Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
The snack lists have already come home from school (my first parent snack day is September 22 – someone remind me so that I don’t become that mom who forgets). Snack day is a lot more tricky these days than in the past. I’m sure you’re thinking of the obvious reason but as a mom,…
We survived Irene. Five days without power and water felt like an eternity but we were very lucky to otherwise not sustain any real damage. My kids were safe albeit a little cranky. I realize that not everyone was so lucky and my thoughts and prayers are with all of you who suffered injury or…
In a few hours, my children will get up and get dressed for the first day of school. There will be no drama. There will be no “I don’t have anything to wear.” I can say this with a reasonable amount of certainty because, as students who attend public school in Philadelphia, my children will…
This morning, the sun is shining prettily outside the window. There is hardly any indication of the storm that was Hurricane Irene that roared through the area – except that I am typing this article on a laptop in a darkened room, not sure when or where I’ll post it. We are one of hundreds…
Hurricane Irene is huge. As of last night, 29 million people were under a hurricane warning. The effects of the hurricane are expected to be felt this weekend by nearly 55 million people, or just under the total population of the United Kingdom. Even as the storm is downgraded to a Category 1, power outages…
My kids are still trying their best to soak up the last few days of summer. Lucky for them, school won’t start until after Labor Day which means that they have another 20 days left, not, mind you, that anyone is counting. In other towns and cities across the country, some students are already heading…
That horrible crash you heard today? It was the market. And it was not pretty. The Dow fell 630 points today, marking the worst day for investors in three years. As a result, you can’t swing a cat without some kind of market analysis. Except here. Between you and I, I don’t know enough about…
Taxpayer asks: If my husband has been making voluntary payments to his ex-girlfriend for child support, how is that treated for tax purposes? The purpose of the payments are for child support, and he has paid taxes on them. I read on one of the various lawyer websites that if there is no court order…
Man, it’s hot. It’s like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn’t take this kind of hot. – Matthew Broderick as Eugene Morris Jerome in Biloxi Blues And I’m in Philadelphia. There’s an enormous heat wave stretching across the country right now. Some form of heat advisory, heat warning, or heat watch has been issued for the nearly…
There is no such thing as free money. Let’s just go ahead and get that out of the way first thing. Our Treasury does not have a pot of money just sitting around waiting for you to scoop it up (we’re nearly bankrupt, remember?) And no matter what anybody tells you otherwise, tax credits, refunds…