Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
My BlogHer session is later today. For those of you who couldn’t make it, or for those of you who want a recap, here are some details worth noting: Anne-Marie Nichols will be live blogging the session, so take a peek at her site for all of the juicy bits Nina Smith, of Queercents, will…
Last night, while at a reception for BlogHer, I was asked whether I thought that the mortgage interest deduction for homeowners would be eliminated. “Of course not,” I replied. “Even with all of this sub-prime mortgage stuff?” the person pressed. “It won’t be repealed,” I said, confidently. But back in my room, I started thinking…
I’m in Chicago today for the BlogHer Conference, where I will be speaking about blogging and tax. One topic that I plan to focus on is the issue of hobby versus business, which I addressed earlier in an “Ask the Taxgirl” segment and in my Problogger guest post. Briefly, the IRS allows you more favorable…
But not many… in the Ways and Means Committee. The Business Journal of Phoenix (how’s that for a source?) is reporting that U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, a Democrat of Arizona, is introducing a bill to keep federal capital-gains taxes permanently at 15 percent and to make recent cuts to federal estate taxes permanent. The Democratic…
Rhiannon O’Donnabhain is challenging a decision not to allow the $25,000 cost of her 2001 sex-change and breast augmentation surgeries as a tax deduction. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), both surgeries were elective and cosmetic, and therefore not deductible as medical expenses. 63-year old O’Donnabhain argued in Tax Court that the procedures were…
Each year, several states offer a “holiday” from sales tax in order to increase spending before school begins. Here are some sales tax holidays that I’m aware of. As the mother of three children, I can appreciate this nod towards back to school spending. And according to the National Retail Federation, families with school-age children…
Well, only if you live in the UK. Our friends across the pond at Oxford University claim that charging VAT (Value Added Tax, sort of like a sales tax) of 17.5% on foods deemed to be unhealthy would reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes. The theory is that increased costs will slash consumer…
I enjoy commentary on my blog posts, especially when those who are adding to the discussion have something to say – you know, actually adding to the conversation. I also don’t mind being corrected when I’m wrong. I don’t claim to be the sole expert on all things tax (though that does have a nice…
A federal appeals court ruled this week that awards for nonphysical injuries (emotional distress, for example) are taxable as income under the Constitution. That makes sense, right? It would – except that the same court ruled exactly the opposite about a year ago. Damages for personal injuries have been tax exempt for purposes of federal…
As the war in Iraq grows more unpopular, a new series of tax protests are gaining ground. Protesting taxes in the US is nothing new – it hails back to Pre-Revolutionary War days and enjoyed a brief resurgence during the war in Vietnam. But until recently, there hasn’t been an organized movement that was considered…