Taxes

  • Keep up-to-date with articles on Taxes

    “If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don’t get wet you can keep.” – Will Rogers

5 Health insurance tax tips for the self-employed

Mar 3, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

If you are self-employed and are managing your business either from home or have rented space, you can take steps to minimize your tax-bite for your health insurance. You can take advantage of IRS-implemented but Congress-designed clauses about how and under what circumstances you can take deductions for your health insurance. You can take advantage … Continue Reading »



Tips to do and e-file your own taxes by using tax software

Mar 1, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

First off, please read my post on understanding basics of your income tax return.
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” – Albert Einstein, physicist. Well! It may be connected to his theory of relativity but, being a physicist that he was, he didn’t think of the U.S. tax system in … Continue Reading »


Understanding the essence of your property tax

Mar 1, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

Your property tax, as you might very well know, is a big source of public safety [police, firefighters, etc.], schools, roads, libraries, and other services in your town and almost all American communities. During the last few decades, on and off, there have been efforts to stop more increase in local property taxes in the … Continue Reading »


Federal budget – criticize, agree, or don’t care – a naive look

Feb 28, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

I was surfing yesterday [Internet surfing is the most I do - too scared of water] and I came across a site “The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.” It has given an example of the 2008 federal budget in terms of spending and financing. Something caught my eye on the graph for financing the … Continue Reading »


Tips to put wide-ranging new tax provisions to your advantage

Feb 26, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

By now, you should have received your W-2, 1099’s and all documents that will help you do your tax calculations and then filing. If you have, then it’s time to start tackling your taxes, at least the preliminary data entry, either using tax software or doing it manually with paper and pencil. For your convenience, … Continue Reading »


Congress is the designer, IRS is the implementer

Feb 19, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

Congress legislates, the rest of the country follows. As I understand it, that includes the executive as well as the judiciary branches of the government. Let’s not forget that. IRS is a small entity, but let’s face it, it has one of the biggest responsibilities of the many institutions this country has. The famous slogan … Continue Reading »


Understand the two different kinds of capital gain taxes

Feb 10, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

When you invest your money, for example, in stocks and then sell it at a profit, you have to pay taxes on the profit which is commonly known as capital gain taxes. When you sell it at a loss, obviously, you don’t pay taxes on your loss but you can offset it with any capital … Continue Reading »


Tax changes in 2009 you should know before you file

Feb 5, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

For folks, who don’t do taxes themselves but get them done by professionals, I want to say this. Don’t be afraid to do them yourself. Last year, I did a post “Understand basics of your income tax return” that you would like to read and understand.
Each year, there are some changes in the tax … Continue Reading »


4 Small steps to take – away from the tax-man

Jan 10, 2010 | | Posted in Taxes

Everyone is getting ready to do their taxes, most of the folks anyway before April 15, 2010 which falls on a Thursday. Either they would do their taxes themselves or get them done by a professional. But there is nothing you can do now to make any changes for 2009. That year is gone, just … Continue Reading »


Millions will have to repay part of tax credit

Nov 22, 2009 | | Posted in Taxes

Washington Post reported on November 16: “Millions will have to repay part of tax credit.”
Excerpts from the report
More than 15 million taxpayers may owe the government $250 or more because of how the IRS last spring set up President Barack Obama’s tax break that was designed to help consumers spend the U.S. economy out of … Continue Reading »


The IRS is coming after the filthy rich

Oct 30, 2009 | | Posted in Taxes

Direct from the horse’s mouth. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said on Monday “A new Internal Revenue Service enforcement unit targeting the very wealthy will help the tax agency decode partnerships, offshore trusts and other complex techniques used to hide income.” If you think you are filthy rich, watch out. The IRS is coming to your … Continue Reading »


IRS touts its amnesty, trains sights on evaders

Oct 15, 2009 | | Posted in Taxes

This report is published on nytimes.com.
Excerpts
The Internal Revenue Service said more than 7,500 U.S. taxpayers with undeclared offshore accounts had stepped forward under its limited amnesty program, and the agency announced a new push to stop tax evaders from moving funds between foreign countries.
The accounts ranged in size from just above $10,000 to more … Continue Reading »


Are you inside the bucket full of Ponzi schemes?

Jun 24, 2009 | | Posted in Taxes

If you have lost money by giving it to a schmuck to invest it for you, help may be on the way especially if you are a victim of the biggest schmuck of them all known as Bernie Madoff. The IRS of the good old U.S. of A. has announced it will treat investment theft … Continue Reading »


Is your states’s budget crack being filled with tax hikes?

Jun 16, 2009 | | Posted in Taxes

These days, we, the American people, seem to be responsible for almost everything. If the Federal or State needs to fill their treasury, the authorities look up to us. I don’t know about you guys, but I have not felt so important in my life of 6 decades as I do now, even though the … Continue Reading »


« Older Entries