Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
C is for Carpooling. You cannot deduct the costs of getting to and from work, no matter if you take a bus, trolley, subway, taxi, or drive your own car. Commuting expenses to and from your regular place of work (as opposed to traveling for work) is never deductible. Taxpayers are always trying to come…
B is for Bad Debt Expense. Most tax discussions about debt focus on debts that you owe. But what happens when the debt is owed to you? And worse, what if it’s pretty obvious that the debt isn’t going to be paid back? When that happens, you have a bad debt. For tax purposes, you…
It’s official: 40 days after tax season was officially kicked off, the Internal Revenue Service has announced that it is now accepting all returns. No, that’s not a typo. 40 days. Tax season was originally slated to open on January 22, 2013, but due to the last-minute tax deal, opening day was delayed to January…
Today, I’m kicking off my annual “Taxes from A to Z” series. As part of the series, I plan to focus on tax terms that might not get much play on a day to day basis… If you’re wondering what the heck MAGI is or how to figure out the difference between an injured spouse…
In this economy, every penny saved helps. If you’re looking for ways to save at tax time, the Walmart Foundation may be able to help. The Walmart Foundation is providing free federal and state preparation for qualified taxpayers through the support of the MyFreeTaxes partnership. The MyFreeTaxes Partnership is easy, safe, secure, and 100 percent…
Taxpayer asks: I live in California. I had the wedding in 2012, but I applied marriage license in January 2013. Can I file a joint return for 2012? Thanks.Thanks. taxgirl says: For federal income tax status, marital status is determined by state law. If you are married for state purposes, you are married for federal…
With so many changes looming for 2013, it’s easy to forget that there were some significant tweaks to the Tax Code for 2012. Here’s a list of eleven changes to keep in mind before you file your 2012 tax return, due April 15, 2013: 1. Payroll tax credit will still affect self-employed taxpayers. The expiration…
Taxpayer asks: My husband is a non resident alien. We have been filing together as married. I am a US Citizen and together we have 2 children. Because he has an ITIN we have been missing out of the EIC credit. Can we file as single, since he is not considered married to me for…
The good news for taxpayers? More than half of us didn’t owe taxes for the last tax year on record. The bad news for taxpayers? The other half of us did. Hopefully, if you fall in the latter category this year, the amount that you owe isn’t too bad. But if it’s more than you…
You’ve prepped, organized and you’re finally ready to file your federal income taxes. That is, except for one tiny little problem: you may be staring down a tax obligation that’s a bit bigger than what’s in your bank account. What now? You have options but not all of them are equally good. Here are seven…