Salem Community Patriot March 25, 2011 - 7
Come to the Cabaret
Piece of the Pie Maintaining Your
State of NH Tax Returns W. F. Boutin EA – Total Tax Solutions LLC
Davis Sprague, Max Boucher, and Mike Vinci of the band “Whales and Stuff” Melanie Forster singing and playing piano Davis Sprague playing trumpet
by Connor Tremblay The high school gym was taken back in time to a cabaret in old Hollywood last Wednesday evening, where its students put on a spectacular show of song and dance to raise money for the Wayne Marchulaitis Music Scholarship. The 19th annual school cabaret was put together by band president Grace Cardarelli and the band council, with help from chorus director Ellen Bosch and band director Marty Claussen. The show featured the honors chorus, the jazz ensemble, students Mike Dunn and Ian Anderson, Shaun Cayabyab and Jackie VanBerlo, Kayla Fernekees, Davis Sprague, Melanie Forster, Jenny Zhang, Anna Dodge and Jesse Vera, Jordanne Miller, Max Boucher and Mike Vinci, Chris DiPersio, Courtney Littlefield, Michele Nunnelly, Kelsie Collins and Zach Hager, Crystal Napoli, Mary Taylor, and Brian DiPanfilo, Derek Moalli, Stephen Dennison, David Harris, and Luke Mahoney. It was an outstanding show, decorated with a red carpet, palm trees, lights, giant filmstrips, and great food. The
The State of New Hampshire may not have an income tax return that affects every citizen of the state, but they do have three returns which affect many taxpayers, the DP-10, Interest and Dividends Tax Return, the DP-300, Gambling Winnings Tax Return and the DP- 8, Low and Moderate Income Homeowners Property Tax Relief. The Form DP – 8 cannot be submitted prior to May 1 and no later than June 30 of each year to the NH Dept. of Revenue Administra- tion. To qualify, you must own a homestead subject to the state education property tax; you must have resided in the homestead on April 1st of the prior year for which the claim for relief is made; your AGI, as submitted on your Federal Income Tax Return, must be less than $20,000 for the single filing status or less than $40,000 for the married and head of household filing status. You are not required to have filed a Federal Return to qualify, but you must calculate what income you did have as it would have appeared on the federal return, had you filed. A good majority of the citizens that do qualify for this relief are not required to file a Federal Return. Taxpayers, who feel like they may qualify for this relief, should seek assistance in completing these forms so that they do not add income, such as Social Security Income, to their calculations and lower the amount to which they are entitled. We are available in May to assist taxpay- ers in making these calculations and preparing the forms for submission. The DP-300, Gambling Winnings Tax Return was born on 7-1- 2009. This return must be completed by NH residents who have gambling winnings from anywhere while non NH residents are required to file based upon winnings from NH entities. Losses for the year are NOT allowed to be subtracted to arrive at the taxable amount. There are no exemptions available to be applied to the total taxable amount. The tax rate on gambling winnings is 10%. The DP- 10, Interest and Dividends Tax Return affects taxpayers
Crystal Napoli playing harp
students performed for a full house of people sitting at the glitter-covered tables, and commentary was provided by Tyler Gullbrand and Kayla Fernekees. Dinner and dessert was provided by SHS’ Chef Henry and the culinary class. Jazz bassist James McCoy said, “I enjoyed [the show] a lot, and I enjoyed playing with my friends.” There are so many talented students, and this event is the perfect opportunity to showcase those talents. The diversity of those talents is amazing, too. One girl, Crystal Napoli, played the harp, while another, Jordanne Miller, did a dance routine, and other performances ranged from a trumpet solo to duets and rock bands covering The Beatles.
