It's normally the due date for the year's second estimated tax payment. It's also the filing deadline for taxpayers abroad, be they private citizens or members of the U.S. military.
But when June 15 falls on a weekend, like today, then the deadline is pushed to the next business day. That means these tax tasks must be taken care of no later than Monday, June 17.
I blogged last week about estimated taxes, so today's post focuses on the tax responsibilities of taxpayers living outside U.S. borders.
Two more months to file: The Internal Revenue Service automatically gives these folks two extra months, from April 15 to June 15, to file their returns.
But the IRS also notes on another Web page that "if you pay the tax due after the regular due date, interest will
be charged from the regular due date until the date the tax is paid." The regular due date is, of course, the dreaded April 15.
The agency also reiterates the interest assessment on unpaid taxes between April 15 and June 15 (or June 17 in 2013) in the When to File and Pay section of Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad.
The good news, though, is that you won't face penalty charges for not filing as long as you get your 1040 in or postmarked by the June deadline.
To make sure that the IRS doesn't charge you, attach a statement to your return explaining which of the two situations -- living and working abroad or posted by the military to overseas duty -- qualifies you for the extension.
And if you need even more time to file, submit a regular request for an extension, Form 4868.
If you haven't yet paid the tax you owe, be sure to do so with this request to avoid the failure to pay penalty.
You can
find my other tax blog thoughts at Bankrate Taxes Blog on most Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you
happen to miss my posts over there during the week, you can find a
summary (and links) here the following
weekend.
Folks spend the long Memorial Day weekend different ways.
Many travel, visiting family or friends or just seeing new sites.
Others take advantage of the ubiquitous sales that are pegged to every holiday. Some shoppers even get a few sales tax savings this weekend and beyond.
And millions of us have, will or will again fire up the grill. But, as the poster below notes, it's Memorial Day, not National BBQ Day.
Memorial Day is the official day to remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It began as Decoration Day to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.
In 1967 it was renamed Memorial Day as a way to show that the remembrance was for all fallen military personnel. Four years later, Memorial Day became an official federal holiday celebrated on the last Monday in May.
Click the image above, courtesy Huffington Post Politics, to view the full Memorial Day infographic.
In December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed into law "The National Moment of Remembrance Act," P.L. 106-579, creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance. The commission's charter is to "encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity" by encouraging and coordinating commemorations in the United States of Memorial Day and the National Moment of Remembrance.
The National Moment of Remembrance is 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.
So in between all your other activities today, be sure to take a moment
-- 3 p.m. or any other time today or any other day, too -- to acknowledge and honor the many of our service men and women who died in service to our nation.
Tax breaks for the military: Service members are asked to so much for their country, too often without adequate compensation or support.
There are, however, some tax benefits afforded military personnel. Internal Revenue Service Publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide, has details on tax considerations and benefits for those in the service. For federal tax purposes, the armed forces includes officers and
enlisted personnel in all regular and reserve units controlled by the
Secretaries of Defense, the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Coast Guard.
But here are few highlights.
Taxable, tax-exempt pay: Members of the military receive many different types of pay. They include allowances for housing, living expenses, moving costs, travel expenses and combat zone pay. Some are counted as taxable income; other amounts are excluded from tax. Tables 1 and 2, found on pages 3 and 4 of Pub. 3, break out the tax treatment of military income.
Combat pay, compensation that many of our service men and women are receiving based on where they are serving, is treated differently. Some of it can be excluded
from pay for tax purposes. But military members also can elect to
include nontaxable combat pay in earned income for purposes of claiming
the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
Filling deadlines: Military members stationed abroad have until June 15 to file Form 1040. When you file, write "Taxpayer Abroad" at the top of your 1040 and attach a
statement explaining your international posting situation. Remember, however, that any tax due should have been paid by April 15.
And if you need beyond mid-June to send in your tax paperwork, you can file Form
4868 to move your tax return deadline to mid-October.
