With the passage of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (2010 Tax Act), Congress retroactively reinstated the ability of taxpayers to make direct qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from an IRA, in amounts up to $100,000, by IRA owners who are at least age 70½ years of age. You have… Read More
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. — Winston Churchill Don’t miss out on making charitable gifts before year-end to get the federal tax rewards that are available. While we still face uncertainty about the income tax rates in 2010 and while I want to… Read More
On September 27, 2010, President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act. It is hoped that providing some tax relief to small business will spur growth and jobs will be created. Obama promised it will do “Two big things: It’s going to cut taxes, and its going to make more loans available.” Unfortunately, most of… Read More
State and local governments and their agencies issue bonds in exchange for the use of the capital of individuals and corporations. The bonds obligate the state and local governments to make interest payments and to repay, at some stated time, the principal of the amount borrowed. Municipal bonds can be issued by cities, counties, redevelopment… Read More
Right now, any person may prepare a federal tax return for any other person for a fee. There are no licensing requirements. Some tax return preparers, like lawyers and accountants, are licensed by their states and some are enrolled to practice before the IRS. However a very large share of tax return preparers do not… Read More
U.S. Savings Bonds were created to finance World War I. They were originally called Liberty Bonds. Because U.S. Savings Bonds are issued by the federal government, you do not have to pay state tax or local tax on the interest. Two types of savings bonds that are still available are Series EE and Series I… Read More
How about all those servicemen and women who were overseas on April 15? Do they have to file income tax returns? For federal tax purposes, U.S. Armed Forces include officers and enlisted personnel in all regular and reserve units controlled by the Secretaries of Defense, of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Coast Guard… Read More
Starting January 1, 2010, there are two important tax changes regarding Long Term Care: 1) distributions from life insurance policies and annuities which have long-term care features are tax-free when used to pay long-term care costs, and 2) both life insurance and annuities can be exchanged tax-free for tax qualified long term care insurance. If… Read More
“The trade of the petty usurer is hated with most reason: it makes a profit from currency itself, instead of making it from the process which currency was meant to serve. Their common characteristic is obviously their sordid avarice.” — Aristotle If you have your income tax return filed at a paid professional tax preparation… Read More
It is likely that taxes at all levels will increase to pay for the massive spending that has taken place. Taxing governments should be wary of raising taxes too far, too fast. According to 2007 IRS statistics the top 1% of U.S. Taxpayers paid 40.4% of federal individual income taxes. At some point, further increases… Read More