Each year, the IRS produces a list of tax scams that they have uncovered – which they call the Dirty Dozen. Unfortunately, this Dirty Dozen doesn’t star Lee Marvin (or any of the others), and it’s nowhere near as much fun to help you while away a Sunday afternoon. No, these are illegal activities that [...]
Posts under ‘tax’
Your Retirement Plan and Where You Live
We’ve covered a lot of ground with regard to how various tax laws impact your retirement plans: pensions, IRAs, 403(b) and 401(k) plans. But we’ve primarily focused on the US income tax laws (the IRS) affect your plans – and there are many nuances that you need to take into account with regard to state [...]
The 2010 Roth Conversion Opportunity
Time is swiftly running out to take advantage of the unique opportunity for deferral of tax payments on Roth IRA Conversions in 2010. In case you’re not up-to-snuff on this, in 2010 all taxpayers with traditional IRAs or qualified retirement plans that are eligible for rollover have the opportunity to convert the account (or part [...]
Tax Credits for Home Improvement
There were some changes made to the tax law regarding energy efficient improvements to your home, as a part of the ARRA of 2009. This credit is known as the Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit, and it increased some of the tax credits you could receive for making energy efficient home improvements. The credit is available [...]
Valuation for Roth IRA Conversions
You’ve read all about Roth IRA conversions, and you know a lot about the questions that one must resolve in order to make one of these conversions work out for you. Have you considered how the valuation rules will impact your decision process? Valuation of your IRA If you have IRAs that contain both pre-tax [...]
A Terrible, Terrible Idea
My thanks for Natalie Choate for analyzing and pointing out the following information. Ms. Choate is truly a rock star in the world of IRA law, and much gratitude is owed to her by those of us in the financial community for her thorough analysis and commentary that she provides on such matters as this. [...]
Tax Benefits for Job Hunting
The IRS recently published their Summertime Tax Tip 2010-04, entitled “Six Tax Benefits for Job Seekers”, with some good tips that you should know as you go about your job hunt. The text of the actual publication from the IRS follows, and at the end of the article I have added a few additional job-related [...]
Using Capital Gains and Losses to Help With a Roth Conversion
Many analyses done with respect to Roth IRA conversions only come out to a positive outcome when the attendant tax on the conversion is paid from non-IRA sources. For many folks this shoots down the entire prospect, as there is no available cash outside of IRAs and other investments to use to pay the tax [...]
Roth Conversion While Receiving 72t Payments
With all of the conversation going on with regard to Roth IRA Conversions, I thought it would be useful to address a special set of circumstances with regard to Conversions. As the title implies – we’re talking about the eligibility of an IRA for conversion if it is also subject to 72t, or a Series [...]
Capital Gains and Losses and Your Taxes
If you own taxable investment accounts, real estate, collectibles, or literally any item that can appreciate or depreciate in value, you’ve likely had to deal with capital gains or losses on your tax return. (Actually, only if you’ve sold the item.) But how much do you really know about capital gains and losses? The IRS [...]
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