Personal Tax

Article Highlights: Large Refund or Tax Due Employers Withhold Based on W-4 IRS Online Withholding Calculator Self-employed Taxpayers If your income is primarily from wages and you received a very large refund—or worse, if you owed money—then your employer is not withholding the correct amount of tax (but it probably isn’t your employer’s fault). Sure, you like a big … [Read more...] about Is Your Refund Too High or Do You Owe Taxes? You Probably Need to Adjust Your W-4

Article Highlights: Flat dollar amount penalty Percentage of income penalty Household income Modified adjusted gross income Tax filing threshold The penalty for not having minimum essential health insurance for yourself and other members of your tax family takes a substantial jump in 2015. For 2014, the penalty was the greater of the flat dollar amount ($95 for each … [Read more...] about Tax Penalty For Not Having Insurance Ratchets Up In 2015

April 1 - Last Day to Withdraw Required Minimum Distribution Last day to withdraw 2014’s required minimum distribution from Traditional or SEP IRAs for taxpayers who turned 70½ in 2014. Failing to make a timely withdrawal may result in a penalty equal to 50% of the amount that should have been withdrawn. Taxpayers who became 70½ before 2014 were required to make their 2014 IRA … [Read more...] about April 2015 Individual Due Dates

Selling a property one has owned for a long period of time will frequently result in a large capital gain, and reporting all of the gain in one year will generally expose the gain to higher than normal capital gains rates and subject the gain to the 3.8% surtax on net investment income added by Obamacare. Capital gains rates: Long-term capital gains can be taxed at 0%, 15%, or … [Read more...] about Installment Sale – a Useful Tool to Minimize Taxes

Article Highlights: Away-from-home lodging Non-away-from-home lodging Requirements to be deductible Substantiation requirements A business deduction is allowed for lodging when a taxpayer travels away from his or her “tax home.” A taxpayer’s tax home is generally the location (such as a city or metropolitan area) of a taxpayer’s main place of business (not necessarily … [Read more...] about Local Lodging May Be Deductible