Love is much nicer to be in than an automobile accident, a tight girdle, a higher tax bracket, or a holding pattern over Philadelphia. – Judith Viorst, children’s author and believe it or not, tax activist I love Valentine’s Day. I’m a sucker for flowers and candy and goofy cards – anything for an excuse…
Taxpayer asks: We bought a new house in June. The old owner was a chain smoker so we had to hire a professional cleaner to clean from top to bottom and it was quite expensive. Can we get a tax deduction for this? My wife has allergies so we had to do it. Thanks. We…
I love Halloween. I do. I love the camp, the excess, the whole over the top vibe. I dress up every year. I make my kids’ costumes for our school parade. I bake ridiculous amounts of cupcakes and make silly snacks that are meant to look gross like hotdogs that look like bloody toes in…
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,…
Wait? You mean that you didn’t know that there was such a thing as the tax attorney’s fees deduction? Well, perhaps that’s because it’s not actually called the tax attorney’s fees deduction. Tax attorneys like me just like to call it that. It’s technically part of the Job Expenses and Certain Miscellaneous Deductions subject to…
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…
Oh c’mon. You totally knew that I was going to choose kickbacks, right? The rules governing illegal activity and taxes are some of the most entertaining bits of the Tax Code, not that the bar’s terribly high to begin with… The specific section of the Code that references kickbacks can be found under Itemized Deductions…
Here’s your big disclaimer upfront: I’m not a Medicare guru. I don’t work for Medicare. I don’t receive Medicare. But I do know enough to see that there’s some pretty awful information floating around which has lead to some confusion on the tax side. Let me see if I can help sort some of it…
Taxpayer asks: hi can you deduct the sales tax paid if you leased a new car in june of 2009? Taxgirl says: Nope, sorry. If you’re referring to the new car sales tax deduction, leases are specifically excluded. However, if you itemize your taxes, you might still be able to claim sales taxes paid as…
Taxpayer asks: Just before Christmas, I bought a 2007 VW Jetta. It was a great deal since it had very low miles on it. When I bought it, the dealer said that I could deduct the sales tax from my taxes but I read on your site that the car has to be new, not…