Taxes

Warning About the Tax Credit

Brandy — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:01:43 GMT

"Millions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring.

The government is going to want some of that money back."

Find out if you might be one of them

My CPA Phoned Today With Good News

Virginia Needlewoman — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:36:18 GMT

I got a phone call today from the CPA. He had good news about the taxes ! He also said that the repairs I made on the rental house and on this house will help as deductions.

It makes me so glad that I fired the CPA I hired in 2007 ! The CPA who called me today has an office in town and he knows all sorts of wonderful loopholes for deductions that are completely legal !

He said that getting new heat pumps that are energy efficient will save me on taxes as well as on my electric bills. I haven't gotten the new heat pumps yet.

He chuckled at how I wanted to use Aurora as a tax deduction. It can't be done, but it sure would be nice if I could use her as a deduction.

My widowed friend changed CPAs this past year also. Her new CPA found her a lot of wonderful deductions !

Sold-off property taxes (local governmeents having sold to investors) have owners up a tree

Deborahmichelle — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:16:41 GMT

Dear All, See this article in today's NY Times for an account of how "privatizing" collection of delinquent propeerty taxes works out for property-owners. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/business/18taxes.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y Yours in Hiiim, Deb

Tax Deductions

Virginia Needlewoman — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:47:06 GMT

I just moved my dental visit in January 2010 to December 2009.

I will need a bunch of deductions for 2009 due to many things.

I've been told that I can get a nice tax credit by installing 2 new heat pumps before 2009 is over. It falls under improvements and it counteracts something called capital gains.

The neat thing about the heat pumps is that I'll see a difference on the electric bill.

Here Comes Your Stimulus Payments!

Brandy — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:45:02 GMT

Or is it?

Find out if you are eligible, how much to expect and if you should expect to have to repay it.

April FOol's Day brings no fool to CA this year (sales tax increase)

Deborahmichelle — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:06:39 GMT

Dear All, Effective tomorrow, 4/1/09, sales tax in CA is increasing by 1%. They say it is "temporary." Ha! Sounds mighty suspicious, no? Almost every county in CA has a different tax. Heree in San Francisco, our tax is going up to 9.5%. That means that if something is allegedly "10%-off sale," it is really only that the tax isn't due from your pocket. Yours in Him, Deb

Do you do your own taxes?

dmc_2008 — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:28:27 GMT

Or do you pay?

I have done both. This year, I am going to try to do my own. If you do your own, do you do it online and with whom?

How I'm using my tax refund this year

Cinnamonhuskies — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:04:11 GMT

Just finished my taxes. We'll be getting $6000. back this year. Here is how it is going to disappear:

1800.00 to pay off the tractor loan. That will free up $242 a month.

1500.00 to MIL ....don't ask....! grr.

1500.00 to fix van transmission

1200 to put against credit card debt.

The tractor loan has lower interest than the cc's, but I need that $242 a month freed up...either to live on if dh doesn't get work or to put against the credit cards each month.

Got your taxes done?

Pat — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:22:53 GMT

[Poll]

Once again, I am "surprised" at owing taxes!

Pamelaw — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:35:25 GMT

I work several jobs on my own and I declare all income earned as income, but no taxes are paid until I do my taxes at the beginning of each year. So why am I surprised that I owe between 2 and 3 thousand for 2008? Each time this happens I plan to pay quarterly taxes like a good citizen but get busy paying bills and forget about it.

I do have some of the money in savings but don't have enough to fully fund my IRA AND pay taxes so I'm looking around the house at what I can sell...like the dog who snores louder than my husband, or the three cats that dance and thump around all night Ah. well, they have nothing to fear. I will just need to pull myself together and start putting $$ aside for 2009 taxes as soon as I pay the taxes owed for 2008.

Last year we stopped using credit cards and began to save up for emergencies (and paying taxes should never fall into that category) and we have made progress, so I"m forgiving myself, and will start putting 20 percent of what I earn into a tax savings account so this time next year will be a breeze. and this year I mean it! lol.

Have fun.

peace.

