependent Care Expenses
Form 3903 - Moving Expenses
Form 4136 - Computation of Credit for Federal Tax on
Gasoline and Special Fuels
Form 4137 - Computation of Social Security Tax on
Unreported Tip Income
Form 4562 - Depreciation and Amortization
Form 4684 - Casualties And Thefts
Form 4835 - Farm Rental Income and Expenses
Form 6251 - Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals
Form 8396 - Mortgage Interest Credit
Form 8582 - Passive Activity Loss Limitations
Form 8615 - Computation of Tax for Children Under Age 14
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 8
Who Have Investment Income of More Than $1,000
Schedule A - Itemized Deductions
Schedule B - Interest And Dividend Income
Schedule C - Profit Or (Loss) From Business
Schedule D - Capital Gains And Losses
Schedule E - Supplemental Income Schedule
Schedule F - Farm Income And Expenses
Schedule R - Credit For The Elderly And The Permanently And
Totally Disabled
Schedule SE- Computation Of Social Security Self-Employment
Tax
FITT also contains the following worksheets contained within the
Form 1040 instruction package:
- Taxable Refunds of State & Local Income Taxes
(Form 1040-line 10)
- Social Security Benefits Worksheet
(Form 1040-lines 21a and 21b)
- Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction Worksheet
(Form 1040-line 26)
- IRA worksheets 1 and 2 (Form 1040-lines 25a and 25b)
- Schedule SE worksheet (Schedule SE-line 8)
In addition, FITT contains the Tax Rate Schedules X (Single
Taxpayers), Y (Married Taxpayers Filing Joint Returns or Filing
Separate Returns, and Qualifying Widows and Widowers), and Z
(Unmarried Heads of Household).
The Tax Table is not used. The IRS states that it should be used
by persons with taxable incomes of less than $50,000. In these
cases, FITT uses the Tax Rate Schedules to achieve the same result
by adjusting taxable income to place it in the middle of the
appropriate bracket before performing the calculation specified by
the corresponding Tax Rate Schedule.
When FITT uses the Tax Rate Schedules, it checks to see if the
taxable income falls within the highest bracket on the schedule
being used. If it does, then FITT will automatically use the
special Tax Rate Schedule Worksheet to properly compute the tax.
On the page in the 1040 instruction package containing the 1988 Tax
Rate Schedules, you will see the following notice: "Caution:
Pending legislation would require married persons filing separately
who did not claim an exemption for their spouse to add $546 to the
result otherwise figured on line 7 above. Get Pub. 553, Highlights
of 1988 Tax Changes, to find out whether this law was passed."
Believe it or not, the IRS could not tell me if in fact this change
had passed until today (2/3/89). Publication 553 is still not
available (I've had it on order for two months, and neither the
central or local IRS offices have it yet.)
For those of you who would be affected by this change, I can only
relay the answer I just received after repeated calls over the last
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 9
month had been fruitless: "As far as we know, nothing has
changed." Therefore, I have not included this extra $546 in the
tax calculation. It's no wonder that the IRS has difficulty in
getting people to file their returns earlier.
When FITT is retrieved, the title screen will appear. Pressing the
enter key causes the main menu screen to be displayed. You will
notice that a version letter appears on this screen. FITT is
initially released as Version A for a particular tax year. Should
subsequent versions be released with improvements or corrections,
the version letter will be updated accordingly. This will enable
you to identify whether or not you have the most current version.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 10
4. USING THE MENUS
FITT utilizes menus which appear on the top two lines of the
screen. The first line contains the available choices on that
particular menu. You select a choice by using the left and right
arrow keys to move the pointer from one item to another. You will
note that as the pointer is moved to each item, the item appears
in inverse video. The text on the line below also changes to
provide a brief description of that particular menu choice.
The main menu choices are: DATA (to enter your tax data), GO TO
(to quickly go to a particular form or schedule), PRINT (to print
out one or more of your completed forms), REINIT (to reinitialize
a particular form or schedule), and QUIT (to leave the menu
system.) They appear like the standard Lotus 1-2-3 command menus
with the choices listed across the top of the screen. The main
menu appears as follows:
DATA GOTO PRINT REINIT QUIT
Each of these options will be described in more detail in the
following sections.
The menu structure has been designed so that at any point, you can
return to the previous menu used, or return to the main menu. This
flexibility permits you to efficiently move back and forth through
the various choices.
4.1 The DATA, GO TO, and REINIT menus
The DATA, GO TO, and REINIT choices on the main menu bring up very
similar looking menus, the primary difference being the operation
they invoke. DATA allows you to enter data on one or more forms
using a guided "fill-in-the-blanks" approach. GO TO provides you
with a facility to quickly "jump" from one form to another. REINIT
allows you to reinitialize a particular form or schedule back to
its original state using the copy on the original FITTyy.WKS file
on the distribution disk.
All of the forms are grouped within one set of menus, and the
schedules grouped within a second set. The sub-menus for forms
present the menu choices in numerical order. Thus, Form 1040 is
shown first, and Form 8615 is shown last. Schedules are ordered
alphabetically, with Schedule A appearing first, and Schedule SE
appearing last.
Many of the forms and schedules supplied by the Internal Revenue
Service must be filled out on both the front and back sides. This
structure has been preserved in FITT. The front and back sides of
the affected forms are listed as separate menu choices within the
DATA, GO TO, and REINIT menus even though they are part of the same
form. Each form is identified in the menus by its number, and each
schedule by its letter. When the form or schedule has two sides,
the suffix -Frt designates the front sheet, and -Bak designates the
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 11
back sheet. For example, the actual Form 1040 consists of one
sheet of paper on which both front and back sides are used. In
this case, the front sheet of form 1040 appears in the menus as
1040-Frt, and the back sheet as 1040-Bak.
Within the FITT worksheet, a row of equal signs is used to identify
the start and the end of a physical page on the corresponding IRS
forms and schedules. This convention makes it easier to navigate
throughout the worksheet, and know when you've moved from one form
to another, or one side to another.
The distinction between front and back sheets is not made within
the PRINT menus. My rationale is that a form or schedule should
always be printed in its entirety. The GO TO, DATA, and REINIT
menus deal specifically with the front and back sheets because you
may wish to enter, change, or view data on one side of a form only.
When you choose either the DATA, GOTO, or REINIT option shown on
the main menu, a second level menu appears as follows:
FORMS SCHEDULES WORKSHEETS MAIN
From here, choosing Forms, Schedules, or Worksheets will bring you
to a third menu level. From this level down, the menu trees are
the same regardless of which option you started with. The
structure of the form menu tree is shown in Figure 1. All figures
only show the brief menu option name. The actual menus themselves
have a second line of explanatory text that appears directly below
the command line. This text fully names the specific form,
schedule, or worksheet that is currently being highlighted.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 1: FORM portion of the DATA, GO TO, & REINIT menu trees
1040-FRT 1040-BAK 1116-FRT 1116-BAK 2106-FRT NEXT PREV MAIN
2106-BAK 2119 2210-FRT 2210-BAK 2441 NEXT PREV MAIN
3903 4136 4137 4562-FRT 4562-BAK NEXT PREV MAIN
4684-FRT 4684-BAK 4835 6251 8396 NEXT PREV MAIN
8582 8615 FRONT PREV MAIN
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The structure of the schedule menu tree is shown in Figure 2.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 12
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 2: SCHEDULES portion of the DATA, GO TO, & REINIT menu trees
A B C-FRT C-BAK D-FRT NEXT PREV MAIN
D-BAK E-FRT E-BAK F-FRT F-BAK NEXT PREV MAIN
R-FRT R-BAK SE-FRT SE-BAK FIRST PREV MAIN
----------------------------------------------------------------
The structure of the worksheet menu is shown in Figure 3.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 3: WORKSHEETS portion of the DATA, GO TO, & REINIT menu trees
1040-L10 1040-L21 1040-L26 IRA-1 IRA-2 SE-L8 PREV MAIN
----------------------------------------------------------------
There is one case where the Worksheet menu is slightly different
from what is shown in Figure 3. The Schedule SE-Line 8 worksheet
does not appear as an option within the DATA menu tree. This
worksheet does not contain any locations for entry of data by the
user. FITT automatically activates this worksheet when necessary,
and fills in all of the required information. For this reason, you
can access it from the GOTO, PRINT, and REINIT menus only.
4.2 The PRINT menu
The print menu allows you to select individual forms and schedules
to be printed. In addition, groups of forms and schedules can be
printed automatically. FITT automatically initiates a
recalculation before printing anything to guarantee that the
printed results will be up-to-date.
Each printed page contains a standard heading which consists of the
date on the left, a title in the center, and a page number on the
right. The title consists of the word "Schedule" or "Form"
followed by the appropriate number or letter, and the words "-Front
Sheet" or "- Back Sheet" where applicable. The page number
corresponds to the printed page, and it always begins with 1 for
each form or schedule, even if a group of them are being printed
at one time.
For example, Form 2119 - Sale or Exchange of Principal Residence
requires two printed pages, even though the IRS form is contained
entirely on the front sheet. Schedule D on the other hand consists
of a front sheet printed as pages 1 and 2, and a back sheet printed
as page 3.
The printouts have been designed to make the page breaks fall in
a logical place. This is accomplished by dynamically changing the
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 13
top and bottom margins during the printing process. Therefore you
shouldn't think anything is wrong with your printer when some forms
begin printing farther down the page than others. The page breaks
were calculated on the basis of a 66 line page.
When you choose the PRINT option shown on the main menu, a second
level menu appears as follows:
FORMS SCHED WRKSHEETS 1040-ABD ALL-Frms ALL-Schs ALL-F&S MAIN
From here, choosing the Forms, Schedules, or Worksheets options
will bring you to a third menu level. From this level down, the
menu trees are similar to those shown in Figures 1-3. The
difference is that each form or schedule is always printed in its
entirety. You do not have the option of printing out only the
front side or back side. The structure of the form menu tree is
shown in Figure 4.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 4: FORM portion of the PRINT menu tree
1040 1116 2106 2119 2210 NEXT PREV MAIN
2441 3903 4136 4137 4562 NEXT PREV MAIN
4684 4835 6251 8396 8582 NEXT PREV MAIN
8615 FIRST PREV MAIN
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 5 shows the structure of the SCHEDULE portion of the PRINT
menu tree.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 5: SCHEDULE portion of the PRINT menu tree
A B C D E NEXT PREV MAIN
F R SE PREV MAIN
----------------------------------------------------------------
The WORKSHEET print menu is shown below in Figure 6.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 6: WORKSHEET portion of the PRINT menu tree
1040-L10 1040-L21 1040-L26 IRA-1 IRA-2 SE-L8 PREV MAIN
----------------------------------------------------------------
The 1040-ABD option on the PRINT menu prints out the Form 1040, and
Schedules A, B, and D. These are probably the most commonly used
set of forms, and this option provides a convenient way to print
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 14
this group out at once.
The All-Frms option prints out each and every form in numerical
order. The All-Schs option will print out each Schedule in
alphabetical order. Finally, the All-F&S option will produce a
complete set of all forms and schedules.
For these print options that print out a group of forms,
recalculation is initiated only once at the start of the group, and
not repeated after each form since FITT retains control and
updating is not possible until after the operation is completed.
4.3 How to make a selection from a menu
You make your selection by moving the pointer using the left arrow
and right arrow keys on the numeric pad on the right side of the
keyboard until the desired choice is highlighted in inverse video.
Pressing the ENTER key will then invoke your choice.
Note that the Num Lock key must be disengaged in order for the
arrow keys to work. Lotus 1-2-3 displays NUM in the bottom right
corner of the screen if it is engaged. Pressing the Num Lock key
once causes the indicator to disappear showing that it has been
disengaged. If you have the newer keyboard with separate cursor
control keys, then you can use these keys regardless of how Num
Lock is set.
