November 16, 2015
The answer depends on how much income you report to the IRS.
Only about 1/3 of all taxpayers receiving social security benefits will be taxed on a portion of their benefits. The first step is to calculate your eligibility income. The eligibility income is adjusted gross income (not including Social Security) plus 50% of your social security benefits plus any tax-free interest from municipal bonds or other sources. If that eligibility income
November 2, 2015
2015 will end in a few short months. This is a good time to ask yourself, “How am I doing?” Is everything in 2015 status quo with 2014? If not, what has changed? In 2015 will you get married, celebrate the birth of a new child, buy a new home, sell your home, divorce your spouse or go (back) to college? Most of the tax benefits related to these events
October 19, 2015
0% Capital Gains Rate: Good news taxpayers. Although the government has enacted a number of tax changes for 2015, the capital gains tax rate is staying the same.
If you sell investments that are held for less than a year, you’ll pay your income tax rate on your gains, which ranges between 10% and 39.6%. On the other hand, long-term capital gains
October 5, 2015
If you play the ponies, play cards or pull the slots, your gambling winnings are taxable. You must report them on your tax return. If you gamble, these tips can help you at tax time next year:
Gambling Income. Income from gambling includes winnings from the lottery, horse racing and casinos. It also includes cash and non-cash prizes. You must
September 21, 2015
Regardless of what your situation looked like in 2014, there are six changes that will affect a large number of taxpayers starting in January 2015.
1) Health Insurance Penalty. Part of the Affordable Care Act mandates that all Americans have health insurance or pay a tax penalty as a result. In 2014, the penalties were 1% of your household income or $95 per person – whichever is greater. But in 2015, those penalties
September 7, 2015
The IRS publishes data on our tax returns each year. A few months ago they published figures for 2012 income tax returns. You can find data for several years’ returns at www. irs.gov. Search the term ”tax return statistics”.
The IRS reports that 145 million tax returns were filed in the tax year 2012 reporting