Welcome to the Colorado Resource Toolbox
The following tools are designed to be helpful to AARP Tax-Aide Counselors and Trainers.
They are not intended to replace official IRS documentation and while accuracy is attempted,
no software can be guaranteed to be bug-free. If you see a problem, please let me know
so that it can be corrected.
Most of the calculators have a year option that allows the selection of the current and three years prior. They will default to the new tax year on December first. Version changes can be seen by viewing the web page source if desired.
Jeff Bogart, CO1 D18 TC/Longmont ERO
Most of the calculators have a year option that allows the selection of the current and three years prior. They will default to the new tax year on December first. Version changes can be seen by viewing the web page source if desired.
Jeff Bogart, CO1 D18 TC/Longmont ERO
Web Accessible Tools
Using data from the taxpayer's, other dependents' tax returns
and the cost of the Lowest Cost Bronze Plan (LCBP)
and Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan (SLCSP),
calculates the affordability of the health care and if Code A or G apply.
(AKA Pension Exclusion Calculator)
Given the taxpayer's retirement date (first retirement paycheck) and taxpayer and spouse birthdates, calculates an exclusion table by year and a sample form for Tax Slayer input. Also handles the Public Safety Officer insurance exclusion.
Given the taxpayer's retirement date (first retirement paycheck) and taxpayer and spouse birthdates, calculates an exclusion table by year and a sample form for Tax Slayer input. Also handles the Public Safety Officer insurance exclusion.
Rather than search through the entire list of business codes,
click on headers to expand that portion of the list until a suitable code is found.
A Colorado-specific table that lists the city and county local sales tax
rates for use in Schedule A for those counties you select.
Is a dependent a child or relative? What benefits might the taxpayer claim as a result?
This tool is a combination of all the Pub 4012 charts - without the charts.
Choose the various taxpayer and dependent options and see a list of benefits.
If they don't qualify for a benefit, click on it to see why not.
There are five different ways to claim education credits,
each with their own limits and types of expenses allowed.
There are also different funding sources that can be used tax-free for different
types of expenses.
This calculator provides a way to determine which is best among the most common three
(American Opportunity Credit, Lifetime Learning Credit, and Tuition and Fees Adjustment)
and can determine the amount of a scholarship that can be made taxable
to maximize the taxpayer's credit.
This is the Form 1040-ES form with some expansion,
used to estimate taxes for the next year.
A worksheet for Form 8606 Parts I and II for Nondeductible IRA contributions.
It can handle up to 3 IRAs for each taxpayer and indicates the amount
taxable for each IRA if deductions or conversions are taken from more than one
IRA. (Form 8606 computes the total for all transactions.)
Also provides the totals for input to create the TaxSlayer Form 8606.
Railroad retirement Tier 1 and Tier 2 amounts are not handled correctly
on Colorado state tax returns.
They are both included in the retirement exclusion
which is limited to 20K/24K and should not be
because RRB benefits are not taxable and have their own exclusion line.
This worksheet determines the amounts that should be removed
from the pension exclusion and calculates the amount that should be added
as the RRB benefits line on the State Return section of TaxSlayer.
Although designed specifically for Colorado it may work for other states
if the problem is the same.
TaxSlayer provides no assistance in determining the portion of
income (other than W-2s), adjustments and deductions available for
a part-year resident.
This worksheet is tailored to Colorado state tax returns
and provides TaxSlayer totals for input to the
"Income Subject to Tax" section.
TaxSlayer determines the taxable amount of the refund based on sales tax and
comparison with the standard deduction.
If the taxpayer made estimated payments to the state or had negative taxable
income (may show as 0), there may be a better solution.
This calculator includes those other comparisons
so you don't have to do the math.
A worksheet for totalling income items, sales tax on large item purchases,
and other information to be used with the IRS Sales Tax Calculator.
See Pub 4012 (NTTC 12-28-2016 version), page F-6.1
Downloadable Tools for the PC
If you work at multiple sites, this downloadable executable remembers
your login name or multiple names for each site.
It can also open additional tabs to locations of your choice all with a single click.
Defaults and options keep counselors from accidentally opening the production
URL during the training period. (NOTE: Sorry, only works with Internet Explorer.)
Installation: Copy the executable in the zip file to your desktop.
V 3.10 - 11/2/2018 - very unelegant fix to login error problems. May not work well on older, slower PCs or slow networks. Won't work if command bar or favorites bar is open in IE.
Installation: Copy the executable in the zip file to your desktop.
V 3.10 - 11/2/2018 - very unelegant fix to login error problems. May not work well on older, slower PCs or slow networks. Won't work if command bar or favorites bar is open in IE.
This great tool, contributed by [a tax volunteer in Washington state],
creates custom forms for training.
Create them and then save them on your PC for later use and modification.
Installation: Copy the executable in the zip file to your desktop. When you run the executable, a new directory is created with the support files and a desktop icon is (optionally) added.
Installation: Copy the executable in the zip file to your desktop. When you run the executable, a new directory is created with the support files and a desktop icon is (optionally) added.