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Keep Uncle Sam cranky!

  • It's no wonder Uncle Sam is not very happy here. His vault is empty.
    Don't Mess With Taxes aims to keep him cranky by providing tax and personal finance tips and advice that will put more money in your bank account, not the government treasury.

Great Googly Moogly!

July 2009

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Tax Calendar

  • April 15 has come and gone, but millions now have until Oct. 15 to file their 2008 returns. And millions more have 2009 tax planning to do.
  • There are plenty of year-round tax dates to keep track of, as well as lots of tax-saving moves you can make between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.
    Find them here each month.


    monthly tax moves
  • July 1: You're halfway through the year. Now's the perfect time to make some midyear tax moves that could cut your 2009 IRS bill. If your life has changed significantly since the beginning of the year, adjust your withholding to more accurately reflect your new life, and tax, situation. Just give your employer a new W-4.

    July 4: Happy Independence Day! Celebrate your independence from future tax hassles. Hire a tax professional now to help get your tax life in shape while there's still plenty of time to plan.

    July 10: Does your job include tips? If so and you received $20 in tips in June, use Form 4070 to report them today to your employer.

    July 17: Are your kids at day camp while you work? You might be able to use that expense to claim the child and dependent care credit to cover some of the costs.

    July 21: It's been summer for month. How's your air conditioner holding up? If you need a new one, make sure it's energy efficient; that way on your 2009 tax return you can claim a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500. Other energy-saving home improvements also qualify. Get the details at EnergyStar.gov.

    July 31: If you kids are older and working summer jobs, make sure they understand their tax responsibilities. You also can help your youngster get a nest egg head start by helping him or her open a Roth IRA with some of those summer earnings.

    Small Business Tax Calendar -- July: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates your company needs to know.

Carnival of Taxes

  • Where we party like
    it's 1040 ... Form 1040!


  • Check out the latest
    Carnival of Taxes,
    #55: Tax Fireworks


    Want to be a part of the next one on August 3? Just review the Tax Carnival guidelines
    and then send
    your tax musings, mumblings,
    even music to the
    Tax Carnival submission page
    .
  • Catch up on prevous
    Tax Carnivals in our archives.

Tax Terms

  • Earned income -- It's just like it sounds: Compensation you receive from work, including wages, salaries, commissions, tips and self-employment endeavors. Learn more...
  • Unearned income -- Money that is not gained by work or delivery of a service or product. It's most well-known source is from investments. Learn more...
  • Tax rates/brackets -- The U.S. tax system is a progressive one, in which the greater the earnings, the higher the tax rate. Learn more...
  • See these and other tax terms
    in the perpetually updated
    Tax Glossary.

Cool tax quotes

  • The income tax has made
    more liars out of the American people than golf has.

    -- Will Rogers, humorist
  • I'm proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is,
    I could be just as proud for half the money.
    -- Arthur Godfrey, comedian
  • Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. -- Author unknown, from a Washington Post word contest
  • "Internal Revenue Service: The world's most successful mail order business.” -- Bob Goddard, writer
  • "If you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don't teach him to subtract. Teach him to deduct." -- Fran Lebowitz, writer
  • "The United States has a system of taxation by confession." -- Hugo Black, Supreme Court Justice

But wait! There's more!

  • If you'd like to view more than
    the posts shown on this page, Arrow_right click here to go to the Don't Mess With Taxes archives page. There you can browse earlier blog items by the month they were posted or by their category.

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I gotta tell ya ...

  • AKA Disclaimer:
    The content on Don't Mess With Taxes is my personal opinion based on my study and understanding of tax laws, policies and regulations. It’s provided for your private, noncommercial, educational and informational purposes only. It’s not a recommendation or endorsement of any company or product. I strongly suggest that when it comes to filing your taxes, you get additional, professional, paid-for guidance from your accountant and other financial advisers who are familiar with your individual circumstances. In other words, don't blame me!

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Saturday, October 20, 2007

Tag! I'm it!

Seven I've been tagged by The World of Wealth to share seven random things about me, myself and I that y'all might not know.

The process is officially a meme. However, being old school (that's a freebie about me; let's say it's random thing 7.5), I see it as sort of a blogging chain letter. But rather than making false promises of riches or threats of disaster if you don't participate, the idea is to get to know the tagged blogger a little better.

Despite my best efforts, my life seems to get more random by the moment, so I had to work to keep it at seven. But here goes.

1. I was hugged by Bill Clinton. Hold it right there! It was all on the up-and-up. When we lived in the suburban D.C. area, my employer sponsored a Children's Defense Fund event and Bill and Hill were there. So I took advantage of getting to meet the President and First Lady. And, true to his touchy-feely persona, he hugged me! But the hubby -- and Hillary -- were right there, so, as I said, rein in your imaginations.

