Need Help With Your Tax Planning?
Spring is a lovely time of year, but it is also about this time that you have to file your taxes. Doesn’t sound all that lovely now, huh? I have been trawling the inter-web trying to find the best ways to pay the taxman as little as possible. Because, remember it is OK to manage your income in a way that you avoid paying taxes as far as possible, so you should try and get every tax advantage you can. So I thought I’d share with you any pearls of wisdom I came across on the net.
This CNN money article, is a real useful ready reckoner. It gives you information about the new tax breaks, like those for mortgage insurance and mortgage debt forgiveness. Unless you are in a really high income tax bracket, you are probably entitled to a one time stimulus tax break this year. This article has a very useful list of exemptions so check it out.
This article by William Perez talks about how one couple were able to eliminate paying taxes altogether. This article talks about how you can substantially reduce or eliminate your income tax by saving for retirement, owning a home, sending your kids to college. William Perez has compiled a comprehensive list of ways to lower your taxes with links to more details on each point, so that you can get more information of any of the basic topics he has covered.
On the official IRS site there is a tax topics index where you can seek out detailed information about whichever deduction you need for instance Topic 451 deals with IRAs. Here you will find articles about general information, IRS procedures, collections, alternative filing methods, Filing Requirements, Filing Status and Exemptions, Adjustments to Income, Itemized deductions, methods of computation and pretty much everything you want to look up.
Did you know (I suppose you did) that The Energy Policy Act of 2005 of encourages you to be green? This is how: there are tax benefits for energy-efficient homes, vehicles and equipment. Earlier you could get tax credits for buying and owning a hybrid vehicle, but that provision is now no longer in force. Apparently the government does not want to encourage you to lower emissions and gas consumption or want you to reduce your gas bill. Ah well, in a year’s time we will see a new US president, perhaps a woman or a black man (or not, who can predict?), and then there will be a bunch of new stuff to contend with!
And just to put a smile back on your lips, here are a couple of links to some tax related humor:
http://www.offthemark.com/tax/tax.htm
http://www.martybucella.com/taxtoons.html
Enjoy!
