Personal Finance Advice

The IRS hears so many of the same ridiculous arguments by people claiming they are not liable to pay income tax that it has posted a 64-page document on its website called “The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments.” It sets out the basis for each argument, and then meticulously sets the record straight, complete with [...]

You’ve likely heard of numerous stories in the past about the government spending ridiculously high amounts of money on basic items such as the $640 toilet seat, the $435 claw hammer and $7,600 for coffee makers.
In an effort to try to change these perceptions, the Office of Management and Budget recently upgraded its website to [...]

The IRS sent out a press release due to many people making mistakes on getting the free money they are entitled to through the one time Telephone Excise Tax Refund for 2006 taxes. One of the points highlighted by the IRS is that more than a third of the people who appear to be eligible [...]

Conventional wisdom would say that if you’re expecting a sizable Federal income tax refund, you would want to file your tax return as soon as possible to collect your money that you have been lending the IRS interest free during the year. With free online filing available, this has been encouraging even more people to [...]

That is my question for today. How much do you pay in taxes? Remember the answer you have just given and keep reading.
I had an interesting conversation with a friend a couple of days ago on this subject. We were talking about taxes and some of the new tax laws when I asked, “How much [...]

The tax preparers have seen the light and realize there is more money to be made being loan sharks than by preparing your taxes. And they have taken it to a whole new level this year by not even requiring you to fill out a tax return…simply bring in your year end pay stub, they [...]

I received an email from a TV producer named Pam Wheaton Shorr who has sought people from our forums on other stories in the past that is putting together a story about the new IRS option to split your tax refund into several different accounts. This is what she is looking for:
I produce consumer reports [...]

The following story has been circulating around the Internet since 2001, but it is always a humorous read (and will get you thinking a bit) as people start to put their taxes together so I thought I’d place it up for some that may have missed it:
This is a VERY simple way to understand the [...]

Had to smile when I saw this:

Courtesy of blakefacey

I received a package in the mail the other day with a line of books called Tax Deductions A to Z by Anne Skalka ($12.95 each) which I found to be an interesting twist to most tax books I come across. First, instead of trying to include tax information for every possible situation and for [...]

If you’re one of the 9.6 million people that filed an extension for filing your taxes and have been procrastinating, you have a week before they absolutely have to be turned in. Monday October 16 is the deadline for all those that filed an extension to submit their Federal taxes. It is still possible to [...]

If you paid long distance telephone tax (after Feb. 28, 2003 and before Aug. 1, 2006), you will qualify for a $30 to $60 tax refund on your 2006 tax return. The IRS has announced standard amounts for the refund meaning that people won’t have to sort through their old telephone bills to figure out [...]

I mentioned earlier that the IRS was planning to allow taxpayers to designate their refund to several accounts rather than just one beginning next year. The IRS just released a sample copy of IRS Form 8888 which will allow you to do this and they are requesting public comment on this new split refund form [...]

Some good news from the IRS today. Beginning January 2007, if you are getting a tax refund, you can designate the tax refund to go into up to three different accounts. Previously you could only designate a single savings or checking account to have the entire refund deposited into. This meant that if you wanted [...]

I read an interesting article about new legislation being proposed in California where your tax refund could be split and sent to two different accounts instead of just one. The reasoning is that by doing this, people will be more likely to send part of their tax refund to a retirement savings account instead of [...]

Get your fill of tax cartoons:
Tax Cartoons 2006

While most people don’t like to pay taxes, what’s even worse is when you know someone who should be paying taxes, but they are cheating on them to not pay their fair share. According to the IRS, taxpayers underpay their taxes by some $300 billion. If you have enough information on how they are cheating [...]

With taxes due just around the corner, you have (or soon will) find out whether you’re paying or receiving a refund. While a large tax refund is fun to get, it’s also an indication that you’re not having the correct amount withheld from your paychecks.
When you receive a large tax refund, what you’re basically [...]

With the tax deadline right around the corner, you have already finished your taxes or will be finishing them soon. now is a great time to look at what deductions you were able to take and see if you can increase them for next year.
If you file a Schedule A (Itemized Deductions) when doing your [...]

You’ll be able to get a lot more information on the Google Finance from other sources - it seems geared toward companies and investing rather than personal finances, but there is one nice feature that I wanted to point out for those tracking their individual stocks. If you have a Gmail account (if you don’t, [...]