Real estate agents and mortgage brokers have noticed a sudden increase in the number of people who want to buy a house. This is because the first time homebuyer tax credit scheme is drawing to a close, and people have less than two weeks left to finalize their contracts for purchasing a house. [Read more…]
New Law Changes Flexible Spending Plan
The new healthcare law has brought about some important changes in the flexible spending program. These changes could have a significant impact on your finances.
Flexible spending accounts can be used to keep pre-tax money for certain health care costs. You assess your health care needs and keep some money for the expenses. You can save about one-fifth of the costs in this way by using your pre-tax money. A flexible spending plan allows you to cover a number of health-related costs like over the counter medicines, sunscreens, eyeglasses, dental costs and so on. [Read more…]
Big Companies are Managing to Escape Taxman’s Net
The auditing of tax returns of big companies has decreased in the last few years even though the federal government has reiterated many times that it will crackdown on the big guys who are trying to decrease their tax liabilities. Last year, only one-fourth of the big league companies were audited. [Read more…]
Follow IRS Advice to Make Tax Filing Simpler
The upcoming tax filing deadline is giving most Americans headaches and sleepless nights. But the IRS is doing its bit to help people by asking them to stay informed about the latest changes in policies so that they can benefit from the new tax breaks announced as part of President Obama’s economic reconstruction program. [Read more…]
Spending Your Tax Refund Wisely
You could be among the 90% of American taxpayers who are going to get tax refunds this year from the IRS. Although you might be tempted to blow the money on a shopping spree or a holiday, don’t forget that the economy has still not recovered fully. Spend your tax refund wisely so that you get maximum benefit out of the money. Here is some advice on spending your tax refund money. [Read more…]
Filing Your Tax Return Need Not Be a Taxing Task
As every tax season draws to a close, most Americans inevitably find themselves stressed out about filing their returns and getting them done in time. Many a time last minute tax calculation and filing can cause oversight and error, and the taxpayer may end up paying more than he or she needs to or vice verse. To make tax filing a less painful experience, a few tips can help. [Read more…]
Avoiding Common Mistakes when Filing Tax Returns
Filing tax returns is a laborious and complicated task that we have to perform every year. There are some simple mistakes that are often made by people while filing tax returns, which can lead to delays in refunds, extra procedural formalities, hassles and stressful meetings with an IRS representative. The good news is that you can avoid this headache by following some simple guidelines. [Read more…]
True Costs of Hiring an Employee
If you are starting a new business and are considering the costs involved, then you might have already figured out that one of the biggest cost of running a company is employee’s salaries. But what you might not know is that the actual cost of every staff member is much more than the salary. [Read more…]
Don’t Forget About Tax Breaks when Filing Your Taxes | IRA
In these economically tough times, most people are looking for ways of saving taxes. There are many ncentive tax savings through purchasing of homes or starting new businesses, but only a few taxpayers would go to those lengths to save tax. The good news is that there are numerous other tax breaks ranging from energy saving home improvements to tuition costs and child credits that you can avail. [Read more…]
How to Meet Deadlines for Getting Home Buyer Tax Credit
There is a new federal scheme that gives tax credit to those who buy a house this year. Home buyers, who have not owned a house for the last three years, will get relief of 10% of the sale price of the house or $8,000, whichever is lower.
Those who have not owned or resided in any principal residence for at least five consecutive years during eight years before the purchase of the new house, will get a benefit of up to $6,500 under the tax credit scheme. [Read more…]
What You Need to Know About Home Buyer Tax Credits
With the tax filing date getting close, people have been looking for new avenues of saving tax. , . One of the biggest opportunities of saving tax this year is availing the federal homebuyer tax credit. [Read more…]
Managing Your Finances after Retirement
It is often believed that the spending of a person decreases after retirement because people become less active as they grow old. However, bad health and inflation can significantly increase the outflow of money after your retirement, and your financial situation might improve or worsen depending on how well you have planned for these expenses. A new theory divides retirement age into three stages. [Read more…]
How to Manage Your Budget If You are Self Employed
Budgeting plays a very important role in managing your finances and ensuring that you do not face financial hardships. If you are self employed or if a large proportion of your earnings comes from commissions, then budgeting becomes critical because your income will be irregular. [Read more…]
Choosing Where to Live After Retirement
You might have often dreamed about your retirement. You would have thought about making enough money to settle down in a beautiful location, in a home that caters to all your needs, and indulging in hobbies that you could not find time for. [Read more…]
Filing Tax Returns in Multiple States
If you travel to say 10 states in a year for business, you are actually liable to apportion your income by days of travel, and pay taxes and file returns in all 10 states. Yes, it is true, that is if you go strictly by the tax rule books. Though this may vary from state to state, it’s largely true in most cases. [Read more…]
File Your Tax Return Online It’s Faster, Safer and More Convenient
As the deadline of 30th April for the tax filing is approaching, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has stepped up efforts to spread awareness about tax filing procedures and help. To make the tax filing process easier, faster and safer, the IRS has been continually educating taxpayers and encouraging them to opt for e-filing than the traditional offline way. [Read more…]
Tax Break for Companies Hiring Unemployed
A new legislation has been passed by the Congress that will offer tax breaks to companies hiring the unemployed. $18 billion has been budgeted for this and other initiatives and it comes from the series of efforts to boost employment in the country. [Read more…]
IRS to Hold 1,000 Open Houses & Offers Assistance to Taxpayers in Distress
RS Commissioner Douglas Shulman has announced 1000 open houses at various venues across the country to allow distressed taxpayers to meet IRS officials and get a potential resolution to their tax troubles. The list of the venues and time of these open houses is given on the IRS website. [Read more…]
Don’t Forget Your Medical Expenses when Filing Taxes
When filing taxes, you should take advantage of all possible deductions and tax credits to minimize your liability. An important deduction that many people tend to ignore is medical expenses.
