Tax news and guidance for individual taxpayers — filing tips, deductions, refunds, and everything else that hits your personal return.
This week, Congress has been sparring over the best way to fix the economy. It looks like, one way or the other, we’re going to have some tax cuts. The specifics have yet to be worked out. Many are pushing for individual tax rate cuts while others believe that cutting corporate tax rates (something Speaker…
It turns out that the news about the SE tax break hasn’t garnered much press outside of the tax world. I’m fairly surprised by the lack of coverage considering the target market but my guess is that it has a lot to do with the fact that the break is only for one year. At…
Oh c’mon, like you didn’t see this coming a mile away… Congress has figured out that they’re pretty much damned if they do and damned if they don’t on this tax cut issue. So they’re going with the Scarlett O’Hara strategy. You know, thinking about it “tomorrow.” Here’s the scoop: over the weekend, the Democrats…
As the debate over health care and health care costs continued to draw attention, it appeared as if the smallest of businesses, those who are self-employed, were being ignored. Most of the health care related tax breaks and credits have been focused on businesses with employees but those who are self-employed or primarily family owned…
Although the Bush tax cuts are making the most news these days (a logical focus considering the size and scope of the cuts), Congress is considering a number of other tax-related proposals. Among the concerns is what to do about the Making Work Pay Credit. The credit was only made law for two years (2009…
As the debate over extending those Bush tax cuts continues, another tax break is slipping away… The Making Work Pay Credit, in place for the 2009 and 2010 tax years, is likely to not be extended to 2011 or beyond. Tax preparers (and tax software manufacturers) are likely breathing a sigh of relief. The tax…
And by “suddenly” I mean months later, after they passed it as part of a bill that they clearly didn’t read… But now that folks are ramping up their complaints over the new tax reporting requirement that was included, logically (not), in the health care bill, both Dems and the GOP have decided that they…
Gosh, just this morning, it was all hand holding and Kum ba ya in DC. Okay, maybe not so much. But House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) did signal that he would likely support President Barack Obama’s plan to extend tax cuts for those families making less than $250,000. It clearly wasn’t his preference but…
Okay, maybe he didn’t take it *quite* that far. But taking a break from his earlier position, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has signaled that he would vote for President Obama’s plan to extend the Bush tax cuts only for the middle class. But then he added a big “if.” Boehner said he would…
Yesterday, I was scrolling through CNN and I saw a headline about the “Homebuyer Tax Surprise.” A similar finance site touted the headline “Nearly 1 Million Homeowners Shocked at Payback.” No, no, they’re not. They’re not shocked. They’re not surprised. Or at least they shouldn’t be. They knew exactly what they were getting into. They…