As April 15th, tax day, approaches, are you filled with dread? Are you thinking that you don’t have enough money to meet your family’s need, so how can you meet your tax obligation? Things may be better that you think. If you are a low income working family or individual, you may qualify for a tax refund, even if you don’t make enough to pay taxes. The federal government may give you free money!!

The government may reduce your tax obligation or even pay you money if you qualify for the Earned Income Credit. If you made less than a certain amount of money in a given year, you may qualify for this tax credit. If you have children you may qualify for even more. Even if you don’t make enough to file a tax return, you may still qualify for the earned income tax credit and get a refund.

You may qualify for up to $4,400, if you are..

single and earned less than $11,750 single with one child and earned less than $31,030 single with 2 or more children and earned less than $35,263 married and earned less than $13,750 married with one child and earned less than $33.030 married with 2 or more children and earned less than $37,263

To qualify you need to have earned money and have a social security number. If you are married you must file jointly. If you have children, they need to qualify as well. The children need to be under 19 years old or if they are students, under 24. Children with permanent disability may be any age. Foster children and children that you have been financially responsible for may also qualify. The earned income credit is designed to help you financially. I think you should check this out, don’t you?

You can use the Free Tax Estimator provided by Turbo Tax Online to estimate your earned income credit. Prepare & File Taxes Online and get all the tax deductions and credits you deserve.

1 - Not taking all of your deductions.

The 2 most common deductions missed are charitable deductions and the home office deduction. Many people underestimate the value of clothes and other items given to charity. Many taxpayers who are legally entitled to the home office deduction fail to take it for fear of being audited

2 – Not accounting for Reinvesting Mutual fund Dividends

Buying extra shares with reinvested dividends can affect your cost basis when you sell. Many taxpayers overpay the IRS because they don’t adjust the tax basis.

3 – Not claiming carryover items.

The two most common carryover many taxpayers miss are state and local income taxes paid with the prior year return and carryover capital losses.

4 – Not naming a beneficiary or naming wrong Beneficiaries to your IRA, 401k or other retirement plan.

If you fail to name a beneficiary then the money passes to your estate with unwanted tax consequences to your heirs.

5 – Not taking advantage of Matching employer contributions.

Many employees fail to invest in company sponsored retirement plans and loose out on matching contributions

6 – Failure to make estimated Quarterly Tax Payments.

Self Employed taxpayers are required to pay estimated quarterly payments to the IRS. Failure to do so may cause and underpayment penalty

7 – Poor planning in exercising stock options.

Taxpayers who exercise stock options then sell the underlying stock fail to anticipate and set aside money to pay the capital gains tax

8 – Not adjusting withholding when you change Jobs.

Taxpayers who change jobs for more money don’t always adjust their withholding to account for the higher pay and tax burden that goes with it.

9 - Contributing to a Roth IRA when your Income is too high.

Single taxpayers who earn over $110,000 or married Taxpayers who earn over $160,000 cannot contribute to a Roth IRA.

About the Author
Mike BigMak Makler Offers Financial Services (Life Insurance, Annuities and Mortgage Protection) in Florissant Missouri which is in North St. Louis County Missouri Just Across the Bridge from St. Charles Missouri and Alton IL

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When you buy property you can expect to pay property taxes, you may pay taxes for the development that you live in, and you will probably pay school taxes. All of these taxes can range from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars each year based on the percentage of tax that you pay on the value of your home as well as on the worth of your home. For instance, you are going to pay more tax if you have a million dollar home when you live in the same area as someone who has a home that is worth $115,000 home. When you buy property you have to consider taxes as they will affect whether or not you can afford any given home.

If you want to sell property you need to take into consideration who will be able to afford the taxes. Many individuals that are selling their homes have to reduce the actual price of the home to accommodate for the fact that the real estate taxes in their area are so high. This is a drawback of living in an area where property taxes are very high. It can be hard to sell house when a seller wants to get top dollar for their home when they live in a high tax area, and generally the homeowner will have to drop the price or wait for the right buyer to come along, and in a buyer’s market this can take quite awhile!

