Author Archives: admin

If you filed your tax return last year or prior, you may have noticed some legislation which extended some tax provisions that are no longer applicable. Last year, Congress approved some legislation that was highly anticipated. However, this tax year, we lament in the tax provisions of seasons past. The following are no longer applicable, […]

Categories: General Tags: ,

Understanding Your W-2

March 12, 2016

Your W-2 is a statement of your wages and withholdings sent to you from your employer. You will need this form in order to fill out your tax return, but it’s important to understand all of the information contained within. Box 1- the total of your wages, tips, bonuses, prizes, and compensatory benefits. The first […]

Categories: Forms Tags:

Taxpayers who are married have the option to file a single return or to separate their income and deductions and file separately. It’s likely simpler to file jointly if one spouse earns the majority of the household income. However, in situations where both parties earn similar amounts of income, filing separate returns may prove to […]

Categories: Filing Status Tags: , ,

The Fabulous Five

March 10, 2016

Your marital status, as well as number of dependents are two of the biggest factors to determining which of the five filing statuses you should use to file your tax return. They are, in no particular order: Single Married, filing jointly Married, filing separately Head of household Qualifying widow(er) Married couples can choose whether they […]

Categories: Filing Status Tags: , ,

Tax-Time Marital Status

March 9, 2016

When it comes to filing your tax return, you need to be clear about your marital status, which is dependent on your legal definition as of December 31st. It doesn’t matter when you got married, or if you are divorced or separated, when the decree of separation was effective, as you will be considered either […]

Categories: Filing Status Tags:

While there are many joys that come with marriage, one of them is not tax time. Though you may be eligible for certain tax deductions and credits if you filed married, there are some cases where married couples may have to pay a penalty for filing jointly. This occurs if the couples total tax liability […]

Categories: Filing Status Tags: , ,

If your spouse passed away during the tax year, you are still eligible to file using the Married status. However the following two years after, you may file using the qualifying widow(er) status. In doing so, you are offered the same tax rates as if you filed jointly. You must meet additional rules in order […]

Categories: Filing Status

Have You Refinanced?

March 6, 2016

If you get a mortgage loan in order to buy a home, you may be able to deduct any points you spend in order to accrue some significant tax savings. The same is true for homeowners who chose to refinance. In most cases, refinancing forces the homeowner to take away loan points over the course […]

Categories: Deductions Tags: ,

Employee business expense deductions can mean a little extra cash in your pocket at tax time, as long as you have an actual legitimate expense as an employee that is not reimbursed by your employer. If you use your personal vehicle, for example, for business purposes, you are eligible to deduct either the actual cost […]

Categories: Deductions Tags: , , ,

As you’re now probably aware, the Affordable Care Act imposes strict penalties for taxpayers who don’t have health insurance. However, exemptions apply in some circumstances, which can excuse the penalty from taxpayers who meet the requirements. Form 8965, Health Care Exemptions, can be filed with a tax return and used to claim a hardship exemption […]

Categories: General