This year we have an odd situation with the 2010 tax filing deadline. Normally the filing deadline for 1040 personal tax returns is April 15th. If April 15th lands on a Saturday or Sunday, then the deadline for filing is bumped to the following Monday, either the 16th or 17th of April depending on the [...]
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2010 Tax Year End Review Time
December 6, 2010 – 9:48 am
Now is the time to review 2010 tax filing issues to make sure all is in order. If you have investments or other capital gains and losses, you want to see if you are in a net gain situation. If you are, perhaps there are some losses you could realize before year end in order [...]
2011 Tax Law Change Affecting Capital Gains and Losses
September 29, 2010 – 4:30 pm
One new 2011 tax law change affects capital gains and losses. It requires brokerage firms to report to the IRS the capital gain or loss whenever you sell a stock, bond or mutual fund. Sure, some of you are thinking “Thank God, because I sure don’t know!”. I can identify with that. But be advised [...]
Free File Today, Stop Procrastinating!
February 26, 2010 – 4:15 pm
Free File your 2009 Federal 1040 tax today, and get your refund as soon as possible, maybe in about 8 days. The Free File system is a great opportunity to have access to top rated online tax preparation software and in many cases it won’t cost you a dime. If you have a complex tax [...]
Tax Deductions For Your Form 1040 – But Not These!
February 16, 2010 – 7:58 am
We all want to write off as many tax deductions as we can from our Federal From 1040, and then naturally save more when it flows to the state income tax return. (Except for you lucky folks with no state income tax – yeah, you know who you are!) If you try to write of [...]
How To Avoid An Audit – More Red Flags You Should NOT Wave
February 10, 2010 – 7:58 am
Everyone probably knows there are certain tax deductions, lines of work, etc that are “red flags” to the IRS that can trigger an audit. You want to avoid an audit, if you can. No fun, cost you money – almost always. Here are some income tax return red flags to avoid: Overestimating the value of [...]
Take Haiti Donation as 2009 Tax Deduction – Immediate Tax Benefit
February 3, 2010 – 4:52 pm
Congress loves to muck around with the tax law, but you can sometimes use it to your benefit for a bigger tax deduction or in this case a sooner tax deduction. Call it an “immediate tax benefit”. In order to encourage Americans to donate to Haiti relief efforts, Congress passed a law allowing a 2009 [...]
Common Tax Preparation Mistakes You Need To Avoid
February 2, 2010 – 9:19 am
One of the best ways to avoid getting audited is to not make a tax preparation mistake, especially not a dumb mistake. It helps if you collect all tax information in one file, box or whatever as the year goes on; then you have it when tax time rolls around. Here are some common mistakes [...]
The Most Overlooked Tax Deductions
January 30, 2010 – 11:22 am
Pay no more in income tax than you are required to. Let the tens of thousands of pages of tax code work in your favor for once and claim all the deductions you are entitled to, whether off the wall or not. Here is a list of most overlooked tax deductions for Federal 1040 income [...]
IRS Says Average Refund Should Be Up This Year – To $2800
January 25, 2010 – 9:36 am
Good news from the IRS, and that happens seldom enough I thought it was worth mentioning. The IRS says the average refund doled out to taxpayers this year for 2009 tax filing will be up from last year; in the range of about $2800 each. That is as good a reason as ever to take [...]