File Early With Free TurboTax Online

It definitely pays to file your taxes early, and according to the IRS about 14 million tax returns had been filed by the end of January, with just over 90 percent of thee filed electronically. These six reasons may help to convince you it’s a good idea to file early using free TurboTax online:

The average refund last year was about $2,800 and almost 75 percent of tax filers received a refund and of course a tax refund can be used for whatever you need it for.

Filing taxes with TurboTax early means that the IRS can send your information to FAFSA in plenty of time and this means that you can potentially receive financial aid for college, depending on your income.

Free TurboTax photo
Photo by mighty.travels

Free TurboTax online is accurate and quick to use, and of course it is guaranteed to give you the most refund and to save you money. Standing in line at your local tax preparation office is a thing of the past with TurboTax and the system’s simple to answer questions will allow the program to search through over 350 credits and tax deductions.

If you file electronically with direct deposit, the IRS expects to issue 90 percent of tax refunds within 21 days, meaning that you can get that much needed tax refund as quickly as possible. You can save up to a couple of months of interest just by paying off debts such as credit cards sooner rather than later.

Many tax procrastinators make simple mistakes on their ta return such as putting down the wrong social security number or not signing their tax return. It is also very easy to rush through your ta return if you are trying to do it at the last possible minute, and filing your tax return ahead of time can avoid these errors and make sure that you take the time to do everything thoroughly and accurately.

TurboTax really can save you time and money and get you the biggest possible tax return as quickly as possible. Using free TurboTax online allows you to have more of your money to spend and to file your return completely and accurately.

Create Your Post College Budget In 6 Easy Steps

Establish A Post College Budget In Just 6 Steps

Congratulations on having earned your diploma and on having received a job offer. This time of life is guaranteed to be exciting. Make sure to plan your Post-College Budget.

As you begin planning your next moves, it is vital to have a budget. How do you create a post-college budget? Following are several things that I discovered after having graduated and started my first adult job.

Consider Your Monthly Income

Post College Budget
Investment (Photo credit: LendingMemo)

You might have an awesome starting salary, but you should not use this figure to write out your budget. Determine how much you’re going to be bringing in after taxes every month instead. Remember that federal taxes, social security and Medicare are all going to be deducted from your check.

Employees are going to have to pay 6.2% of their wage earnings, up to minimum wage. A tax rate of 1.45% is paid for Medicare. If you are self-employed, however, these rates are going to be double.

Next, figure your federal income tax rate according to your projected earnings. You will be surprised by how much is going to be deducted from your check.

Think About Retirement

Decide how much you are going to invest in your 401k. Will your employer be matching your 401k? Use this match to your benefit as it is included in your compensation. Invest the minimum in order to receive this match.

If you are able to, make an immediate effort to max out your 401k. Should you invest with pre-tax money, this is going to lower the rate for your federal income tax at the year’s end. Always use low-cost funds to invest.
H&R Block gives amazing tips for investing.

Take Advantage of Pre-Tax Dollars

Use a Health Savings Account or a Flexible Savings Account to save pre-tax dollars. Do you have forthcoming medical expenses that you can cover with pre-tax money? Braces, contacts, glasses, doctor visits and prescriptions are things that you can use this money for. These savings are automatic.

Wisely Choose Your Housing

It is very easy to move into a luxury apartment after graduating. This is what I did. In retrospect, I wish I chose an apartment that was more affordable.

Housing advice varies. Some people say that you should spend no more than 30% of your earnings for a rental or 28% for your mortgage.

List Your Monthly Expenses

List all of the bills that you need to pay each month including sewage, water, rent, Internet, electricity, groceries, cable, car insurance, gym fees, debt payments, renter’s insurance, cell phone services, etc. You will have to allocate you monthly earnings for these expenses. Budgets are used to track and manage this spending.

Save Money in your Post College Budget!

Put aside monies to create an emergency fund. You never know when car maintenance issues and other expenses will arise.

You can also invest in a traditional IRA or ROTH to take your savings plan a bit further.

Creating a solid financial house early in life will assure you of a comfortable financial future.

Important Dates For Filing Your Tax Return Forms

Important Dates For Filing Your 2013 Tax Return Forms

As the year comes to an end, it is important to start thinking about filing your 2013 taxes. While it is true that taxes are not due on the first of the year, it is still important to understand the important dates on the IRS calendar for 2014. There are a few dates you should know.

January

On the 15th all estimated taxes for the last quarter of 2013 are due. Also the 31st is the deadline for employers to send out tax information. This is also the deadline to file your 2013 tax return forms without penalty if you did not pay your taxes for the previous year.

March

The 17th is the date when corporations must file their taxes by.

April

The 15th is recognized as tax day for individuals and partnerships.

June 16th

If you got an extension on your individual tax return, then this is the date it is due. This only applies to military personnel and people traveling abroad.

September

The 15th is the deadline for business extensions on tax returns to be filed.

October 15th

This is the due date for individuals who were granted a 6 month extension on their tax returns.

Keep in mind that these are only dates that are specifically related to fling your 2013 tax return forms. There will be other dates you will want to keep in mind with your taxes and for these you can turn to the IRS website. Here you will find all the information you need as well as great resources for ensuring you pay your taxes correctly.

