Taxpayer asks: Thanks for taking my question! I wanted to say that I appreciate your blog, I find it easy to read and understand. I also like how you talk about your children as though they’re a real part of your life instead of accessories. That’s very refreshing to see online. That brings me to…
It’s a snowy Wednesday here in Philly – we’re expecting over a foot by the end of the night. This comes hot on the heels of the snowstorm from this weekend. I know there’s some whining and moaning about it but I’ll go on record as saying that I love it. As a girl from…
The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that Jonathan P. Wiktorchik, a Bucks County chiropractor, has been charged with lying to the IRS and arson yesterday in a March 2008 fire. The fire destroyed his office and neighboring businesses. At the time of the fire, Wiktorchik implicated a gang. He said that he was attacked by Spanish-speaking…
I’ve been getting a lot of questions from disabled taxpayers about whether any special tax breaks exist for them in 2009. The answer is yes – and no. As I stated in a prior post, there was some economic relief for disabled Americans in 2009 in the form of the Economic Recovery Payment (ERP) –…
Taxpayer asks: I heard that I can get more money back from my taxes this year because I am disabled. Is this true? I am on fixed income and it would help me. Taxgirl says: I think what you’re referring to is the one time payment for retirees and disabled persons as part of Obama’s…
If there’s one thing that both parties in Congress can agree on, it’s that any hope for economic recovery is going to hinge on getting unemployment under control. At the end of 2009, one out of every ten Americans able to work wasn’t working. Fortunately, there’s some good news. Last month, the national unemployment rate…
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to chat with Marjorie Kornhauser, a professor at the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law at Arizona State University about her Tax Literacy Project. It’s an ambitious project, for sure. Her plan is to make tax law more accessible (!) to the general public through a series of…
Taxpayer asks: Just before Christmas, I bought a 2007 VW Jetta. It was a great deal since it had very low miles on it. When I bought it, the dealer said that I could deduct the sales tax from my taxes but I read on your site that the car has to be new, not…
If you base it on the amount of screaming and jumping in my house alone, the most exciting moment in tonight’s Super Bowl coverage was Carrie Underwood singing the national anthem. But then, to my knowledge, neither Peyton Manning nor Drew Brees has appeared in an evening dress at the same event as Taylor Swift…
Vanity Fair has released its list of the top 40 Hollywood earners in 2009. CNN has the entire list but here’s a peek at the top 10: Michael Bay, producer-director ($125 million) Steven Spielberg, producer-director ($85 million) Roland Emmerich, producer-director ($70 million) James Cameron, producer-director ($50 million) Todd Phillips, director ($44 million) – no relation,…