A new tax year is set to dawn shortly and recently released cost-of-living adjustments can help you plan for 2015. Due to low inflation, increases in the tax brackets and other tax items are minimal; ...

As a holiday gift to the nation, Congress passed the so-called extender bill. This extends retroactively to January 1, 2014, nearly all of the 55 provisions that expired at the end of 2013. The extens...

The Social Security Administration announced the 2015 wage base used for figuring the Social Security portion of FICA and self-employment tax. For 2015, this wage base is $118,500, up from $117,000 in...

The IRS reports that 13 million taxpayers are on extension for filing their 2013 returns. If you are one of them, don’t miss the filing deadline of October 15, 2014; returns filed after this date ar...

IRS interest rates are unchanged for the fourth quarter of 2014 (October 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014). These are the rates changed on underpayments and overpayments:3% for overpayments (2%...

A new tax year is set to dawn shortly and recently released cost-of-living adjustments can help you plan for 2015. Due to low inflation, increases in the tax brackets and other tax items are minimal; ...

This year has been a bumpy ride on Wall Street, with dramatic swings up and down. Now is a good time to review your retirement account and your personal portfolio. While changes you make in your retir...

Medicare is a government health program primarily for the 49 million Americans age 65 and older. Those covered by Medicare are deemed to have minimum essential health coverage as required by the Affor...

Concerned about care if you should experience a chronic condition or just old age requiring assistance for your daily living activities? You should be, because the cost of long-term care—in your hom...

Amended Returns: Why, When, and HowIf you’ve filed a federal income tax return that you know does not accurately reflect your income and deductions, what should you do now? It depends on the ye...

Yes, but you need to consider how to make the child a beneficiary. Being a minor means the child can’t inherit the account outright; you’ll need to name a custodian who manages the account until t...

Yes. Exchange traded funds, or ETFs, are essentially stock, and the wash sale rules apply to stock as well as mutual fund shares and bonds. Thus, a loss on the sale of an EFT cannot be recognized if y...

Not really. Most of the taxes you refer to (as well as taxes on airline tickets, gasoline at the pump, and cable and Internet access) are excise taxes, which are not deductible as itemized deductions ...

The law doesn’t put a cap on generosity. However, when gifts to an individual exceed a certain amount, you’ll have to deal with federal gift taxes. In 2014, you can give up to $14,000 per individu...

While the interest on municipal bonds is tax free, this doesn’t mean gain or loss on the sale of bonds is excludable from gross income. Gain or loss on the sale of municipal bonds is figured in the ...