Tax Preparation: 5 Essential Tips for the Newly Self-Employed
Being self-employed definitely has its perks; you get to be your own boss, set your own hours, and have total control over your work. However, it also means being subject to more in taxes, in addition to possible headaches when it comes time to prepare your tax return each year. If this is your first year working as a self-employed individual, the good news is that we've got some tips that'll help make tax [...]
Health Savings Account Basics
Who Can Establish an HSA? Any individual with a high deductible health insurance plan can establish an HSA. In 2015, you have to have an annual deductible of at least $1,300 for an individual or $2,600 for a family. Your plan must also limit your annual out of pocket expenses to $6,450 for individuals and $12,900 for families. You cannot establish an HSA if you are entitled to or enrolled in Medicare, you can [...]
End of the Year Tax Planning
As the year comes to a close, it is important to look at the options that are still available to help you reduce your tax liability. This article will help give you a few ideas about tax planning strategies you can implement before the end of the year. Withholding One of the simplest ways to reduce your liability is to ask your employer to increase your tax withholding amounts. Doing this will allow you [...]
What Is Your Income Tax Filing Status?
The filing status you choose can have a large impact on your tax liability, either for good or bad. So it is important that you understand each of the filing statuses, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that they may present to your income tax situation. Income Tax Filing Statuses Which income filing status you choose will play a part in determining your tax rate, the amount of your standard deduction, and what [...]
Investment Tax Planning
Investment Tax Planning When you have investments you want to take advantage of all the tax rules you can so as to maximize your gains. This usually means combining several different types of investments that have different tax advantages and disadvantages, so as to balance each other out. This process is referred to as investment tax planning. How Investment Tax Planning Works Each type of investment is going to have a different type of [...]
Choosing a Tax Preparer
Choosing a Tax Preparer Choosing a tax preparer is important because tax preparation can be complex. In this article, we will go over the different types of tax preparers you can choose from. Then you can decide which is the best fit for your situation. Prepare Your Taxes Yourself You can do your taxes yourself using paper forms and a pen or with software, like Turbo Tax. If your returns are very simple, [...]







