March 2012
8 posts
Tax Rules May Affect Your Child’s Investment...
03/16/12
Tax Rules May Affect Your Child’s Investment Income
Parents may not realize that there are tax rules that may affect their child’s investment income. The IRS offers the following four facts to help parents determine whether their child’s investment income will be taxed at the parents’ rate or the child’s rate.
1. Investment income Children with investment income may have part or...
Tax Credits Available for Certain Energy-Efficient...
03/13/12
Tax Credits Available for Certain Energy-Efficient Home Improvements
Item #2, Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit has been corrected to replace an erroneous reference that geothermal heat pumps qualify only when installed on or in connection with a taxpayer’s main home located in the United States. The error was in limiting the credit to the taxpayer’s main home....
Six Facts About the Alternative Minimum Tax
03/09/12
Six Facts About the Alternative Minimum Tax
The Alternative Minimum Tax attempts to ensure that anyone who benefits from certain tax advantages pays at least a minimum amount of tax. The AMT provides an alternative set of rules for calculating your income tax. In general, these rules should determine the minimum amount of tax that someone with your income should be required to pay. If...
Ten Tips on a Tax Credit for Child and Dependent...
03/08/12
Ten Tips on a Tax Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses
If you paid someone to care for your child, spouse, or dependent last year, you may qualify to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit when you file your federal income tax return. Below are 10 things the IRS wants you to know about claiming the credit for child and dependent care expenses.
1. The care must have been...
Tax Credits Available for Certain Energy-Efficient...
03/07/12
Tax Credits Available for Certain Energy-Efficient Home Improvements
The IRS would like you to get some credit for qualified home energy improvements this year. Perhaps you installed solar equipment or recently insulated your home? Here are two tax credits that may be available to you:
1. The Non-business Energy Property Credit Homeowners who install energy-efficient improvements may...
What Employers Need to Know About Claiming the...
03/06/12
What Employers Need to Know About Claiming the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
If you are a small employer with fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees that earn an average wage of less than $50,000 a year and you pay at least half of employee health insurance premiums…then there is a tax credit that may put money in your pocket.
The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit is...
Standard Deduction vs. Itemizing: Seven Facts to...
03/05/12
Standard Deduction vs. Itemizing: Seven Facts to Help You Choose
Each year, millions of taxpayers choose whether to take the standard deduction or to itemize their deductions. The following seven facts from the IRS can help you choose the method that gives you the lowest tax.
1. Qualifying expenses - Whether to itemize deductions on your tax return depends on how much you spent on...
Four Tax Credits that Can Boost your Refund
03/02/12
Four Tax Credits that Can Boost your Refund
A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of taxes owed. Some tax credits are refundable meaning if you are eligible and claim one, you can get the rest of it in the form of a tax refund even after your tax liability has been reduced to zero.
Here are four refundable tax credits you should consider to increase your refund on your 2011...
February 2012
4 posts
Mortgage Debt Forgiveness: 10 Key Points
02/28/12
Mortgage Debt Forgiveness: 10 Key Points
Canceled debt is normally taxable to you, but there are exceptions. One of those exceptions is available to homeowners whose mortgage debt is partly or entirely forgiven during tax years 2007 through 2012.
The IRS would like you to know these 10 facts about Mortgage Debt Forgiveness:
1. Normally, debt forgiveness results in taxable income....
Ten Things to Know About Capital Gains and Losses
02/22/12
Ten Things to Know About Capital Gains and Losses
Did you know that almost everything you own and use for personal or investment purposes is a capital asset? Capital assets include a home, household furnishings and stocks and bonds held in a personal account. When you sell a capital asset, the difference between the amount you paid for the asset and its sales price is a capital gain or...
IRS Offers Four Tips on Unemployment Benefits
02/18/12
IRS Offers Four Tips on Unemployment Benefits
Unemployment can be stressful enough without having to figure out the tax treatment of the unemployment benefits you receive.
Unemployment compensation generally includes, among other forms, state unemployment compensation benefits, but the tax implications depend on the type of program paying the benefits. You must report unemployment...
Four Things to Know About Bartering
02/17/12
In today’s economy, small business owners sometimes save money through bartering to get products or services they need. The IRS wants to remind small business owners that the fair market value of property or services received through barter is taxable income.
Bartering is the trading of one product or service for another. Usually there is no exchange of cash. However, the fair market...
March 2011
10 posts
Eight Tips for Deducting Charitable Contributions
Charitable contributions made to qualified organizations may help lower your tax bill. The IRS has put together the following eight tips to help ensure your contributions pay off on your tax return.
If your goal is a legitimate tax deduction, then you must be giving to a qualified organization. Also, you cannot deduct contributions made to specific individuals, political organizations and...
Work From Home? Consider the Home Office Deduction...
Whether you are self-employed or an employee, if you use a portion of your home for business, you may be able to take a home office deduction. Here are six things the IRS wants you to know about the Home Office deduction
1. Generally, in order to claim a business deduction for your home, you must use part of your home exclusively and regularly:
as your principal place of business, or
as a...
Employee Business Expenses
If you itemize deductions and are an employee, you may be able to deduct certain work-related expenses. The IRS has put together the following facts to help you determine which expenses may be deducted as an employee business expense.
Expenses that qualify for an itemized deduction include:
Business travel away from home
Business use of car
Business meals and entertainment
Travel
Use of...