If you are thinking of buying a house and you are afraid of how you will afford your real estate taxes each year, you should consider that your taxes can be paid out all year long. Most home buyers choose to have money put into an escrow all year long so that they don’t have to come up with a lump sum of money at the end of the year. Instead a dollar amount is added to your mortgage payment each month and that money is set aside in the escrow account. This money is then saved until tax time and the escrow management company pays out the taxes when the time comes, making it more affordable for you to pay your taxes and afford your home.

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. If you want to sell property you need to take into consideration who will be able to afford the taxes. Many individuals that are selling their homes have to reduce the actual price of the home to accommodate for the fact that the real estate taxes in their area are so high. It can be hard to sell house when a seller wants to get top dollar for their home when they live in a high tax area, and generally the homeowner will have to drop the price or wait for the right buyer to come along, and in a buyer’s market this can take quite awhile!

In the previous decade, the IRS issued its so-called “Check the Box” regulations. Effective beginning 1997, these regulations allow taxpayers to choose the tax status of a business entity without regard to its corporate (or non-corporate) character. Thus, a business entity with more than one owner can elect to be classified as either a partnership or a corporation in order to gain corporation tax benefits. An entity with only one owner can elect to be classified as a corporation or a sole proprietorship. In the event of default (that is, where taxpayer does not make an election), multiple-owner businesses are classified as partnerships and single-person businesses as sole proprietorships.

A business entity that is actually incorporated under state law or one that is required to be a corporation under federal law will have access to corporation tax benefits. Limited liability companies are not automatically treated as being incorporated under state law, which is why they must elect either corporation or partnership status.

Corporation tax benefits under Federal income taxation may acquire more meaning if compared with the treatments to individual taxpayers.

The gross income determination for corporations and individuals is done in the same manner. This includes income derived from business, compensation for services rendered, gains from dealings in property, interest, rents, dividends, to name but a few. Individual and corporation tax benefits contain certain inclusions of gross income, but corporate taxpayers are allowed less exclusions. For instance, both classes of taxpayer may exclude interest on municipal bonds from gross income.

Gains and losses from property transactions are treated similarly. Where non-taxable exchanges are concerned, individual and corporation tax benefits allow non-recognition of gain or loss on a like-kind exchange. Both may defer recognized gain on an involuntary conversion of property. Neither corporations nor individuals are allowed to deduct losses on sales of property to related parties or on wash sales of securities (with certain exceptions). The business deductions of corporations also parallel those of individuals, although certain credits that are personal in nature, like child care credit, are not available to corporations.

A further corporation tax benefit is that corporations pay federal income tax at a rate lower than that of most individuals for the first $75,000 of their profits – 15% of the first $50,000 of profit and 25% of the next $25,000. Professional corporations are charged a flat 35% tax rate. All allowable corporate deductions are treated as business deductions, making the determination of adjusted gross income, which is so essential for individual taxpayers, of little relevance to the corporation. Corporate taxable income is computed simply by subtracting from gross income all allowable deductions and losses. Individuals, on the other hand, have to consider itemized deductions or the standard deduction.

My name is Ashley Castellanos, and I have been helping Internet business owners set up and run their businesses correctly since 1997. I own Corporation Soft, a company that was created for, and is dedicated to teaching business owners about corporation tax benefit

Claim Tax Deductions You Are Entitled To:

Take the legitimate credits and deductions that you are entitled to. If there are questionable items on your tax return that could raise a red flag you might want to send with the return an explanation and/or documentation to back up the claims legitimacy. If it is reviewed by a real person because the return has been flagged these will help, and prevent the need for IRS tax audit help.

The Discriminate Index Function:

The IRS uses a computer program to flag tax returns. This program is named the “Discriminate Index Function” (DIF). DIF compares a taxpayer’s deductions with others in the same income bracket. The program gives every return a computer generated score that indicates the probability that questionable items exist on the return. The more your return deviates from what is considered NORMAL, the higher your score will be and of course the more likely you will be audited.

Some Common IRS Tax Audit triggers are:

1) PLEASE for your sake, report all your income, this can help avoid an IRS tax audit. The IRS has computers that will compare income you reported when you filed your return to information it receives from employers and from 1099 forms that were issued by banks and brokerage firms to you. Compare the income you plan to report on your 1040 to your W2 forms and all 1099 forms, before you file.

