Congrats On Your New House! Common Tax Questions Answered

You did it! You found the perfect home, navigated the mortgage process, and now it’s all yours. And whether this is your first house or your fifth, you probably have some questions about what this new purchase will mean for your taxes. Let’s answer some of the most common ones. What is the mortgage interest deduction? Believe it or not, every penny of interest you pay on your mortgage is tax deductible! That means that if, say, $800 of your monthly mortgage payment goes to interest each month, you can deduct $800 x 12 for the year = a whopping

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The Boston Tea Party: The Fight for Fair Taxation

The Boston Tea Party and the riotous rebels behind it (the secret society known as the Sons of Liberty) has long been among the most highlighted and celebrated events of American history. The Sons of Liberty was a group created to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. With the motto, “No taxation without representation,” the group began as an underground movement of men resisting what it maintained was Crown encroachment. Members spanned multiple colonies, including Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Virginia. A contentious relationship arose in

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Tax Breaks: Not Just for Tax Season

If you only think about taxes during the spring filing season, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities to save money all year long. Now that the 2017 deadline for filing your taxes has passed, you may want to start planning for the tax breaks that can pay off in the months ahead.

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DIY Mid-Year Tax Tune-Up

July 1 is the 182nd day of the year and it’s an ideal time to conduct a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) tax tune-up to ensure proper record-keeping practices will make tax filing easier, faster, and generate more tax deductions. Essentially, a mid-year DIY tax audit is an exercise in record-keeping and retention. The emphasis is on ensuring tax-related documents are being stored, and are available. Organizing tax records now can make filing easier and faster when April 15th of the next year rolls around.

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Why Should You File Your Own Taxes?

More often than not, it may make more sense for you to file your own taxes rather than turn things over to a pro. Here are some of the advantages to filing your own taxes.

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Federal Estate Tax: What is It, and Why Do We Have It?

For many people, the word estate can conjure rarified visions of mansions set amidst expansive lawns in exclusive communities, and when it comes to federal estate tax, those visions maybe somewhat accurate. The federal estate tax  – tax levied on property bequeathed to heirs – does not affect 99% of Americans since only about 1% of Americans are even wealthy enough to be affected by it. Just how wealthy, you wonder? As of 2018, unless an estate’s value exceeds the exemption figure of $11.18 million per person (that’s $22.36 million per couple), it isn’t subject to federal estate taxes. The

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7 Tips for Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft or Fraud

Just 20 years ago, cybercrime was the stuff of futuristic fantasy. Today, well into the maturity of the Digital Age, anybody who has been the victim of online fraud knows well that there’s no fantasy about it. Online fraud and identity theft causes serious, long-term problems for people who become the victims of it – and the ramifications can stretch for years. As reported by Javelin Strategy & Research, some 16.7 million consumers were victims of identity theft or fraud last year. That’s an increase of 8 percent over the year before. In a special report from CNBC, it was

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Taxes Through the Ages

Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society. – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Taxes have been levied on citizens by governments since antiquity. At best, taxes have been regarded as fuel for the engine of civilization, and at worst, as depredations that have ignited revolts and uprisings. 

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Checking the Status of a Federal Tax Return

In 2016, the average individual income tax refund was $3050. With this kind of money coming back to tax payers it should be no surprise that they expect a way to check the status of their refund and the IRS has developed the following: (1) online access to refund information at “Where’s My Refund?”; and (2) online access to the status of an amended return at “Where’s My Amended Return?”

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Done Filing? Here’s How To Make It Easier Next Year

Are you still reeling from that all-nighter you pulled trying to get your taxes in by the deadline? Still decompressing after searching through every file on your computer, and every piece of paper in your house, trying to find that darned 1098-E student loan interest form?

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