Deducting Charitable Contributions When you give a gift to charity that helps the lives of others in need. It may also help you at tax time. You may be able to claim the gift as a deduction that may lower your tax. Here are eight tax tips you should know about deducting your gifts [...]
Adoption Tax Benefits If you adopted or tried to adopt a child in 2014, you may qualify for a tax credit. If your employer helped pay for the costs of an adoption, you may be able to exclude some of your income from tax. Here are some things you should know about adoption tax [...]
Assisting Victims of Tax-Related Identity Theft Anyone - regardless of whether they are required to file a tax return or not or whether they are a minor, an adult or even deceased - can be impacted by identity theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 2014 marked the fifth consecutive year that tax-related identity [...]
How Much to Save for an Emergency A new tool can help you nail down how much to save in an emergency fund, based on your personal profile. At www.hellowallet.com/emergencysavings, you'll enter information including your take-home pay, regular monthly expenses, whether you rent or own your home, and your health insurance policy's annual deductible [...]
Late Filing and Late Paying Penalties April 15 was the tax day deadline for most people. If you are due a refund there is no penalty if you file a late tax return. But if you owe tax, and you failed to file and pay on time, you will usually owe interest and penalties [...]
Have you found that you made an error on your federal tax return? If so, you may need to file an amended return. Here are ten tips that can help you file. 1. Tax form to amend your return. Use Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to correct your tax return. You [...]
Employee Business Expenses Tips If you paid for work-related expenses out of your own pocket, you may be able to deduct those costs. In most cases, you claim allowable employee business expenses on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions. Here are six tax tips that you should know about this deduction. Ordinary and Necessary. You can [...]
Tax Information regarding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit can reduce the taxes you pay. If you paid someone to care for a person in your household last year while you worked or looked for work, then read on for facts from the IRS about this [...]
Factors Affecting IRS Audit Risk Ever wonder why some tax returns are audited by the Internal Revenue Service while most are ignored? Short on personnel and funding, the IRS audited only 0.86% of all individual tax returns in 2014. And the 2015 audit rate will definitely fall even lower as the agency’s resources continue to [...]
Tax Tips about Home Mortgage Debt Cancellation If your lender cancels part or all of your debt, you normally must pay tax on that amount. However, the law provides for an exclusion that may apply to homeowners who had their mortgage debt cancelled in 2014. In most cases where the exclusion applies, the amount [...]
