Don't Mess With Taxes

This post has been reviewed and updated, Friday, Dec. 14, 2018 Bear and bull statues face off outside the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany. It's been a typical year for the U.S. stock market. It's been up, sometimes way, way up. And it's been down, sometimes way, way down. You made some money on your investments. You lost some money on your investments. And now, you're finally looking to rebalance your portfolio, cashing in some lower-taxed capital gains and offsetting them buy unloading some of your (few, I hope!) bad asset choices. Good for you. But don't undermine that effort... Read more →

Taxes are about dollar amounts and dates. April 15 obviously is the biggie. But Dec. 31 is almost as important. The end of a tax year is, for the most part, the last time you can make tax moves that could help lower your coming tax bill. While we all wish we could have Homer Simpson's to-do list, when it comes to taxes, most of us need to take care of some potentially money saving tax tasks by Dec. 31. With the days rapidly dwindling (the countdown clock over there in the ol' blog's right column is tracking them), here... Read more →

Hello 2016! Some of us (not me) got up early to welcome you. Others (me, as you can tell from the posting time on this item) are still easing into this brand new year. But one thing that most of us soon will be doing, regardless of our post-New Year's Eve celebration energy level, is making New Year's resolutions. Yeah, I know making resolutions is the annual, and usually temporary, victory of hope over experience. Most of our attempts to make ourselves and our lives better, at least within the strictures of quick and catchy Jan. 1 lists of goals,... Read more →

Welcome to the last week of 2015. The end of the calendar year is important not just for your New Year's Eve party planning purposes, but also because when it comes to most tax moves, Dec. 31 is a critical and firm deadline. So with the soon-to-be-old year rapidly winding down, here are 10 tax moves to make by Dec. 31. 1. Take your retirement account distribution. Most owners of tax-deferred retirement accounts who are age 70½ or older must take a specific amount out of their nest eggs by the end of the year or face stiff penalties. This... Read more →

This is it. The end of the 2014 tax year. One business day left to make moves that could lower your tax bill. Since December is traditionally the month for giving, I've focused a lot on tax-related charitable donations this month. Far be it from me to break a streak at this late date. The final Weekly Tax Tip of 2014 looks at uncommon charitable gifts, such as miles driven to help your favorite nonprofit, gifting certain appreciated assets and even sending Uncle Sam a few dollars to pay down the federal debt. The many pluses of donating a vehicle:... Read more →

There are just two days left in the 2014 tax year. That's not much time, but folks determined to save on this year's taxes still have time to make a few year-end moves. I was up at o'dark-thirty this morning to discuss some quick year-end tax tactics with KARN radio. If you weren't up at 6:10 a.m. (and why in heaven's name would you be!?) or aren't in the Little Rock, Arkansas, broadcast area, here's what I talked about (and more). Do you itemize? If so, you have more tax-cutting options than those who claim the standard deduction. Here are... Read more →

The stock market has been on a crazy run in 2014. When its wild swings up and down ultimately shake out, many folks will find that their portfolios are going to worth much more. Some folks took their gains earlier in the year. Others are cashing in those positive holdings as part of their year-end tax planning. Either way, they'll face taxes on their investment profits. Granted, the tax rate for long-term capital gains generally is lower than a taxpayer's ordinary income tax rate: 20 percent for higher earners (those in the top tax bracket), 15 percent for most middle-class... Read more →

Yes, it's the holiday season. Christmas is less than a week away, and you've got a house to clean, meals to plan and cook and gifts to buy. But you also need to think about some year-end tax moves. You probably checked out the 10 tax tasks to take care of by Dec. 31 that appeared a few weeks ago as a Weekly Tax Tip. Thanks. Now here's my gift to you, an 11th tax move. Hire a tax professional. True, this isn't one you necessarily need to do by year's end. But you do need to think about hiring... Read more →

Ho! Ho! Ho! Holy Moly! It's December already! The song is wrong, or at least incomplete. It may well be the most wonderful time of the year, but it's also the busiest. I don't know about you, but busy and wonderful isn't always (or usually) a good convergence. Unfortunately, there's very little we can do about it this year, especially since Thanksgiving fell late in November. Things right now are even more crunched, what with more shopping, holiday parties, and getting ready to visit relatives or host them at your home, all the while trying to shoehorn in some work.... Read more →

Here we are, into the final two months of the year. That means much of our time will be spent thinking about getting ready for cold weather, use-or-lose vacation days and the rapidly approaching holidays. But we also need to think about taxes. November is the perfect month to take some steps so that you don't have to deal with tax turkeys at filing time. Wild turkeys photo by Yathin S. Krishnappa via Wikimedia Vote! Many folks will get a direct say on their states' tax policies when they vote tomorrow, Nov. 4. Among the almost 150 ballot questions across... Read more →

