Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the so-called economic stimulus plan – largely consisting of tax rebates – will not boost the economy. According to a poll conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corp., a whopping 82% of Americans believe the stimulus package won’t work. This is up sharply from 70% of Americans who said the…
Years ago, the partner at the law firm where I worked at the time approached me about working on a presentation for a major client. The client had significant business and personal holdings and was looking to do both income and estate tax planning. We prepared for this meeting for about two weeks and came…
It’s the return of Fix the Tax Code Friday! Since there’s been some discussion on the blog lately about whether or not parents should receive tax “benefits” in the form of exemptions and credits, I thought I would make it the Fix the Tax Code Friday question: Should parents be entitled to exemptions and credits…
There are absolutely NO plans in Congress to distribute monthly stimulus payments or rebates to any taxpayers. If you see any emails or ads that say otherwise, be advised that these are from private companies selling products or services. This information is NOT from the IRS, the Department of the Treasury or any related government…
The IRS has updated its website to address questions about rebates. Mostly, it’s the same old story – no real news on why payments may not be on time. But there are some concrete answers about Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs), Refund Anticipated Checks (RACs) and tax preparer issued debit cards. I’ve posted about Refund Anticipation…
I spent the better part of the day working on my personal taxes (I know, I know). We’re on an extension – we’re always on extension. The thing about doing my own taxes is that it reminds me of all of the stupid tax rules out there – you know, the ones that were either…
I’ve received a ton of complaints about the size of the rebate checks once actually in hand. Apparently, a number of folks have not received the anticipated amount… Be sure and check out this list of why your rebate might be less than anticipated and give the IRS tax rebate calculator a whirl. To date,…
I’ve been getting a lot of email questions about the rebates that imply that all taxpayers are entitled to the full rebate. This is not the case. Here are some guidelines that might answer many of your questions… You may receive a rebate if: 1, You have a valid Social Security number. 2, You file…
I have received a ton of emails asking about the status of the tax rebates, many sounding quite desperate. First of all, I have to say that the level of concern about the timing of payments is really discouraging and indicative of the severe state of our economy. Taxpayers are telling me that they need…
Take note: The IRS has announced that users of the Where’s My Refund? feature may experience intermittent outages on Sunday, April 27, 2008 between the hours of 1:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m. EST.