Behind the scenes, three months of
work went into getting ready for this event. Donations from local businesses and help from parents and faculty helped make it happen. “The band council started
N David Harris playing saxophone 603-635-1560 L
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P.O. Box 177, Pelham, NH N Governor Announces 44 Percent Drop A
in High School Dropout Rate State’s Dropout Rate Now Under 1 Percent
submitted by Colin Manning Governor John Lynch has announced a 44 percent reduction in the state’s annual dropout rate. A report released today by the State Department of Education
shows that for school year 2009-2010 the annual dropout rate decreased to .97 percent, down from 1.7 percent in 2008-2009. This continues a significant decline in the number of young people dropping out of school. Since the 2007-2008 school year, the dropout rate has declined 61 percent from 2.51 percent. The Governor was joined by state Education Commissioner Virginia Barry and Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas in making the announcement at Manchester Central High School. Central High cut its dropout rate in half compared to the previous year. Central’s dropout rate is 1.93 percent, down from 3.88 percent for the 2008- 2009 school year. Governor Lynch has made increasing New Hampshire’s high
school graduation rate a priority in order to ensure that New Hampshire workers have the skills they need to compete and that New Hampshire businesses have the educated workforce they need to grow. Governor Lynch and the State Board of Education have set a goal of reducing New Hampshire’s dropout rate to zero by the 2012-2013 school year. “I am proud that at a time when dropout rates are of epidemic proportions in other states, we in New Hampshire have worked together to drastically reduce the number of young people dropping out of high school,” Governor Lynch said. “We have changed a century-old way of thinking and sent a strong message to our young people about the importance of earning a high school diploma. As a result, more and more of them are recognizing that a high school diploma is absolutely necessary if they want to enter today’s workforce,” Governor Lynch said.
Across New Hampshire, 40 high schools reduced the number of dropouts by at least 50 percent. Ten New Hampshire high schools had no dropouts this year. “There is nothing more important for our State to focus on than our young people, and there is no greater indicator of whether they are prepared for college, work and life than a high school diploma”,” said Commissioner Barry. “Through hard work and a belief that all students can succeed, schools have made tremendous progress in just a few short years. A lot of the credit goes to school principals and teachers who have come up with innovative ways to meet the needs of each student.” The complete 2009-2010 Early Exit and Dropout Rates
P.O. Box 177, Pelham, NH 603-635-1560 L
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P.O. Box 177, Pelham, NH FREE
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FREE ESTIMATES Nicholas Martone
for Grades 9-12, which includes rates for each New Hampshire high school, as well as definitions and calculation methods, can be found on the NH Department of Education Website:
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planning months ago, and everything kicked into full gear a week before. We spent hours the night before putting on the finishing touches for the show,” said Alex Giandomenico. “Everyone does a really good job in making it fun. All the performers are really talented,” he said. “I thought that [the show] was very entertaining. It was a great night; I got to see my friends perform and even played myself. The whole thing was excellently executed by everyone involved,” said bassist Max Boucher.
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FREE ESTIMATES Nicholas Martone
who receive interest and dividends in excess of the exemption amount allowed by state tax law. Each taxpayer receives an exemp- tion of $2400 for the filing status single or head of household, and $4800 for married filing joint. An additional exemption is allowed for taxpayers 65 or older of $1200 and those considered to be legally blind an additional $1200. The tax rate on interest and dividends that exceed the exemptions is 5%. We have found that taxpayers who are required to file this NH Form are usually in a high 15% to 28% tax bracket on their federal return. Not only is the income from these investments being taxed at a high federal rate, but usually are affecting other areas of the federal return causing an additional tax burden. I usually suggest looking into changing the investments to NH municipal bonds, which earnings would be tax free on the federal and state returns. The bond interest rates on the surface are usually lower than other investments but when the tax burden is factored into the equation, actually result in a higher interest yield. If you find yourself in this predicament, you can use the following formula to determine if a non-taxable municipal bond is equal to the interest from a taxable investment or taxable bond. The formula is: the interest rate paid by the taxable investment, multiplied by (1 minus the taxpayer’s tax bracket percentage) equals the interest paid after tax.
Example: Mary is in a 25% tax bracket. She receives 5% interest on her CD investment, which is taxable on her federal return. She would like to know if investing in a municipal bond that offers only 4% interest is to her advantage. Her calculation is
.05 (1-.25) =
.0375. Her 5% interest after tax is equal to 3.75%. Her investment in a municipal bond at 4% will give her more money and not affect other areas of her federal income tax return. Have a tax question? E-mail
taxquest@totaltxsolutions.com About Total Tax Solutions: W.F. Boutin EA registered Total Tax Solutions in the State of NH as a LLC in the summer of 2006 after 10 years experience working for a major tax preparation company and 8 years of teaching various tax courses. The company mission is to deliver an excellent customer service experience year around, to offer knowl- edgeable advice so that clients can make informed decisions regarding their financial future, and to provide this service with integrity, confidence and professionalism.
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Photos courtesy of "Creations by Sea-Jay"
photos by Connor Tremblay
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