It’s time for our annual review! Here are my picks for the top stories on taxgirl.com for the year: 10, Dancing With The Stars champ and race car driver Helio Castroneves is indicted on federal tax evasion charges. In a related story, my mother is stricken with grief and may never samba again (okay, I’m…
Tis the season! The questions to “ask the taxgirl” are coming fast and furious. Beginning in January, I’ll be posting more questions and answers than usual to try and work through the overflow in my inbox, so keep checking back. I am happy to try and answer your questions, so don’t be shy. Read how…
I previously blogged how to cut your 2008 individual income tax bill. I could hear the comments as I was writing: what about my business? Well, never fear! Following are some last minute suggestions to help save on your 2008 tax bill. But first, a word of caution: Just as with individual tax considerations, there…
The clock is officially ticking. You only have a few more hours to lower your 2008 tax bill. Here are some last minute suggestions: Make a donation to charity. Cash, check or credit card payments made by the end of the year to a qualified charitable organization will result in a charitably deduction. Get a…
NOTE: This is from 2008. Welcome to my fourth in a series on state taxes! For information about what I’m trying to do, read my introductory bit. Next on the agenda, the bane of every elementary aged school child when it comes to spelling: Arkansas! ARKANSAS Population: 2,834,797 (32nd) Capital: Little Rock Largest City: Little…
I don’t get folks some times. All you hear anymore is how we don’t want more government… And then the National Retail Federation, which claims to be the world’s largest retail organization, goes and asks for more government. Let me back up. The NRF has asked President Elect Barack Obama to include a national sales…
Just before the holidays, President Bush signed a bill that eliminated the hefty penalty for not taking the required minimum distributions (RMDs) from certain tax-deferred retirement accounts such as traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans for the year 2009. Under the traditional rules, you must begin RMDs for traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans by April 1…
Okay, so maybe they didn’t say it quite like that… But farmers in Minnesota are taking it that way. A program in Minnesota called the Green Acres Program was supposed to offer property tax relief to farmers in the state, much like programs in other states. In Pennsylvania, for example, there is a similar “Clean…
Taxpayer asks: Dear Tax Girl, Do I have to pay my taxes in US dollars? Taxgirl says: What a fun question! At first, I was going to say “Of course!” But then I decided to do a little research and found out that I was wrong (sort of). According to the Tax Code (§6316 Payment…
It’s the final day of my 12 Days of Charitable Giving. To recap, I’ve asked a panel of judges to review a number of deserving charities as suggested by my readers. I’ve been posting one a day for – well, 12 days (I’m clever that way). In response to a lot of feedback from folks…