What Parents Should Know about Their Child’s...
Parents need to be aware of the tax rules that affect their children’s investment income. Here are four facts from the IRS that will help parents determine whether their child’s investment income will be taxed at the parents’ rate or the child’s rate:
1. Investment Income Children with investment income may have part or all of this income taxed at their parents’ tax rate rather than at the...
Today's March 15th and you know what that means...
Everyone seems to know that April 15th (actually 18th this year) is the tax deadline but many business owners don’t realize that March 15th is the corporate deadline. This includes both regular corporations, S corporations, and LLC’s that are taxed as S corporations. Partnerships have until the individual tax deadline of 4/18 to file.
You can always extend, but the tax or estimated...
Six Facts about Choosing the Standard or Itemized...
When filing your federal income tax return, taxpayers can choose to either take the standard deduction or to itemize their deductions. The IRS has put together the following six facts to help you choose the method that gives you the lowest tax.
Whether to itemize deductions on your tax return depends on how much you spent on certain expenses last year. Money paid for medical care, mortgage...
Health Insurance Tax Breaks for the Self-Employed ...
Here is some information from the IRS about a special tax deduction for the self-employed. You may be able to deduct premiums paid for medical and dental insurance and qualified long-term care insurance for you, your spouse, and your dependents if you are one of the following:
A self-employed individual with a net profit reported on Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business, Schedule...
Did you Take an Early Distribution from Your...
Some taxpayers may have needed to take an early distribution from their retirement plan last year. The IRS wants individuals who took an early distribution to know that there can be a tax impact to tapping your retirement fund. Here are ten facts about early distributions.
Payments you receive from your Individual Retirement Arrangement before you reach age 59 ½ are generally considered early or...
Ten Facts for Mortgage Debt Forgiveness
If your mortgage debt is partly or entirely forgiven during tax years 2007 through 2012, you may be able to claim special tax relief and exclude the debt forgiven from your income. Here are 10 facts the IRS wants you to know about Mortgage Debt Forgiveness.
Normally, debt forgiveness results in taxable income. However, under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, you may be able to...
$1.1 Billion in Unclaimed 2007 Tax Refunds
Did you forget to file your 2007 taxes? The IRS might have a nice check waiting for you.
Nearly 1.1 million taxpayers failed to file that year, and the IRS estimates they are entitled to $1.1 billion in potential refunds.
Half of those who failed to file are owed a refund $640 or more, the agency announced Tuesday. And it could be even more.
But Uncle Sam isn’t holding your money for you...
February 2011
10 posts
Ten Important Facts About Capital Gains and Losses...
Did you know that almost everything you own and use for personal or investment purposes is a capital asset? Capital assets include a home, household furnishings and stocks and bonds held in a personal account. When a capital asset is sold, the difference between the amount you paid for the asset and the amount you sold it for is a capital gain or capital loss.
Here are ten facts from the IRS...
Get Credit for Your Retirement Savings...
You may be eligible for a tax credit if you make eligible contributions to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or to an individual retirement arrangement. Here are six things the IRS wants you to know about the Savers Credit:
1. Income Limits The Savers Credit, formally known as the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, applies to individuals with a filing status and income of:
Single,...
Moving Soon? Let the IRS Know!
If you’ve changed your home or business address, make sure you update that information with the IRS to ensure you receive any refunds or correspondence. The IRS offers five tips for taxpayers that have moved or are about to move:
1. Change Your IRS Address Records You can change your address on file with the IRS in several ways:
Write the new address in the appropriate boxes on your tax return;...
Checking the Status of Your Refund
If you already filed your federal tax return and are due a refund, you have several options to check on your refund. Here are eight things the IRS wants you to know about checking the status of your refund:
1. Online Access to Refund Information Where’s My Refund? or ¿Dónde está mi reembolso? are interactive tools on http://www.irs.gov and are the fastest, easiest way to get information about...
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”
– Albert Einstein
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Ten Facts about the Child Tax Credit
Submitted by welch on Sat, 02/12/2011 - 14:12
The Child Tax Credit is an important tax credit that may be worth as much as $1,000 per qualifying child depending upon your income. Here are 10 important facts. Amount - With the Child Tax Credit, you may be able to reduce your federal income tax by up to $1,000 for each qualifying child under the age of 17. Qualification - A qualifying...
Sales-tax Deduction
Submitted by welch on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:47 Lawmakers extended (for 2010 and 2011) a deduction for state and local sales taxes in lieu of income taxes. This is primarily used by taxpayers who live in states without an income tax, such as Florida, Texas and Washington.
New Gift Tax Exemption for 2011 & 2012
Submitted by Melinda on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 21:12 Now that the lifetime gift tax exemption has increased from $1 million to $5, it’s a great time to gift property expected to appreciate. This will remove both the income and appreciation from the estate. But the transaction should be reported on IRS Form 709. The IRS estimates that approximately 3/4’s of taxpayers who...
Self-employed health-insurance deduction:
Submitted by welch on Mon, 02/07/2011 - 10:08 For 2010 only, self-employed workers who can deduct health-insurance premiums also may take them against Social Security taxes on Schedule SE. For 2010 and after, self-employed workers who deduct insurance premiums can include those for a child who is under age 27 at the end of year, even if the child is not a dependent for tax purposes.