Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
Donna (not her real name, of course) has been breaking the law for years. The funny thing is she doesn’t look like your stereotypical criminal: she’s well dressed, well spoken and well travelled. She hasn’t physically harmed anyone. She hasn’t stolen anything. I’m not sure she has so much as a traffic violation. Her crime?…
When you ask most taxpayers about available tax deductions, the deduction for medical expenses immediately springs to mind. It’s probably one of the most talked about deductions (in fact, a fairly significant portion of the questions submitted to the blog by taxpayers focus on the medical expenses) but the reality is that very few taxpayers…
This week, I reached a pretty significant milestone: I finally paid off my undergraduate student loans. Hold the champagne: I now get to plug away at graduate loans which are much bigger. Don’t read too much into that, it’s not a complaint in the real sense. I have always considered my education an investment and…
It’s the return of Fix the Tax Code Friday! Earlier this month, executives from Boeing Co., Sears Holding Management Corp., Emerson Electric Co. and Perrigo Co., told members of Congress that they would will be willing to give up tax breaks in exchange for a lower corporate tax rate. This is consistent with a recent…
The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it has now passed the one billion mark for individual tax returns processed through its electronic filing (or e-filing) program. Despite the fact that we tend to throw around the “b” word left and right these days when talking about taxes, the deficit and the budget, a billion…
Today, the Internal Revenue Service announced that approximately 275,000 formerly tax-exempt organizations have lost their charitable status as a result of failing to file the proper forms. Loss of tax-exempt status can spell disaster for some organizations: not only does it mean that the organization must file income tax returns and pay tax but perhaps…
Prepare to keep waiting. A flurry of dismal news including a somber May jobs report and a less than encouraging report from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sent stocks and spirits lower midweek. Traditionally, that combination of factors leads to talk of a federal stimulus to give the economy a bit of a shot in…
Today marked the 27th running of the TD Bank Philadelphia Men’s International Cycling Championship, the longest running single-day cycling road race in the United States. I happen to live pretty close to the most (in)famous part of the race, the Manayunk Wall. It’s a half-mile climb at a steep 17% grade and the cyclists have…
It was one of those jaw dropping, rubbing your eyes, cleaning out your ears moments. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, thought by many to be a frontrunner for the GOP nomination, went out on a limb and criticized his own party’s plans for Medicare reform. Speaking on Meet the Press, Gingrich said about the Republican plan:…
Tomorrow (May 18) marks exactly one month after Tax Day 2011. I know, just a month, right? It feels a lot longer to those of us in the tax profession. This is about the time that many folks start peering at their bank balances and wondering where the heck their refund checks are. If you’re…