In addition, service personnel who served in combat zones get an automatic extension of the April 15 deadline to file their taxes. The basic extension period is 180 days, but it might be lengthened
depending upon when in the tax season you were shipped to a combat zone. If, for example, you were in a combat zone 30 days before the April filing deadline, you get a 210-day
extension. You aren't charged any penalties or interest during this
extension period.
Notify the IRS of your request for a combat zone
filing extension via the agency's special e-mail address combatzone@irs.gov.
Uniform costs: The military is a stickler for detail and that includes your appearance. While you generally cannot deduct the cost of your uniforms if you are on
full-time active duty, if you're an armed forces reservist, you can deduct
the unreimbursed cost of your uniform. You also can count the costs of cleaning and upkeep.
Just make sure they are uniforms that you cannot wear when off duty. Also, you have to reduce your deduction by any uniform allowance
that you receive.
Also note that this is a miscellaneous itemized tax deduction claimed on Schedule A and the total of these expenses must exceed 2 percent of your adjusted gross income before you can claim them.
Travel expenses: Members of the military reserve or National Guard might be able to deduct travel expenses connected with your unit's training. If you travel more than 100 miles from
home and are away overnight, you can deduct your lodging, half of the
cost of meals and the standard mileage rate (55.5 cents per mile in 2012; 56.5 cents per mile in 2013) along with tolls and parking fees.
This is an above-the-line deduction claimed on Form 1040, meaning you don't have to itemize to use it. And if you do itemize, you still can take this deduction directly on your tax form, too.
Tax residency: Members of the military usually are taxed in their state of legal residence rather than in the state where they are stationed.
For example, if you have a home in Iowa but are stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, if you can show you're a legal resident of Iowa, you would file with your Hawkeye State address instead of as a Californian. Your Iowa tax residency would remain even if you are reposted elsewhere.
The ability to use your legal residence for tax purposes can be particularly beneficial if your state is one that exempts military pay from state taxes.
Check with your state about its tax treatment of military pay, as well as what is required to establish residency. Generally, this includes such things as getting a driver's license, registering your vehicle and paying state taxes, such as income or property taxes.
In addition, thanks to the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act (MSRRA), which became law in 2009, a nonmilitary spouse of a service member now may be able to keep the same state residency as his or her military spouse regardless of the state where they live.
World War I officially ended
when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919.
The actual fighting, however, had stopped seven months earlier when an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect
on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
That cessation of hostilities on Nov. 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of what was then dubbed "the war
to end all wars."
Unfortunately, the hope that there would be no more wars was not borne out and fighting continues at this moment in too many places across the world.
But on this Nov. 11 we still hearken back to President Woodrow Wilson's proclamation on Nov. 11, 1919, of the first Armistice Day and his words about this special day:
"To us in
America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn
pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with
gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has
freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her
sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"
Armistice Day began as a day set aside to honor veterans of World
War I, but after U.S. troops were called to action in World War II and Korea, Congress revised the Armistice Day designation to Veterans Day.
Memorial in my dad's West Texas hometown commemorating residents who served in or during various wars. My father was a member of the U.S. Navy and then the Navy Reserve during Korea.
And on June 1, 1954, Public Law 380 took effect, declaring that Nov. 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls, would henceforth be a day to honor
American veterans of all wars.
Tax considerations of veterans: In addition to the flying of flags, parades and other commemorations, veterans also get some specific tax considerations.
Tax law says that former service members do not have to include in income any veterans' benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
According to Internal Revenue Service Publication 17, that means that the following amounts paid to veterans or their families are not taxable:
Education, training, and subsistence allowances;
Disability compensation and pension payments for disabilities paid either to veterans or their families;
Grants for homes designed for wheelchair living Grants for motor vehicles for veterans who lost their sight or the use of their limbs;
Veterans' insurance proceeds and dividends paid either to veterans or their beneficiaries, including the proceeds of a veteran's endowment policy paid before death;
Interest on insurance dividends left on deposit with the VA;
Benefits under a dependent-care assistance program;
The death gratuity paid to a survivor of a member of the Armed Forces who died after Sept. 10, 2001;
Payments made under the compensated work therapy program; and
Any bonus payment by a state or political subdivision because of service in a combat zone.
