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Really want to save the world? Quit having kids

Zac Bissonnette Nov 16th 2009 @ 11:30AM EST Filed Under: Tax

The IRS recently updated consumers on all the tax savings you can get from making your home more green-friendly. Installing energy efficient windows and doors, insulation, roofing, HVAC, water heaters, and biomass stoves can save you a boatload of money on your taxes.

But will doing all those things really help the environment? Yes. But ya know what will help mother nature a hell of a lot more?

Not breeding.

Continue reading Really want to save the world? Quit having kids

E-filing tips that should save time, if not money

Kelly Phillips Erb Nov 14th 2009 @ 10:01AM EST Filed Under: Tax, Technology, Taxes-income-tax-basics, Taxes-advice

If the trend in e-filing continues, the IRS expects more than 100 million individual taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically for the 2009 tax year.

More than one-third of those taxpayers will file by personal computer; the remainder will use a professional tax preparer or free file at an IRS site. No matter how you choose to e-file this year, following are some tips to make it as easy as possible.

Continue reading E-filing tips that should save time, if not money

IRS' e-file program gaining users

Kelly Phillips Erb Nov 14th 2009 @ 10:00AM EST Filed Under: Tax, Taxes-income-tax-basics, Taxes-advice

Chances are, you filed your federal taxes electronically this year.

According to the IRS, about two out of every three individual taxpayers elected to e-file in 2009, up almost 6% from returns filed electronically in 2008. That works out to just a few million returns shy of 100 million individual returns, or 67% of tax returns.

It's a pretty incredible increase for the IRS e-file program which began just more than 20 years ago. In 1986, the first year of the program, just 25,000 refund-only returns were accepted in three locations, less than 1% of the returns filed in 2009.

Continue reading IRS' e-file program gaining users

Worried about the national debt? Donate money to pay it down!

Zac Bissonnette Nov 12th 2009 @ 3:00PM EST Filed Under: Tax

With the national debt growing at a frantic pace, a lot of Americans are terrified about what it will mean for our economic futures.

Luckily, you can help. CNNMoney senior writer Jeanne Sahadi reports that under an obscure 1961 law, you can make tax deductible contributions to help pay down the national debt. On average, about five donations are made per week and so in 2009, there have been just over $3 million in donations -- whose impact was quickly reversed by government spending on just 666 clunkers under the Cash For Clunkers program (funny how that math works out, just sayin').

Continue reading Worried about the national debt? Donate money to pay it down!

Home buyer tax credit extended & improved!

Ryan Minick Nov 12th 2009 @ 11:00AM EST Filed Under: Borrowing, Real Estate, Tax, Video, The2MortgageGuys, Mortgages, Taxes-advice, Taxes-tax credits

The first time home buyer tax credit has officially been extended. If you're an existing home owner you may also qualify for the tax credit if you're planning on buying a new house! Check out this week's episode of Show & Tell with The 2 Mortgage Guys and we'll fill you in with the "nuts & bolts" of this new program. You can also get the complete details by visiting federalhousingtaxcredit.com.

Ryan Minick and Steve DeLon are The 2 Mortgage Guys. Subscribe to their newsletter or visit them at www.The2MortgageGuys.com.

Spanish league soccer players won't strike over taxes - yet

Kelly Phillips Erb Nov 10th 2009 @ 3:00PM EST Filed Under: Tax

Soccer fans across the world can collectively offer up a sigh of relief: there will be no strike for soccer players in Spain. At least for now.

Spain's Professional Football League, the governing body that manages the major professional football leagues in Spain, has been making noise about going on strike. The organization is more or less the equivalent of the MLS here in the US since football in Europe is really soccer; the U.S. version of football is referred to as, well, American football.

Continue reading Spanish league soccer players won't strike over taxes - yet

The IRS may be looking for you - to give you your tax refund

Kelly Phillips Erb Nov 9th 2009 @ 4:15PM EST Filed Under: Tax

The Internal Revenue Service might be looking for you -- but not for the reasons that you think. The IRS is actually looking to dole out refunds worth more than $123.5 million to taxpayers whose refund checks were returned to the IRS by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman wants taxpayers to come forward, saying, "We are eager to get this money into the hands of taxpayers, so don't delay if you think you are missing a refund. The sooner you update your address information, the quicker you can get your refund."

Updating your address with the IRS is easy. You can update your address online by visiting the "Where's My Refund?" tool on the IRS web site or use the telephone version of "Where's My Refund?" by calling 1-800-829-1954. You can also complete a Form 8822, Change of Address, downloadable as a pdf via the IRS web site or call 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676) to have a Form 8822 mailed to you.

The average number of undeliverable refunds rose by 16% this year, but the 107,831 refunds which remain outstanding still total less than 1% of the more than 142 million returns processed by the IRS. If you haven't received your refund, check with the IRS to see if your check was one of those returned by the post office. If it wasn't, and your check remains undelivered, you can receive a replacement check within six to eight weeks of making a claim by calling 1-800-829-1954.

Remember, a tax refund is your money. Don't leave it on the table.

