Archive for Taxes

Back to School Tips for College Students and Parents

Whether you’re a recent high school graduate going to college for the first time or a returning college student, it will soon be time to get to campus—and payment deadlines for tuition and other fees are not far behind. Students or parents paying such expenses should keep receipts and be aware of some tax benefits […]

Home Office No Longer Red Flag?

Whenever talking to clients about the allowable home office deduction, some usually respond with… ….”Are you kidding”, ….”No way!”, …”Isn’t that a RED flag”, or my favorite…”I’d rather play it safe than sorry”. Well, of course 10 years ago it MAY have been a RED flag. And if you don’t have a trusted tax adviser […]

Limited Window of Opportunity

Last December, Congress extended a number of the Bush-era tax breaks, but only for a limited length of time. It is probably a safe bet that most won’t get extended further, considering the size of the national debt. Although numerous tax breaks were extended, only a few provide you with an opportunity to take actions […]

Did You Take an Early Distribution from Your Retirement Plan?

In today’s economy, some taxpayers may need to take money out of their retirement plans to make ends meet. If you have or are contemplating on taking a distribution, there are some very important and unexpected tax issues you need to be aware of. Withdrawals from tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as Traditional IRAs are generally […]

Tax Filing Deadline Rapidly Approaching

Just a reminder to those who have not yet filed their 2010 tax return that April 18, 2011 is the due date to either file your return and pay any taxes owed, or file for the automatic six-month extension and pay the tax you estimate to be due.  Normally the deadline is April 15, but […]

Two Tax Credits to Help Pay Higher Education Costs

There are two federal tax credits available to help individuals offset the costs of higher education for themselves or their dependents.  They are the American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit. To qualify for either credit, a taxpayer must pay post-secondary tuition and fees for themselves, their spouse or their dependent.  The credit is […]

Tips to Avoid a Tax Audit

An IRS tax audit can come in a number of forms.  The most demanding are the face-to-face audits, which require sitting down with an auditor and reconciling income and deductions.  Others are the less demanding correspondence audits where the IRS has reason to believe that the taxpayer failed to include reported income or has overstated […]

Tax Tips for Self-Employed Individuals

If you are in business for yourself, or carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor or an independent contractor, you generally would consider yourself self-employed, and you will need to include on your tax return your income and allowable business expenses to determine your net profit. Your net profit is subject to […]

Is the Income Taxable or Non-Taxable?

A question that comes up frequently is whether income you received is taxable or not. Generally, most income you will receive is considered taxable, but there are situations when certain types of income are partially taxed or not taxed at all. To help taxpayers understand the differences between taxable and non-taxable income, the Internal Revenue […]

Millions of Self Prepared Tax Returns Filed Wrong

Millions of Americans file their own tax returns and pay the wrong amount each year.  Tax software and the leading tax preparation franchises will help you fill out the forms; but they are tools, NOT a solution. Did you know that some of the leading tax preparation franchises only require their preparers to have 84 […]