European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 23, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes your income fax part 7 february 1981 take the credit youre entitled to by Walter Yohey editors note this is the last in a series of income tax articles written by Walter Yochy a noted tax accountant and author of the 1981 income tax guide for military personnel which is now Avail Able at your stars and stripes tax credits in general tax credits arc a different form of tax Benefit and Are an area which should be thoroughly explored for potentially Large tax there a different Type of Benefit because any credit youre entitled to claim is deducted directly from your tax liability for the year As opposed to being deducted from your income and they May be claimed regardless of whether you claim the Zero bracket amount Stan Dard deduction or you elect to itemize your allowable political contribution credit you May claim a tax up to cer Tain for certain political contributions made during the tax the amount you May claim is limited to one half of your actual with a maximum of 100 on a joint or on the return of a single taxpayer or a married taxpayer filing a separate tax re credit for the elderly the tax credit for the elderly was designed to replace the former retirement income it is of significant importance to virtually All retired taxpayers especially those who do not work after re the amount of credit a Retiree can claim will vary it depends upon his or her marital Type of and if the Retiree has other types of in the rules for claiming this credit Are fairly Complex and require a lengthy Dis since few Active duty military personnel would qualify for the Well limit Pur discussion to letting you know there is such a credit and move on to other credits which have a greater Applina if you Are we recommend you secure a Good tax Book to determine if you qualify for the child and dependent care credit you May claim a tax credit of up to for expenses you incur for the care of certain children and other provided those expenses were incurred so that you could work or look for the credit May be claimed by both single and married taxpayers who file a joint but you must have income from work Dur ing the tax year before being the expenses on which the credit is based must have been incurred for one or More of the following he or she must be a member of your household a household which you and your spouse if married paid More than on half the Cost of maintaining your dependent under the age of 15 for whom you May claim a personal exemption or your spouse if he or she is physically or mentally unable to care for himself or herself or your dependent who is physically or mentally unable to care for himself or her the work related expenses you incur would include amounts spent for care in Side the Home such As for babysitting and household but they do not include the Cost of lodging and expenses for care outside the Home As in a daycare Center also qualify provided such care was for a child under the age of expenses qualifying for the credit would include amounts paid to a relative such As a grandparent provided that the relative is not a dependent for whom you May claim dependency exemption or is your child under the age of the amount of credit you May claim is based upon the amount of expenses incurred and the number of qualifying per if theres Only one qualifying i divid the credit is limited to 20 percent of the first of when there Are two or More qualifying the credit is raised to 20 percent of the first of qualifying Energy improvement credits if you incurred expenses to improve the Energy efficiency of your principal Resi Dence located in the and built before april you May qualify for a tax credit of up to although there lumped together under the same title of Energy there Are actually two separate credits for which you May qualify Energy conservation this credit is for expenses you incur to save Energy by doing such things As insulating your installing storm or Thermal caulking or weather stripping the and certain other the credit is 15 percent of the first of such expenses incurred for qualifying Energy conservation items but you must first reduce the for expenses and credits for such items claimed in prior tax renewal we Energy source this credit is for expenses incurred to buy and install Energy creating devices such As so and geothermal equip the credit is 40 percent of the first invested in such Energy creating devices but you must first reduce the awarded in overseas sex Bias Case teacher of get Back promo wons continued from Page i said this decision is a major Victory of profound importance to women educators within the department of de sense school particularly Here in it squarely and unequivocally confirms not Only the discrimination suffered by Williams but the suffocating pattern of discrimination experienced by All women educators for Many years throughout the department of defense school system in Williams says she filed a formal complaint of discrimination against the department of defense schools in May 1975 when she Learned she was found ineligible for promotion to the position of Edu cation specialist she contended that she had suffered continuous discrimination from March Oregon area gets warning on raw milk a with the out break of a bacterial disease in two health officials Are urging people not to drink raw unpasteurized raw milk is available in supermarket Dairy cases Linn county health officer Benjamin Bonne under said the characterized by aches and is caused by Cumpy Bacter about 100 Resi dents of Linn and Benton counties have re ported investigators from the Center for disease control in Atlanta arrived 11 to make studies with local Bonnlander said