If you have a second home in a resort area, or if you have been considering acquiring a second home or vacation home, you may have questions about how rental income is taxed for a part-time vacation-home rental. The applicable rental rules include some interesting twists that you should know about before you begin renting. […]
As part of the recent tax reform, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the deduction for home mortgage interest and property taxes has undergone substantial alterations. These changes will impact most homeowners who itemize their deductions each year.
Taxpayers are required to pre-pay their taxes for any tax year through payroll withholding, estimated tax payments or a combination of the two. Employees and retirees generally accomplish this through withholding, and self-employed individuals and those with investment income by paying quarterly estimated payments.
It’s that time of the year – the season for preparing tax returns is about to begin. Unfortunately, it is also the season for scammers who are out to steal your identity, swindle you out of your money and even file tax returns in your name. All of this can ruin your credit rating, cause […]
If you engage the services of an individual (independent contractor) in your business, other than one who meets the definition of an employee, and you pay him or her $600 or more for the calendar year, then you are required to issue that person a Form 1099-MISC to avoid penalties and the prospect of losing […]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) computes standard mileage rates for business, medical and moving each year, based on a number of factors, to determine the standard mileage rates for the following year. As it does annually around the end of the year, the IRS has announced the 2019 optional standard mileage rates. Thus, beginning on […]
As a small business owner, this is the time to take a closer look at your profit and loss sheets to determine how you can make the most out of this current economy. In the U.S., the economy is thriving and expected to grow over the next few months. Businesses are expanding. The Federal Reserve […]
Because individuals are always looking for tax deductions that can reduce their tax liability it’s important to know what the actual tax benefit is derived from a tax deduction. There is no straightforward answer because some deductions are above the line, others must be itemized, some must exceed a threshold amount before being deductible, and […]
Adjustments to Withholding or Estimated Payments for 2018 Should Be Made Sooner Rather than Later As a result of tax reform, most taxpayers will be paying less tax for 2018 than they did in 2017. But that may not translate into a larger refund. Your refund is the amount that your pre-payments (withheld income tax, […]
One of the most bone-chilling situations an American taxpayer can experience is receiving notification from the Internal Revenue Service that there’s some kind of problem. Just receiving an envelope with a return address from the IRS can strike fear. There are many different reasons that the IRS might reach out, but some are more common […]
