Tax Credits And Turbo Tax

4 tax credits that can boost your refund

A dollar-for-dollar reduction of taxes owed is a tax credit. Several tax credits if you claim one and are eligible, are refundable. You can receive the remainder of it in a tax refund even though your tax liability is zero.

Here are 4 refundable tax credits you should consider on your two-thousand eleven federal income tax return to increase your refund:

1.For people earning less than forty-nine thousand and seventy-eight dollars from wages, self-employment or farming there is the Earned Income Tax Credit. Age, Income, and the amount of qualifying children decide … Read the rest

The Pros and Cons of Filing Your Tax Return Early

Some people can’t wait to file their tax returns. They are the lucky ones, who anticipate a refund. Others dread tax season every year, and want to put off the knowledge of how much they owe the IRS for as long as possible. In these contrasting situations, it is easy to see why some people would want to file their tax returns early, and why others would want to wait. But are there advantages to filing early, in general? Or are there drawbacks? If you find yourself considering the possibilities of both, then these pros and cons of filing … Read the rest

How Education Tax Credits Can Help You Get To College!

Many students are scared away from pursuing postsecondary education by the perception that they cannot afford it. It is important to know that the federal government is currently offering two different types of tax credits – The American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit – that may help you to offset high education costs. Both of the available education tax credits pay for eligible expenses up to a given amount, including tuition, books and equipment or material fees.

The Lifetime Learning Credit is also good for up to $2,000 in credit each year, and covers not only degree-seeking students, … Read the rest

Obama’s Purposed Tax Reform May Have Holes

Timothy Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, has presented Obama’s current plan for overhauling business taxes today. This plan includes eliminating loopholes and a reduction in tax rates by up to 28%. Critics, however, state this is not low enough.

Plans are also in the works to instate a minimum tax on foreign earnings, but no details have yet been given.

Geithner went on to say that the main goal of the Obama tax reform plan is to “restore a system” which allows American businesses to succeed or fail based on the services they provide or products they make, not on … Read the rest

Payroll Tax Cut Can Hurt Social Security

Payroll tax cut undermines the security of the Social Security Program

If lawmakers see Social Security as just one of the line items in the federal budget, there is not much to stop it from being caught up in an orgy of spending reductions.

When an economic agreement was reached in Congress recently which extended unemployment insurance, the Social Security payroll tax cut and retained present levels of reimbursement for doctors who accept Medicare, the response by many was a resounding “Hurrah.”

The perception was that Congress finally did something important with less posturing and brinkmanship and not quite as … Read the rest