Marc and Michelle are married and earned salaries this year of $64,000 and $12,000, respectively. In addition to their salaries, they received interest of $350 from municipal bonds and $500 from corporate bonds. Marc contributed $2,500 to an individual retirement account, and Marc paid alimony to a prior spouse in the amount of $1,500 (under a divorce decree effective June 1, 2005). Marc and Michelle have a 10-year-old son, Matthew, who lived with them throughout the entire year. Thus, Marc and Michelle are allowed to claim a $1,000 child tax credit for Matthew. Marc and Michelle paid $6,000 of expenditures that qualify as itemized deductions and they had a total of $5,500 in federal income taxes withheld from their paychecks during the course of the year. (use the 2016 tax rate schedules). 1. What is the total amount of Marc and Michelle’s deductions from AGI?
2. What is Marc and Michelle’s taxable income?
3. What is Marc and Michelle’s taxable income?

Suppose you win a small lottery and have the choice of two ways to be paid: you can accept the money in a lump sum or in a series of payments over time. if you pick the lump sum, you get $2,950 today. if you pick payments over time, you get three payments: $1,000 today, $1,000 1 year from today, and $1,000 2 years from today. 1) at an interest rate of 6% per year, the winner would be better off accepting the (lump sum / payments over time), since it has the greater present value. 2) at an interest rate of 9% per year, the winner would be better off accepting the (lump sum / payments over time), since it has the greater present value. 3) years after you win the lottery, a friend in another country calls to ask your advice. by wild coincidence, she has just won another lottery with the same payout schemes. she must make a quick decision about whether to collect her money under the lump sum or the payments over time. what is the best advice to give your friend? a) the lump sum is always better. b) the payments over time are always better. c) it will depend on the interest rate; advise her to get a calculator. d) none of these answers is good advice.