Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1958)
Price 10 Cents Tribune WEEKEND SPECIALS AT . . . EDFORD 52nd Year M 2nd SECTION MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1958 Pages 1 to 10 Choice off Methods Given To Claim (Deductions on Dncome lax Returns Editor's note: Following i th fourth in a series of five articles designed to help taxpayers in fill ing out and filing their 1958 in come tax forms. The series was prepared especially for United Press by Russell C. Harrington, commissioner of internal revenue. can be claimed by the work- drugs the amount paid for l carrying" charge for the year. Br RUSSELL C. HARRINGTON . Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Written for United Press) Washington (IP) Some of the money you spent last year is deductible from your in come when you are filling out your tax return. The law permits taxpayers to subtract certain amounts for doctor and other medical bills, state and local taxes and some child care and losses. It also gives you a choice of methods to claim these expenses. The effect of the deductions on your tax is the same as with the $600 exemption you - are allowed for yourself and each of your dependents that is, it reduces the amount of income on which you pay tax. The first method for taking your deductions is to use the "standard deduction." This gives you a deduction equal to 10 per cent of your income You may take it even if your expenses didn't come to that. However, you can't deduct more than $1,000 with the standard deduction. Worked Into Tables it you tile your return on the card form 1040 A, or use only the first page of Form 1040 and the tax table includ ed in the instructions you are automatically claiming the standard deduction. It was worked into the tables. -14 you decide to figure out your own tax, you may either use the standard deduction or make an item-by-item list of your deductible expenses. The best way to decide whether to use the standard deduction is to make your own list of these expenses and compare the total to what the standard de 7 duction would give you. Should you decide to sub mit the itemized list, the de ductions go on Page 2 of Form 1040. To help you compute which of your expenses are deduct ible, here is a rundown of the items that may be included: Contributions Deductible if they go to religious, charit able, educational, scienfic or literary organizations. How ever, the organizations must not be operated for personal profit nor carry on propa aganda or lobbying in con gress or other lawmaking bod ies. Political contributions, whether to parties or individ ual candidates, may not be deducted. Child Care Deductions Child Care Deductible if paid for care while the moth er is working or looking for a job, or by men who are di vorced, legally separated or widowers. The deduction may be as much as $600 a year. It f may be applied only against care for your own child, a legally adopted child or step child younger than 12, or any other dependent physically or mentally unable to care for himself. Regardless of the number of children being cared for, you cannot deduct more than $600, or even that much if the care costs less. The deduction ing wfe only on a joint return with her husband. If the couple together earns INCOME TAX TIPS Washington IIP) The government wants you to know that you cannot de duct from your income taxes the money you gave Junior for cutting the grass. It seems a little black and white illustration in "Your Federal Income Tax," an official guide, has given some parents the wrong im pression on this point. The illustration shows a youngster pushing a lawn mower. Beneath it was the rule that parents may de duct as a business expense wages paid to their chil dren. It should have said that to be deductible the wages must be for work that is part of the parent's regular business. ' The Internal Revenue Service has received several hundred inquiries about de ducting lawnmowing and similar "chore wages" paid to children. If you're not in the lawn mowing business, you can't do it. $4,500 or more, the deduction must be reduced by the amount over $4,500. That is, if their income was $4,700 and the child care expenses were $500, they could claim only $300 on the tax return. Some child-care payments you may not deduct are for baby-sitters when you go to the movies or for money paid one or more of your children or dependents for caring for your other children. If you have a maid who does gen eral housework as well as caring for your children, you may deduct only for the part of her pay that represents the time