72. Latrell recently used his Delta Sky miles to purchase a free roundtrip ticket to Milan, Italy (value $1,200). The frequent flyer miles used to purchase the ticket were generated from Latrell’s business travel as a CPA. Latrell’s employer paid for his business trips, and he was not taxed on the travel reimbursement. Use an available tax research service to determine how much Income, if any, does Latrell have to recognize as a result of purchasing an airline ticket with Sky miles earned from business travel.
IRS Announcement 2002-18 states that frequent flier miles earned for business travel and redeemed for in-kind benefits (e.g., a free airline ticket) do not represent taxable income. This ruling only applies to in-kind benefits and not frequent flier miles converted to cash. Since Latrell used his frequent flier miles to purchase an airline ticket, he will have no taxable income from the transaction.
49. Bendetta, a high-tax-rate taxpayer, owns several rental properties and would like to shift some income to her daughter, Jenine. Bendetta instructs her tenants to send their rent checks to Jenine so Jenine can report the rental income. Will this shift the income from Bendetta to Jenine? Why, or why not?
Merely sending the checks to Jenine is not sufficient to shift the rental income from Bendetta to Jenine under the assignment of income doctrine. To shift the rental income to Jenine, she must earn the income. In this case, this means that Jenine must actually own the rental property to report the rental income.
40. Marc and Michelle are married and earned salaries