Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
“How much am I getting?” That seems to be a popular question as it relates to rebate checks. If you want to know in advance, you can check out the “Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator” on the IRS web site. How does it work? You must answer a series of questions on the web which the…
Does the IRS discriminate against unmarried couples? I’m specifically referencing same sex couples in this post because, while traditional unmarried couples may encounter the same kinds of difficulties with the Service, they have an “out” that same sex couples don’t have: marriage. At my firm, we represent same sex couples in a number of tax…
I think one of the most frustrating parts of tax time is getting everything together. Back in the day, when I actually prepared tax returns for clients (I don’t have time anymore), I was amazed at the various styles of “organization” utilized by my clients. There were the über-organized with print outs and annotations; the…
You know that you can deduct the cost of visits to the doctor and dentist, right? And that you can deduct the cost of parking and transportation to and from those visits? What else is deductible? Check out this handy list: 1, Abortion 2, Acupuncture 3, Alcoholism treatment 4, Ambulance service 5, Artificial Limb 6,…
You know that you can deduct the cost of visits to the doctor and dentist, right? And that you can deduct the cost of parking and transportation to and from those visits? What else is deductible? Check out this handy list: 1, Abortion 2, Acupuncture 3, Alcoholism treatment 4, Ambulance service 5, Artificial Limb 6,…
In recent weeks, I’ve received a flurry of emails from parents asking about whether band uniforms, soccer cleats and other expenses related to children are deductible. I thought it might be useful to have a checklist of some child-related deductions that you may be overlooking. 1, Child tax credit. If your modified AGI (adjusted gross…
Taxpayer asks: I own a single-family home as rental property out of state that is characterized as investment property on my property insurance and as a non-owner occupied home on my mortgage. My brother manages and maintains the property for me. I bought his cell phone and pay his portion of the monthly charges on…
Taxpayer asks: Since whoever has earning in excess of $87K of AGI for singles ($174K married), they don’t qualify for rebate check. Here is the question: 2007 AGI? or 2006 AGI? (in other words, in my situation, my 2006 AGI is way less than 87K, and 2007 AGI is way more than 87$)? 🙂 so…
Taxpayer asks: I understand that one must file a tax return in order to get the upcoming tax rebate. What is the effect on the tax rebate of filing an extension and completing the return by the October deadline? Taxgirl says: Checks will be mailed beginning in May for taxpayers who timely file their tax…
Last week, hundreds of wealthy Germans had their homes and offices searched in Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Ulm as German officials crack down on what is perceived as massive tax fraud. The German government believes that as much as €3.4 billion ($5 billion US) have been transferred to Liechtenstein in an attempt to evade…