General Tax Information

Few things are more painful than dealing with the IRS. If you ever find yourself on the wrong side of the IRS, you want to have a plan. Regardless of what you do, remember that you are just a...

Social Security was established in 1937 to collect funds from workers that are then used to generate payments for medical care, retirement and disability programs. Workers in the U.S. are required...

It seems like we have online access to just about everything these days. However, it may come as a surprise that some of our income tax account information is still not available via the Internet.

A taxpayer who is married has a choice between filing married filing jointly and married filing separately. For most taxpayers, filing a joint tax return is preferable to filing a separate return.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a gift is property given to an individual by another individual who receives less than the property's value in return. Money, real estate or other...

Many individuals don't realize that filing taxes online is extremely easy and beneficial. Instead most individuals go out and hire someone to do their taxes for them and end up paying an arm and a...

Unlike wages, the proceeds from selling stocks is not taxed as ordinary income. Instead profits are taxed at capital gains rates. Reporting income from the sale of stock requires an additional...

Maintaining two residences can be expensive and stressful. You have two sets of real estate taxes, two mortgages, double the utilities, and you may have cleaning and maintenance fees if you're...

An employee is responsible for how much taxes are withheld from his check because the withholding largely depends on the information he supplies his employer. Depending on certain circumstances,...

To compute your federal withholding, along with your number of allowances and filing status (W-4), you will need to use the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) withholding tax tables. You can locate...

Although the IRS' website has an email feature for users to email questions to them, they strongly advise that this option was not designed for highly complicated tax problems or questions...

The Housing Assistance Tax Act (the Act) is part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The Act was signed into law in July 2008 by President George W. Bush and primarily provides tax...

If an employer wants to offer its employees a chance to save for their future, it often does so in the form of retirement plans such as 401k. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 401k...

Progressive tax systems are designed to subject a larger percentage of income to taxation for individuals, households and businesses with larger incomes, while lowering the tax burden on those...

Many employers offer their employees retirement benefits such as 401(k) plans. The employer must send an annual report to the IRS and the Department of Labor (DOL) detailing the plan. Form 5500 is...

Federal unemployment insurance (FUI) is unemployment insurance financed through federal employer payroll taxes. The program funds state unemployment programs, enabling those programs to provide...

Selling Avon products is a simple and successful business model that works for many people, be it full-time income or part-time. Avon does not hire employees or independent contractors; it offers...

Claiming a dependent on your income tax return is one of the many ways to pare your tax liability. Dependents typically are children under the taxpayer's care. But disabled relatives and adults...

According to the IRS, a levy is a legitimate apprehension of your asset to satisfy a tax debt. A levy varies from a tax lien, which is used as collateral for a tax debt. A levy actually seizes the...

The law requires employers and employees to share the responsibility of paying payroll taxes. Along with paying his portion of payroll tax, the employer must also withhold and pay his employees'...

The Internal Revenue Service notes that a levy is the legal apprehension of assets to pay for a tax debt, including the garnishing of wages. Before imposing a levy on wages, the IRS sends a formal...

Failure to pay your taxes can result in strict penalties from the Internal Revenue Service. If the IRS has difficulty collecting taxes from you, it eventually imposes a levy. Before issuing the...

There are a number of factors that will require you to file a federal tax return even if you're not working. The biggest mistake is to presume you don't need to file your tax return even if you...

Social Security numbers are required to file income tax returns. They are also used as an individual identifier within the United States. The first three digits of a Social Security number...

Though the civic duty of paying taxes has been drilled into our heads time and time again, it doesn't make the task less onerous when we sit down to calculate the exact size of the check to write...

A tax circuit breaker is a provision in a state's property tax code that automatically refunds some amount of money to property owners whose tax burdens exceed a certain percentage of their...

If you are changing jobs or recently lost a spouse, and don't know what to do with the money in your retirement account, you may want to consider a rollover. A rollover is when you take the cash...

I looked for anything I could possibly tax deduct a few years ago. I got that chance to deduct when I had some extra flower bulbs and plants that I divided from my own flower beds at my house....

If you are eligible for a refund from the Internal Revenue Service, you have the option of receiving your money via direct deposit service or by paper check through the mail. While direct deposit...

The terms "tax lien" and "tax levy" are often used when talking about the IRS, but it can be difficult to understand the differences between them. The two items seem similar, but there are...

Royalties are payments made by a third party to a person or entity (such as a business) that holds a property, patent, or copyright for the right to use that property. Such property includes...

Taxes are collected at the local, state and federal level in order to fund a variety of public services. However, once the budgets of these three levels of government are combined, it can get a...

Everyone knows that taxes pay for the government, but there is much more to it than that. Taxes are used to finance projects, spread income among lower-income citizens and influence the ways...

Most employer granted stock options are not included as part of ordinary income when they are granted or exercised.

The tax penalty for early withdrawals of funds from a 401k is 10 percent. Early distributions occur when you are younger than 59 1/2. This penalty is in addition to ordinary income tax that is due...

Tax credits reduce the amount of tax you owe, while a tax rebate is the money you get back if you have overpaid in tax withholding.

Taxes can be complicated; and while it is nice to do them on your own and save yourself the money you would spend paying a professional, how can you be sure you are getting all of the money back...

A federal tax identification number, also known as a tax ID, is the number associated by the Internal Revenue Service to a private individual or corporate entity. The IRS uses the number as a...

One of the most daunting considerations for a new business owner is how to handle business taxes. There are a multitude of tax issues to consider at every stage of starting your small business....

Nearly all adult U.S. citizens must file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Knowing the who, what, when and where helps you get started.

If you have ever spent hours working on your tax return, you know how important it is to save those records. But what happens when computer files are lost or paper files are destroyed and you need...

When it comes time to receive a tax rebate, there are some things you can do to make sure you recover yours as quickly as possible. Tax rebates are issued by the Internal Revenue Service to all...

A Flexible savings account (FSA) referred to by the Internal Revenue Service Publication 969 as Flexible Spending Arrangements, is a program that sets aside monies to reimburse employees for their...

Both federal and state tax returns are due every year on April 15. There are extensions available for both as long as you meet some conditions. This information is laid out clearly on both the...

Although paying taxes is one of the few certainties in life, it's sometimes not certain if the IRS or state government have calculated your taxes correctly. When you are asked to pay taxes you do...

April 15th has come and gone. You're glad to have your taxes filed, and you'd prefer never to look at the paperwork again. The next question is how long should you maintain your records?

If you own a business that pays contract workers more than $600 for the calendar year, it is your lawful duty to fill out a 1099 form for all the contractors. Independent contractors are people...

A tax advisor refers to a financial advisor with special training in tax law. They are often hired to make sure that the balance sheets of larger companies are correct or to help individuals...