All Articles Tagged "tax breaks"
The Rundown: Nas is Number One and the Senate Actually Passes Something
Photo: IslandDefJam.com
-The Senate has voted to preserve the Bush-era tax cuts for people making less than $250,000 per year. This is great, in the sense that something actually made it through Congress without all the drama we’ve grown used to. But the argument is still being made that this is the worst Congress ever.
-Nas’ new album “Life Is Good” debuts at number one, selling 149,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan. This is the artist’s sixth number one album. It’s his ninth number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange” slips from number two to number four.
-The drought that’s currently plaguing about two-thirds of the country is going to cost at least $12 billion, the most since 1988. The figure is an estimate right now, but an August 10 report will put the damage to crops into clearer relief. Insurance payouts to farmers promises to be huge, and food prices are going to increase, perhaps as much as three or four percent.
-Hope your mailbox can handle the massive size of the fashion magazines heading your way. The September issues, typically one of the biggest of the year for a number of titles, is going to be a record-breaker for a number of mags, including Elle, Marie Claire, Vogue and People StyleWatch.
-The London Olympic Games kick off tomorrow and NBC says they’ve sold $1 billion worth of television and digital advertising for the event. Even with that huge figure (it’s $150 million more than what was sold for Beijing in 2008), the network doesn’t expect to turn a profit. ???!
-The backlash against Chick-Fil-A is coming at them fast and furious. First because the company’s president and CEO Dan Cathy gave interviews in which he condemned same-sex marriage (Chick-Fil-A is known to have donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay organizations). Now because it appears the chicken chain has created a fake Facebook page to defend itself.
Three Ways Having Kids Saves You Money at Tax Time
The first tax break you get is an exemption for your dependent child. An exemption is money you can exclude from your taxable income based on the fact that you are financially responsible for someone, including yourself. When someone says “I’m claiming 3 on my taxes,” they’re talking about exemptions. For each child under the age 19 that you lives with you most of the year and you provide the majority of financial support for, you can claim one exemption. (If your kid is in college, you can extend that age to 24.) For each child you claim, you receive a $3700 tax deduction from your total taxable income for the year.
The second tax break a parent gets is the child tax credit, which provides $1000 credit to your tax bill for each qualifying child you claim. If your child credit exceeds your tax bill, you get that money back as a refund. Your kid must be 17 or under by the end of the tax year and lived with you for more than half the year. You also must have provided more than half his support for that year and he didn’t file a tax return. When
And finally, you get a dependent care credit to offset any money you spent on your kid’s daycare expenses. As usual with these tax breaks, your kid has to live with you for most of the year and you have to provide more than half of the financial care for him. However, this credit requires that your child be under the age of 13. And, the limit for this credit is $3000 for the year.
Are You Getting All Your Child Tax Breaks?
(Daily Finance) — Like many people’s, my biggest expense after my mortgage is child care for my two little demons, er, darlings. And just as with my mortgage, I’ve always made sure to take full advantage of the tax breaks available to offset these massive costs. So imagine my chagrin when I realized I’ve missed out on $200 in tax savings each year for the past five years! Yes, thanks to confusing and often misunderstood rules surrounding child-care tax breaks, I’ve overpaid Uncle Sam to the tune of $1,000. Read on to avoid my mistake — unless you happen to enjoy filing mounds of amended returns.
IRS Rules That Make College Less Taxing
(Black Enterprise) — The cost of a college education could quickly empty out your pockets. It’s probably the most expensive purchase you’ll make besides a home. Who wouldn’t want a break on tuition? The good news is you can lighten your financial load by taking advantage of tax incentives that are available to you. The April 2012 tax deadline is several months away, but you can start tracking educational expenses that might be eligible for a tax break. Here are some tax deductions, credits, and savings plans that will help loosen the chokehold on your wallet. American Opportunity Credit. Tax credits are beneficial because they reduce the amount of income tax you might have to pay. The American Opportunity Credit adds required course materials to the list of qualifying expenses and allows taxpayers to claim the credit for four years of college instead of two. The maximum annual credit of $2,500 per student is available to individuals whose modified adjusted gross income is $80,000 or less or $160,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return.
