Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
Surprise! Having a “free check” for folks by requiring them to file when they don’t normally have to file isn’t quite as simple as you’d think. The IRS has announced that more than 25% of eligible seniors have not filed tax returns for 2007. This means that those seniors will not receive a rebate check…
Guest Post by: Kate Olson This article in a recent BusinessWeek magazine instantly made me bristle – “Taxing the Not-So-Rich Rich” makes the case that families bringing in a combined income of greater than $250,000 aren’t necessarily wealthy and shouldn’t be taxed as such under presidential nominee (D) Barack Obama’s proposed tax plan. This plan…
Taxpayer asks: We owed taxes for 2007 when we filed. We also had owed taxes from a few years ago. I was under the impression that the IRS would deduct the amount of taxes owed for any prior year(s) from the stimulus payment, but would not affect the 2007 taxes. We just received letters from…
Taxpayer asks: I would like to ask some tax related questions related to selling a house outside of the USA. We sold a house in Hungary, with all taxes paid there. There is documentation to prove this. Would there be a tax liability in the USA if the money from this sale would be brought…
Taxpayer asks: Good Morning Kelly, i have a question about the free goverment money that i did not received.I have a SS, my son was born here , and my wife does not a have a SS yet… But she does have an Itin Number… I do all the taxes every year for us tree……
Taxpayer asks: With employees using their Blackberrys for email and phone service where it’s a mix between personal and business usage, what’s a reasonable approach when deciding how much can be taken as a deductible business expense? Taxgirl says: I think the same rules apply here as with cell phones. Check my prior post on…
Taxpayer asks: I don’t understand. I have my stocks on a program that reinvests the dividends back into the stock. My broker says that this increases my bases. But my CPA says that I have to report this on my taxes. Why is this if I haven’t sold the stock? Taxgirl says: Dividend Reinvestment Programs…
You can make up your own mind. Here are the facts: Today, I received an official looking letter from the “Indemnification/Disbursement Division” of “The Offices of Government Insured Loans.” This is not a federal agency – despite the fact that the company is trying very hard to look like it with their kraft brown envelopes…
Taxpayer asks: The 1099-INT instructions state, payers of interest of $10 or more are required to furnish you and the IRS with this tax information. The IRS is notified of all interest paid by financial institutions on magnetic media, but financial institutions only report interest of $10 or more. I have seen some sites state,…
Obama and McCain continue to battle it out about the issue that most Americans seems to care about right now: the economy. To hear each talk, it just can’t get much worse (can it?). McCain spins Obama’s tax proposal as “the biggest tax increase since World War II.” Obama compares McCain’s plan to that of…