they found that half the Linn county Vic Tims had drunk raw until March she said that during the period she was denied a series of progressive promotions and was a dreadful in awarding Williams the commission decision quoted a 1975 report that resulted from a commission investigation in the report said that females were treated differently from males by the overseas dependent school system and that there was a pre disposition to prevent women from enter ing upper Levels of the school the quoted in the Deci stated that the dependents schools showed an overwhelming Bias against females in the Agency by beliefs that females were not interested in being adm Nistra and that female employees could not work for female administrators because the positions As principal were viewed As a male and that women did not have educational most women the report did not apply for upper level positions be cause they considered it to be a futile exer in Williams the commission Deci Sion stated that the record shows that the specialized experience needed to become an educational specialist was subject to management assignment to such expert the Lack of assignments of women to such plus the subjectivity of makes the Lack of promotion Dis Williams says she Doest think conditions have improved much in the system since the 1975 Wolfe said the school system has been Active in the Federal women program and actively encourages women to obtain their credentials to become Eligi ble for he said a course was conducted last summer in Europe aimed at making women aware of promotion opportunities within the a commission complaints examiner compared Williams credentials and Edu cation to her male counterparts who received promotions during the contested time Frame in the Early and he said he found her qualifications Superior to the the commission decision requires the dependent schools to Stop judgments of female employees based upon discrimination stereotypes such As Lack of interest in an inability to administer or a Lack of and it requires that the system furnish within 30 Days a report to the commission showing the Steps it plans to take to right the wrongs done to Williams and other women educators in would Welcome test of lower minimum wage los Angeles up mayor Tom while not fully endorsing a lower minimum wage for says he would have no objection if his City were chosen for a Pilot program Bradley s in a meeting with came As a Surprise since Many of his including labor and civil rights strenuously opposed lowering the minimum proposed legislation by Orrin would allow employers to pay teenage employees percent of the minimum wage adult workers for expenses and credits for such items claimed in prior tax earned income credit if you had less than of adjusted Gross income or earned whichever is less during you May qualify for an earned income credit of up to this credit is unique in that it can result in a tax refund even though you had no tax withheld from your earnings the earned income credit May be claimed by both single and married tax payers who lived in a Home in the United states for the entire year and meet the following requirements that Home was the main Home for you and at least one of your dependent children if youre you must file a joint tax return with your spouse if youre a head of your child must live with you and if the child is you must be Able to claim the child As your you must have a full 12month tax year and you must not be Able to exclude from your Gross income any income which youve earned from foreign coun tries or the earned income credit is computed As 10 percent of your first of earned for a maximum credit of when your earned income or adjusted Gross income exceeds the maximum credit of is reduced by percent of the amount Over because of this there is no cred it if your earned income or adjusted Gross income exceeds to save you the trouble of computing the percent your tax Book has a table of authorized credit amounts for various Levels of income Between and credit for excess social Security taxes Pica while most employers Are required to withhold social Pica from your theres a limit on the amount of such tax which any individual taxpayer must pay in a single tax the limit for tax year 1980 was if you had More than one employer Dur ing the Check the amount of Pica withheld from your total when this total exceeds the the excess withholding May be claimed As a credit its important to remember that the Pica limit applies to each taxpayer separately do not Combine the Pica with held from your earnings with amounts withheld from your spouses earnings to determine if youve exceeded the Maxi mum other credits the space of this article does not allow a detailed explanation of All tax credits a taxpayer May be allowed to you should be aware that there Are additional credits available for such items As foreign income taxes paid credit for investing in certain types of equipment if youre a self employed person or involved in a business credits for creating new jobs or hiring and training the unemployed a credit for certain gasoline and other fuel products for no Highway vehicles used in a business a credit for certain taxes paid by a regulated investment company in which you have an investment and other editors note while the information provided in this article is of general use to military please keep in mind that the space allowed for such an article dictates that these subjects be discussed in the most general of terms and that All pos sible rules and exemptions thereto could not be More detailed guidance on each subject discussed in this series of in come tax articles can be found in Yohes the 1981 income tax guide for military personnel which is now Avail Able at your local stars and stripes