spent looking after the youngsters. If you claim a cniia-care deduction, you must submit details either on Form 2441, new this year, or on a separate statement. Medical Expenses Medical Expenses Basical ly, you may deduct medical and dental expenses which amount to" more than 3 per cent of your income. The first 3 per cent portion of medical bills may not be deducted un less you are 65 or older. Tax payers in that age group may deduct their total medical ex penses. In addition to the 3 per cent rule, there are ceilings on the amount of money you may deduct for medical expenses. Taxpayers claiming only themselves as exemptions can not deduct more than $2,500 for one year's medical-dental expenses. Married , couples with no dependents are lim ited to $5,000 on a joint re turn; with one dependent the ceiling is $7,500 and with two or more dependents $10,000. The list of deductible med ical items includes payments to physicians, surgeons, dent ists, optometrists, qualified psychologists and Christian Science practitioners. Also de ductible are the expenses for diagnosis, treatment or pre vention of disease; hospital bills, nursing, laboratory serv ices; eyeglasses, hearing aids, Big Week-end coming up? II C O ffJ I DON'T FORGET COKE! SIGN OF GOOD TASTE Bottled under outhority of The Coco-Colo Compony by COCA-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY OF MEDFORD dregs over 1 per cent of in come only medical and dent al supplies, including false teeth and artifical limbs, am bulance charges and health insurance plans covering med ical care. Your deduction for medical expenses must be re duced by the benefits you re ceived under health plans dur ing the year. Storm Losses Generally, the deduction allowed for storm, flood or other damages to your property is the dif ference between the property value just before the damage and its worth after the storm or other event (before you make repairs). The rule ap plies on loss of anything from a bush to the whole house. The cost of repairs or replace ment may not be deducted just the loss in value. You may not claim a loss greater than your original cost for the property and sentimental val use does not count. Interest Deductible Interest Payments Your interest on a mortgage, per sonal loan or back taxes may be deducted. These are usual ly clearly marked on your bills. When you have . an install ment purchase on which in terest fees take the form of carrying charges, the law pro vides a formula for comput ing interest. First, find how much you owed on the pur chase at the beginning of each month. Add these amounts, di vide by 12 arid compute 6 per cent of that figure. The final answer is your interest, which cannot be more than the total Taxes Most state and local taxes directly levied on you may be deducted. These in clude income, real estate, per sonal property and sales taxes. They do not take in federal sales and excise taxes; fed eral social security or income taxes; hunting or dog licenses, water assessments or- auto mobile inspection fees. Finally, remember that you need worry about what ex penses are deductible only if ; "u decide to itemize your deductions. If you take the standard deduction, you may not claim other single items of expenses. Medford Students Win Recognition Corvallis Karl Douglas Cummings and Kenneth Ralph Arnold of - Medford have won recognition for out- j standing scholarship at Ore gon State college. They are among 32 students who will be initiated Feb. 20 into Phi Eta Sigma, national scholastic honor society for freshmen. Membership in Phi Eta Sigma is the highest scholastic honor open to fresh men at OSC. Cummings is majoring in engineering. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Cummings of 1900 Cherry Heights. Arnold, also majoring in engineering, is the son of Mrs. Edith H. Arnold of 912 West Eleventh st. Both are 1957 graduates of Medford High school. Disabled Veis May Ge! Tax Exemption Disabled war veterans and their widows should apply! for state property tax exemp-i tion by April 1, Ray Schu-j macher, Jackson county as-' sessor, has reminded resi dents. "Application for tax exemp tion for $7,500 true cash val ue of the property must be filed with the county assessor on or before April 1 of each year," Schumacher said. Those entitled include war veterans with 40 per cent dis ability or more as certified by the Veterans administration or the armed forces, regard less of the amount of income, unremarried widows regard less of income. Pensioned widows of Spanish American War veterans and veterans who get an extra $500 ex emption regardless of