First of all, it is important to understand what is included and what is excluded from the IRA’s definition of ‘medical expenses”. Anything that you pay for doctors or dentists qualifies as a medical expense. If you had to spend some time in a hospital or if you paid for medical equipment and prescription medication, then you can add these expenses too. [Read more…]
Unemployment Tax Benefits that You Should Be Aware Of
Paying taxes is never pleasant, and the experience can be even worse when you are unemployed and trying to hold on to every dollar of your savings. But by judicious tax planning and careful application of the rules on deductions, you stand a good chance to get some much needed savings while filing your taxes. [Read more…]
Common Errors to Avoid When Filing Your Tax Return
The tax forms that get filled out each year can be rather complicated, but people are still hoping to be able to get as much cash back on it as they can. Many depend on that money to be able to meet bills, especially after the winter has been so cold. Here are some common mistakes on 1040 tax forms that can be avoided to help get your tax refund back faster.
Enter All Tax Data Correctly
Many times people simply enter the wrong information, or fail to enter the information at all, on their tax forms, which means that no credit can be given, more information has to be requested, or the tax credit goes to the wrong person. This can be avoided simply by going over your tax forms carefully to ensure that everything is correct. If you are married or separated, be sure that you agree on your filing status in advance to keep matters simple and easy for the IRS to sort out.
Incorrect Calculations
This is a common and yet simple mistake that many make. The numbers just don’t add up because of simple addition or subtraction errors. If you use tax software, it should eliminate most of this problem, because it will do the math for you. All you need to do is to enter in the right numbers in the right place.
Improper Tax Deductions
Tax deductions have to have receipts, and you have to be eligible to claim them. Tax deductions can be a very powerful tool to ensure that you get more back from the government, but be sure that you have the right to claim them, and keep them realistic, too. If you have been reimbursed for some of those deductions, be sure that those numbers show up, too, or it could be tax fraud.
Incorrect Social Security Numbers
In order to get the credit for your tax payments and the tax refund you want, it is necessary to ensure that social security numbers of all people on your tax forms are correct. An error here may mean that someone else gets the credit. Also, if someone has stolen your SSN, then you will probably have problems with your tax payment, and getting a tax refund. The problem will have to be sorted out. Avoiding this problem may be as simple as filing as early as you can – hopefully before the other party does.
Wrong Bank Account Information
If you file taxes electronically and want to get your tax refund deposited directly into your bank account, be sure to supply the correct bank account information. Both state and Federal taxes need the right number to get it to the right place. Double check all your tax information, use an online tax calculator, and you will soon have the deposit where you want it.
$15 Billion Plan to Stimulate Employment
The House has approved a plan that would spend $15 billion on measures targeted at job creation. The plan would give tax breaks to businesses as an incentive to hiring new employees. Supporters of the plan claimed that it would end up creating 1 million jobs. [Read more…]
Don’t Miss Out on These Tax Breaks
The tax filing deadline is not too far and you must be looking for all possible options of saving tax. The good news is that because of the stimulus package, there are many ways of reducing your tax liability. Here are some of the options available that you might not be aware of. [Read more…]
Get Paid for Reporting Tax Evasion
With the tax filing deadline just around the corner, you must already be trying to find ways to reduce your tax liability. But what you may not be aware of is that you can actually earn a reward by reporting a case of tax evasion to the IRS.
The Whistleblower Informant Award program of the IRS has been around for a long time but very few people have taken advantage of it. Under the program, you stand to earn a reward of as much as 15 percent of the amount that the tax cheat owes, as long as it does not exceed $10 million. Another program, which is targeted towards bigger tax cheats, awards 15 percent to 30 percent of the total amount that the IRS can recover. However, this is only applicable to cases where the amount owed exceeds $2 million. [Read more…]
