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In the Military? Special Tax Benefits May Apply
Military? Special Tax Benefits May Apply Military personnel and those that support them have a number of special provisions built into the tax code just for them. If they apply to you, there may be some tax savings in your future.
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Taxable or Not Taxable? – Some of these items may surprise you.
Taxable or Not Taxable? – Some of these items may surprise you. Here are nine areas of income that are often questioned by taxpayers regarding their taxability. Some items are, others are not. Sometimes the taxable nature of an item depends on other things. Here is what you need to know. There are a number of areas in the tax code that cause confusion as to the taxability of money received. Here are some of the most common areas of confusion. Alimony. Alimony is taxable to the person who receives it and deductible to the person who pays it. Special
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Often Overlooked Medical Expense Deductions – Avoid taking the easy way
Because of the paperwork required and the Adjusted Gross Income threshold required prior to taking a medical expense deduction, many taxpayers do not keep track of their medical expenses. This approach could be costing you money. Here are some oft overlooked items. To take your medical expense deduction in 2012 your allowable expenses must exceed 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). In 2013 and beyond, unless you are 65 or older, this amount goes up to 10% of AGI. So why bother? You might be surprised at how much this expense might be. Here are some tips: Don’t take
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Time to Think About Commuting – Don’t leave this benefit on the table
With the high price of gas, wouldn’t it be nice to see a tax benefit to help reduce the cost to get to and from work? Perhaps there is, you may just need to check with your employer. $3.40 to $4.00 per gallon gas prices are quickly becoming the new norm. Congress and the President appear to be doing very little to control this inflationary cost. What can you do? Thankfully there are commuting benefits that can lower your cost of getting to and from work during 2013. Transit Passes: up to $245/ month Van Pooling: up to $245/month Parking
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New Safe Harbor for Home Offices
Do you have a home office? Are you interested in saving time filing keeping track of your expenses? A new safe-harbor rule effective in 2013 might just make tracking your home office expenses a lot easier. Outlined here are the new rules. Beginning in 2013 there is a simplified way to take a home office expense for a portion of your home. This new ‘safe-harbor’ option greatly simplifies how to record valid expenses for business use of your home. Here is how it works. You may opt to take your office space square feet times $5 and use this as
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