Tax Record Retention The most frequent tax question I get asked is: How long do I need to retain my tax records? The answer I give is it depends on the type of tax records that you have but there are some general rules of thumb that most taxpayer’s should adhere to. Three Year […]

Tax Extenders for 2014   On December 19th 2014 Congress passed and President Obama signed into law fifty tax extenders on tax laws that expired on December 31st, 2013. These tax laws were extended for one year from January 1, 2014 through December 31st 2014. These tax extenders will affect both businesses and individuals. The […]

 Common Tax Credits   When it comes to filing your individual income tax return there are some tax credits that are more commonly used more than others. The three most popular or commonly used tax credits are the earned income tax credit, child tax credit, and dependent child care credit. These three credits are used […]

Tax Free Rollovers   Taxpayers are allowed to make a tax free distribution and transfer of funds from their qualified retirement account to another qualified retirement. This transfer of funds between retirement accounts is called a tax-free rollover.  There are certain requirements that have to followed in order for the rollover to be valid.  In […]

Tax Planning Strategies   As we move towards the end of the year there are many things you can do as a taxpayer to minimize your tax liability. It is especially important for small businesses to have a review of their projected income tax for the current year and then to develop a tax plan […]

Taxing Social Security Benefits   One of the more complex forms of income that can be subject to taxation is social security benefits. It can be complex in that in order for the benefits to be taxable it is dependent on the amount of taxpayer’s other income that is received. In addition, the amount of […]

Selling Your Personal Residence   The sale of your personal residence can result in some tax consequences depending on  the cost of the home and what you sold it for. If you sell your home for more than what you bought it for then you will have a gain on sale. If you sell your […]

Gifting of Assets   One common tax planning tool is the gifting of assets. This typically takes place among families and usually involves the gifting of cash or financial instruments. In most cases the gifting is used to transfer assets from one family member to another to reduce a donor’s estate for estate tax purposes. […]

Where Is My Refund?  Tax season is now over and most taxpayers have filed their individual income tax returns by the due date of April 15th. In addition, many of these taxpayers will be receiving income tax refunds. Most of these taxpayers will be receive their refunds in a timely manner but there will be […]

Passive Losses As a taxpayer you have many types of losses that you can deduct on your tax return. These losses can be in the form of capital losses, ordinary losses, casualty losses, and passive losses. Of these types of losses one of the most common is the passive loss and that is what is […]