Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
I indicated earlier that I didn’t think that a second economic stimulus package would be considered until after the elections – and it looks like that is, in fact, the case. I’m actually still confident that any stimulus package which includes “tax rebates” would not result in checks being mailed out until the new year….
There’s a lot of good discussion on the Fix the Tax Code Friday comments thread about debt cancellation and mortgage debt cancellation relief. I started to reply to one of the comments and thought it was best to make it a separate post so that it doesn’t get buried. I wanted to clarify some misconceptions…
What’s the difference between a lawyer and a prostitute? A prostitute will stop screwing you when you’re dead. How often is it that I can post about hookers and lawyers in the same post? Last week, Cristina Schultz, a 2001 graduate of Stanford Law, was indicted in federal court for allegedly failing to pay income…
Lately, there have been a number of emails and comments regarding the possibility of a second stimulus package. You can read what I had to say about it earlier here and here (I stand by my original posts). There were some good follow-up questions in the comments – but it struck me that not everyone…
While the nation’s attention was turned to the financial bank crisis, the House passed a bill increasing the exemption level for the alternative minimum tax (AMT) to $46,200 for individuals and $69,950 for married couples filing jointly. The motion passed by a margin of 393-30. The bill provides about $2,000 of relief each to affected…
As a result of the recent volatility on the stock market, I’ve received a bunch of questions about claiming losses on individual tax returns. What’s been made clear is that there are a lot of misperceptions floating about… I thought I’d try and set some things straight. To keep it simple, I’m going to focus…
The weather is beautiful today in Philadelphia. The skies are blue and the sun is shining brightly. It looks like any other September day. Only it is not. It is September 11. Lots will be said about that date today. Politicians will make speeches. Anchors on the nightly news will analyze what happened on that…
Gosh, it’s not even six degrees… 1, Kevin Bacon was one of a number of celebrities that John Snyder snooped on while working for the IRS. 2, John Snyder made taxgirl.com headlines. 3, You read Taxgirl.com. Wow, you’re that close to Kevin Bacon – who is not only funny, quirky and hot but also sings…
The IRS has announced that they have again delayed the effective date of Revenue Ruling 2006-57, originally released in November 2006. The Ruling provides guidance to employers on the use of items like smartcards, debit or credit cards to provide qualified transportation fringes under Internal Revenue Code §§ 132(a)(5) and 132(f). The basic idea behind…
So, I’m on vacation in lovely Maine. Each time we come here (and we’ve been coming for a bit), I constantly hear complaints about the overall tax burden of Mainers. And I have to say, I’m a bit perplexed. The sales tax in Maine is 5%. The tax is a bit broad in that items…