2) Itemized deductions you have claimed that are unusually high based on your income can trigger an audit. For example, lets say you make $29,000 and you show charitable contributions of $10,000. This would not be reasonable for the income you have reported and, it is very likely the IRS will look closer at your return.

3) You wouldn’t think that being in business would be a trigger but it is one, especially if you are a sole proprietor and file Schedule C. This is partially true because the IRS has surmised that those that are self employed have more opportunity to hide income. It also allows the taxpayer opportunity to convert personal expenses into business expenses. The home office deduction is tricky so you might want to consult with a CPA or other tax professional to determine your eligibility before claiming the deduction.

4) Many taxpayers receive all or a large portion of their income in cash. Waiters, taxi drivers, hairdressers etc… are prime targets for an IRS audit. That’s in part because they receive much of their income in the form of cash tips. The best advice you will ever be given is to keep accurate records. A IRS publication 1244, Employee’s Daily Record of Tips and Report to Employer should be used to track daily tips.

5) In case you’re divorced, only one parent, usually the custodial parent can claim a child as a dependent. A tax waiver is required if that is not the case, signed by the custodial parent in order to take the deduction. Be aware the IRS matches tax deductions for alimony payments by one former spouse with the taxable income reported by the other.

6) Offshore accounts are rarely used by people whose wages are reported to the IRS by employers. The money generated in offshore accounts is legal so long as it is reported and taxes are paid. The failure to declare this income and to pay the tax on the income is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

7) If your return is signed by a tax preparer that is on the IRS’s list of “problem preparers”(preparers that have violated the law repeatedly), this increases the probability of audit selection. Too bad this list is not available to taxpayers. Wisely choose your tax preparer.

Any scheme, scam, questionable filing and even honest mistakes can raise a red flag and lead to an audit. Professional tax preparation help show you how to avoid an audit. However, should you be audited don’t hesitate to seek professional IRS tax audit help.

Tax preparation can be confusing and stressful get more information on IRS Tax Audit Help as well as other resources related to tax preparation and tax resolution at Tax Preparation Help here:

First IRS uses computer programs to identify returns that may not include all W-2 or 1099 Income, as compared to waht was reported by Employers or Companies that hire Independent Contractors.

IRS is not above, and admits, to obtaining information about taxpayers income from sources such as newspapers (news), public records, previous returns, averages, and OTHER individuals! If IRS decides that the information is accurate, they may audit your return.

Audits, or “Examinations” as IRS calls them, can be handled by mail or in person.

If your return is examined by mail, IRS will send you a letter asking for more information. You can respond by mail or you can request an interview with an examiner.

If IRS wants to “see” you they will conduct your examination via a personal interview.

If you do not agree with what the examiner tells you in your meeting, you can meet with the examiner’s supervisor.

If you don’t agree with the examiner or the supervisor you can appeal to the Appeals Office of IRS.

A taxpayters Appeal Rights are explained in Publication 5 and Publication 556, Examination of Returns, Appeals Rights, and Claims for Refund.

If you do not wish to use the Appeals Office or disagree with the outcome you can take your case to the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, or the U.S. District Court where you live.

It is our suggestion, depending on the nature of the audit, that if IRS says “Examination”, you say “Enrolled Agent”

Cassandra Ingraham is a Tax Accountant and Instructor for Basic Tax Classes in the San Francisco Bay Area. During the balance of the year she can be found at http://www.taxeswilltravel.com providing Formal Introductions to Lenders for Accounts Receivable Funding (Factoring) and Purchase Order Funding.

Individuals with Tax issues can find dozens of self-help tax articles at: here

WARNING: This information is not to be used by non-attorneys to prepare bankruptcy petitions for the general public. The information is solely intended to train legal professionals working under the direction of licensed bankruptcy attorneys.

1. If the county courthouse where the debtor(s) are filing bankruptcy is online, you will need to run a Lien Search for every piece of real estate the debtor(s) own. The lienholder information will also tell you if there are any foreclosures or judgment liens on the property which will need to be added to the debt sheets and/or asset pages.

