After President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order, the IRS announced that it will not reject tax returns just because a taxpayer has not indicated on the return whether the taxpayer had health insurance, was exempt, or made a shared-responsibility payment under Sec. 5000A of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
I periodically get inquiries from individuals who think they can avoid income taxes because they have a trust. Trusts are often very good tools to protect your assets; but not always a good tool for simple tax planning strategies. Trusts generally have much lower deductions, compressed marginal tax rates, and a much lower threshold for the net investment income tax. Thus, a trust may incur higher income taxes than an individual may pay.
READ MOREThe Arizona Department of Revenue announced on January 30, 2017 that it sent out some incorrect 1099-G forms for 2015 taxpayers that received refunds.
The erroneous forms included information from the 2014 tax year, and did not include the correct information from the 2015 tax year.
You can still file your 2016 income tax return – Please use your actual 2015 tax return if your 1099-G document is different.
Medicare is a federal system of health insurance for people over 65 years of age and for certain younger people with disabilities. Medicare pays for much of the cost of hospital stays and doctor’s office visits for people age 65 and older. But what does that mean and what do you need to know?
The Internal Revenue Service has proposed revisions to tuition tax credits and deductions for individual tax payers. The changes are meant to be in alignment with the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH).
Key things to know:
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen Covey identifies key habits successful people share to achieve their goals. Here is my attempt to drill these habits down for investors.
Habit 1: Be Proactive (Be Ready for Financial Emergencies)
About 47 percent of respondents in the Federal Reserve’s 2014 household survey said they wouldn’t be able to cover an emergency $400 expense without selling something or borrowing money. So start by setting aside money for an emergency fund before saving for retirement. In a financial emergency, too many people tap into their retirement fund early and pay a penalty. (And your credit card is not your emergency savings fund!)
Approximately 13 million Americans were identity fraud victims in 2015— and identity thieves have stolen $112 billion during that same time. This is according to Javelin Strategy and Research.
With individual income tax season under way, I am seeing a number of clients with a high-deductible health insurance plan and a Health Savings Account (HSA). Here are some ways to make the most of your money this year.
In 2016, those with individual high-deductible plans can deposit $3,350 into an HSA, while those with a family plan can contribute a maximum of $6,750. In either case, an extra $1,000 catch-up contribution is allowed for those age 55 or older.
The Internal Revenue Service reported it suffered a "hardware failure" on Wednesday afternoon, which left many of its tax processing systems unavailable Wednesday night, the agency announced in a statement.
The agency stopped accepting electronically filed tax returns because of the problem. The outage could affect refunds, but the agency said it doesn't anticipate "major disruptions."
The IRS is still assessing the scope of the outage and indicates nine out of 10 taxpayers will receive their refunds within 21 days. The IRS.gov website remains available, but "Where's My Refund" and other services are not working.
READ MORETrusts can be quite useful for protecting children. However, for some children, the trust serves an additional function: It protects the principal from being rapidly spent by a child. These trusts have a specific name—they are called "spendthrift" trusts.
A spendthrift trust allows a parent to protect a certain amount of inheritance. If you have a circumstance like this, it may be appropriate to transfer inheritance outright to some of your children and the same amount of property into a spendthrift trust for the "creative spender" child.
READ MOREIf you take money out of a retirement account (IRA, 401(k), 403(b), etc.) before reaching the age of 59½, you typically must pay income taxes on the withdrawal plus an additional 10% early withdrawal tax unless an exception applies.
If they apply, these exceptions may save you the 10% penalty if you have to tap into your retirement accounts early.
Here are some of the important ways retirement benefits will change in 2016.
IRA and 401(k) Limits – The 2016 contribution limits for 2016 for IRAs (Traditional pre-tax of after-tax Roth IRAs) increases to $18,000 with a $6,000 catch-up contribution for individuals aged 50 and over.
Saver’s credit. The adjusted gross income (AGI) limit increases to $30,750 for individuals and to $61,500 for married couples. This tax credit is available to low and moderate income families that save for retirement. It can be worth 10%-50% of your retirement contribution up to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples.
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