(ARA) – Spring is here, summer’s just around the corner and it’s time to break out of that winter funk. With Americans spending more time at home these days, many are investing in home upgrades. Americans spent $170.8 billion on home improvement projects in fourth quarter 2008, exceeding new home investment, according to the Bureau [...]

(ARA) – Even though the income tax deadline has passed, people shouldn’t lose sight of how the tax decisions they make today can affect their retirement plans tomorrow. If you are within five years of retirement, it’s time to fine tune your future finances. For example, have you thought of how taxes will affect you [...]

The individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), implemented in 1969, is a parallel income tax system that was created to prevent 155 wealthy Americans from aggressively using tax credits, deductions, and legal tax shelters as tools to help them avoid having to pay federal income tax. The idea was simple: Create a minimum tax that ensured [...]

Tips for Secure Filing Electronically and Through the Mail
(ARA) – For most Americans, tax season means frustrating hours spent with piles of paper, but for identity thieves, this time of year provides an open-door opportunity to steal your personal information.
Identity theft is a crime that has gained momentum in recent years, claiming more than 23,000 [...]

As the April 15 tax deadline creeps closer many people may still be wondering: will I owe? It may be time to take proactive steps to set aside money that can be used to cover the extra expense you may soon face.
Whether you underestimated your withholdings or experienced an unanticipated bump in income, you wouldn’t [...]

Auspiciously, the day before adjourning for Winter Break, Congress passed another one year fix — averting higher taxes for the majority of middle-income America facing the dreaded Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The Senate version of the bill, which does not compensate for a $50 billion loss of tax revenue, won majority favor and was signed [...]

When analyzing financing options or debt handling issues many people neglect to include the tax implications of one strategy over another. Including tax implications in your scenarios can become very complicated. It’s always handy to have a computer program that will help you. But even without that there are a few simple guidelines to keep [...]

Every January, hard working taxpayers receive their W-2 Forms from their employers and set about the task of filing their income taxes.  If you happened to claim too many withholding exemptions on the W-4 Forms you file with your employer. chances are that you’ll end up paying more money to the IRS when you file [...]

People make mistakes.  It’s a common part of life.  But what do you do when you make a mistake on your taxes?  Many people can quickly and easily become overwhelmed by this, and immediately the worst case scenarios flash through the mind.  Whether the error was made and will work out favorably for the individual [...]

Understanding your tax bracket is an important part of making wise tax planning decisions. Your tax bracket determines how much you will pay the IRS and how much you can claim in deductions, and if you fail to understand your tax bracket correctly, you could end up losing out on a lot of money. Tax [...]