Income Tax

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March 17, 2015 

How to Find All the Legit Deductions for Clients on Form HUD-1

The sheer volume of paperwork generated during a sale of a principal residence can be intimating. Much of the vital information is summarized on Form HUD-1, but the resulting tax consequences may still leave both buyers and sellers scratching their ...

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March 14, 2015 

IRS Warns About New Obamacare Income Tax Scam

Reports are popping up around the country that unlicensed and crooked income tax preparers are telling taxpayers that they need to make the Affordable Health Care Act's individual shared responsibility payments directly to the tax preparer. Obamacare is..

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March 10, 2015 

IRS Looking for Volunteers for Taxpayer Advocacy Panel

The Internal Revenue Service says it is seeking civic-minded volunteers to serve on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), a federal advisory committee that listens to taxpayers, identifies major taxpayer concerns and makes recommendations for improving IRS s

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March 10, 2015 

How Taxpayers Can Prepare for Their Annual Tax Meeting

As a long-time tax practitioner, I’ve conducted thousands of client interviews over the years. I’ve learned that when a client comes prepared for their interview, it results in less need for post-meeting follow-up calls and document gathering, which ...

Joint tax return 1  54fcd13c1100e

March 8, 2015 

Is it Better for Couples to File Joint or Separate Tax Returns?

Sometimes the “easiest” tax return decisions aren’t so simple after all. Take the basic choice of your tax filing status. Usually, it’s a no-brainer for a married couple to file a joint return, but there are a few notable exceptions. When you dig a ...

investmentplanning_10597782

March 5, 2015 

How to Increase an Investment Interest Deduction

It’s rare when tax return preparers advise their clients to look a gift horse in the mouth. But it might happen when a taxpayer is affected by the limits for deducting investment interest expenses. Depending on the situation, it may make sense to elect preferential tax treatment for certain long-term capital gains or qualified dividends...…

Tax-Scam-300x2031

March 5, 2015 

Common Taxpayer Scams Get IRS Attention

The IRS compiles annually The Dirty Dozen, listing a variety of common scams taxpayers may encounter any time during the year. Many of these con games peak during filing season as people prepare their tax returns or hire someone to do so. Some of the more