Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
President Obama has issued a target date for the adjusted withholding to begin as part of the stimulus package: April 1. Obama mentioned the date in his weekly radio address, saying: I’m pleased to announce that this morning the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks, meaning that…
Occasionally, a news item will come across my desk that will cause me to do a double take. This story, reported on the PR Newswire, was one of those items: Wal-Mart will offer free tax filing services to eligible taxpayers in its parking lots. Just let that sink in for a minute. In fairness, it…
Don’t get too excited just yet. Yes, the Senate did vote to give a tax break to new car buyers by a vote of 71-26. But the break is part of a stimulus package that has yet to be finalized. In other words, it’s still just part of the talk. But it was popular talk….
Taxpayer asks: I went to the website that you referred to for free e-file. Why is it that the free e-file websites have a 55 year age limit and gross income cap of $56,000. Why is there nothing available (for free) for people over 55 with a combined income over $56,000? I even called the…
Taxpayer asks: Hi Taxgirl,My wife filed for divorce in Tennessee Aug 2007. Moved out of the house in Dec 2007 and have paid her money ordered by the court as spousal support.I’ve paid all year and want to know if I can claim this money paid as alimony. Thanks for your help! Taxgirl says: It…
If you live in Delaware, Illinois, New York or Rhode Island and file a paper federal income tax return, make sure you read the fine print: your service center mailing address has changed. Taxpayers in Delaware, New York and Rhode Island will mail their returns to the IRS Service Center in Kansas City, MO. Taxpayers…
It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! One of the “ask the taxgirl” posts this week focused on the question of illegally gained income. According to the Tax Code, all income, regardless of the source, must be reported on your tax return. This includes drug sales, illegal betting operations, prostitution, bribes, the whole bit. Clearly, including…
It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! One of the “ask the taxgirl” posts this week focused on the question of illegally gained income. According to the Tax Code, all income, regardless of the source, must be reported on your tax return. This includes drug sales, illegal betting operations, prostitution, bribes, the whole bit. Clearly, including…
Nope, I didn’t make that statistic up. The IRS claims that 98 million taxpayers – or about 70% – are eligible to e-file their 2008 federal tax returns for free through their FreeFile program. It works like this: twenty vendors have partnered with the IRS to provide free e-filing services for taxpayers who meet certain…
Taxpayer asks: Hello, I would like to ask some questions about tax evasion and honest mistakes: I am being looked into (audited) for tax evasion for 2006 where I failed to file tax returns for online poker winnings of about $60,000.00. I did not file these returns for the sole purpose that my losses outweighed…