Individual Tax and Finance

Where Do We Start?

If you want to change something, you start by measuring it.

So let’s find out what your credit score is, today, and decide what you want it to be in two, six, and twelve months from now.

The law requires that the three credit reporting agencies allow you free access to you credit reports once each year, but those reports do not include credit scores. If you want to know your score, each agency is willing to sell you that information. However, your credit scores are now available for free from number of different sources.

What's the Difference Between 699 and 700?

What’s the difference between 700 and 699?

If you are about to lease a new pickup, and your FICO score is 699, you could pay $2,200 more than the guy with a 700 score. That works out to an extra $60 every month for the life of a 36 month lease. (True story.) Your credit score can have a big impact on whether you even qualify for a loan, lease, or mortgage, and if you qualify, on the rates you might pay. Your score can determine if you qualify for a credit card with interest at 12.75% , or a card at 29.99%. Perks, or no perks.

Tax Cut and Jobs Act: What's New, What Affects You?

Most sweeping tax changes since 1986

On December 22, 2017, the President signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The TCJA made widespread changes to the Internal Revenue Code which will affect your 2018 tax return. Here are some of the more common changes that could affect your tax return.

IRS Wants Access to Your Facebook Account

In a recent press release the IRS complains that it currently has no formal tool to access the social media treasure trove of public information, compile social media feeds, or search multiple social media sites.

DIY: How to Check Your Withholding

Check Withholding

The IRS has been encouraging taxpayers to perform a “paycheck checkup” to check if they are having their employer withhold the right amount of tax for their situation, after changes in law adopted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

For some people, their job or family situation makes it more likely that tax-table calculated withholding will not properly account for their projected tax liability. It’s especially important for these people to check their withholding. They are people who:

$300k with No Tax? Here's How to Do It

Due to the COVID shutdown(s), Homer realizes that he is only going to make $24,000 this year. He heard that the new tax law raised the standard deduction for joint returns to $24,000, so his taxable income will be zero!

He also heard the new law gives a child credit of $2,000 per eligible child, but only $1,400 of that is "refundable". Ned Flanders explains, refundable means you use as much as you need, and IRS refunds the rest. The $600 nonrefundable credit? Use what you can to bring your taxes to zero, and lose the rest. Ok, so Homer expects a refund of $1,400 x 3 kids = $4,200. Woo hoo!

But what about the $600 per child nonrefundable "use it or lose it" credit? Homer's dad always told him, “Never let a perfectly good tax credit go to waste.” So Homer devises a plan...

Disabled Veterans: Potential Refunds re: Severance

Veterans owed refunds for overpayments attributable to disability severance payments should file amended returns to claim tax refund

veteran with flag That's the headline on the IRS website, and similar headlines could be seen on many news sites on the internet. Since this applies to disability payments dating back to 1991, this seems like a Very Big Deal.

Alas, no one is getting a refund for 27 years of overpaid taxes.

What is happening is that a 2016 law has opened a window of time for disabled veterans to claim a refund for taxes paid on a lump-sum (read: “one time”) disability severance payment received in that time frame. The refund can be the actual tax paid related to the severance payment, or it can be a standard amount that ranges from $1,750 to $3,200. Plus interest, I expect.

Welcome to the "Hotel IRS": You Can Checkout, But You Can Never Leave

Why is a kangaroo illustrating this article?

You would think, since my office is in a small rural community in upstate NY, that I would not get too many questions about international taxation.

Not so.

Case in point: "My son moved to Australia in 2014, but now he wonders if he still has to file U.S. tax returns."

If you are a U.S. citizen or a resident alien of the United States and you live abroad, you must report, and are taxed, on all your worldwide income. But then it gets complicated...