Tag: taxes

The Washington Post had two graphics that neatly summarize the impacts from the fiscal cliff. This is the number one topic in the world of finance and almost all Americans will be impacted by the potential fallout in some fashion. My opinion is that Congressional Republicans and the Obama administration will reach some form…

A secret recording from a closed-door fund raiser had Mitt Romney saying, "47 percent of Americans believe that they are victims...I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives...My job is not to worry about [votes from] those people. These are people who pay no income tax.…

Ever wondered where all our federal tax dollars go? I did and a recent report from the center on budget priorities and policies (CBPP) provided a very nice graphic on how federal tax dollars are distributed. With all the political rhetoric that abounds around the national debt, excessive federal spending…

[2013 Update] With a deal to avert the fiscal cliff reached and legislated under the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) of 2012, a couple of significant employer sponsored retirement plan features have reappeared with some modifications. This includes the Roth 401(k) conversion and Charitable IRA contributions. You can read more…

Living abroad doesn't get you out of filing a US tax return. As a US citizen or resident alien, you're required to report your worldwide income every year, no matter where you earned it or whether you already paid tax on it somewhere else. The good news is the IRS…

[Updated with 2013 IRS inflation adjusted tax brackets and fiscal cliff changes] Congress and the Obama administration's fiscal cliff deal (ATRA act) means that 2013 federal tax rates will remain fixed for nearly 99% of the population. Only those earning above $450,000/$400,000 (married/single) AGI will have a higher federal marginal tax rate in…

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife paid a 14% effective income tax rate in 2010 on nearly $22 million of income. Given the marginal federal income tax rate for anyone making over $35,350 (single) or $70,700 (married) is higher than 15%, it is pretty clear that the Romney's…

Your filing status is decided by one date: December 31. Whatever your marital and household situation looks like on that day determines which of the five IRS filing statuses you can use for the entire year, even if your situation changed on December 30. That single rule trips up more…

The SIMPLE IRA (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) is one of the most practical retirement plan options for small businesses. For 2026, the contribution limit rises to $17,000, and the catch-up provisions got a meaningful boost under SECURE 2.0. These 2026 figures are confirmed in IRS Notice IR-2025-111. 2026…

If you're self-employed or running a small business, the retirement account options available to you are frankly better than what most corporate employees get — and most people don't fully take advantage of them. I hear from a lot of small business owners who are using a regular Roth or…

[2013 Update] As I was updating this article, originally written in mid-2011 following the first debt ceiling deal, I got a major sense of deja-vu. After 18 months we are back in the same place with a dysfunctional Congress who barely passed legislation to avert the fiscal cliff.  But it's…

The 2026 AMT exemption is $90,100 for single filers and $140,200 for married couples filing jointly — but the bigger story is the phase-out. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), the income levels where the exemption starts disappearing dropped sharply to $500,000 (single) and $1,000,000 (joint), and the exemption…

With more than half the year in the rear view mirror, it's time to start thinking about your potential annual tax liability and actions you can take to legally minimize what you will have pay the IRS.  Here then are some easy to action mid-year tax moves that you should have on your radar now, rather than waiting till…