Training, transition help for vets: For veterans who are looking for help in their post-military service transition to the civilian work force, The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 offers assistance through expanded education and training opportunities for veterans.
Under the VA's Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), unemployed veterans can get up to 12 months of training assistance. The U.S. Department of Labor will offer employment assistance to veterans who complete the program.
In addition, veterans with a service-connected disability who previously completed a VA vocational
rehabilitation program and have exhausted their initial claim for unemployment benefits
may qualify for another 12 months of VA vocational rehabilitation benefits.
Employer tax break for hiring vets: Companies that hire former military personnel also get a tax break.
The 2011 revisions to the Hire Heroes Act added two new categories to the
existing qualified veteran target group and made the Work
Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) available to
certain tax-exempt employers as a credit against the employer's share
of Social Security tax.
Employers can claim the WOTC for
hiring qualified veterans who begin work before
Jan. 1, 2013.
The business tax credit can be as much as $9,600 per qualified veteran for
for-profit employers or up to $6,240 for qualified tax-exempt
organizations.
The precise amount of the credit also depends on a number
of factors, including the length of the veteran's unemployment before
being hired, the number of hours the veteran works and the veteran's
first-year wages.
State tax issues for veterans: Many states also offer veterans benefits. In many cases, they include special exemptions or discounts on fees and taxes.
Own a business? Hired a vet? Be sure you check out the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.
And be sure to do so by Tuesday, June 19.
That's right, you've only got a few days left to take tax advantage of your good hiring practices.
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit, or WOTC, can be as much as $9,600 per veteran for for-profit employers or up to $6,240 per veteran for tax-exempt organizations.
Employers that hired unemployed veterans during late 2011 and early 2012 were given extra time to request the required certification to claim the credit. But that expanded time frame ends next week.
The email appears to come from Defense Finance and Accounting Services, according to the IRS. It even displays a .mil email address.
The email states that persons receiving disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may be able to obtain additional funds from the IRS.
Email recipients then are asked to send various VA and IRS documents containing their personal and financial information, such as copies of VA award letters or their income tax returns, to an address in Florida.
But there are no additional benefits.
The crooks take the personal, tax and financial information and, using the senders' identities, empty their bank accounts, run up charges on their credit cards and apply for new cards, loans or benefits in the victims' names.
Be vigilant year-round: Tax-related phishing scams are common during the high tax season, January through mid-April.
Each year the IRS issues its list of the dirty dozen tax scams. And the video below highlights some of the tax scams that were particularly popular this year.
So please, please, please remember that if an unsolicited email promising more tax refund money or benefits you missed shows up in your in-box, it's 99.99 percent certain that it's a phishing scam.
Tax scam do's and don'ts: If you receive, or I should say when you receive since all of us will be a scam target eventually, a suspicious tax-related email --
Don't believe anything in an alleged IRS email. The agency doesn't communicate with individual filers this way. If you have a question, call the IRS directly, and toll-free, at 1-800-829-1040.
Don't reply to the emails, even to say "buzz off!"
And definitely don't open any links in the con artists' messages. They could set off a computer virus or other malware designed to capture your private information.
OK, those are the don'ts. What should you do?
Forward any suspicious tax email to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. Then delete it from your computer.
And if you think your personal information has been stolen by tax scammers, contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490.
Passport stamps by hjl via Flickr Creative Commons
Taxpayers who are out of the country can file online. Those who qualify -- individuals with adjusted gross incomes of $58,000 or less -- might be able to do so at no cost by using the Internal Revenue Service's Free File program.
Payment still required: Folks outside the country didn't have to worry about filing forms back in April.
The June 15 deadline, two months later than the filing due date for those of us within the United States' borders, was automatic.
Taxpayers living abroad, however, were supposed to have paid any due taxes by the April filing date. Although the extension was automatic, it didn't extend the payment deadline.
The IRS expects all U.S. taxpayers regardless of where they hang their hats, to pay their tax bills in April.
Extensions, automatic or requested, only give you more time to file your forms, not more time to pay taxes you owe.