Hedge fund honcho wins $27 million tax fight with NYC

Zac Bissonnette Nov 4th 2009 @ 4:30PM EST Filed Under: Tax

Billionaire hedge fund manager Julian Robertson won a $27 million tax case after convincing a a judge that he wasn't a resident of New York City in the year 2000 -- and it all came down to four days.

The way the law works is that anyone who spends more than half the year living in New York City is subject to the jurisdiction's taxes -- in 2000, the top tax rate was 3.78%, meaning that Mr. Robertson must have earned around $700 million in the year 2000.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance argued that because he couldn't provide proof that he didn't spend more than half the year in New York City, he had to pay the tax. Robertson and his lawyers, family, and his assistants spent countless hours pouring over schedules, calendars, tickets, etc. to convince a judge that he spent less than half the year in NYC proper -- with a good chunk of the rest of his time spent on Long Island.

Continue reading Hedge fund honcho wins $27 million tax fight with NYC

OMG: Text message tax spreading through California

Tom Barlow Nov 3rd 2009 @ 4:30PM EST Filed Under: Tax, Technology

Like H1N1, the notion of taxing text messages and other new electronic forms of communication has taken root and is threatening to go pandemic.

The city of Vallejo, Calif. is voting today on expanding utility taxes to include text messages, pager messages and VOIP calls. The measure would lump these together with gas, electricity, water and other utilities, while lowering the overall utility tax rate from 7.5% to 7.3%.

This follows the example set by Sacramento and 40 other towns in California which have added electronic communications to their taxable utilities, both to reduce the burden on those clinging to land-lines and to increase city revenue.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Vallejo's general fund has lost $18 million in the past two years. It declared bankruptcy in 2008.

While officials contend that the change will have only a minimal impact on a typical resident's utility bill, some locals are concerned that the measure opens up the door for taxes on other forms of communication not presently taxed. I'm wondering about passenger pigeons.

As more and more people abandon land-lines, many communities will be looking to replace lost tax revenue by charging for text messages, voice-over-Internet calls, e-mails, and IM conversations. If they could, some would probably charge by the syllable for face-to-face coffee house conversations. If so, we'd probably learn to abbrev wht we sed 2 sv $.

The taxman cometh: IRS audits likely on the rise

Kelly Phillips Erb Nov 3rd 2009 @ 8:00AM EST Filed Under: Tax, Taxes-audit

As if you don't already have enough money worries. This is the year to double, no, triple-check, your taxes before filing. The IRS is looking for the money it's owed with renewed vigor, and that means a lot more people can expect to be audited. Why now? It's not hard to guess.

We've been hearing for months that the economy is finally on its way up, but the numbers don't actually bear that out.

As of last month, the federal deficit weighed in at a record $1.42 trillion and, depending on what Congress does, could double within the year. Estimates are that within the next ten years, the deficit will hit $9.1 trillion. Increases in the budget have been tapped for bailouts, CASH for clunkers, the first time homebuyer's credit and the controversial new health care plan. The problem? There's no money to pay for all of these programs.

Continue reading The taxman cometh: IRS audits likely on the rise

California takes bigger chunk out of paychecks, will other states follow suit?

Vanessa Richardson Nov 2nd 2009 @ 5:15PM EST Filed Under: Tax, Recession

Californians like me will see less money in their next paycheck because, like it or not, we're being forced to give an interest-free loan to the financial basket-case of a state we live in. As of November 1, California is withholding 10% more in income taxes from residents' paychecks. The move is expected to reap $1.7 billion that will be used to plug the holes in the state deficit and keep some money in its rapidly-dwindling coffers.

So officially it's not a tax increase. California will repay the extra withholding in April when it calculates tax refunds -- those getting a refund will get a larger one while those who owe taxes will owe less. And state tax officials who say the increase will hardly be felt by workers. A worker earning $51,000 with no dependents and one withholding allowance will see his weekly withholding rate go up $4. (The Sacramento Bee has a chart of withholding increase scenarios for some single and married taxpayers.) Still, with nine weeks left to go in 2009, that $36 could come in handy for a holiday present or a utility bill.

Continue reading California takes bigger chunk out of paychecks, will other states follow suit?

If George Costanza had an iPhone, he'd use this app

Aaron Crowe Nov 2nd 2009 @ 11:00AM EST Filed Under: Tax, Technology, Taxes-income-tax-basics, Taxes-tax deduction

In one of the great "Seinfeld" episodes of season nine, the character George Costanza has a wallet so filled with receipts, business cards and other things such as packets of Sweet'N Low that he sits on an incline when he puts it in his back pocket.

Eventually it all blows away onto a snowy and wet New York City street, leaving George to try to scurry after all of the little slips of paper that burst out of what he calls his "organizer, secretary and a friend."

If I were the folks at Shoeboxed.com I'd be doing all I could to get Jerry Seinfeld to allow commercial use of that scene in promoting its new free app for the iPhone or any cell phone with a camera.

Here's some of that "Seinfeld" episode, to refresh your memory: