Reference no: EM132727778

Comprehensive Tax Return Project

• They wish to file a joint tax return.

Jared and Ashley have come to you for help filing their 2018 tax return. They are married on December 31, 2018 and are both age 40. They live with their three qualifying children, Nick, Betty, and Roger, who are 12, 14, and 17 years old, respectively.

They have made the following requests:

• If they overpaid their taxes this year, they would like to receive half as a refund and have half applied to next year's federal tax return.

Jared and Ashley have the following income items during 2018:

1. Jared's wages of $50,000
2. Jared's unemployment compensation of $5,000
3. Ashley's wages of $60,000
4. Interest from a city of Chicago bond of $2,000
5. Interest from a corporate bond of $3,000
6. Ordinary dividends of $2,000
7. Gift from Leonard's father of a new computer that cost $3,000
8. A $3,000 refund from the State of Illinois for income taxes paid in 2017

Jared and Ashley incurred the following expenses/losses during 2018:

1. Contributions of $5,500 to each of Jared and Ashley's traditional IRAs, i.e., $11,000 total (they are not covered by any other qualified retirement plans)
2. Qualified medical expenses of $9,000
3. Personal credit card interest expense of $8,000
4. Charitable contributions of $4,000
5. Ten $25 parking tickets totaling $250
6. Mortgage interest on primary residence of $8,000 (mortgage is $200,000)
7. Property taxes on the primary residence of $6,500
8. Illinois state and local income taxes paid of $5,500
9. Federal tax withholding on Jared and Ashley's W-2s of $10,000

They also provide you with the following information about their prior year return:

• On their prior year federal tax return, they claimed itemized deductions.
• Jared and Ashley elected to have $139 of their 2017 tax refund applied to 2018.

Problem 1: What is the AGI?