taxes

How You Can Get a 14% Effective Tax Rate Like Mitt Romney and Other Super-Rich Americans

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GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife paid a 14% effective income tax rate in 2010 on nearly $22 million of income. Given the marginal federal income tax rate for anyone making over $35,350 (single) or $70,700 (married) is higher than 15%, it is pretty clear that the Romney’s are paying way below what [...]

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Using Your Roth IRA as an Emergency Fund

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Have you considered using your Roth IRA as an emergency fund? In this era of tight budgets, a lot of people are finding it difficult (if not impossible), to save for retirement and maintain an emergency fund. Because of this, it’s become trendy to recommend using your Roth IRA as a sort of de-facto emergency [...]

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Pick Your Correct Tax Filing Status To Minimize Taxes

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Selecting your tax filing status is one of the first key steps in filing your federal tax return. Choosing the right status is extremely important because it can affect your filing requirements, standard deduction and eligibility for certain tax credits/deductions. In certain situations picking an incorrect filing status can make the difference between paying taxes [...]

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2012 Simple IRA and SEP IRA Contribution Limits – Small Business Retirement Plans

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The IRS has released 2012 contribution limits and updated eligibility rules for two of the most popular small business retirement plans : the SEP IRA and Simple IRA. SEP IRA A SEP is a popular and widely used retirement plan management approach because it provides self employed owners or small business owners with a few [...]

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Should You File a Tax Return or File a Tax Extension?

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In these economically tough times you might not have enough money to pay your entire tax bill when due. Inside your head, you scream, “I need more time!” But wait–the IRS offers a 6-month deadline extension! You ask yourself, “Should I file a tax return or file a tax extension?” It’s better to prepare and [...]

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2012 Tax Filing Deadline Dates – When You Can File 2011 Tax Returns and Get Your Refund

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Generally you can file your 2011 tax return on January 1st 2012. But if, like most tax payers, you file an electronic return (e-file) you can only submit your return to the IRS in mid to late January. For most people this time frame is sufficient since it takes a few weeks to receive employer [...]

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Why the 3.6% 2012 COLA Increase Will Result in a Tax Hike For Over 10 Million American Workers

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With the announcement of a 3.6% COLA (cost-of-living-adjustment) increase, many social security recipients were cheering. After two years without a COLA increase for their benefits, this much needed boost was a ray of sunshine to over 60 million retirees. However, the picture is not so great for the 160 million workers in America who are [...]

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Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments and Installment Due Dates – 2011 and 2012 schedules

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Estimated taxes normally have to paid if you do not withhold taxes via your employer or if the amount of income tax being withheld from your salary, pension, or other income is insufficient. Estimated taxes are generally paid by small business’, self-employed workers with variable sources of income/expenses or those that have been notified by [...]

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Small Business Retirement Plans – 401k, SEP IRA, Simple IRA and ESOP plans

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Although many large organizations offer retirement savings plans, it is not necessary to be a part of corporate America in order to take advantage of tax-deductible retirement plans for investing in your future. In fact, as a self-employed small business owner or an employee of a small business, you have several options with regard to tax-advantaged saving for [...]

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Debt Ceiling Increase Deal Reached – Social Security, Veterans, Military and the Rich Least Impacted. AAA Rating May Still Go

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The President announced late on Sunday that Congress and the administration have reached an in-principle agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion and cut the federal deficit by as much as $2.5 trillion over a decade. House and Senate leaders must now sell this deal to their parties, before it is passed [...]

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Contributing to an IRA and Roth IRA if You Already Have a 401K

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This is the kind of question I get fairly often and one that I actually had to recently sort out for myself. To determine if and how much you can contribute to multiple tax advantaged accounts you need to meet differing modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) limits and qualifications as discussed below. IRS tables and links to [...]

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2011-2012 Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Exemption Amounts

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Everybody should pay their fair share of taxes, right? It would be difficult to find somebody who doesn’t believe that but in reality it’s not that simple. The tax code is a complicated document which gives rise to a number of loopholes that are widely known (and used) by the nation’s wealthy as well as [...]

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