For taxpayers abroad who don't pay, the Internal Revenue Service waives penalty charges, but is still starts assessing interest due from the April filing deadline. Missing the June deadlline will add penalty charges to that running tab.
Getting even more time: OK, you've had two extra months to get your tax filing act together, but that's still not happening. What now?
You, like your taxpaying peers in the United States proper, can ask for even more time.
Just file the usual request for an extension, Form 4868, to give you until Oct. 15 to submit your tax return.
Free File users can use that system to request an extension or it can be downloaded from the IRS website and mailed.
Combat location tax considerations: Some military filers also get additional time to file.
If you are serving in a combat zone or in a contingency operation, or are hospitalized as a result of an injury received while serving in such an area or operation, you qualify for deadline extensions.
The deadlines for filing tax returns, paying taxes, filing claims for refund and taking other actions with the IRS are extended to at least 180 days after you leave the designated combat zone or contingency operation.
You can contact the IRS directly with your request for combat zone deadline relief via the special email address at combatzone@irs.gov.
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was established just after the Civil War as a way to remember the soldiers who died in that tragic campaign.
Now on the fourth Monday of every May we recognize the sacrifices of all U.S. servicemen and women in all battles.
In addition to commemorating those who made the ultimate sacrifice, also keep in your thoughts the many service men and women who are serving today in combat zones.
Taxes and the troops: Military personal do get some special tax considerations.
Military.com's list of the top 10 tax tips for troops includes the combat zone income exclusion, retirement contributions deductions, home sale considerations, moving expenses and educational expenses.
One tax tip that didn't make this list also is a distressing commentary on how we ignore the literally life-saving needs of our soldiers and sailors.
If you purchased body armor [or other personally procured protection equipment] for combat duty, the entire cost (including shipping) is tax deductible. You or your spouse must have purchased it; if other friends or relatives purchased it, there's no deduction.
To deduct the armor, you must itemize your deductions. The deduction goes as an itemized deduction on Schedule A, which attaches to your Federal Form 1040. Only the amount of the cost which is more than 2 percent of your Adjusted Gross Income (in most cases, this is yours "and, if married, your spouses" combined salaries and wages).
For example, suppose you spend $2,000 for body armor, and you are single with service wages of $30,000. Your deduction is $2,000 minus $600 (or 2 percent of $30,000) or $1,400.
Besides body armor, anything else you purchase which helps you perform your service job better is tax deductible. This includes any equipment, or articles of clothing which would not be suitable for general civilian wear.
How sad that Uncle Sam can't supply every member of our armed forces with all the equipment they need to more safely do their jobs. It sure seems to be a more than ordinary and necessary expense.
How about a little less "patriotic" lip service to supporting the troops and a lot more help for these men and women, both while they're putting their lives on the line, and once they return to civilian life.
State leaders are among those worrying about the effect of automatic budget cuts that are scheduled to kick in following the inability of the super committee to come up with a deficit reduction deal.
When (if?) the $1.2 trillion in budget cuts equally divided between defense and domestic programs go into effect, some state and local economies could also take hits.
How much will states suffer?
Stateline.com sifted through U.S. Census data and found that Uncle Sam spent $480.4 billion on procurement in 2010. And that's this week's By the Numbers figure.
I could have just as easily chosen $279.3 billion as this week's number. That the total amount of federal wages and salaries paid out to workers nationally in 2010.
Obviously, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia will take major money hits if federal funds are actually sequestered in 2013.
Stateline put the projected state costs into an infographic. You can click on the reduced image of it there to the left for a bigger picture.
It shows that procurement dollars and salaries and wages for federal workers accounted for more than 40 percent of D.C.'s economic activity in 2010.
The amount in Virginia was 18.5 percent, with 13.5 percent the number for Maryland.
But some other localities also will share some of the federal budget cutting pain.
Hawaii's gross state product (GSP) last year included defense salaries of more than 10 percent and another 3.5 percent in defense-related procurement accounts.
In New Mexico, federal salaries and procurement spending made up 12.4 percent of the Land of Enchantment's GSP in 2010.
Alaska's GSP also was near 12 percent thanks to federal money.