The NEXT, FIRST, PREVIOUS, and MAIN selections can be invoked by
the method described above, or simply pressing the letter N key for
NEXT, F for FIRST, P for PREVIOUS, and M for MAIN.
4.4 A shortcut for reaching a menu option
The main menu is automatically brought up after FITT is loaded, and
the initial title screen is displayed. If you leave the menu
command mode via the QUIT selection, you may wish to reactivate the
main menu without restarting FITT. Holding down the Alt key and
pressing the M key (Alt-M) will bring up the main menu anytime you
are not in the menu command mode. Schedule A, for example, could
be printed out by following these steps:
- Bring up the main menu (Alt-M) if not under menu
control
- Select the PRINT option
- Select the SCHEDULE option
- Select the A option to print Schedule A
There is a shortcut available for you to use if you wish. Holding
down the Alt key and pressing the P key (Alt-P) will immediately
bring up the PRINT menu, bypassing the first and second steps
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 15
shown above. Similarly, Alt-D will bring up the DATA menu, Alt-G
will bring up the GO TO menu, and Alt-R will bring up the REINIT
menu.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 16
5. ENTERING YOUR INCOME TAX DATA
Entering your income tax data involves inputting your data on the
appropriate forms which apply to you. It is unlikely that you will
need to use every one of the forms and schedules that FITT
provides. A few people will only need to use Form 1040. Most
people will probably need to use Schedules B and D to report
interest and dividend income and capital gains and losses. Many
will need to use Schedule A to report itemized deductions. The
remaining forms and schedules will apply to a relatively small
number of taxpayers. They have been included to insure that FITT
will have maximum utility for the vast majority of people.
5.1 Order Of Data Entry
In general, the order in which you enter your data doesn't matter.
I recommend that you start with Form 1040, and enter your filing
status and exemptions. Then you should complete the income section
line by line and use the supplementary forms when you reach a line
that requires it.
You can complete the forms in a different order if you wish. You
will see the Lotus 1-2-3 indicators NA or ERR displayed in those
locations where there are calculations which require data that has
not yet been entered. This won't matter since the errors will be
removed once all of the required data has been entered.
5.2 Cell Protection
To safeguard the contents of those cell locations which should not
be altered by the user, the cell protection feature has been
employed. Those cells in which the user may enter data are in an
"unprotected" state. These cells are highlighted in green if you
are using a color monitor, or appear in a higher intensity if you
are using a monochrome monitor.
The remaining cells are "protected". If you attempt to enter data
in one of these cells, you will hear a beep, and the message
"Protected Cell" will appear in the lower left corner of the
display. You will not be able to proceed until you reset the error
condition by pressing the Esc key.
5.3 Two alternative methods for data entry
There are two different methods that you can use to enter your
data. The method you choose is purely a matter of personal
preference.
The first method is to use the DATA menu, and select the specific
form or schedule in which you wish to enter data. This will cause
the designated form to appear, and move the cell pointer (the
rectangular bar in inverse video that points to the current cell)
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 17
to the first unprotected cell. When you use the arrow keys on the
numeric keypad to move the cell pointer, it will skip over any
intervening protected cells to the next unprotected cell.
In general, pressing the right arrow key will move you through the
unprotected cells on a form in the proper sequence from top to
bottom. Pressing the HOME key on the numeric keypad moves the cell
pointer to the unprotected cell closest to the upper left corner
of the form. Pressing the END key moves the cell pointer to the
unprotected cell closest to the lower right corner of the form.
When you are done entering data on the form, pressing the ENTER key
without entering any data will return you back to the DATA menu.
From here, you can select the next form or schedule that you wish
to complete.
The second method for entering data is to use the GO TO menu to
move to the form or schedule of your choice. You then move the
cell pointer to the unprotected cells on that form and enter the
data.
There are distinct differences between these two methods of data
entry. When you use the DATA menu, you automatically skip from one
unprotected cell to another which makes it easier to determine
where the data needs to be entered. The disadvantage is that you
may not see all parts of the form or schedule; you will only see
those parts containing the unprotected cells. This becomes more
of a problem when you wish to view the bottom of a form where the
results are shown, but can't get there because there are no
unprotected cells in that vicinity. You also don't have complete
flexibility of movement.
When you enter data outside of the control of the menu system, you
will have to move the cell pointer through a greater range of cell
locations yourself. While this requires more manipulation of the
cell pointer on your part, you do have the flexibility to move
anywhere on the forms you wish. The choice of method is yours.
5.4 Use of the @NA Value for "Switches"
As you look through the various forms and schedules, you will see
that NA appears in a number of different places. They have special
significance, and it is important for you to understand how they
are used within FITT88.
In Lotus 1-2-3, there is a special function: @NA. This means Not
Available. The important thing is that there is another function
which can be used to test for the presence or absence of this value
in a specific cell. FITT88 makes extensive use of this value as
a switch. In many places within the Federal Tax Return, you are
supposed to check a box in answer to a question, and follow
different calculation methods depending on your answer. FITT88
uses the NA value to indicate the absence of one of these check
marks. When you "check" a box in FITT88 that contains NA, you are
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 18
in effect setting a switch (by removing the NA value) which will
cause a different sequence or method of calculation to occur.
An example should make this clear. On the back sheet of Form 1040,
there are a series of questions on lines 33a, 33b and 33c. An NA
appears next to each of these questions. Whether or not you remove
the NA values from these lines will make a significant difference
in the way FITT88 works.
If you haven't removed any of the NA values on these lines, FITT88
will apply the standard deduction rules, and compare the
appropriate standard deduction with your itemized deductions (if
any) from Schedule A to determine which would be more advantageous.
If you remove the NA value from line 33c, you are signaling FITT88
that you are married filing a separate return and your spouse
itemizes deductions, or that you are a dual- status alien. This
means that you are not allowed to claim the standard deduction.
Accordingly, FITT88 will not calculate one.
If you removed any of the NA values from line 33a, then the special
Standard Deduction tables are used. This usually results in a
higher deduction. If you remove the NA value from line 33b
indicating that you can be claimed as a dependent on another
person's return, FITT88 will use the special Worksheet for
Dependents to compute the proper deduction.
