Tax Prep Tips for the Procrastinator

This post is for the millions of Americans who wait until the final days to prepare and file their federal income tax returns. I am one of them, although strategically so. I haven’t received a refund in years, so I run a preliminary income tax obligation assessment in the beginning of December. Using that, I adjust my withholding from my final paychecks of the year, to make sure that I don’t incur an under-withholding penalty. After that, I periodically add data to the return as year-end statements are received. But I don’t finalize and file the return until the last day, because I am in no hurry to send the final installment on the sickening amount of taxes the government extracts from Mr. and Mrs. ToughMoneyLove. Read more

Year End Income Tax Guide (Part 1)

Part of the hard truth we all have to accept includes death and taxes.  Even Mr. ToughMoneyLove can take only such much hard truth so I choose not to write about death.  That leaves taxes.  This being December, it’s time to think about last minute tax strategies for 2008 and begin our tax planning for 2009.  I have put together a few tax planning “highlights” (or “lowlights” depending on your attitude about taxes) for you to think about.   These are arranged in no particular order of importance so you might want to scan all of them to find something that may be relevant to your situation. Read more