And Kentucky's GSP included almost 10 percent from federal wages and procurement.
Small business costs, too: But it's not just contractors on big defense projects that reap the benefit of federal dollars.
You can be sure that this component of federal spending will get lots of attention as Congress struggles to deal with the impending automatic budget cuts.
The Senate yesterday unanimously approved a measure that offers businesses a variety of tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans.
"This bill will make it easier for businesses to hire veterans and help make veterans more competitive in the job market," Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement following the 95-0 vote.
Tax breaks for hiring veterans was part of Obama's overall jobs proposal. The president's overall measure quickly stalled on Capitol Hill, but Senators pulled the veterans' hiring section, dubbed the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to consider separately.
This latest jobs bill version incorporates a previous Baucus' proposal, the Hiring Heroes Act, which he co-sponsored along with his fellow Montanan and Democrat Sen. Jon Tester. The official amendment agreed to yesterday was sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
New tax breaks: The bill will provide a $5,600 tax credit to businesses that hire long-term unemployed veterans, a $2,400 tax credit for hiring short-term unemployed veterans and credits up to $9,600 for hiring unemployed veterans with service-related disabilities.
The measure also should help make veterans more marketable to civilian employers by requiring that the military, Veterans Affairs and Department of Labor work together to expand job training resources and make it easier for military certifications to apply in the civilian job market.
To pay for the veterans' programs, a fee charged to former service personnel for a home mortgage program that was due to expire on Nov. 18 will be extended for five years.
Symbolically targeted timing: Congressional legislative and political goals were to get the veterans' hiring tax credits into law by Veterans Day. Lawmakers came close.
The original bill, H.R. 674, was approved by the House on Oct. 27. In its first incarnation, the bill was designed to repeal the requirement that federal and state governments withhold 3 percent of all payments to government contractors. That rule, which has not been implemented yet, was designed to make sure that Uncle Sam is getting all due tax from firms with which it does business.
The Senate agreed with the withholding measure, but also added veterans' employment tax credits to the bill, so the measure now must go back to the other side of the Hill for reconsideration.
House Republican leaders have scheduled a vote for next week under a procedure that requires a two-thirds majority for passage. That is expected to be easily reached since the bill is a rare bipartisan agreement between House Republican and Senate Democrat leaders.
Remember those who served: While Congress might look like it's grandstanding a bit, OK grandstanding a lot, when it comes to this holiday, veterans deserve to be honored not just on Veterans Day but every day.
The holiday's origin is the ending of World War I. Major hostilities from that war formally ceased at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.
On this Veterans Day, and every day, please take time to remember those in uniform and say thanks personally when you can.
Wartime project mismanagement, lax federal oversight and outright corruption by contractors could end up costing U.S. taxpayers as much as $60 billion.
The eight-member independent commission was established by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 to study the costs of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress charged the bipartisan panel with studying federal agency contracting for the reconstruction, logistical support of coalition forces and the performance of security functions in those countries.
"Based on research and hearing testimony, the Commission estimates that waste and fraud have amounted to at least $31 billion, and possibly as much as $60 billion, during the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan," noted the Commission leaders in a statement accompanying the final report.
The Commission's report notes that contract waste, fraud and abuse take many forms:
An ill-conceived project, no matter how well-managed, is wasteful if it does not fit the cultural, political, and economic norms of the society it is meant to serve, or if it cannot be supported and maintained.
Poor planning and oversight by the U.S. government, as well as poor performance on the part of contractors, have costly outcomes: time and money misspent are not available for other purposes, missions are not achieved, and lives are lost.
Criminal behavior and blatant corruption sap dollars from what could otherwise be successful project outcomes and, more disturbingly, contribute to a climate in which huge amounts of waste are accepted as the norm.
The bottom line: Uncle Sam is over-relying on contractors.
"Some contractors have been performing tasks that only federal employees should perform, while others are doing work that is permissible but still too risky or inappropriate for contractors," said Commission co-chair Christopher Shays, a former Republican Representative from Connecticut.