There are two points to this lengthy explanation. First, it is
important for you to answer these types of questions carefully and
correctly by removing or not removing the appropriate NA values.
Secondly, if you remove an NA value and change your mind, you must
enter @NA to restore this special value. Simply entering the
letters NA will not have the same affect even though the cell
display may appear that way.
5.5 Use of the @ERR Value as an Error Flag
As we all know, simply filling in the correct information on a tax
return is tough enough by itself even if a program is doing all the
calculations for us. There are lots of opportunities to make
mistakes. For example, on some forms losses are to be entered as
negative numbers, and on others as positive numbers.
I have tried to build in as much error checking as possible to help
you catch these kinds of errors. The ERR value is used to indicate
that you've entered something that doesn't make sense. Therefore,
if you see ERR displayed on a form or schedule, don't ignore it.
Check the information that you've entered in the immediate vicinity
because something is wrong.
For example, on line 5 of the front of Form 1040, you must enter
your filing status in the form of a number from 1 to 5. There is
a formula in the cell immediately to the right which checks this
value. If it is less than 1 or more than 5, the ERR value will be
displayed in this cell.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 19
5.6 A Few Words About Recalculation
Due to the size and complexity of FITT, recalculation of the
worksheet takes several seconds on an 8088-based PC (which really
isn't very long - one of my 1-2-3 worksheets takes over 10
minutes). If this recalculation took place every time a data item
was entered, the resulting pause after each entry would quickly
become annoying. Since it isn't necessary to recalculate this
often, the recalculation mode has been set to manual. This means
that recalculation will only take place on demand when you press
the F9 function key.
The disadvantage of this approach is that you must remember to
invoke recalculation before examining any results. You can tell
if recalculation is required by looking for the CALC indicator in
the lower right portion of the screen. If it is present, it
signifies that something has been changed since the last time the
worksheet was recalculated.
If you enter data through the use of the DATA menu, the worksheet
is automatically recalculated for you when you exit from entering
data in a particular form or schedule. This is another advantage
of the DATA menus; you don't have to be concerned about invoking
recalculation.
Whenever you initiate a printing operation from the print menu, the
worksheet is recalculated first before printing. This guarantees
that the printed information is correct and up-to-date.
I'm emphasizing this subject because all too often, I've seen
worksheets yield incorrect answers because the user (myself
included) forgot to invoke recalculation before recording the
results.
5.7 Data Entry Specifics
In general, you need only follow the instructions contained in your
1040 package to supply the data required by FITT. In the sections
that follow, specific areas that may require clarification are
treated on a form-by-form basis. In forms where several
alternative calculation methods are possible, certain "switches"
may need to be set as described earlier to indicate the method
you've chosen. These "switches" will be described as well.
A number of the forms and schedules are not treated in the
following sections because their operation within FITT88 is self-
explanatory.
5.7.1 Form 1040 - U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
On the top of this form, you will see space for identifying
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 20
information like your name and social security number. Completing
this section is entirely optional since it does not affect the
calculations in any way. This is also true for the other tax forms
and schedules as well. If you are preparing several alternate tax
returns, you might wish to enter some text in this section to
identify which alternative this return represents.
In the Filing Status section, you must enter a number (1 through
5) to indicate your filing status instead of the check mark in a
box on the real Form 1040. Entering a number outside this range
will cause the ERR indicator to be displayed immediately to the
right.
In the exemptions section, you must remove the NA on those parts
of lines 6a, and 6b which apply to you. Complete section 6c to add
your dependents.
You are to enter the total of your wages, salaries, tips, etc. on
line 7. FITT88 will add the excess reimbursement reported on line
9 of Form 2106, and unreported tips reported on line 3 of Form 4137
to the number that you enter, and place the total in the cell
immediately to the right.
There are three cases where the use of a supplementary schedule is
optional. FITT has been set up under the assumption that Schedule
B for interest and dividend income will be used, and brings the
totals from this schedule forward onto lines 8a and 9 of Form 1040.
Similarly, the appropriate amount from Schedule D for capital gains
and losses is brought forward to line 13. If you do not have to
file these schedules, it is possible for you to enter the data
directly onto the appropriate lines of Form 1040.
Line 8 contains the total interest income reported on Part I of
Schedule B. If this total is $400 or less, you don't need to
complete Part I of Schedule B. The amount can be entered directly
on this line. This cell location has been protected to prevent
accidental obliteration of its formula. (See section 5.2 for more
information about cell protection.) Therefore you will have to
unprotect this cell before you can enter your total interest
income.
You cannot unprotect a cell when you have entered data entry mode
via the DATA menu. If you are in data entry mode, you must first
exit this mode by pressing the ENTER key. Then use the GO TO menu
to bring you to the first page of Form 1040, and move the cell
pointer to line 8a of this form. Once the cell pointer is
positioned on line 8a where interest income is to be entered, you
can unprotect the cell by pressing the Alt-U keys. Now you can
enter your interest income directly on line 8 without using
Schedule B.
Similarly, line 9 contains dividend income from Part II of Schedule
B. If the amount of your dividends are $400 or less, then you may
unprotect this cell and enter the total directly.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 21
Line 13 should only be completed if you do not need Schedule D for
other capital transactions. You will have to unprotect this cell
before entering your capital gain distributions.
Line 16b should contain the taxable portion of line 16a. Therefore
if the amount entered on line 16b is larger than 16a, the ERR
indicator will appear immediately above the amount on line 16b.
The same check is performed on line 20b.
A number of lines on the front sheet of Form 1040 require you to
complete the associated forms, schedules, or worksheets. They are:
- lines 8a & 9-Schedule B (Interest And Dividend Income)
- line 10-Taxable Refunds of State and Local Income
Taxes worksheet
- line 12-Schedule C (Business Income Or Loss)
- line 13-Schedule D (Capital Gains and Loss)
- line 18-Schedule E (Supplemental Income Schedule)
- line 19-Schedule F (Farm Income Or Loss) and
- lines 21a and 21b-Social Security Benefits Worksheet
- line 24-Form 2106 (Employee Business Expenses).
