I received a payment under a wage and hour litigation settlement. I have lived in NC since 2007 and the tax was paid to the state of PA where I lived prior to moving. Do I need to file a state tax return for PA? Thanks.

Yes. Because this is money that you received because you once worked in PA, and because it is subject to PA taxes, you must file in PA.

I paid a deposit in escrow to buy a condominium. After litigation, the seller was
awarded the deposit less escrow expenses. I lost the money I put in escrow.
Is the deposit considered capital loss? Can I deduct the amount of loss
using Form 1040 Schedule D ?

The loss you describe is considered a personal loss and not deductible.*

I received a letter yesterday from the above (Bailiffs) for Council tax addressed to me n my ex from 6 years ago. We left the property it relates to 6 years ago and i have been living at my parents since.

I have not been notified of this so it has come as a bit of a shock.

They say i have seven days to pay from the date of the letter – which was 7 days previous.

I tried to call them last night and was on hold for an hour to ask what it is about.

My question is

A – I dont know about any Litigation Order

B – Can it be enforced if I haven’t been notified about it for 6 years

and C – What can I do about it if they wont answer the phone.

Help much appreciated please

Thanks
So if it can’t be enforced what do I do about it?

Don’t call .. there have been cases of ‘scams’ (fraudsters) sending out ‘fake’ legal looking letters claiming you owe money with a Premium Rate number (where they keep you hanging on for 30 minutes at £5 per minute) …. …. if it’s a fake, often there is no address anywhere for you to contact them .. crafty or what ?)

So – IF you paid your Council Tax then by all means write back enclosing photo-copies of whatever evidence you have for that period (you may have to get duplicate Bank Statements to prove it ..).

If you didn’t, well I assume you have managed to successfully ‘hide’ from them for 6 years so what makes them think they have found you now ?

NB. real Bailiffs are appointed by the Court – there MUST be a court case (CCJ) ref. number … and since (I assume) you never attended Court it is unlikely that there is, in fact, any judgment (CCJ) against you ..

Debt Recovery Agents, on the other hand, LIE a a lot .. for example, they may fraudulent claim to be "Bailiffs" hoping you will be shocked into paying up .. they also send out multiple letters to people with the same surname (as the person who actually owes money) in the hope that some-one (such as a relative) will ‘pay up’ on their behalf ….

PS as far as I know, there is no time limit of Council Tax arrears, and they CAN get a CCJ against you even if they can’t find you (although you can later appeal on the grounds that you have no opportunity to defend yourself ) .. and once a CCJ has been obtained, there is no time limit on that either …

Every time they try to make them simpler, they become more complex and are subjected to interpretations. Then CBDT has to issue explanatory circulars and chartered accounts have different views and eventually there are litigations.

Also there is lack of long term strategy and policy. Many a times Income tax rules are dictated by political pressures.

Do you agree to this ? What could be the solution ?

The new proposed DTC (Direct Taxes Code) does simplify quite a lot by removing many of the politically oriented exemptions and concessions so that there is reasonable uniformity in application across the board…… the tax-rate slabs are correspondingly being liberalized and enlarged so that effective rate doesn’t go up….. in my view, the new Code is the best action by Manmohan Singh Govt since it has considerable potential to curb black money and evasion as well.

The sad part is our own lack of conviction and hope….. there is a wide-spread belief that even this will become complex and amenable to evasion and corruption in due course of time as political power would keep tinkering with the provisions in accordance with their perceived compulsions and opportunities in terms of ‘vote-banks’ and ‘purse-banks’.