Do You Report All Your Income?

Posted by Madison on October 21, 2008

It came to my attention recently that one of the service providers of our family does not report all of his or her income. I’ve always “known about it” in a roundabout way, but it was actually stated to me directly. I’m in a quandary about what to do…. and I’m also mad about it. […]

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UPDATE: $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit possible! Congress passed an $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit for 2009. The $7,500 tax credit outlined below will still apply to homes purchased in 2008. UPDATE 2: The $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended the deadline until June 30, 2010. In addition, it will now […]

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Don’t agree with the IRS? Sue them. That’s just what an accountant and one of clients did. For years, the accountant has been protesting a tax law, and they have finally had a court rule in their favor. The exciting part, is that the ruling also affects 30 million other people! You could be one […]

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Unconventional Roth IRA Strategy to Lower Tax Bill

Posted by Madison on August 7, 2008

I’ve been utilizing a tax strategy the last few years to take advantage of low tax rates. Huge deferrals and unpaid maternity leaves gave us some room in the 15% tax bracket to convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, and even 401ks to Roth IRAs. Although we had to recharacterize some of it, we were […]

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In July taxes may be the furthest thing from your mind. In 10 Important Tasks for Your Mid Year Checkup I reminded everyone to assess their tax situation. Here’s a tax question that came up recently. With sky high gas prices, it could be a situation that affects many of you. Using Your Personal Car […]

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What I Learned About Taxes This Year…

Posted by Madison on April 17, 2008

Each tax year brings a new learning experience. This year I learned all about recharacterizations, probably too much in fact! We found ourselves brainstorming a strategy to use recharacterizations to requalify for tax credits. Background We found ourselves in an interesting situation last year. Because we knew our income would be lower in 2007 due […]

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IRS Agent Answers Last Minute Tax Questions

Posted by Madison on April 15, 2008

Photography by: corrinely Tax day is here! Luckily we filed our taxes this past weekend, so we won’t have to worry about staying up late to get them done tonight. Hopefully yours are done too. There are bound to be questions while finishing your taxes. Over the last couple weeks readers submitted some last minute […]

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I’ve joined the staff at Mint!

Posted by Madison on April 2, 2008

I recently joined the writing staff at Mint, a free online money management tool. I will be helping to build the library of articles in the financial core section of Mint.edu. Today my first article was published: Smart Tax Strategies For The Big Events In Your Life. In the article, I highlight tax tips for […]

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IRA Recharacterization: What, Why, How and When?

Posted by Madison on March 31, 2008

Have you found yourself in a situation where you need to complete an IRA recharacterization? Here is everything you need to know to understand how to get it done on time and report it on your taxes correctly. What is a Recharacterization? After you make a contribution to an IRA, you can later change the […]

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TaxAct 2007: Free Efiling Software

Posted by Madison on February 7, 2008

Tax time is getting closer! I actually enjoy doing my taxes and find it a fun challenge to make sure we’re taking advantage of all the tax savings strategies available to us. I’m almost done collecting tax papers according to my organized list. I’m now ready to start entering my data. Usually I use either TaxCut or TaxWise […]

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