During the 2019 tax year, Brian, a single taxpayer, received $7,400 in Social Security benefits. His adjusted gross income for the year was $14,500 (not including the Social Security benefits) and he received $30,000 in tax-exempt interest income and has no for-AGI deductions.

a. Calculate the amount of the Social Security benefits that Brian must include in his gross income for 2019.

Varto company has 9,400 units of its sole product in inventory that it produced last year at a cost of $23 each. this year’s model is superior to last year’s, and the 9,400 units cannot be sold at last year’s regular selling price of $42 each. varto has two alternatives for these items: (1) they can be sold to a wholesaler for $8 each, or (2) they can be reworked at a cost of $251,100 and then sold for $34 each. prepare an analysis to determine whether varto should sell the products as is or rework them and then sell them.