- lines 25a and 25b-IRA Worksheet 1 or 2
- line 26-Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction
Worksheet
If the ERR indicator appears on any of these lines, then you should
go back and recheck the information that you entered on the related
form, schedule, or worksheet. For example, you can only use one
of the two IRA worksheets to compute the deduction. FITT checks
to make certain that only one of those worksheets contain non-zero
values. If this is not the case, FITT alerts you to this fact by
displaying the ERR indicator on lines 25a and 25b. Once you have
put zero values back in one of these worksheets (either through
data entry or the reinitialization function), the ERR indicators
will disappear after the first recalculation.
On the back sheet of Form 1040, line 34 contains your total
deductions from Schedule A if they exceed the standard deduction
to which you are entitled.
Line 38 contains the tax which is computed from the appropriate tax
rate schedule based on your filing status, and taxable income. As
described earlier, a complete copy of the tax table is not used.
Taxable incomes below $50,000 are rounded to the center of the tax
bracket to yield the same result as if the tax table were used.
Note that if you've completed Form 8615-Computation of Tax for
Children Under Age 14 Who Have Investment Income of More Than
$1,000, FITT88 will use the amount calculated on line 18 of this
form.
In the Credits section, lines 41, and 42 are brought forward from
Form 2441 (Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses), and
Schedule R (Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled) respectively.
Below line 42, the Mortgage Interest Credit is transferred from
line 13 of Form 8396.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 22
In the Other Taxes section, line 48 comes from Schedule SE
(Computation of Social Security Self- Employment Tax), line 49 from
Form 6251 (Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals), and line 51 from
Form 4137 (Computation of Social Security Tax on Unreported Tip
Income).
In the Payments section, the Credit for Federal tax on fuels (line
59) is transferred from Form 4136 (line 11.)
If you have completed Form 2210 to calculate any penalty that you
owe because of underpayment of estimated taxes, the penalty will
appear under line 65.
5.7.2 Form 1116 - Computation of Foreign Tax Credit
The IRS wants you to complete a separate Form 1116 for each type
of income listed on the top of this form. If you have some
knowledge of Lotus 1-2-3, you can place additional copies of this
form within the worksheet if your computer has sufficient memory
to accommodate them. Within this form, absolute cell references
were used to facilitate copying it. Just be sure that you add the
credits together, and enter them in Part IV of the original form
so they are properly recognized by FITT.
5.7.3 Form 2106 - Employee Business Expenses
On this form, you have a choice of using the standard mileage rate
(Part II, Section B), or actual expenses (Part II, Section C), in
computing vehicle expenses on line 1. If you choose to use the
standard mileage rate, you must remove the NA above line 11. This
tells FITT that you want Section B to serve as the basis for the
vehicle expense calculations.
If you wish to use Section C instead, no special action is
required.
5.7.4 Form 2119 - Sale Or Exchange Of Principal Residence
There are several "switches" that may need to be set on this form.
If your former residence was held six months or less, be sure to
enter YES in the cell to the right of line 1a. This will remove
the NA on this line which causes the gain to be treated as a short
term capital gain instead of a long term capital gain.
If you bought a new residence, be sure to check YES on line 2a
replacing the NA indicator on that line. This will activate the
calculations in Part III - Gain To Be Postponed and Adjusted Basis
of New Residence.
If you elect to take the once in a lifetime exclusion of the gain
on the sale, be sure to check YES on line 3d. This will activate
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 23
the calculations in Part II - Age 55 or Over One-Time Exclusion.
If you have indicated that the gain is to be treated as short term,
and you have not elected to take the once in a lifetime exclusion,
the gain on line 8a is carried forward to line 3 of Schedule D.
Otherwise, any gain is reported on line 10 of Schedule D.
5.7.5 Form 2210 - Underpayment Of Estimated Tax By Individuals
When completing this form, be sure to replace the number of days
shown on lines 23b, 24b, and 25b with the actual number of days
between the start of the periods and the payment dates. The
numbers initially supplied with FITT represent the "worst case"
values - ie. no payments were made at all.
5.7.6 Form 2441 - Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses
Under certain circumstances, you may need to complete Form 6251 -
Alternative Minimum Tax. If FITT determines that this is indeed
the case, it checks to see whether you've activated Form 6251
(indicating that you've completed it.) If you need to complete
Form 6251, and it hasn't been activated, then the ERR indicator
will be displayed on line 8 of Form 2441. Once you activate Form
6251, and fill it out, the ERR indicator will disappear after the
next recalculation.
5.7.7 Form 4136 - Computation Of Credit For Federal Tax On Fuels
In column A of lines 2 - 10 of this form, you are to enter the
number of gallons of fuel used in 1988, and then multiply by one
of several alternative tax rates in column B depending on the type
of fuel. The subtotals of these calculations are to be entered in
column C.
FITT88 does all of these calculations for you. Simply enter the
proper numbers in column A. Then enter the index of the proper
tax rate in the cell to the right of column B. For example, on
line 2a i, there are three tax rates: .03, .0333, & .09. If you
enter 1 to the right of column B, then the number of gallons in
column A will be multiplied by .03. If you enter a 2, .0333 will
be used. A 3 will cause .09 to be used. The results of this
calculation for lines 2a i-iii are totaled in column C.
The tax index that you enter is checked to be certain that it is
within the permissible range for that line. If you see the ERR
indicator anywhere on this form, go back and recheck the tax
indices that you've entered.
The results from this form are reported on Form 1040, line 59.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 24
5.7.8 Form 4562 - Depreciation And Amortization
Much of the information that you must enter on this form is of a
descriptive nature. The values that you enter on lines 6 - 10 in
column F are added to the calculated amount on line 5 to arrive at
your total depreciation deduction on line 11. This amount is
reported on the depreciation lines of the return (Schedule C - line
12, Schedule F - line 17, and Form 4835 - line 12.)
