Tax News

In tough economic times, more people are filing for bankruptcy protection. According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, in 2009 there were more than 1.4 million filings for consumer-type bankruptci...

Taxpayers have a duty to file an accurate tax return. But errors occur nonetheless. There can be mathematical errors or omissions of income and overstatements of deductions. When the errors are the re...

Americans are kind-hearted people who reach out to those in need. Taxpayers who itemize their personal deductions can claim a write-off for charitable contributions. But not every example of generosit...

When couples divorce, they settle financial matters between themselves. For instance, one spouse may receive the family home and agree to make all future mortgage payments for this home. How do these ...

Certain arguments made by taxpayers in the past have been determined to have no validity in the law and, thus, are deemed to be "frivolous." As such those who continue to advance them can be subject t...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law on March 23, 2010, mandates that every American, with few exceptions, have health coverage starting in 2014. Failure to obtain...

There is a program under way that encourages consumers to replace their old appliances with energy-efficient ones. Like the cash-for-clunkers program that supported new car purchases in 2009, the appl...

As a supplement to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law on March 23, 2010, Congress has made a few tweaks, including: A tax of 3.8% of the lesser of the individua...

Because of fiscal problems, a handful of states have announced a delay in sending taxpayer refunds. The refunds will eventually be paid, but those expecting to have the funds soon may be disappointed....

The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, which was signed into law on March 18, 2010, contains tax incentives for businesses to hire new workers and other tax breaks. Hiring Incentives...

The House passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The act contains numerous tax law changes that take effect over the next several years. Here are some of the highlights of tax changes ...

If you have a large tax bill outstanding and are currently in a tough financial situation, you may be able to negotiate a settlement with the IRS to pay less than the full amount owed. This is done by...

April 15, 2010, is not only the filing deadline for 2009 income tax returns. It's also the last day that taxpayers who are owed refunds on their 2006 return can file for them. And it's the deadline fo...

If you take a distribution from your IRA and want to avoid any tax on it, you must roll it over-to the same IRA, a new IRA, or a qualified retirement plan-within 60 days. The 60 days is fixed by law. ...

In today's tough economy, many people are looking to sideline activities to supplement their income. Unfortunately, unless you do things right, expenses related to the sideline activity won't be deduc...

The IRS has a program to reward individuals who provide information that enables the IRS to collect more revenue. Specifically, the IRS Whistleblower Office pays a reward if you bring "specific and cr...

The Tax Court, in a lengthy opinion, for the first time has decided that gender identity disorder (GID) is a disease, so that treatment of that disease (reassignment surgery) is a deductible medical e...

In the past couple of years, the stock market has decimated the retirement accounts of many people. Others who lost jobs were forced to tap into retirement savings for living expenses. All in all, the...

One of the most basic tax rules is also one of the most confusing and misunderstood. On tax returns for 2009 and 2010, each dependency exemption is a deduction of $3,650. In 2010, there is no longer a...

Tax refunds are paid to you by Uncle Sam when you've overpaid your tax bill or when you are entitled to amounts in excess of your tax bill because of the earned income credit or other refundable tax c...