Category: Taxes

Just so you know, it requires a great deal of restraint on my part to keep from writing about my political opinions here on the blog, especially about our new president and the chaotic events that seem to occur almost every day down in Washington, DC. My wife has reminded me that my readers here at Super Saving Tips aren’t looking for that sort of thing, and that you the readers are more likely to peruse the New York Times or Washington Post if you want political fodder. But wonder of wonders, I finally do have a little something to say that actually involves your personal finances and politics. So hopefully you’ll be interested this time around. It’s about…tax reform!

Trump’s Proposed Tax Reform

Our new president has presented the first trickles of information about his plans to reform the tax code and fulfill his campaign promise to review and change the federal tax laws. He and his Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, say it will be the biggest tax cut ever (fact check: actually it will be the biggest cut since the 1980’s and Ronald Reagan). Now normally when you talk about cutting taxes, that’s a pretty popular idea out there among the constituents. Continue reading

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It’s now income tax season and (hopefully) you are gathering all of your tax information and planning to file your return over the next couple months, certainly by the April 18th, 2017 deadline. Yes, you have a couple of extra days this year because the 15th is a Saturday and the 17th is a Washington, DC holiday this year.

But once you’ve gathered your information, how are you planning to prepare your returns? Are you planning to do it yourself, or will you hire a tax professional to help? Continue reading

If you’re anything like me, you sometimes think about the possibility of a tax audit and wonder what you can do to make sure that never happens. Truthfully, tax audits are pretty rare, only about 1% actually ever get audited. They mostly occur with wealthy people (audited at 2.5%) and questionable returns with itemized deductions that may net the IRS some substantial amount of money.  There also audit some small number of totally random returns as well. Those that earn less than $200,000 (audited at about 0.7%) and file as individuals or joint earners stand the very least chance of an audit even though the numbers are increasing ever so slightly since 2008.

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Billions of dollars are left behind every year by people who prepare their own taxes, often because they fail to take advantage of all the tax deductions available to them. While I believe that most of us can do our own taxes and not leave our money on the table, it’s imperative to prepare now for the tax return deadline which is April 18th this year (the 15th is a Friday and this year’s deadline has been extended to Monday the 18th). In Maine and Massachusetts it’s the 19th due to Patriots day.

To help you with your 2015 tax returns, don’t skip this important list.  While I’m not a tax professional, you can always research these and other tax deductions at IRS.gov. Remember, if you have difficulty or your return is more complex than you can handle, see an accountant or check out the many free options either online or in your own community. Continue reading