Guilty. It’s a word that former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick heard 24 times today. A former political star, Kilpatrick became the youngest person elected to mayor of Detroit in 2001; he was 31 years old at the time. Detroit residents had high hopes for the new mayor. The city, which had seen its share of…
Practically every year, I get a query or two about how to make a donation to the federal government to pay down the debt. Apparently, it’s keeping some of you up at night. It’s a complicated issue because most of us can’t explain, at any given time, what the debt is and how it’s calculated….
F is for Fellowships and Scholarships. More and more students are relying on fellowships and scholarships to help defray the cost of a college education these days. For tax purposes, a fellowship is an amount paid to or on behalf of a student for research purposes. A scholarship is an amount paid to or on…
When the Internal Revenue Service finally announced that it was accepting federal form 8863, Education Credits (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Credits (downloads as a pdf), taxpayers heaved a sigh of relief. With a delayed tax season already in play, the additional two weeks pushed filing dates out more than three weeks for up to…
Every year, we expect to see a few glitches in tax filings, including software bugs and processing issues. Generally, those are resolved pretty quickly and without much interruption. This year, however, the Minnesota Department of Revenue has taken the rather remarkable step of advising taxpayers not to use Intuit products, including TurboTax, to file your…
Former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Freddie Mitchell never got that Super Bowl ring he wanted, despite making an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX, but he did land in some super trouble. Today, Mitchell pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to charges related to tax fraud. Mitchell was scheduled to go to trial on the charges…
E is for Educational Assistance. In this job market, every advantage helps. And arguably, that advantage could be a college or other degree (though it’s worth noting that I don’t believe in going to school just because you don’t know what else to do). To help defray the cost of education – and perhaps make…
D is for Disaster Relief. The forecast for the past several days has been terrible with warnings and advisories for gusting winds, heavy rain and ice, and several inches of snow slated to blow into the Philadelphia area. Did the storm live up to the hype? The storm really did pack a punch in other…
On March 7, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, students, parents, labor allies, and community leaders will rally at the School District of Philadelphia to protest planned cuts to teacher contracts in the City. The proposal includes pay cuts of up to 13%, longer workdays, and no limits on class sizes. Additionally, under the plan, the…
Oh, I do love it when famous people talk about tax. (Stay with me on this one… It takes a little bit.) Two of my favorite actresses/comic geniuses, Tina Fey (who made Forbes’ list of the Most Powerful Female Celebrities of 2012) and Amy Poehler, hosted the Golden Globes in January. During the show, they…