disa bility or income, the assessor said. Veterans with 40 per cent disability who are so certi fied by private 'physician or county health officer rather than by the Veterans adminis tration or armed forces are also entitled. However, in these cases they must not have received more than $2, 500 total gross income in the past year, Schumacher said. Additional information is available from the county as sessor, or the county service officer of the department of veterans affairs, he said. fell -c Mfe 1 Average yield of corn on U.S. land is 33 bushels to an acre, but yields of 140 bushels to the acre are not uncommon and there are re ports of yields as high as 225 bushels an acre. DIGGING OUT Residents of Michigan City, in northern Indiana, are digging out of snowstorms which isolated the area for several hours, as four to five feet of snow felL Drifts up to 18 feet high have accumulated in some places. The weatherman says there is new threat of addi tional snow in the area. Nine Apartments Sold in Manor ' Mel Hogan, ' president of Rogue Valley Manor, has re ported that nine additional apartments had been sold within the past' week to resi dents of the Rogue valley bringing the total sold to date to 85. Another 57 apartments must be sold before actual building can begin. Hogan announced the sales at a meeting of volunteer workers who meet each morning. The meetings began last week and will continue until the first quota of 142 apartments are sold, he said. . George Flanagan, trustee treasurer, noted that retire ment home enterprises are slow in gathering momentum, and especially until half the apartments are sold and build ing starts. Walter Higgins, executive director, reported the new philosophy of the Manor man agement concerning the sales effort. To date, he said, the majority of the apartments have been sold to Oregonians. 'DAISYLAND' 'Ice Cream and Cherries SNIDER'S DAIRY 5-Pe. wm. E.me, WALL CABINET Double 4 e e r ' Center cabinet, 3 single door end cabinets. 52 inch wide, 24 inches high. Easy te install. $19.91 Value WW Sove Mere That l HOUSEHOLD BROOM Regularly SM09 Good quality cetn broom tewed 5 timet for extra strength. Buy mere then one at thi law . sale price. Heavy Defy 12-Ot. CHORE GLOVES 29, Pair Heavy duty gloves ef golden canton flannel with the nap outside. Snug knit wrist. fuck i 14 Feef UTILITY CHAIN Long link style with grab hook and slip hook. Packed in heavy otilm bag. 95 Value 2-Piece Beige INSULATED UNDERSUIT ' light weight n y I e n interlined with "Mira cle C e 1 1" insulating fiber. Washes easily, dries quickly. Sixes 38 te 52.' Compare at $19.95 $1399 Pig or Chick Brooder REFLECTOR UNIT Weovy gauge steel with loop safety guard. One-lite socket and 4 foot heater cord. Regularly $2.49 117 North Central Phone SP 3-1739 Prices in This Ad Effective Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Feb. 21-22-23 We reserve the right to limit quantities COMPARE OUR EVERYDAY SHELF PRICES AT GRAND VIEW PLUS S &H Green Stamps CRISP BANQUET NALLEY'S SPECIALS DILLS Large 56-oz. Jar TANG DRESSING 7e Off Per Jar QT. BEEFSTEW Na"e'w 3 -$ 1 00 flour sr,'.: Wl SUGAR s',es Wls99( (r.CSf Ub. Can Mb. $J77S Can y HI-HO SUNSHINE CRACKERS Mb. Box TZ KZS Miracle Whip Quart Jar 59 VELVEETA CHEESE 2-lb. Loaf 79c Apple BulferS: 3, or 29 CMDIMD Sea Gem' 3,1 c,eaned jniilrlr Reg. 412-oz. can 39 KORNER FARM FRESH RANCH 2 2 DOZEN MEDIUM DOZEN LARGE 83' 95' PRODUCE! Finest in the Valley at GRAND VIEW TOMATOES lbs. 3 'le BROCCOLI 19 Large, Green Fresh - Each APPLES SnoBoy, Delicious or Winesap 3-lb. Bag Repeat Special! Sorry We Ran Out Last Week CAULIFLOWER 19 Large White Heads Ea - Store Hours: Week Days- 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays 1 0 a.m. te 7 p.m. Fresh Whole Drawn FRYE Whole Chickens for Only ARMOUR'S STAR FRYERS 2V4 to 3 lbs. - Cut Up . .... 7C ! , T-BONES Round Steaks PORK CHOPS Center Cut J? SIRLOINS Boneless Cut for Broiling CROSS RIB USDA "Choice" Boneless Beef Roast TOT DOGS Nebergall's Old Fashioned AMERICAN-SWISS PIMENTO CHEESE 8-oz. Pkgs. FRESH BARREL SAUERKRAUT 24-oz. Jar Ea. 29 HALIBUT STEAKS CHEDDAR CHEESE SPARE RIBS COUNTRY STYLE 49 o Top Grade SLAB BACON (We Will Slice) o Pork Loin Roast 2V2 lb. Ay. BEEF ROAST Round or T-Bone Smoked Liver Sausage SAVE ON OUR HOME FREEZER DEALS Cut, Double Wrapped Pick Them Up Anytime! 25 Freezer lb. Deal 5-LB. RIB AND CLUB STEAK 10-LB. BEEF ROAST AND SWISS STEAK 5-LB. GROUND CHUCK 5-LB. RIB STEW FED BEEF ONLY Buy One Each, Save! 25 Freezer lb. Deal TO00 5-LB. T-BONES 5-LB. SIRLOIN STEAK 10-LB. ROUND STEAK A RUMP ROAST 5-LB. GROUND ROUND 50 lbs. Sg)g)95 II