2. If the debtor(s) are behind in their mortgage payments be sure to alert the attorney at once. If the debtor(s) are filing a Chapter 7 they may be required to catch up all the back payments before their bankruptcy can be discharged. If the debtor(s) are filing a Chapter 13, the back payments (also known as “arrears”) will need to be included inside the Chapter 13 plan so they can be paid in full.

3. To determine how many months are left to pay off a secure debt, divide the regular monthly payment by the total balance still owed. For example: $45,000 is the total balance owed. The monthly payment is $1,200. Therefore, $45,000 divided by $1,200 = 37.5. Round up the number to 38 and this is number of months you enter into your bankruptcy software on Schedule A under the FORM 22 MEANS TEST tab.

4. Be sure to check the Appraisal Date for any piece of real estate. If the property has not been appraised within the last 12 months you should alert your attorney at once. Your attorney may order the debtor(s) to get an appraisal or the attorney may direct you to call a real estate agent and get the appraisal. In the meantime, make a note on your Attorney Cover Sheet to let the attorney know the amount will need to be changed to a more current market value when it is obtained from the appraiser.

5. Make sure you notice the Type of real estate the property is. Do not assume real estate is the home the debtor(s) reside in. For example, if the real estate is rental property, that property normally generates a rental income for the debtor(s). This information MUST be included as additional income under Item #1 of the Statement of Affairs as well as on Schedule I of the bankruptcy petition.

6. If the debtor(s) own a mobile home, make sure you find out if the mobile home has had the wheels removed or not. If so, the mobile home should be listed as real property on Schedule A. If not, the mobile home is recorded in the same manner as other Motor Vehicles on Schedule B.

7. On the Date Incurred line within your bankruptcy software make sure you include the Monthly Payment and the total amount of monthly Arrearages. This information will ultimately appear on Schedule D when the bankruptcy petition is completed.

Here is an example: 10/2003, Mnthly Pymt = $960.55, Arrears: 2 mnths

Including this information for every secure debt will enable you to have the information available when completing the Means Test as well as if the debtor(s) become a Chapter 13. Additionally, including the monthly payment and arrearage information will also enable the debt to be easily cross-referenced and identified. For example, a mortgage payment of $960.55 will also appear under the monthly expenses of Schedule J as well as under Item 3(a) of the Statement of Affairs if the debtor(s) have made payments within the last three (3) months.

To receive more bankruptcy petition drafting tips subscribe to the free Bankruptcy Training News at http://www.713training.com/subscribe.html
About the Author

Victoria Ring is a Certified Paralegal and Bankruptcy Specialist. She has developed an entire line of training products and holds several seminars per year in drafting bankruptcy petitions. Her training materials have been approved by NALS for 7 CLE credits. Additionally, Victoria Ring provides speaking and in-house training services for bankruptcy law firms. Visit her website at here

Although bankruptcy has many undesirable consequences such as your bad credit record will remain on your credit report for 7-10 years, but with a little work, you can improve your credit even before these negative records expire. Here are five easy steps you can take to rebuild your credit.

Step 1: Get to know your current credit status

The first step to rebuilding your credit is to look at exactly where you stand. Order all your three credit reports from those three national credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. You can order these reports online, it easy and secure.

Print each report and review it closely. Try to understand the information listed in your credit reports and highlight any negative records or inaccuracies that are damaging your credit score.

Step 2: Check the expiration dates

By law, your bad credit record will remain in your credit report for 7 to 10 years, but the exact expiry date might be different among these 3 reports. Your bad record will still remain at your credit report although you have pay off your old debts and discharge from bankruptcy.

Look up the exact date of each of bad records including judgments, liens, charge-offs, late payments, bankruptcy filings, and collection records. You will likely see a major improvement in your credit score when these records expire.

Step 3: Request For Correct On Any Inaccurate Records

If you find inaccurate records, fraudulent accounts, or records that should have expired on you credit reports, you have the right to send a separate dispute letter to each of the credit bureaus to correct your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion records. The bureaus will initial a 30 days investigation to see whether your requests are valid and if so, they will correct the inaccuracy in your credit report.