2. I had dinner with Al and Tipper Gore. Well, me and several hundred other folks, including the hubby. Again, it was part of a company-sponsored event, this time benefiting the Komen Race for the Cure.

In D.C., the Veep and Mrs. Veep, regardless of who's in the White House, are the honorary chairs of the annual race, and part of the festivities includes (or used to include) a casual dinner on the vice presidential residence's grounds. It was a great experience, even though most of the guys in attendance, the hubby excluded, were ogling Karenna Gore instead of paying attention to the future 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

OK, enough name dropping.

3. As you know from my blog intro, I'm a Texan. But to elaborate, I'm a fourth-generation Texan. A couple of my aunts traced our family connections to the American Revolution and subsequently joined the DAR, but, true to my Lone Star State birth, I am prouder of my Texas roots.

4. I was valedictorian of my high school class. I admit, however, that I didn't take a lot of math and science en route to the honor. And that didn't sit too well with the salutatorian, who finished just a few decimal points behind me in the rankings.

The reason he was upset? He dove right into physics and Algebra III, while my senior year included "library," which essentially was a free period to read and rack up an automatic "A."

In my defense, while I didn't know exactly what I was going to do when I grew up, I did know it wouldn't involve advanced math and science. So I earned my top-of-the-class title by using my noggin to avoid classes I knew I wouldn't use later in life!

Coach_summer_bag 5. One of my fiscal guilty pleasures is handbags. I own more than I need, and most are reasonably priced purses. But I do have two very expensive -- but quite lovely -- Coach bags. This one is a gift from the hubby.

6. I love movie soundtracks. Not musicals necessarily, although I do have CDs of "Chicago" and "A Chorus Line" (although in the latter's case, it's the Broadway version), but the music that runs behind the scenes in your basic dramas and comedies. Even a bad movie can be worth sitting through if the score is good.

The newest CD in my movie music collection is "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada." And the soundtrack I listened to most recently was "The Man Who Cried."

7. I'm a big sci-fi fan. Maybe it was because as a kid I wanted to be an astronaut. But when I realized that the math/science stuff I avoided in high school was a prerequisite, I took the fictional route.

Anyway, I do remember becoming a full-fledged addict when, also in high school, I read "A Canticle for Leibowitz." And my all-time favorite course at Texas Tech was an exploration of science fiction. It was taught by five professors, each a fan of the genre personally and who brought their particular expertise (classic literature, history, anthropology, archeology and chemistry) to the classroom. It was in that class that I wrote my first short story.

Well, that took me longer than I thought it would. But I actually enjoyed this bit of bloggy navel gazing and hope you do, too.

Thanks to The World of Wealth for the tag. You'll definitely want to read her seven things (click here), especially if you're a game show fan.

And now, per the rules of seven random things, I tag the following fellow bloggers to tell us all a bit about themselves.

Dimes   
Mapgirl
Lubna

Nina
Taxgirl
Joe 
Mike
   

If any of y'all have already been tagged and told, I apologize for missing it. Maybe you can leave a comment on this post and direct us to your previous personal revelations.

If not, we all look forward to learning a few tidbits about you!

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Seven random things (yikes, that is a lot, anyway, let us see).

1) My dream is to write a book, I have already thought of the title: Me, my bosses and other fellow managers. Yep, I love writing. This includes writing about my travel experiences, rather misadventures.

2)My nick name, tends to revolve around the name Maddie, there are several variants of it, the one which seems to have stuck is Madmax.

3) I talk to doggies, I think they understand. Well, try it out if you don't believe me.

4) My latest fascination is with tarot cards. I am still trying to learn more about it.

5)I have lots of cyber friends, with whom I am in regular touch with- including Kay.

6) I tend to be scared of crossing roads, which don't have traffic lights and lots of traffic

7) I hate shopping - except for books and casual wear. I love comfortable sneakers, wish I could even wear them at work.

I love film soundtracks as well. My particular favorite is the Liam Neeson Les Miserables (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119683/).

It's essentially one piece of music. Only 4 tracks. The IMDB entry allows you to click through to the amazon CD listing which has clips for all 4 tracks. It's my writing music. Also makes me think of fall and youth...

The one I'd like to buy is The Hours soundtrack by Philip Glass. Be still my heart!

Those are some fascinating facts, Kay! We have a lot in common except the Texan heritage.

I shared 8 random facts about myself a few months ago with bonus facts about my co-bloggers Charlie and Corey: http://10000birds.com/8-x-3-random-things.htm

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