2009 Federal Tax Brackets

The 2009 federal tax brackets were released last April but here’s a reminder of where you stand when filing your federal income tax return. The tax bracket you end up in depends on the amount of your total taxable income; including pension plans or additional sources of income.
For example, if you are married filing jointly [...]

Capital Gains Tax Q&A

What is capital gains tax and what types of financial events trigger the capital gains tax? Simply stated capital gains tax is the annual tax that is charged to both individuals as well as corporate entities, on the profits of the sale of investments and assets

Federal Tax Forms Overview

January is the time of year when you begin receiving vital federal tax forms in the mail. You’re probably familiar with the tax forms you receive documenting your income; the forms vary depending on if you are self-employed, employed as a private contractor or sub-contractor, or if you work directly with one specific employer. [...]

Best Tax Software for 2009 Returns

The best tax software is a debate that happens each year as millions of people prepare their income tax return.  If you’ve been messing with paper tax forms and manually filing your taxes you’ve probably wondered at least once, whether tax preparation software might make your job easier.  Here’s a look at some of the [...]

Avoiding Tax Return Fees & Penalties

The increasing complexity of tax law each year causes creates unnecessary penalties and tax return fees for countless Americans. Having a basic understand of what the most common fees and penalties are can help raise your awareness in order to prevent them. Below is a list of the most common tax return fees and penalties [...]

Year End Tax Planning Tips Follow Up

The year end tax tips I posted last month overlooked a few potential tax planning tips.  Here they are:
Itemized Deductions
You may be able to save taxes this year and next by applying a bunching strategy to “miscellaneous” itemized deductions, medical expenses and other itemized deductions.
Homebuyer Tax Credit
Since the last article the $8,000 first time homebuyer credit has [...]

W-2 Tax Forms 2009

W-2 tax forms for your 2009 income taxes will be mailed out by your employers within the next month or two.  In my last job we worked closely with many companies sending out tax forms and December and January were extremly busy months as they scrambled to make sure that they had all the correct [...]

Home Buyer Tax Credits Are Working??!!

The first time home buyer tax credits in 2009 didn’t really interest us that much since we’ve owned our home for just under ten years now.  However, the latest version of the bill now includes a tax credit through 2010 for homeowners who have lived in the same place for five of the last eight years consecutively.
This new home [...]

Year End Tax Tips 2009

Year end tax deductions are a good way to squeeze some extra tax savings into your budgeting and tax planning efforts.  It’s been a crazy year for the economy and as a result the government created all sorts of tax incentives and tax credits that can potentially help reduce your 2009 taxes. Here are some [...]

Federal Income Tax Withholding Too Low This Year?

Federal income tax withholding tables were adjusted earlier in 2009 due to the “Making Work Pay” tax credit as part of the economic stimulus package.  The reduction of federal income tax withholding was intended to provide a gradual financial benefit to the economy by putting a little more money in your paycheck each month.
Federal Income Tax [...]

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