12/21/2011 We started a list yesterday of tax breaks. Here is a laundry list of CREDITS extended through 2012. A *deduction* (tax break) reduces your taxable income, and thus reduces your tax. A *credit* is real money with which to pay your tax. Some credits are *refundable* meaning money in the bank…the credit pays your… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: December 2011
2011 COUNTDOWN: A FEW TAX BREAKS STILL IN EFFECT FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER YEAR
12/20/2011 Remember the unpronounceable TRUIRJCA of 2010 (see blogs from the past few days—The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010)? While some tax breaks vanish at the end of 2011, many of the Bush-era tax cuts remain for another year as part of the deal struck by Congress last December. … Continue Reading
COUNTDOWN 2011: JUST THE FACTS – MILEAGE, BENEFIT PLANS AND MORE
12/19/2011 STANDARD DEDUCTIONS: 2011 $11,600 2012 $11,900 PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS: 2011 $3,700 2012 $3,800 AUTO STANDARD MILEAGE ALLOWANCES Business 2011 .51 changing to .555 after 6/30/2011 2012 .555 Charitable 2011 .14 2012 .14 Moving/Medical 2011 .19 changing to .235 after 6/30/2011 2012 .23 (down a tad – this is correct) IRA CONTRIBUTION… Continue Reading
COUNTDOWN 2011: DEATH AND TAXES – A FEW CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS NOW FOR DEATHS THAT OCCURRED IN 2010
12/16/2011 First, a disclaimer – we are not *experts* in estate tax and defer to those who are. We dabble in it simply because death affects our clients and we know just enough to direct them to the proper expert. That said, the years 2010 and 2011 created paradigm shifts – everything you thought you… Continue Reading
COUNTDOWN 2011: 100% BONUS DEPRECIATION EXPIRES – REPLACED BY 50% FOR 2012
12/15/2011 Some tax bills just defy spiffy acronyms. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111-312, 124 Stat. 3296, H.R. 4853) is one of them. TRUIRJCA — nope, that does not roll off the tongue, like say EGTRRA (pronounced EggTra) and JGTRRA (JeggTra). If you think you’ve never heard… Continue Reading
COUNTDOWN 2011: CONGRESS PLAYS HOT POTATO WITH OUR PAYROLL TAXES
12/14/2011 Tick tick tick. The time is running down and Congress continues to fight over the payroll tax cut that benefits millions of workers in the United States. Including rich and poor alike. For 2011, Congress allowed Americans a 2% decrease in the payroll tax that funds Social Security (FICA). The FICA withholding has been… Continue Reading
2011 TAX COUNTDOWN: BUSINESS TAX DEDUCTIONS AND CREDITS EXPIRING ON DECEMBER 31 2011
12/13/2011 As of this morning, Congress continued to bicker about tax law changes, so as of now…the following items will cease to provide tax relief to businesses at midnight on December 31, 2011: The 100% Bonus Depreciation Deduction (aka Section 168(k) bonus depreciation) – this is the big one and we will discuss it more… Continue Reading
2011 TAX COUNTDOWN: TAX BREAKS THAT EXPIRE ON DECEMBER 31 2011
12/12/2011 It is said that tax law changes on average 23 times a day…at least it SEEMS like it does. Congress passes major legislation, the IRS issues rulings and tweaks what Congress has done, and the courts try to figure it all out. Day in and day out. Excluding Saturdays and Sundays. And a couple… Continue Reading
Exemptions for Kids of Divorced Couples – Fed Law Trumps State Decrees
12/01/2011 The IRS no longer wishes to wade into the murky waters of divorce, and the tax technicians who open the mail certainly don’t want to read your legal papers, so here is the relatively new edict: court orders, decrees and separation agreements alone cannot be relied upon to determine which parent may “take the… Continue Reading