Total Amortization calculated in Part II - line 3, is reported on
the Other Deductions or Other Expenses lines of the return
(Schedule C - line 29a, Schedule F - line 35a, and Form 4835 - line
31a.
In Part III, Section B on the back of this form, the total business
miles, commuting miles, and other personal miles are added and
compared with the total miles you've entered. If they are not the
same, the ERR indicator will be displayed above the line 4 totals.
5.7.9 Form 4684 - Casualties And Thefts
If there was a gain from casualty or theft, lines 5 through 13 in
Section A, and lines 5 through 10 in Section B should be skipped.
If you have a gain, and mistakenly enter values on lines 5 or 6 of
Section A or B, the ERR indicator will appear immediately below the
cells in which you've entered non-zero values. Also, the amount
entered on line 6 can't be greater than line 5 in Section A and B.
This condition will also cause the ERR indicator to be displayed.
In Section A, if you are completing more than one Form 4684, the
sum of the line 12 amounts are to be entered on line 13, and the
sum of the line 4 amounts are to be entered on line 14. In this
case, you should unprotect the cells for lines 13 & 14, and enter
the totals directly.
If the result on line 18 of Section A is greater than zero, it is
reported on Schedule A - line 18. The amount on line 20b of
Section B - Part II is reported on Schedule A, line 21.
5.7.10 Form 6251 - Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals
In order to activate this form, you must remove the NA value
located directly above the value in line 1. You have to determine
from the instructions whether or not you are liable for the
alternative minimum tax. There are several forms which may require
information from Form 6251. These forms check to be sure that this
form has been activated. If it has not, FITT won't use any data
from this form. Instead, it will display the ERR indicator within
the forms that require this information.
For purposes of computing your regular tax for the line 18
calculation, FITT assumes that the entire amount, if any, that
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 25
you've entered on line 39 of Form 1040 is due to tax from Form
4970. If in fact, the Form 1040-line 39 amount comes from Form
4972, then the formula on line 18 should be modified to exclude
this cell.
5.7.11 Form 8396 - Mortgage Interest Credit
The amount used on line 8 of this form includes the credits
reported on lines 40 and 41 of Form 1040 as well as any Residential
Energy Credit carryforward (REC).
Line 10 requires that Form 6251, Alternative Minimum Tax -
Individuals, be completed through line 15. It does not require
that Form 6251 actually be filed. It only uses that Form for the
purposes of this specific calculation.
It is important that you complete Form 6251 through line 15 to
satisfy the requirements of this form. However, don't activate
Form 6251 by removing the NA value above line 1 (described above)
unless you actually intend to file that form.
The amount calculated on line 12 is reported on Form 1040 - line
41 next to the "MIC" acronym.
5.7.12 Form 8582 - Passive Activity Loss Limitations
You must be careful on lines 1a - 1g, and 2a - 2g to enter net
income as positive numbers, and net losses as negative numbers.
The amounts you enter on each line are checked for proper sign.
If you've made a mistake, the ERR indicator will appear directly
to the right of the value you've entered with the wrong sign.
The amount you enter on line 5 is also checked. The default is
$150,000. FITT88 can't automatically enter $75,000 if you are
married filing separately because in this case there is the
additional stipulation that you have lived apart for the entire
year. If you do change this value, it can't be anything other than
$75,000, and you must be married filing separately. If any of
these conditions are not met, the ERR indicator will appear
immediately to the right of this value.
5.7.13 Schedule A - Itemized Deductions
Casualty or theft losses reported on line 18 are taken from Section
A of Form 4684 - line 18.
Moving expenses on line 19 are taken from line 23 of Form 3903.
Other expenses on line 21 consists of two values. The value shown
next to line 21b is available for you to enter. The second value
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 26
is automatically added by FITT. This consists of the sum of any
amounts from Section B of Form 4684 - line 14 & line 20b. These
two amounts are included in the total shown on line 22.
5.7.14 Schedule B - Interest And Dividend Income
There is nothing unusual about filling out this form. Space has
been provided for you to enter the descriptive information
regarding the names of payers.
Line 3 of Part I is carried forward to line 8a of Form 1040, and
line 9 of Part II is carried forward to line 9 of Form 1040. Also,
line 6 containing capital gain distributions is brought over to
line 13 of Schedule D.
5.7.15 Schedule C - Profit Or Loss From Business
Line 12 for Depreciation is brought forward from Form 4562, Section
D-line 12. Line 29a for Other Expenses contains Amortization
calculated in Part II of Form 4562, line 3.
5.7.16 Schedule D - Capital Gains And Losses
Columns d (Gross sales price) and e (Cost or other basis) are used
to compute the loss (column f) or gain (column g) for each item of
property described on line 2a of Part I and line 9a of Part II.
Columns a, b, and c are not used in the calculations, but contain
descriptive information only.
When completing lines 5, 6, 12, & 15, be sure that you enter any
losses as negative numbers in the loss column (column f). If they
are gains, they should be entered as positive numbers in the gain
column (column g). A check is made to insure that any values
entered in the loss column are negative.
Line 13 in Part II contains the capital gain distributions reported
on line 6 of Schedule B. If you did not use Schedule B, and have
capital gain distributions to report, enter them directly on line
13 of Schedule D after unprotecting that cell.
5.7.17 Schedule E - Supplemental Income Schedule
Any deductible rental losses reported on line 24 of Part I must be
entered as negative numbers. If they are not, the ERR indicator
will appear immediately above the incorrect value.
Net farm rental profit or (loss) on line 28 of Part I is taken from
Form 4835 - line 35 or 36c.
In Parts II and III on the back of this form, income and losses for
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 27
both Passive and Nonpassive activities must be entered. Again, it
is important to remember that losses must be entered as negative
values, and income as positive values. Error checking is performed
to insure that you've used the correct signs. If not, the ERR
indicator will appear at the bottom of the column where the error
has occurred.
5.7.18 Schedule F - Farm Income and Expenses
Depreciation and section 179 expense deduction on line 17 is taken
from Part I of Form 4562, line 12. Amortization is shown on line
35a for Other Expenses. This also comes from Form 4562, line 3 of
Part II.