The 2013 tax year is finally over. That means it's time to turn your tax thoughts to moves you can make to reduce your 2014 tax bill. A good starting point for any tax planning is with the basics, such as knowing what your tax bill likely will be. While there are a lot of variables that come into play, you can get a general idea by checking out the annual tax brackets. We're still waiting for Congress to finalize many 2014 tax laws, but the seven ordinary income tax rates are the same, starting at 10 percent and topping... Read more →

East Coast taxpayers have about half a day of 2013 left. West Coasters get a few more hours. But regardless of where you live, time is rapidly winding down as far as tax moves you can make to reduce your final 2013 tax bill. Hopefully, you checked out the many year-end tax options when I wrote about them in late November for Bankrate.com (or saw it when it was picked up by ABC News) or blogged about them on Dec. 1. Or maybe you checked the right column's December Tax Moves running calendar. If so, thanks for reading and good... Read more →

Is there any popular holiday tune more beloved than The Christmas Song? Its title alone -- THE Christmas Song, not just A Christmas Song or Some Christmas Song -- gives it predominance in the Christmas carol collection. And the prominence is well deserved, especially Nat King Cole's rendition of Mel Torme's classic. It is simply superb. Cole's inimitable voice makes this the quintessential Christmas at home song. We've got a roaring fireplace (mmm, toasty chestnuts!), mom and dad snuggling (remember the mistletoe mention) and the kiddos finally settled in for the night awaiting St. Nick and his flying reindeer. All... Read more →

Economic wonks have gathered in Washington, D.C., or if they can't travel to the nation's capital, around their video screens and/or television business news channels. The reason? Today marks the beginning of the final Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the year. The Federal Reserve members will issue a statement on their decisions tomorrow afternoon. We all know what that means. The stock market will be, at best, erratic while the Fed folks are in session. Investors are nervously anticipating any indication as to exactly when the Fed will dial back its monetary stimulus. In early trading today, stocks... Read more →

'Tis the season to be jolly, but not too jolly at, as the song goes, the annual office Christmas party hop. OK, Brenda Lee doesn't specify "office" party when she sings Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, but that song is a standard at almost every holiday gathering of workers. And you want to make sure that you make the right impression on the boss who's gone to the trouble to throw the soiree. Of course, as today's second Christmas Tax Tip Tune notes, your employer also gets some help from Uncle Sam in staging the seasonal shindig. Fully deductible office... Read more →

Christmas is less than two weeks away. I must admit that the holiday has sneaked up on me this year, but I'm finally getting into the spirit. And as a tax geek, that means that some -- OK, a lot -- of the holiday trappings remind me of taxes. Take, for example, Christmas carols. Listening to them at a holiday party this past weekend naturally brought to mind some tax provisions. That's right. This is just the kind of thing the hubby lives with, even at this special time of year. You can send your words of sympathy for him... Read more →

It's finally here! Everyone's favorite month. The final 31 days in which you can take steps to reduce your 2013 tax bill. What? You thought I was talking about Christmas? C'mon! If you've been reading the ol' blog for the last eight years, you know I started my tax musings by referring to any consideration of taxes as the most wonderful time of the year. And while taxes must share at least 25 of December's days with the big annual gift-giving event, this final month of the year is a great time to give yourself a smaller tax bill. So... Read more →

Did you buy Twitter stock today when the Internet company went public? Neither did I. I am hoping, though, that the tech mutual fund I own did pick up some shares. And I hope the Twitter folks are successful, not only because of my possible future earnings potential, but because the 140-character online connector is my favorite of the social media offerings -- despite this very long sentence and my overall tendency toward lengthy blog posts! (BTW, I'm @taxtweet.) Today's stock market twittering attention got me thinking about an annual year-end tax-planning rite, the evaluation of portfolios. In most cases,... Read more →

If you itemize your deductions and you're like me, you will spend the waning days of the year looking over expenses and seeing how much more you need to spend. Wait, you say. You are spending more at the time of year when budgets are already stretched thanks to all the presents on your list? Yes, I am. And it might be a good idea for you too. That's the ninth Reindeer Year-end Tax Games Tip of 2012 from Rudolph, Santa's glowing team leader. As the one who's head of the sleigh bunch, Rudolph says bunch your expenses. Vintage Rudolph... Read more →

Unless you're a couple of tax professionals, the Internal Revenue Code probably had very little to do with your courtship. But the truth is, taxes can be a big part of every relationship. For most of us (and soon maybe more of us after the Supreme Court hears an estate-tax related same-sex marriage case), our tax laws have an effect on us once our relationships move to the "I do" phase. That's why Santa's romantically-named reindeer Cupid reminds us that our marital status on Dec. 31 determines our filing status for the whole tax year. These wise words are Reindeer... Read more →