Maxmise Your Tax Refund

Brandy — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:08:42 GMT

"While it's tempting to use a tax refund to treat yourself to some special purchase, in many cases it's more important to use the money to pay off bills or make necessary purchases."

Maximise Your Tax Refund from The Dollar Stretcher

If you are getting a refund, are you planning to put it towards debt, emergency savings or other things that help you to meet your financial goals?

Anyone have the Link for Tax Refund schedules?

Cinnamonhuskies — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:39:01 GMT

Is there a link this year showing the date filed then the date you can expect your return?

Mine is done now except for one more form that should be available on the 28th.

End of year tax thoughts

Pat — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:15:48 GMT

I hate to add this to the busyness of the holidays, but it's a fact of life that the tax year will be ending in just a few days for most of us.

This year has been a so-so year for me financially, but improved toward the end of the year somewhat. That means I'll be paying whatever taxes I might owe as well as estimated taxes in April of this year. I have a savings account for that, but I'm feeling nervous about it and will try to increase the amount between now and then.

I also have a couple of boxes of goods to donate and will take a tax credit for that. I didn't use to bother with it, but why not? It's money in my pocket.

I've been debating buying a new computer for a few months now. Still working on that one. If I find a super good sale, I'll do it.

What are you doing to end the tax year on a good note?

Charitable Donations to Thrift Stores

Kim_150 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:02:09 GMT

You can write off the fair-market value of anything you donate to a qualifying thrift shop, like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Fair-market value means the amount the store could sell that item for after you've owned it. So, if I am donating a pair of jeans I bought for 30 dollars a year ago, they won't still be worth that much. Goodwill could sell them for 7-10 dollars if they are still in good shape, so 7-10 dollars would be the fair market value.

Here is a handy sheet Goodwill makes... I use it to help figure out the value of my donations: http://www.goodwill.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=102123&name=DLFE-2302.pdf. The number will be higher if the item is in good shape, or lower if it's worn.

Here is an IRS publication on determining the value of donated items: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p561.pdf

Before you take your donation in, go through everything and write down the item, quantity, and condition, and estimate the free market value. It's up to you to do this, because the person who takes donations at the store usually doesn't. Here is an example of what I typed up for clothes I'm donating to Goodwill tomorrow:

Clothing and Accessories

Halter top – 1 – used                  $2.00

Long-sleeved t-shirt – 1 – used       $3.00

Short-sleeved t-shirt – 3 used         $6.50

Blazer – 1 – nearly new               $5.00

Tank tops – 2 – used              $2.00

Skirt – 1 – used             $4.00

Peacoat – 1 – nearly new        $10.00

Wool peacoat – 1 – used, excellent condition       $20.00

Dress pants – 4 – used        $20.00

Jeans – 2 – nearly new         $18.00

Jeans – 1 – used                $7.50

Wedge sandals – 1 – nearly new                   $6.50

(I don't know why it came out formatted like that, but you get the idea). The I total everything up and put the value at the bottom in a big font. At the top I put what store it was donated to, and the date. I print it out and keep it with my tax papers, along with the receipt I get from the store. I keep careful track in case of being audited, and it's nice to have everything ready when it's time to do my taxes.

When you take everything to the store, all the attendant usually writes down is something like "1 bag of clothes." You have to itemize that for yourself, and you're allowed to determine the value. The receipt will have a place for the value, and the attendant's signature, so make sure both of those are on it. Staple it to the sheet you printed earlier, and you're ready for tax time!

At tax time, you report all your donations on Form 8283: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8283.pdf, and http://ftp.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8283.pdf

Student loan interest write-off

Kim_150 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:55:07 GMT

For those of us who are paying student loans, don't forget you can write off the interest you pay, up to $2500.

To do that, you need to get form 1098-E from your student loan company or companies, whoever you are making payments to.

Some companies will send this form to you automatically, or make it available electronically. You might want to contact them to see how you can receive it. Your company may need you to fill out and send in form W-9S before they'll send you the 1098-E. Form W-9S is just a statement that you used all of the loan money for education expenses. If you don't know what expenses qualify, look up IRS publication 970, part 4 (Student Loan Interest Deduction).