5.7.19 Schedule R - Credit For The Elderly And Disabled
Be sure that you check one, and only one line in lines 1 through
9. The line you check determines how the calculations are
performed. If you check more than one line, or you do not check
any lines, the ERR indicator will appear on line 10.
On line 21 of Part III, the credit is figured as follows.
Schedules C, D, E, and F are checked for zero values. If this is
true, then you haven't filed any of these forms and the credit can
be calculated directly and reported on line 42 of Form 1040.
If you have filed Schedule C, D, E, or F, you may not be entitled
to the full amount of the credit. The detailed instructions for
Schedule R spell out how the limitation on the credit must be
calculated. The procedure is rather complex, and has been
completely automated within FITT88. You should however, fill out
Form 6251 through line 15 since that value may be required to
properly carry out the calculation of the credit limit. This does
not necessarily mean that you must file Form 6251.
5.7.20 Schedule SE - Computation Of Social Security Self-Employment
Tax
FITT will use the short schedule SE by default. If you need to use
the long form on the back, you need to set one of the three
"switches" at the top of this schedule.
If you elect to complete Part II - Optional Method To Figure Net
Earnings, you must indicate if you are using the Farm option, or
Non-Farm option of calculating net earnings from self- employment.
There are two "switches" appropriately labeled at the top of the
form for this purpose. If you are not using Part II, then leave
the FARM OPT, and NON-FARM OPT switches set to a value of NA.
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 28
5.8 Reinitializing Specific Forms and Schedules
FITT is distributed with zero values in the input cells on all of
the forms and schedules. You may find yourself in a position where
it would be desirable to reinitialize one or more of the schedules
with zeros, while retaining the values you've entered into the rest
of FITT.
This can be done quite easily by combining specific schedules from
the original FITT worksheet into your working copy, replacing the
schedule you wish to initialize. This is done using the REINIT
option on the main menu.
This operation requires that the original FITTyy.WKS file on the
distribution disk be present in the default directory of 1-2-3.
If the default directory is drive A or B, simply place the original
disk in that drive before initiating the REINIT selection on the
main menu.
If the default directory is on a hard disk (drive C or D), then
make sure that a copy of FITTyy.WKS exists in that directory. Your
other option is to temporarily change the default directory from
your fixed disk to one of the floppy diskette drives (eg. /FDB:\).
February 3 1989 FITT88 User's Manual Page 29
6. DISCLAIMER
The author makes no representations or warranties with respect to
the contents hereof and specifically disclaims any implied
warranties of merchantability of fitness for any particular
purpose. Further, the author reserves the right to revise this
publication and to make changes from time to time in the content
hereof without obligation of the author to notify any person or
organization of such revision or changes.
FITTCOMP.DOC
February 2 1989 Page 1
COMPARISON OF FITT VERSUS COMMERCIAL TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE
The February, 1989 issue of PC World contained a feature article
entitled "Buyers' Guide: Personal Tax Preparation Software." This
article reviewed 13 tax preparation programs and templates. The chart
that follows compares FITT with these products based on which specific
forms and schedules are supported.
You can draw your own conclusions from the chart. I would however like
to offer some general suggestions to individuals who are evaluating tax
preparation software programs for their personal use.
First, you should begin by determining which IRS forms you will need.
Then look at the chart to see which programs come closest to supporting
the forms you require. Obviously price will in most cases be a
consideration. Also, you may have a preference as to whether the
product comes in the form of a stand alone program, or a spreadsheet
template. If at all possible, try the software before you buy -
preferrably on a computer configured like your own. That is by far the
best way of evaluating how easy the program is to use.
The individual products listed in the chart are identified using the
following key:
KEY PRODUCT
* Federal Income Tax Template (FITT)
A Andrew Tobias' Managing Your Taxes
B Ask Dan About Your Taxes
C EasyTax
D Executive Federal Tax Template
E EZTax-Prep 1040
F J. K. Lasser's Your Income Tax
G Personal Tax Filer
H Swiftax
I The Tax Advantage
J Tax Ease
K Tax Preparer
L TaxView
M TurboTax
Following the comparison chart is an index listing many of the principal
forms and schedules by name. (Believe it or not, this is far from a
complete list.)
I hope you find this information useful.
