Tag: Federal government of the United States

  • 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.

  • Pay Your Taxes On Unemployment Insurance Benefits

    When filing your 2012 taxes, make sure you pay taxes on your unemployment insurance benefits.

    While the rate of unemployment may be reducing, there are still millions of people who are unemployed. Sadly, these individuals also have to pay taxes on their unemployment insurance benefits.

    If you are unemployed and you collected unemployment insurance benefits last year, you must pay taxes on it. After calculating your tax incidence, you will be surprised at the amount of tax you owe the government, unless you requested the federal government to withhold taxes.

    The VP of TurboTax, Bob Meighan says that people still think that unemployment benefits are not taxable. While that might have been the case in 2009, congress reviewed that provision.

    However, when filing your returns, you will find yourself in the lowest tax bracket because of your low income. In fact, you might also find yourself qualifying for several tax breaks.

    Terry Lemons, I.R.S. spokesman says the agency encourages taxpayers to take advantage of things like earned income credit when they lose their jobs.

    He also said that the agency encourages individuals to file their returns even if they do not have the money to pay their taxes. In such cases, taxpayers can benefit from installment agreements to pay their taxes.

    Many households in the U.S are still recovering from the Great Recession of 2007 – 2009. According to government statistics, more than 13 million who are not employed have stopped looking for jobs because companies have not yet started recruiting new workers.

    Fortunately, those who spent the better part of 2011 can get tax breaks on 2012 taxes.

  • Do Your Own Taxes To Affect Tremendous Personal Economic Recovery

    Anatomy of a Debt Reduction Deal:  Five Money Moves to Make Right Now

    What’s next? If you have found yourself deeply confused about how a recent debt reduction deal will likely affect your wallet, you have plenty of company.

    The small writing displayed upon the contract form often induces more questions than answers. Nearly all discretionary expenditures of the US Government are slated for drastic reduction during the next decade or so. Defense costs are an especially burdensome budgetary item that is overdue to be slashed dramatically. The legislative proposal currently pending before Congress would free up an estimated total of $917,000,000,000 USD in fiscal resources from federal coffers during the first ten years after its enactment. Approximately $350,000,000,000 of that figure falls within defense and national security budgetary categories.

    A fact of perhaps even more import is the recent proposal drafted by a dozen-member Congressional committee that would entail identifying areas in which to affect an additional $1.5 trillion in budget cuts. That faction’s fiscal agenda is currently an open slate that portends to entail slicing Social Security funding and increased 2011 taxes. If the committee cannot specify a minimum of $1.2 trillion in total budgetary savings or its recommendations fail to garner sufficient Congressional approval, automatic cuts become effective as of December 23, 2011.  This belt-tightening campaign looks to be pervasive and severe. Vital programs like the Armed Forces and Medicare would be affected in a major way, while Medicaid, Social Security, and a few other Federal programs might be spared.

    It appears as though all problems have been aptly identified but remain unresolved. This does not mean, however, that individual savings and investment plans should be left by the wayside. Consumers must continue to implement protective measures to shield themselves from the federal government’s impending fiscal fallout. Following are some specific steps to take or immediately preclude right now:

    –  Employ defensive investment strategies for all private government contractors’ corporate stocks. American Assoc. of Individual Investors spokesman Charlie Rotblut recently advised stock investors whose holdings depend highly upon federal funding must maintain them most vigilantly. Private defense firms will probably lose revenue due to the trickle down effects of these budget cuts. This phenomenon will have universal impact across the board, however. State contracts will also lose out as recession-ravished state economies deteriorate further from diminished federal fund inflows.

    Rotblut further observed that national infrastructure is especially vulnerable, due to it being much more difficult for states to complete the construction of roadways, bridges, and highways.

    He went on to advise individual investors to thoroughly peruse 10k annual reports of various corporations to glean their true level of relative governmental project dependency.

    • Do not be too uptight about bonds. Bonds are no longer as risky as they have historically been. This was the recent observation by Mayflower Capital spokesman Don Martin. Of course, conventional wisdom remains valid about long-term bond values being likely to decrease as interest rates take a hike. The debt deal under consideration is likely to delay the day of ultimate reckoning for several reasons, however. As Congress is honoring its foreign obligations, it reduces the probability that ratings will go down, thereby inches T-Bill rates upward. The pending bill’s proposed budgetary cuts will not take effect until at least 2013. Their specific terms, however, hold out what many commentators believe to be the nation’s brightest rays of hope for future fiscal horizons.

    Mr. Martin went on to posit that the current US economic posture is stagnant and threatens to slip into recessionary status on a daily basis. Thus, lowered government stimuli due to American leader’s austere attitudes will mean dramatic falls in bond values and other discrete, short-term investments. While this calls for a cautious approach, it is hardly an occasion for endemic panic.