Tax News

Tax Breaks for Vacation Homes
May 9, 2008 12:00 am

With summer around the corner and the real estate market ripe for the picking (because real estate prices and mortgage interest rates are both down), the number of owners of vacation property could gr...

Medical Residents and FICA
May 8, 2008 12:00 am

Medical residents may receive stipends for work they perform in the course of their studies. Are these stipends treated as wages for the purposes of Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes? It depen...

May 1, 2008 12:00 am

Generally, the value of a deceased individual's property is determined on the date of death. However, the person's estate can opt to use an alternate valuation date, which is 6 months after t...

May 1, 2008 12:00 am

American citizens who work abroad remain taxable in the United States on their worldwide income. However, they can enjoy certain tax breaks designed to alleviate the burden of paying taxes to two cou...

May 1, 2008 12:00 am

Taxpayers who used direct deposit for their 2007 refunds automatically received their stimulus checks in the same way. Direct deposits of 2007 tax refunds could have been directed not only to checkin...

Creating a Roth IRA from Your 401(k)
April 25, 2008 12:00 am

If you participate in a 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan and leave your employer, you have a unique opportunity to profoundly impact your future retirement income. Instead of leaving the funds in the plan ...

April 23, 2008 12:00 am

You've filed your return and are waiting for the check to arrive. Use an online tool to track the check's progress. The IRS's "Where's My Refund?" application lets you see w...

April 23, 2008 12:00 am

A whistleblower, Marrita Murphy, was awarded $70,000 for emotional or mental anguish for injury to her professional reputation in a suit against her former employer. She maintained that this money wa...

April 8, 2008 12:00 am

Joint custody is common today when parents divorce, but it does not automatically confer the right to claim a dependency exemption or child tax credit for one parent or the other. Generally, the righ...

Beware of Credit Card Settlements
April 1, 2008 12:00 am

If you have a high outstanding balance on your credit card, you may be able to negotiate with the credit card company for a reduced settlement. While such a settlement can save you thousands of dollar...

The Income Tax Then and Now
March 11, 2008 12:00 am

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1913, making the income tax a permanent feature of the tax law. The IRS (formerly the Internal Revenue Bureau) started publishing income tax...

401(k) Participants Can Sue Plan Administrators
March 6, 2008 12:00 am

When you invest your contributions to a 401(k) plan, you take a risk that you can make or lose money, depending upon your investment choices and market performance. The responsibility is yours and you...

How Low-Income Filers Get Stimulus Checks
March 6, 2008 12:00 am

Certain taxpayers who are not otherwise required to file a tax return because their income is below the filing threshold must do so this year in order to receive a rebate check under the Economic Stim...

Parents as Dependents
February 26, 2008 12:00 am

Call it role reversal, but a growing number of children are caring for their parents. According to a 2007 USA TODAY/ABC News/Gallup poll of baby boomers, 41% who had a living parent were providing fin...

What You Need to Know about Your Tax Rebate Check
February 20, 2008 12:00 am

If you call the IRS's toll-free number, you'll hear an automatic phone message telling you that rebate checks will begin to be sent in May. Most of the 130 million taxpayers who are eligible for rebat...

January 30, 2008 12:00 am

On January 24, 2008, President Bush and leaders of the House agreed to a $150 billion tax package intended to put money into the economy quickly. The winners Singles with adjusted gross income (AGI...

Supreme Court Limits Deduction for Trust’s Investment Advisory Fees
January 22, 2008 12:00 am

It's rare for the U.S. Supreme Court to take on a tax case, but it just handed down a unanimous decision that affects income tax deductions for trusts. Background A trust for the family of Pepperidg...

Tax Filing Season Has Begun
January 17, 2008 12:00 am

If you have your necessary information, you can now file your 2007 income tax return with the IRS. As of January 11, the IRS had begun to accept 2007 income tax returns, including those filed electron...

AMT Patch at Last
January 7, 2008 12:00 am

Just before Congress recessed for the Christmas break, it approved a one-year fix to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) problem...

January 3, 2008 12:00 am

Homeowners caught in sub-prime lending may now be eligible for certain tax relief. Under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, if they can work out a refinance that entails some debt forg...

advertisement
Tax Glossary

Refundable tax credit

A credit that entitles you to a refund even if you owe no tax for the year.

More terms