My Tax & Financial Tools

The vast majority of Americans get a tax refund from the IRS each spring, but what do you do if you are one of those who received a tax bill? Here are eight tips for taxpayers who owe money to the IRS. 1. If you get a bill this summer for late taxes, you are expected to promptly pay the tax owed including any additional penalties and interest.  If you are unable to pay the amount due, it is often in your best interest to get a ...

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service reminds consumers to avoid identity theft scams that use the IRS name, logo or Web site in an attempt to convince taxpayers that the scam is a genuine communication from the IRS. Scammers may use other federal agency names, such as the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In an identity theft scam, a fraudster, often posing as a trusted government, financial or business institution or official, tries to trick a victim into revealing personal and financial information, such as credit card numbers and passwords, bank ...

You need to act soon if you want to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit. This once-in-a-lifetime home purchase incentive only applies to purchases completed before December 1st of this year.  Although this benefit is called a tax credit, it is actually a financial subsidy to help taxpayers purchase a home located in the U.S. It does not have to be repaid if the home is occupied as a principal residence for the first 36 months after its purchase. The credit is 10% of the cost of the ...

This zero tax rate provides an extraordinary opportunity for a taxpayer to cash in on certain gains and pay no tax.  This could be tax paradise for those who carefully plan their transactions this year through 2010. The conventional strategy in the past was to offset as much of your gains as possible with losses from selling other assets in your portfolio.  If you have an overall loss, then it is limited to $3,000 ($1,500 for married taxpayers filing separately), and any excess carries over to the next year.  Keep in ...

If you use independent contractors to perform services for your business or rental and you pay them $600 or more for the year, you are required to issue them a Form 1099 after the end of the year to avoid facing the loss of the deduction for their labor and expenses.  (This requirement generally does not apply for payments made to a corporation.) Many small business owners and landlords overlook this requirement during the year, and when the end of the year arrives and it is time to issue 1099s to ...

Part of Uncle Sam’s plan to stimulate the economy is to increase car sales.  The goal here is two-fold: to save and increase jobs and to put more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road.  This would reduce our dependence on foreign energy and lessen harmful emissions nationwide.  To accomplish these ends, Congress has added a number of incentives to those already available from manufacturers faced with reduced sales brought on by the slow economy. Cash for Clunkers – As an incentive to have older gas-hogging vehicles scrapped instead of being sold after ...

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