National Spending Journal – By Shoeboxed

You are browsing the archives of Taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers who buy a new passenger vehicle this year may be entitled to deduct state and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase on their 2009 tax returns next year.

“For those thinking about buying a new car this year, this deduction may give them a little [...]

With the tax filing deadline close at hand, here are the top 10 tips for taxpayers still working on their tax return.

E-file your return. Consider filing electronically instead of using paper tax forms. Choosing to e-file is the best way to ensure your return is accurate and complete.
Review tax ID numbers. Remember to carefully check [...]

Errors made on tax returns may delay the processing of your return and the arrival of your refund. Avoiding the common errors below will help ensure your refund arrives on time:

Recovery Rebate Credit – Many returns filed in 2009 have errors involving the Recovery Rebate Credit, a credit for people who did not receive a [...]

All or part of unemployment benefits received in 2009 will be tax free for many unemployed workers, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
“This morning we learned that a record 5.6 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the middle of March. This underscores the need for the relief provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment [...]

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that small businesses with deductions exceeding their income in 2008 can use a new net operating loss tax provision to get a refund of taxes paid in prior years.
To accommodate the change in tax law, the IRS today updated the instructions for two key forms – Forms 1045 and [...]

As part of the Treasury Department’s consumer outreach effort and with the April 15 individual tax filing deadline approaching, the Internal Revenue Service today began a concerted effort to educate taxpayers about additional options at their disposal to claim the new $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit for 2009 home purchases. For people who recently purchased a [...]

Taxpayers who use a portion of their home for business purposes may be able to take a home office deduction if they meet certain requirements.
In order to claim a business deduction, you must use part of your home for one of the following two reasons:

Exclusively and regularly as either: your principal place of business, or [...]

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today announced the release of the 2008 IRS Data Book, which is an annual snapshot of IRS activities for a given fiscal year.
The report describes activities conducted by the IRS from Oct. 1, 2007, to Sept. 30, 2008, and includes information about returns filed, tax collections, enforcement and taxpayer assistance, [...]

Are you looking for ways to avoid the last-minute rush for doing your taxes? Here are some stress-relieving tips to help you.

Don’t Procrastinate – Resist the temptation to put off your taxes until the very last minute. Your haste to meet the filing deadline may cause you to overlook potential sources of tax savings and [...]

There is an additional standard deduction for those who don’t qualify to itemize their tax deductions, but who do pay state or local real estate taxes. This deduction is available for the 2008 and 2009 tax years.
Here are six things you need to know about the additional standard deduction for real estate taxes:

Taxpayers that are eligible for the first-time homebuyer credit have more flexibility in claiming the credit. If those taxpayers purchase a home this year before December 1, they can claim the tax credit on their 2008 return or their 2009 returns.
The first-time homebuyer credit can be worth up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married people [...]

If you are still waiting to file your tax return, make sure the procrastination doesn’t stretch too much longer. If you have already filed your federal tax return, though, you can track the status of a refund, if you are due to receive one, online.
On the IRS’s main website, it has posted tools in both [...]

A common question for consumers completing a tax return is whether or not gambling winnings are taxable, and how such winnings would be reported on the return. In most all circumstances, money won from gambling is fully taxable and must be reported on tax returns.
In fact, sometimes the payer of gambling winnings might provide a [...]

One interesting part of the federal tax code is the alternative minimum tax, or the AMT. Designed because a small number of people were eligible to claim so many deductions that they were effectively paying little or no income tax, the AMT set minimum income tax rates on individuals and businesses with incomes over a [...]

For many, it can be confusing to determine how much of your social security benefits are taxable, if any. It typically depends on your total income and marital status. For example, if social security benefits were your only income in 2008, those benefits are not taxable at all, and you will most likely not need [...]