Tag: business

FreeTaxUSA- Prepare your Taxes Yourself

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There are several tax preparation programs available online.  Let’s begin with a very simple and a detailed review.

Anyone can benefit a lot from tax return software, as they are:

  • Simple to fill in and submit the correct tax application;
  • Help in attaining bigger refunds;
  • Make simpler deduction in medical expenses;
  • Displays your present refund amount;
  • Even though you have changed the work, these services help you with right tax application.

All these online tax preparation services have easy to use systems, modern interface, best knowledge base as well as live support if in case you have more questions or problems filling out tax application.

Here are 3 most popular and top selling services: 24 Hour Tax, FreeTaxUSA, and without any doubt TurboTax. All these services might not seem familiar to you, but they have helped million of people across the world in getting their tax refunds in very easy and fast way. It’s best for both personal as well as small business taxation.

But the question is about the pricing; again you don’t have to worry as it is really cheap. Mostly, each one of these services has altogether different pricing packages, beginning from Basic and going up to different Professional plans. Usually subscription depends on monthly or annual payments. In few cases, for instance Turbo tax, you can buy it as tax audit software by giving onetime fee.

Now how to begin with getting fast tax refunds? Here are few steps for you:

  • Check out all the three services, compare their prices and find out the most suitable plan for you.
  • Subscribe with the service; it is always better to pay yearly, usually it is much cheaper than those with monthly payments.
  • Fill in the tax application and submit it using your chosen service
  • Systems will provide you guidance in terms and conditions for receiving the refund.
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Tips On Preventing Tax Refund Identity Theft

Tax Refund Identity Theft

Tax filing tips can help someone prevent tax refund identity theft, but there are tax filing tips that can keep someone from becoming a citric of this crime when he is filing his taxes 2011 or his taxes for any other year.  There is vital information a person must place on every return. The return needs his name and his social security number. He needs to be honest about his income, but if more than one social security return is filed for the same  number may or may not send up a red flag. The IRS cannot check everyone.  The checks or the debit cards need to be sent to their intended recipient.

Many people rely on their tax return to make large purchase. Some people use their taxes to buy new cars or to make other large purchases. If the IRS gets two different terms from the same social security number, it flags the return. IRS agents need to go over the return manually. The need to process a return manually can delay the return for weeks or months. The IRS needs to figure out which return is legitimate and which return needs to be processed.

A taxpayer who has followed the rules all of his life may wonder why  his tax return has undergone such scrutiny. It has to do with the way the organization processes returns. The return that gets handed in first is processed first. A later return coming in later causes an investigation to be launched. There may be times when the mistake comes about because of a transcription error. There are other times when it comes about because someone has stolen the original taxpayers social security number.

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New Jersey Residents Look For Lower Tax Assessments

The Sfarras in Teaneck disputed the tax assessment on their home last year, which helped the value fall by almost 12%. This let them save almost a grand a year in property taxes. Dorthy Monooopli also did something similar, reducing the value on her home by 30k.

These are only a few of the people who are trying to get lower tax assessments due to the falling prices of real estate over the last few years. As the filing date for tax appeals gets closer, many people are trying to file the proper documents.

William Dressel, in charge of of the League of Municipalities, says that that such efforts are lowering the amount of property taxes that a town gets, which might reduce the services citizens get because of lack of funds.

A common strategy is for towns is to do an area wide assessment of real estate, so everything is in line with current market values. This makes it more difficult for homeowners to dispute the value of their homes.

Home prices have fallen about 20% since the housing bubble. However, an appeal is not guaranteed. Towns determine the value by using a ratio that takes into account the current state of the economy.

The city of Teaneck has a current tax ratio of near 104 percent. This means that lower tax assessments are possible, because the assessment is more than the real value. If a home was valued at $100,000, it would only be worth $96,000.

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Money Saving Tips For Taxes

If you want money saving, one area you might be considering saving in is taxes. There are many potential reasons you could get a tax break. Therefore, before filing, make sure you look into them. Here are 4 categories that might qualify:

Job search

First of all, if you switched jobs, started a business, or conducted a job search, you could qualify. You can claim the job search expenses, such as making resume copies, placement agency costs and attending seminars for careers. If you had moving costs related to your new job, this could be tax deductible. The tax moves deduction just depends on how far you moved, and how long you spent. To qualify for any of these, the job search expenses must have been at least 2% or more of the gross income for the year.