R. A. Ruel - 2/1/89
February 2 1989 Page 2
PRODUCT DATA
Product * A B C D E F G H I J K L M
List Price 35 80 90 89 15 130 75 20 70 60 99 295 119 75
Annual Updates 35 46 45 35 15 78 30 20 35 40 59 95 55 38
Prog/Template T P P T T T P P P P T P P P
FORMS & SCHEDULES SUPPORTED
Schedule A Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Schedule B Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Schedule C Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Schedule D Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Schedule E Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Schedule F Y Y Y - - Y Y - Y Y Y Y Y Y
Schedule R Y - Y Y - Y Y - Y Y Y Y Y Y
Schedule SE Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form W-2 - - - - - - - - - - - Y - -
Form W-2P - - - - - - - - - - - Y - -
Form 1040 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form 1040-A - - - - - - - - Y - - - Y -
Form 1040-ES - Y Y - - Y Y - Y - - Y - Y
Form 1040-EZ - - - - - - - - - - - - Y -
Form 1040-X - - - - - - - - - - Y - Y -
Form 1116 Y - - - - - - - - - - - Y -
Form 2106 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form 2119 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form 2210 Y Y Y - - Y Y - - - Y - Y Y
Form 2210F - - - - - - - - - - Y - - -
Form 2441 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form 2555 - - - - - - - - - - - - Y -
Form 3468 - Y - - - - Y - - - - Y - -
Form 3800 - - - - - Y Y - - - Y Y - Y
Form 3903 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
(chart continued on next page)
February 2 1989 Page 3
PRODUCT DATA
Product * A B C D E F G H I J K L M
List Price 35 80 90 89 15 130 75 20 70 60 99 295 119 75
Annual Updates 35 46 45 35 15 78 30 20 35 40 59 95 55 38
Prog/Template T P P T T T P P P P T P P P
FORMS & SCHEDULES SUPPORTED (continued)
Form 4136 Y - - - - - - - - - Y - - -
Form 4137 Y - - - - - Y - - - - - - -
Form 4255 - - - - - - Y - - - Y - - Y
Form 4562 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form 4684 Y - Y - - Y Y - - - - - Y Y
Form 4797 - Y Y - - Y Y - - - Y Y Y Y
Form 4835 Y - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Form 4868 - - - - - - Y - - - - - - -
Form 4952 - Y - - - Y Y - - - Y - Y Y
Form 4972 - - - - Y Y Y Y - - Y - - Y
Form 5329 - - - - - - Y - - - - - - -
Form 5695 - Y - - - - - - - - - - - -
Form 6251 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form 6252 - - Y - - Y Y - - - Y Y Y Y
Form 8283 - - - - - - - - - - - - Y -
Form 8396 Y - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Form 8582 Y - Y Y Y Y Y Y - - Y Y Y Y
Form 8598 - - Y - Y Y - Y - Y Y Y Y Y
Form 8606 - - Y - - - Y - - - Y - Y Y
Form 8615 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Form 8801 - - - - - Y - - - - - - Y -
TOTAL 24 21 24 16 17 27 31 17 18 17 29 25 31 28
WORKSHEETS SUPPORTED
Taxable Refunds
of State & Local
Income Taxes Y ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Soc. Sec. Ben. Y ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
IRA Worksheets Y ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Self-Employed Health
Insur. Deduct. Y ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Schedule SE Y ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
February 2 1989 Page 4
1989 IRS TAX FORMS
Schedule A Itemized Deductions
Schedule B Interest and Dividend Income
Schedule C Profit or Loss From Business
Schedule D Capital Gains and Losses
Schedule E Supplemental Income Schedule
Schedule F Farm Income and Expenses
Schedule R Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled
Schedule SE Social Security Self-Employment Tax
Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement
Form W-2P Statement for Recipients of Annuities, Pensions,
Retired Pay, or IRA Payments
Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
Form 1040-A U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
Form 1040-ES Estimated Tax for Individuals
Form 1040-EZ Income Tax Return for Single filers with no
dependents
Form 1040-X Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
Form 1116 Computation of Foreign Tax Credit (Individual,
Fiduciary, or Nonresident Alien Individual)
Form 2106 Employee Business Expenses
Form 2119 Sale of Your Home
Form 2210 Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals and
Fiduciaries
Form 2210F Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Farmers and
Fishermen
Form 2441 Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses
Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income
Form 3468 Computation of Investment Credit
Form 3800 General Business Credit
Form 3903 Moving Expenses
Form 4136 Computation of Credit for Federal Tax on Fuels
Form 4137 Computation of Social Security Tax on Unreported Tip
Income
Form 4255 Recapture of Investment Credit
Form 4562 Depreciation and Amortization
Form 4684 Casualties and Thefts
Form 4797 Sales of Business Property
Form 4835 Farm Rental Income and Expenses
Form 4868 Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File
U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
Form 4952 Investment Interest Expense Deduction
Form 4972 Tax on Lump-Sum Distributions
Form 5329 Return for Individual Retirement Arrangement and
Qualified Retirement Plans Taxes
Form 6251 Alternative Minimum Tax - Individuals
Form 6252 Installment Sale Income
Form 8283 Noncash Charitable Contributions
Form 8396 Mortgage Interest Credit
Form 8582 Passive Activity Loss Limitations
Form 8606 Nondeductible IRA Contributions, IRA Basis, and
Nontaxable IRA Distributions
Form 8615 Computation of Tax for Children Under Age 14 Who Have
Investment Income of More Than 1,000
Form 8801 Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax
GO.TXT
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║ <<<< Disk No 290 TAX 88 >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ To print the manual files on this disk, type: ║
║ ║
║ MANUAL (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ To run the worksheet, load it as you would any normal Lotus ║
║ worksheet file. Please consult your Lotus manual for complete ║
║ instructions. ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
WHATSNEW.DOC
New Additions To FITT In 1988
For those of you who have used previous versions of this product
in past years, there are a few significant additions in FITT88
worth mentioning. Three new forms have been included: Form 2210-
Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals and Fiduciaries, Form
1116-Computation of Foreign Tax Credit, and Form 8615-Computation
of Tax for Children Under Age 14 Who Have Investment Income of More
Than $1,000.
In addition to the official IRS forms and schedules, FITT now
includes a number of the worksheets that appear within the Form
1040 instruction package. These worksheets are: Taxable Refunds
of State & Local Income Taxes, Social Security Benefits, IRA
Worksheets 1 and 2, Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction, and
the Schedule SE worksheet.
An extra navigational aid has been added to the menus. In addition
to the NEXT and PREVIOUS options which appear on all intermediate
level menus, the lowest level menus now include a FIRST option.
This will bring you directly back to the first menu in the series.
Previous, you had to use MAIN to go all the way to the top, and
then proceed back down, or use PREVIOUS to back out one level at
a time.
The reference manual no longer includes a complete set of all the
printed forms and schedules. A number of people suggested that
they be deleted since anyone who wants to print a complete set can
easily do so directly from the FITT Print menu.
This has several advantages. The resulting reduction in the size
of the documentation file allows all the FITT files to reside on
the distribution diskette in uncompressed form. This saves you the
trouble of having to "unsqueeze" the files onto another disk before
you can use them. This also cuts down on the time required to
download these files from bulletin board systems.
These are the main differences that will be obvious to previous
users.
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #0290
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
FILES290 TXT 1420 2-15-89 3:22p
FITT88 DOC 79641 2-03-89 12:09p
FITT88 WKS 248704 2-03-89 8:44a
FITTCOMP DOC 10383 2-02-89 12:27p
GO BAT 38 10-19-87 3:56p
GO TXT 925 2-15-89 11:26a
MANUAL BAT 147 1-19-89 9:21a
WHATSNEW DOC 2131 2-03-89 4:29p
8 file(s) 343389 bytes
14336 bytes free