Tax Issues Related to Hobbies

Article Highlights: Hobby Losses Not-for-Profit Rules Determining Factors Trade or Business Presumption Hobby Tax Reporting Self-Employment Tax Generally, when individuals have a hobby, they have it because they enjoy it and are not involved in their hobby with the goal of making money. In fact, most hobbies never make money or don’t even create any…

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Tax Benefits for People with Disabilities

Article Highlights: ABLE Accounts Disabled Spouse or Dependent Care Credit Medical Deductions Home Modifications Special Schooling Nursing Services Individuals with disabilities as well as parents of disabled children are eligible for a number of income tax benefits. This article explains some of these tax breaks. ABLE Accounts – A federal law allows states to offer…

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Earned Income Tax Credit: Used, Abused and Altered

Article Highlights: Purpose of the Earned Income Tax Credit Qualifications Earned Income Qualified Child Credit Phaseout Computing the Credit Investment Income Limit Combat Pay Election Fraud Safeguards Any discussion of the earned income tax credit (EITC) needs to begin with a discussion of why Congress created it in the first place. It has a twofold…

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Child Daycare and Taxes

Article Highlights: Daycare Providers Simplified Food Deduction Special Rules for Business Use of the Provider’s Home Home Sale Consequences Other Expenses Other Daycare Provider Issues Daycare User Credit Employer Dependent Care Benefits Other Credit Criteria When discussing daycare for children so their parents can work, there are two primary areas of discussion: one from the…

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Deducting the Costs of Modifications for Senior-Proofing a Home

Article Highlights Improvements for Medical Care or Treatment Improvements That Increase the Home’s Value Improvements That Do Not Increase the Home’s Value Medical AGI Limitations While Americans may argue about any number of hot-button political topics, there’s no disagreement on one issue: the country’s population is aging…fast. According to the Social Security Administration, 10,000 baby…

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Take Advantage of the Education Tax Credits

Article Highlights: American Opportunity Tax Credit Lifetime Learning Credit Who Gets the Credit? Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses Eligible Educational Institutions Form 1098-T Scholarships Tax Fraud As with everything taxes, the devil is in the details, and that includes the education tax credits, which come in two types with some different rules for each. Many…

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Excess Retirement Plan Contributions Can Be Taxing

Article Highlights: Excess IRA Contributions Excess Contribution Penalty Correcting Excess IRA Contributions Applying the Excess to a Future Year Excess 401(k) Contributions Failing to Timely Correct 401(k) Excess Contributions Some individuals financially struggle just to be able to make a nominal contribution to their tax-favored retirement plan, whether it be an IRA, 401(k) plan, or…

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Smart Money Moves to Make Once You Turn 50

Congratulations, you made it to half a century! Your fifties can be a tumultuous time: Not having to work anymore sounds like a dream, but you might be concerned you don’t have enough saved for retirement. Those concerns definitely aren’t unfounded as 40 million households in America have no retirement savings at all. Additionally, the Federal…

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Did You Just Get an IRS Notice of Deficiency? Here’s What to Do Next

Nobody likes getting mail from the IRS — especially when it’s something you weren’t expecting. One minute, you’re minding your own business and aren’t even thinking about that return you filed months ago. The next minute you open your mailbox and see something called a “Notice of Deficiency” — and your anxiety immediately goes through…

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