The goal of tax planning is to arrange your financial affairs in order to minimize your taxes. Here are three tax-cutting strategies that you could make: 1. Earn as much nontaxable income as possible. You have more control over business and investment income than any other income you earn. You can draw income from your business in the form of tax-deferred and tax-free benefits. And you can grow and draw income from your portfolio in all sorts of tax-advantaged ways. This sys

Preparing your own business tax return, especially for the first time, can be a frustrating experience if you don't have all the necessary information at your fingertips. Gathering certain documents before you begin will help you fend off the frustration. Here's a list of items you may find helpful when preparing your business tax return: Business information Last year's business tax return Articles of incorporation Partnership agreement Accounting records Bank statements Cr

Bonuses are considered excellent way to motivate employees and reward top performers; however, they can also quickly change one’s tax return and the amount of taxes initially withheld depending on the payout. IRS regards bonuses as supplemental wages, which are not regular wages. For more details, see Publication 15 (2017), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide for the tax year in question. There are two ways of withholding taxes from bonus: The aggregate method: i s used when

If you want to pay the least amount of income tax each year, then it may be helpful to start doing some tax planning. Don’t worry - you don’t need an accounting degree to make some smart tax decisions. A little planning goes a long way. Step 1: Start a filing system Start a filing system to organize your documents. Any successful tax planning strategy requires you to maintain records of all transactions and receipts that may affect your tax return. This helps to keep track

The IRS allows you to deduct a certain amount of medical expenses if you itemize deductions. Qualified medical deductions are expenses you paid during the tax year for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents. Here is a list of Qualified Medical Deductions that apply to you: abortion, acupuncture, addiction treatment, ambulance service, annual physical examination, artificial teeth, autoette bandage, blood sugar test kit, body scan, breast pumps, breast reconstruction su

In recent years, thousands of people have lost millions of dollars and their personal information to tax scams and fake IRS communication. Scammers use the regular mail, telephone, fax or email to set up their victims. This page looks at the different scams affecting individuals, and businesses. 1 IRS-Impersonation Telephone Scams An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, has been making the rounds throughout the country. C

The IRS has issued the 2018 optional standard mileage rates and starting on January 1, 2018, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck will be: 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in 2017) 18 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes (up from 17 cents in 2017) 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations (currently fixed by Congress) 25 cents per mile is the depreciation on the

Well-organized records make it easier to prepare a tax return and help provide answers if your return is selected for examination or if you receive an IRS notice. You must keep records, such as receipts, canceled checks, and other documents supporting an item of income, a deduction, a credit appearing on a return, etc. Here are the list of a handful of tips. 1. Go paperless with online bank account statements - perhaps even copies of cancelled checks and deposit records 2.

Tax refunds can feel like Christmas in springtime. With a sudden boost to your bank account, you can look forward to going on a shopping spree, catching up on debt or squirreling the refund away in savings. These days, you can even anticipate when your windfall will arrive by tracking the status of your refund with the Refund Status tool available from the IRS online. For those receiving minimal refunds, the celebration can be less like real bubbly and more like club soda. B

Bonuses are considered excellent way to motivate employees and reward top performers; however, they can also quickly change one’s tax return and the amount of taxes initially withheld depending on the payout. IRS regards bonuses as supplemental wages, which are not regular wages. For more details, see Publication 15 (2017), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide for the tax year in question. There are two ways of withholding taxes from bonus: The aggregate method: is used when