With the arrival of a new year, tax season is just around the corner, striking fear into the hearts of millions of Americans as they attempt to get their tax filings in order before the tax deadline arrives. Dramatic, huh? But honestly, for many people, this can be the most stress-inducing time of the year […]
2012 IRS Tax Refund Delay
Posted byYou filed your 2011 tax return early and didn’t get your refund? Yes, according to the alert from the IRS, there is a delay again this year. 2012 tax refunds are delayed approximately one week. Update: For information about IRS tax refund delays for the current year see the 2013 IRS Tax Refund Delay. What’s […]
What is a Personal Tax Exemption?
Posted byYou pay taxes based on your income. But before that income is calculated, the IRS allows you to reduce it based on exemptions. What is a tax exemption? A standard amount of money (defined each year by the IRS) that is not taxed. For tax year 2014, the personal exemption amount is $3,950. That means […]
Reporting savings bonds on your tax return usually follows a standard course of action, you get a savings bond, hold it for multiple years, then redeem it and report it on your taxes in the year of redemption. But did you know there’s another way to report the savings bonds interest, which could potentially save […]
Tax Loss Harvesting
Posted byTax loss harvesting can be an effective means of managing your taxes using your investment portfolio. While the practice should be managed with care, when done correctly, it can have a dramatic impact on your tax bill. The timing of tax loss harvesting is a crucial element – there are various rules that must be […]
Property taxes are are one of the biggest expenses in our budget. Since property taxes are deductible (if you itemize your deductions), it’s only natural that they have a large impact on income taxes as well. Every December, as part of our end of year tax planning, I like to figure out when we should […]
Cost Basis Reporting: Preparing for 2012
Posted byOur investment club just finished submitting all of our cost basis reporting to our broker, Scottrade. And to be honest, it wasn’t an easy task! Our treasurer spent hours on the task. If you’re like me, you’ve gotten a flurry of cost basis reporting requests from your brokers via email. And it’s about time I […]
There are two ways you can file tax returns if you are married: married filing jointly, or married filing separately. Many married couples file joint tax returns each year and experience either a marriage bonus or a marriage penalty for doing so. The penalty occurs if putting two people’s income together increases their earnings and […]
We recently answered questions about Flexible Spending Accounts. Used correctly, Flexible Spending Accounts (and their closely-related cousins, Health Savings Accounts) are a great way to save on health care costs by paying for them with pre-tax money. If you want to contribute to an FSA, you do so by electing to have a certain amount […]
It’s open enrollment time! Time to add up your health care expenses and try to guess how much money you should put in your flexible spending account! Let’s take a look at some of the questions I get around flexible spending account (FSA) plans and ease the process of enrolling in your plan this year. […]