Home office

A lot of business owners are working from home today. If you use a portion of your house just for business and consistently for business, meet with clients in your house, or have a business portion of the house separate from the main home, you could qualify.

Dependents

If you had a baby, sent someone to a university, or put kids in daycare this year, you could qualify for deductions. Also, you can get deductions for every dependent you have.

Education credits

The American government gives tax credits and deductions to encourage more people to go to college. Therefore, if you, your spouse or your kids attended college this year, it could qualify for a tax credit.

What cannot qualify

The first $2400 you made from unemployment used to be tax free. However, this is no longer the case, as this provision ended as of 2010. This year, you have to pay taxes on all the unemployment benefits you might have gotten.

Conclusion

When it comes to money saving, tax deductions are one of the best ways to save. Just evaluate your situation and see which you qualify for.

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Tax Help For Those Who Clean Houses And Drive Cabs

For those who need help with their tax filing but cannot afford to hire a professional themselves, free help can be found right in their communities with IRS funded tax professionals. However, those that work for themselves may not be able to use this program if they have made a large sum of income from their business.

This is an unfortunate fact for those 13 million businesses that make under $50,000 a year, as this amount would allow them to qualify for the free help if they were filing as an individual. It is likely that a person who is self-employed as a cab driver, housekeeper or performing some other type of day labor would benefit from the knowledge of a tax preparer.

Beginning in 2006, the Corporation for Enterprise Development started assisting groups in 18 communities across the U.S. in making this help available to thousands of businesses. It is their goal to reach out to business owners and help to connect them to educational and financial services in order to assure that they have the tools needed to become successful.

Tax time is a moment when the reality of business ownership can really hit a person. They often are using an informal business as supplemental income which makes the need for tax help greater.

The CFED desires that the IRS would allow more low and middle class small businesses to benefit from the free tax services.

Often those who do not qualify for the free tax help will be referred to other organizations that will provide the turbo tax services at a discounted price.

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Know Your Tax Responsibilities on Insurance

When purchasing life insurance, it is important to consider all of the circumstances that could affect the amount of money needed by beneficiaries. One issue everyone should consider is taxation. Many people wonder if they have to pay taxes on life insurance. Many people assume that all proceeds from life insurance are tax-exempt, but the truth is actually more complicated.
Death benefits of a life insurance policy, in general, are free from federal income tax when distributed by the insurance company to a named beneficiary or multiple beneficiaries. In other words, when a husband dies, his wife usually does not have to pay taxes on the money she receives from the insurance company as payment. If the husband has a $100,000 life insurance policy, the wife does not have to pay federal income taxes on that $100,000.

Things begin to get more complicated if the husband, before his death, instructs the insurance company to pay that $100,000 in installments of, say, $20,000. The insurance company will distribute the money as instructed. The money on deposit will earn interest, which is taxable. The principle is not taxed, no matter how it is distributed.

Another complication occurs when the owner of an insurance policy transfers ownership to another person or party before his death, for money or other consideration of value. The benefits paid to the beneficiary in this case could be considered taxable income. This should be discussed with a tax professional before completing such a transaction.

Anyone purchasing life insurance should know that life insurance policies may be subject to federal estate tax (not income tax) if the deceased has an ownership interest in the policy. If the insured person has any control over the policy, including the right to cancel it, borrow against it or change the beneficiary, that person is considered to own the policy. When the owner of the policy dies, the proceeds may be subject to federal estate tax. In most cases, if the beneficiary is the spouse, estate tax is not assessed on the insurance benefits. However, these taxes may be assessed when the spouse dies. This issue should be discussed with a professional during estate planning.

It may seem unreasonable that any insurance benefit should be taxed. As stated, life insurance proceeds paid to a beneficiary are usually not subject to federal income tax. Other tax situations may arise and should be discussed with a qualified professional.

But what about the question of insurance being taxed? With the value of employee health benefits appearing on the 2011 Form W-2, many people worry that their health insurance is being taxed. This is not the case. The health benefits information is printed on the W-2 for informational purposes only.

However, in 2018, insurers will pay a 40% tax on the portion of “Cadillac” health plans sponsored by employers that exceeds $10,200 for individuals or $27,500 for families. Insurers are likely to pass the higher costs along to employers. Employers will likely pass the costs to employees or reduce coverage to slip under the tax threshold. For now medical insurance benefits, like life insurance benefits, are not subject to federal income tax.

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