Just one note, don’t try to dispute any of the positive information listed in your credit reports and it is a waste of time to attempt to dispute these records. Disputing positive information may actually harm your credit scores.

Step 4: Start to create good credits

Since there is no way to remove your bad record from your credit report, the best way to improve your credit score is to add good credits and building up your credit from there. You can easy do this by open up a new credit card from banks like Orchard Bank (Orchard bank has credit card plan designed specially to help people rebuild their credit after bankruptcy).

Use this new credit card responsibly and make the monthly payment timely; with this you are building new history of good credit behavior on your credit report. Over time, you may want to open additional credit card accounts or obtain a loan to boost your credit score even higher.

Step 5: Monitor your progress

Subscribe to a credit card monitoring service or get a credit card monitoring software and use it to track your credit score progress closely. Your credit score should improve steadily as you continue to use credit responsibly and add new positive information to your credit reports.

Summary

Bankruptcy does not need to chain you to bad credit for the next seven to ten years, but you have to be proactive in order to recover and rebuild your credit.

Cornie Herring is the Author from StudyKiosk.com. “StudyKiosk-Credit Basics” is an informational website on credit basics and debt consolidation.

There are a number of questions that you need to ask any tax lawyer before you decide which company to hire. Obviously, experience is a key factor in narrowing down your list of potential candidates to a reasonably small number. If the tax lawyer you are considering has no recent experience with court cases then you should avoid using their services. This is because the tax laws are constantly changing and it is vital that your chosen tax lawyer is completely up to date with current legislation.

The track record of any tax lawyer is also important. If you ask any tax lawyer how many cases they have won, and lost, this will give you an idea of how effective they are at pleading your case. However, your individual circumstances should be taken into account and you need to ask the lawyer if they have had specific experience with a similar case and what the outcome was.

The best tax lawyer is one that specialises in more difficult cases and is more likely to be able to help you in whatever situation you find yourself.

The methods used by a lawyer in preparing your case should also be a consideration. Usually, a tax lawyer will be extremely thorough in investigating the circumstances surrounding your case and you should look for the most comprehensive service possible. A thorough tax lawyer will look into all of your financial records and gather evidence, of course, but will also look into any other mitigating circumstances to help with your plea.

Of course, any tax lawyer would like to claim that they can have any case against you dismissed but the reality is that this is often unlikely. You should discuss with the lawyers on your shortlist what penalties they anticipate you being given and how they plan to negotiate for lower ones. Obviously, you want to have a tax lawyer who can obtain the most lenient fines possible, even if the case against you is very clear.

Finally and probably most importantly, is the rapport that you feel when you are talking to the individual tax lawyer. It is essential that you are able to discuss everything freely and openly with whichever tax lawyer you finally decide to hire. If you do not feel comfortable talking with a particular lawyer then simply cross them off your list and move on to the next one.

About the Author

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A property tax attorney is experienced in the matter of tax appraisals and can advise you if the property appraisal is seen to be arbitrary or discriminatory. This can save you from paying excess tax that was calculated on a ‘flawed’ basis. He can guide you through the laws relating to exemptions, rebates, tax laws in case of inheritance, tenancy, lease agreements and other kinds of issues related to ownership of property.

Sometimes disputes might arise between joint owners, or the owners and an external party over tax liabilities. The job of the property tax attorney is to negotiate such disputes on behalf of his client.

Property tax attorneys have clients ranging from large multinational companies to industrial units, supermarket chains, office complexes, residential complexes, and small stores. Even unique cases of property tax or property ownership are handled by expert property tax lawyers.

Most new property owners, senior citizens, and certain other sections of people are not aware that they qualify for tax rebates. A property tax attorney looks at all tax laws to see how they can be used to get rebates and exemptions for a property owner.

Property tax laws are concerned with laws relating to inheritance and ownership. A property tax attorney must also be knowledgeable about property inheritance laws for spouses, and non US citizens. If property is of considerable value, then it is always a good idea to engage a property tax attorney who can advise on issues relating to taxation.
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