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It’s time for another giveaway. H&R Block wants to give an iPod Touch to two Consumerism Commentary readers. The iPods will be delivered with an app pre-installed to help taxpayers as we approach the final filing stretch. The strongest feature of the “H&R Block Tax Answers App,” available here from the Apple store, is the ability ... Continue reading this article…
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Last year was the first year I abandoned my own tax return preparation, deferring to a professional to do the dirty work. I’m glad I did; he suggested I restructure my business retroactively, resulting in a savings of about $15,000. I still haven’t seen most of this; the IRS is still processing my amended 2008 ... Continue reading this article…
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This article is presented by Kelly Whalen, Consumerism Commentary staff writer who attended Toy Fair this week in New York City. Should you be one of the millions of Americans (nearly 75 percent) who receives a tax refund this year, you may be making all sorts of plans for your money. Some people will plan to spend ... Continue reading this article…
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If you have an adventurous, thrill-seeking personality, your life may never be complete until you’ve solicited an income tax audit from the Internal Revenue Service. The good news is that audits have been more frequent in past years, so the chance of being audited has increased. You may not want to leave this up to ... Continue reading this article…
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February 15, 2010 update: The sale mentioned below is now over. Stay tuned for new sale announcements. Starting today and ending Sunday, February 14, 2010, H&R Block is offering a discount of up to 70 percent off the regular prices for the company’s online do-it-yourself tax filing software, At Home (formerly TaxCut). I consider H&R Block to ... Continue reading this article…
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Last year, I began working with a tax accountant. We reviewed how I filed my income tax returns for 2007 and 2008 and determined that filing differently would have saved me about $15,000 overall. In November, I filed amended income tax returns (1040X) for 2007 and 2008. I received a refund for my 2007 return ... Continue reading this article…
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Starting in 2011 or later, the IRS will be requiring businesses to volunteer more information about their tax avoidance practices and transactions. I use the word “volunteer” loosely. Currently, businesses and even savvy individual taxpayers do all that is possible to reduce the amount of tax owed to the government, even to the point at ... Continue reading this article…
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In November of last year, President Obama and Congress expanded the home buyer tax credit to cover more people who have purchased houses in 2009 and 2010 and to further stimulate the real estate industry. Earlier this month, the IRS released an updated tax form to include the new rules. If you want to claim ... Continue reading this article…
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Earlier today the House of Representatives passed a bill to encourage more charitable contributions for recovery in Haiti. Once this bill passes the Senate and is signed into law by the President, and I expect it won’t be long until this law is official, those of us who have donated or will donate cash before ... Continue reading this article…
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I almost participated in a boycott of Amazon.com. This was almost a decade ago when Amazon filed for a patent for its 1-Click ordering process. The patent was struck down in 2007 but I didn’t notice. In the face of Amazon’s low prices and, in my state, exemption from sales tax, my convictions didn’t stand ... Continue reading this article…
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It seems I have paid the government more than what was necessary over the past few years. When I first started earning money outside of my primary employer in 2004 or 2005, I assumed it would make the most sense to simply claim that income as self-employment income on Schedule C of the standard 1040 ... Continue reading this article…
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In a continuation of my favorite story of the year, the IRS announced a few days ago that they are ramping up a new investigative unit to find more offshore tax cheats, with an emphasis on those that are using dummy corporations with multiple layers to hide their wealth. They’ve named it the “Global High ... Continue reading this article…
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Last week I mentioned France would be seeing a new but insignificant tax on carbon emissions and considered the possibilities, including possible reactions, if a similar tax was initiated here in the United States. Both political sides are criticizing this tax and it’s not expected to be effective in terms of its goal of encouraging ... Continue reading this article…
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President Nicolas Sarcozy of France revealed his plans for working to reduce his country’s carbon dioxide emissions. For each taxpayer’s metric ton of carbon dioxide emission due to use of oil, gas, or coal, the government will charge that taxpayer a fee of €17 (roughly $25). This rate would rise over time. Other energy use, ... Continue reading this article…
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Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) are often offered by companies to help their employees save money by setting aside income from paychecks to pay for health-related expenses without being taxed. For many Flexible Savings Account holders, the deadline for using the funds set aside is the end of the calendar year. Medical FSAs usually provide the ... Continue reading this article…
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Earlier this Fall, the IRS was offering an amnesty program for offshore tax cheats to come forward and admit their wrongdoing, thereby getting a more lenient punishment. Nearly 15,000 Americans who knew they were cheating came forward and admitted their bad behavior. From Reuters: While IRS officials were still analyzing the amount of offshore assets declared in ... Continue reading this article…
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Between March 1917 and January 1984, there have been thirteen major changes in the rules for the estate tax, a tax paid by heirs for wealth inherited. Of these thirteen changes, eight were tax increases and five were tax decreases. In 2001, A study by the University of British Columbia and the University of Michigan ... Continue reading this article…
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The IRS has not formally announced the federal income tax brackets for 2010 yet. In fact, the 2009 tax brackets are still the numbers I — or more accurately, my accountant — will be focusing on in the near future. But around this time each year, The Tax Foundation creates a reasonable estimate of the ... Continue reading this article…
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Every so often I come across a news story that’s more enjoyable to read when I add a vindictive “ha ha ha ha ha” after each sentence. For example: Rich Americans who have evaded taxes by hiding foreign holdings have about a week to turn themselves in to an Internal Revenue Service amnesty program or gamble ... Continue reading this article…
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For those of you who have filed or are planning to file an amended income tax return (form 1040X) to receive the (up to) $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit this year rather than waiting for next year, there is some good news. Although the IRS is more than likely overwhelmed, the refunds are currently taking ... Continue reading this article…
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