Last Call for These Business Tax Breaks
(Smart Money) — Legislation enacted last year included some very favorable, but very temporary, business tax changes. The best of the bunch are scheduled to expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts. These are the breaks.
100% First-Year Bonus Depreciation: For qualifying new (not used) assets that are put to use in your business by Dec. 31, 2011, you can claim 100% first-year bonus depreciation. This translates to deducting the entire cost in year one. There’s no dollar limit on this deal, and even the largest businesses are eligible. If your business adds enough new stuff to generate an overall tax loss for the year, you can carry the loss back to 2009 and 2010 and recover some or all of the federal income taxes paid for those years.
States Lure Employers With Tax Breaks
(Businessweek) — New Jersey is granting Panasonic (PC) a $102.4 million tax credit to move its North American headquarters—nine miles. The incentives, announced on Apr. 20, will help defray the cost of leasing a new high-rise office tower to be built in Newark to replace Panasonic’s digs in Secaucus, which the Japanese electronics maker has outgrown. The company concedes that its decision to stay in New Jersey, where it employs 800 workers, was swayed by the tax break. Peter Fannon, vice-president of technology policy at Panasonic North America, says the company fielded “quite competitive” offers from Atlanta, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn, N.Y., among others. Says Fannon: “We would not be in New Jersey without [this program].” Officials in the town of Secaucus don’t see it as a win for their state, though. “We shouldn’t be using tax dollars to play one municipality off of another,” says town administrator David Drumeler.
Tax Breaks for the Unemployed
(Bankrate) — First, the bad news. Unemployment compensation is taxable income. A few years ago, a small amount of unemployment benefits were exempted from taxation, but that tax break has expired. You’ll get a Form 1099-G that will tell you how much unemployment you must report on that year’s tax return. If you opted not to have taxes withheld from unemployment payments or didn’t make estimated tax payments on the amount, you’ll likely owe the Internal Revenue Service. Married couples have another option. If your spouse has a job, cover the unemployment taxes by having your husband or wife adjust his or her withholding to cover the taxes due on your benefits.
Own a Business? 6 New Tax Breaks
(CNN Money) — Doing your taxes stinks, right? No fun at all. But take note as you brace for your 2010 return: A handful of changes in the tax code could translate into a fatter refund check. The Small Business Jobs Act, passed last September, and the historic health care reform law, passed in March, enacted hefty credits and deductions for capital investments and employee health insurance costs. Here is a rundown of six new credits and deductions likely to affect the most small business owners.
Tax Breaks Bring Hope for Hiring
(New York Times) — To many manufacturing companies, the tax cut proposal now being considered in Washington may be just enough to spur additional spending and hiring. At Yushin America, a Rhode Island company that makes and maintains robotic manufacturing equipment, executives say that the business tax breaks would allow them to invest in new machinery, new employees and even a new roof. “It’s a chance for us to put it back in the business and grow,” said Michael Greenhalgh, operations manager of the company in Cranston, which employs 60 people and has annual sales of about $21 million.
Tax Breaks: What You’ll Keep–And Lose
(Wall Street Journal_ == Since the announcement of the deal by the White House and top Republicans to extend Bush-era tax cuts for two years and cut payroll taxes for one, taxpayers have been anxious to learn the fate of other tax breaks that have expired or are set to. Now there is news: The Senate bill released Thursday night reveals which “extenders,” as they are known, would be renewed and for how long. The Senate plans a vote on Monday, but it’s unclear when and what House members will do. ”Even tax professionals are on the edge of their seats about the outcome of these provisions,” says Melissa Labant, a tax expert with the American Institute of CPAs.