"The government has known for 20 years that contractors would be a key part of any major response to large or sustained hostilities or major disasters. Yet the government was not prepared to go into Afghanistan in 2001 or Iraq in 2003 using large numbers of contractors, and is still unable to provide effective management and oversight of contract spending," added the Commission's other co-chair Michael Thibault, former deputy director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency.
The 240-page final report documents the Commission's research, hearings, meetings and briefings, domestic and overseas travel and the work of professional staff stationed full-time at Commission offices in Baghdad and Kabul.
Estimated tax time comes around four times a year -- When you have income that's not subject to payroll withholding, you must file estimated taxes. The extra payments made to the Internal Revenue Service via Form 1040-ES are due four times a year: April 15, June 15, Sept. 5 and the next year's Jan. 15. Yes, four extra tax filings -- and payments -- each year are a hassle. But owing a big tax bill in April, as well as interest and penalty charges for underpaying your annual tax liability, is a bigger pain. Estimated taxes are routine for folks with self-employment income, investment earnings or even gambling winnings. You can pay your estimated taxes by snail mailing the IRS a check or money order, or by making electronic payments via credit or debit card, electronic funds withdrawal or the IRS' Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). (June 12, 2013)
Check out all of the 2013 post-April 15 hints at Weekly Tax Tips.
You also can get a refresher of the Daily Tax Tips posted earlier this year on their respective monthly collection pages: January, February, March and April.
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June 1: Hurricane season starts today. The countdown clock below can help you keep track of how many days until the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico hurricane season ends on Nov. 30.
Now all we need is for Mother Nature to dial back on the tornadoes! As May wound down, deadly storms raked already pummeled Oklahoma and parts of the Midwest.
June 5: Welcome to summer. OK. The hottest season doesn't officially begin for a couple more weeks, but some thermometers here in Texas have already hit the triple-digit mark. And a heat wave in the Northeast has many feeling like it's mid-July instead of early June. Since it won't get cooler for a while, get your home in energy efficient shape now.
The $500 lifetime maximum tax credit for relatively easy energy upgrades could help. And if you want to install more extensive, and expensive, systems fueled by solar, wind or geothermal power, a more generous energy upgrade tax credit is available.
June 10: Does your job include tips? If so and you received $20 in tips in May, use Form 4070 to report them today to your employer.
June 16: Happy Father's Day! Dad might not say so, but he appreciates being recognized, so take time today to let him know you care. If you also show your affection by providing for the bulk of dad's living expenses (or mom's, too, for that matter), be sure you claim him, her or both of them as dependents on your tax return.
June 17: June 15 is a busy tax day, but since it fell this year on Saturday, you get until the next business day, today, to meet the deadlines.
If you're not paying your 2013 income tax through withholding, or will not pay in enough tax during the year that way, your second estimated tax payment of the year is due today.
June 17 also is the deadline for U.S. citizens or resident aliens living and working outside the country, as well as military personnel stationed abroad, to file Form 1040 and pay any tax, interest and penalties due. If you qualify, you can file online using Free File. Or if you need more time, you can file for an extension, Form 4868, to give you until Oct. 15.
June 24: Are you a June bride? Since the withholding rates are different for couples, both newlywed wives and husbands should file new W-4 forms at work to reflect their now-married tax status. Also, if the new missus changed her name, she needs to contact the Social Security Administration to make sure her tax ID number matches her new moniker. These tasks are just a couple of ways that marriage affects your taxes.
June 30: If you didn't get around to spring cleaning, you can do it now and donate any stuff you don't need but which is still useable. By giving the items to your favorite charity, your gifts could be tax deductible. Just be sure to get receipts!
Forty-three states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the seven states without an income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.
State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.
Looking for something in particular? Start with the Table of Contents. Or check out the Archives, where you can review posts by month and category. Or enter specific keywords in the box below to search Don't Mess With Taxes.
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The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes
Are you a tax geek? Got tax geek friends? Do you or they just want to make sure you don't overpay the IRS? Then my book, "The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes," is for all y'all.
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.
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I gotta tell ya ...
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I am a professional journalist who has been covering tax issues since 1999. I am not a professional tax preparer. 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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