Be sure to look into this soon, because one of my companies needs the W-9S before December 15th for the coming tax season!

property taxes

lene — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:43:38 GMT

Well, I mailed off the payment for our property taxes this afternoon. Earlier this spring we paid off our mortgage (we had a 15 year mortgage, managed to get it paid off in 12) and paid off the last of our debt (medical expenses from 5 years back from when I had an embolism, and we'd been paying on it ever since.) So, at this point we have no darn debt left, and the one big "bill" we can look forward to yearly will be the property taxes. It's a big relief to be debt free now, and I feel good to have the taxes out of the way for the year. Funny what a weight off this can be!

I'm pretty much expecting our taxes will increase next year, though, as the county has lots of infrastructure in need of repairs after the floods this summer. Since I certainly would appreciate seeing our roads in decent shape and knowing our bridges won't collapse when we're driving across them, and I'm a "frequent flier" at the wonderful public library system (and the lovely downtown library was flooded so badly that they're having to completely rebuild) I'm happy to pay my share to support the county's needs. I just hope the increase won't be *too* drastic, or I'll lose my breath when I open the statement! <g>

Estimated Taxes

Brandy — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:25:59 GMT

Do you pay estimated taxes? What methods do you use to estimate what you need to pay in?

I need to track this carefully as we may need to begin paying estimated taxes this year but I am unsure of how to accurately watch this.

The state with the lowest overall tax burden - Wyoming

Clair Schwan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:57:31 GMT

Hello all:

The subject of taxes is right up my alley. I moved to Wyoming to be one of the tax dodgers. It was my #1 reason for moving here, and for the last 10 years I have had no regret.

Here we have no income tax, 4% sales tax, and some of the lowest real estate taxes in the country. With consistency, Wyoming ranks at the bottom of the heap when it comes to overall tax burden on a family of four making $35K, $50K, $75K or $100K.

As an example, I pay $2,000 real estate taxes on a 4,500 square foot house on 12 acres, and I have a 2,400 square foot barn and three outbuildings. In Nebraska, a residential homeowner might pay 50% more real estate tax for half the house, no acreage and no outbuildings.

When I moved from California in 1998, I dodged $660 a month in state income taxes, and that allowed me to pay for everything each month without ever touching my net pay. I just paid for everything each month out of what I was throwing away in California.

You do the math. $660 a month for the last 10 years, and compound that with a modest interest, and you might be surprised at how much that is.

Moving to a tax free state can have a big difference in your bottom line. There are nine to choose from.

Clair

Money Tracker: Oh Where Oh Where Has My Rebate Gone?

Brandy — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:57:20 GMT

There have been many discussions about what people plan to do with their rebate checks all over the net. Track your spending and savings of your rebate money with us.

IRS Bungles Stimulus Payments

Brandy — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:32:05 GMT

Are we really surprised?

stimulus check

puglover — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:18:47 GMT

Has anyone received their stimulus direct deposit yet?

Letter for Tax Rebate

Brandy — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:32:32 GMT

I have read that the IRS would be sending out letters confirming the amount of the rebate and the date it would be sent. Has anyone recieved one yet?

New Tax Rebate Schedule

arianasilver — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:45:56 GMT

The IRS reported this morning that they're actually going to start sending out rebate checks a week earlier than scheduled. (I'm pretty sure the government doing something early instead of months late is a sign of the Apocolypse).

According to this article, http://www.savvysugar.com/1576586, here's the new schedule:

Direct deposit payment

Last 2 Digits of SSN	Date Check Will Be Sent
00-20	April 28
21-75	May 5
76-99	May 12

Paper check

Last 2 Digits of SSN	Date Check Will Be Sent
00-09	May 9
10-18	May 16
19-25	May 23
26-38	May 30
39-51	June 6
52-63	June 13
64-75	June 20
76-87	June 27
88-99	July 4

Taxes Rising?

Brandy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:53:54 GMT

"No matter who's elected president, the debt party's over"

Wht do you think?

Stimlues Check

gayla50 — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:02:23 GMT

I found something online that tell you when - it depends on the last digits of your SS.

http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2008/03/when-to-expect-tax-rebate-check.html