Some Useful Tax Software Programs to File your Taxes Easily and Quickly

Some Useful Tax Software Programs to File your Taxes Easily and Quickly

If you want to file an income tax return and are wondering how to do your own taxes online then you can opt for e-tax filing which is a simple and easy way to file your taxes. With the convenience and comfort of your home, you can file IRS tax forms. Online tax preparation services bring ease and convenience to the people. Users do not need any prior experience of filing returns and they can complete income tax returns easily and quickly with the help of a tax software program.

Day 093/365 - Tax Time Phat Cash!
Day 093/365 – Tax Time Phat Cash! (Photo credit: Great Beyond)

Turbo Tax:
It is one of the most preferred e-tax filing software programs which is recommended for newbies, small business owners, heavy investors and multi-income filers. If you are a newbie and do not know how to do your taxes online then this software will be best suited for you. Here are some features of Turbo Tax software.

Clean and intuitive interface.
Logical flow of processes.
Easy to comprehend learning resources for the beginners.
Offers high-level of autonomy.
Audit risk meter
Latest military edition for Army officials

H And R Block:
It is an elite piece of software to file your taxes online. It has logical workflows and that will simplify the process of tax filing. The software is recommended for heavy investors and newbies. Here are its features.

Section overviews containing useful information.
Several pages having embedded links.
Bookmarking system is well integrated.
In-person and round the clock support.
Latest print returns features.
Useful form finding tool.

TaxACT:
This e-filing software is recommended for college students, deal seekers and DIY filers. Following are some of the important features of TaxACT:

Import tax from the previous year feature.
Lowest price.
Stock assistance tools for entering stock information manually.
Best quality and comprehensive learning resources.
Mini-alerts.

TaxSlayer:
It is a well designed and one among the best e-filing tax software. Given below are its important features.

Life events guide.
Previous year comparison.
Gives you choice to handle processes on the major sections like income tax deductions.
Movement between sections for convenience of the users.

So, stop running from pillar to post when you need to file your taxes and stop wondering how to do your own taxes online as you can easily do it with the help of several user-friendly e-filing software. By using this software you can file your tax returns quickly and easily even if you are a newbie and filing your tax for the first time.

Pros And Cons Of Filing Your Taxes With TurboTax

Filing Your Taxes With TurboTax

Filing your taxes with TurboTax or another online tax program is something that people often loathe doing, therefore they try to procrastinate or push it off for later hoping that they would be excused and the year would pass by. However, it is not that easy to evade your taxes and that is why most people end up paying a heavy penalty when they do fail to file. Thus, why take the risk? Why not just use an online tax preparation software program like TurboTax or TaxAct in order to file your taxes on-time?

One of the biggest pros concerning the use of TurboTax or TaxAct or any other automated software program like H&R Block and so on is that they are very user-friendly and convenient to navigate through a return. Moreover, you don’t even need to have sharp math skills for calculating your taxes, all you need to do is to fill-in a couple of blanks and the rest will be taken care of by the software application. Another advantage of using TaxAct or TurboTax is that it relieves all the tax anxiety and worries you might be feeling.

TurboTax, H&R Block and TaxAct are the most popular tax filing software programs available today. They provide accurate results as they are familiar with the latest changes in tax law including the most recent Fiscal Cliff and ObamaCare rules. While TaxAct or TurboTax may be offering a lot of benefits, they do have their own cons too. One of the top disadvantages associated with these programs is that they can be pricey to use in comparison to getting one’s tax preparation complete the conventional way.

Learn About The Buffett Rule

Learn About The Buffett Rule

Watch out for debate misdirection when it comes to taxes. Dr. Cornwall wants everyone to know that there will never be a tax increase on the extremely wealthy population (The Buffett Rule) that will put the tiniest dent in the tax shortfall of the United States.

So why is everyone so focused on the debate about making those who bring home over $250,000 a year pay more in taxes?

The answer is the Buffet Rule by President Obama. This Buffett Rule raises the taxes on a group of extremely wealthy people, but we hear that many of them would be glad to pay more in taxes.

We are also hearing that this group is about two percent of the population of taxpayers. In all honesty, they are about 1.8% of the population that pays taxes. They are over two and a half million people according to data provided by the IRS.

The deficit right now is $1.1 trillion. That is $440,000 for each wealthy household a year. There will not be any type of increase in taxes that can resolve this tax situation.

If you are wondering whom the two and half million super wealthy people are, according to surveys from the Spectrem Group up to twenty five percent of them are entrepreneurs. These professionals are the people we need to be expanding their businesses so that our economy can get better.

So why are political figures trying to soak the rich?

President Barack Obama and Warren Buffett in t...
President Barack Obama and Warren Buffett in the Oval Office, July 14, 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am a believer that this is just a set up for what we can expect in our future. This is just a way to get started on the real tax increase so that the masses will be more open to it.

There have been many talks about using a value added tax system for our tax burdens right now so that we can fund our federal government. It is surprising how little attention the press is paying to the VAT tax. What we are mostly hearing about is in regards to taxing the very wealthy.

The VAT tax has not been a favorite choice for Democrats because of it being such a flat tax. This European method is going to need to be covered if they decide to add it America’s tax system.

In the next few months, this is what I see happening…

There will be an agreement that the top marginal rates will have to be increased to at least where they were before the Bush tax cuts. This will be the Democratic cover.

After that, the VAT tax will be implemented. Republicans will be able to say that even if they did not want to raise our taxes, we should be happy that they did so by implementing a flatter tax system instead of huge increases in income tax rates.

When this happens, America will be facing an expanding government that has a new tax program for politicians to use however they see fit.