There are many political issues in the news lately that seem to carry a hefty price tag. America is currently involved in two wars, while debating a more socialized healthcare system and pumping billions of dollars into an ailing car industry through the program “cash for clunkers”. These topics have caused wide concern for the big question, “what’s the cost?” The image of a wolf at the door resonates with people; how much do we need to feed it before it goes away, or will we run out of food before it does? What will we have to give up to support these decisions?
This question ultimately comes down to the reader. Each of decision depends on what the government can take out of your paycheck. But ironically, most people intellectually and emotionally involved with these polical issues are very careless about how they manage their own tax returns. 92% of individuals do not know where their tax dollars are going. For this reason, people needlessly spend more on their taxes than they have to. Before an informed decision can be made by the taxpayer on macroeconomic decisions, it is important to understand how taxes affect their own businesses and/or families. Knowing how to better strategize his or her own taxes can enable the tax payer (and voter) to make decisions on the political candidates that support the real intersts of the voter.
There are 8 tips The Tax Club offers to its clients to better understand their tax situation. Although The Tax Club does not take a stance on the personal politics of its customers, it does its best to enable the client to make the best decisions possible to save money on the existing tax code. Their motto’s question always makes one think, “How Much Are you Overpaying in Taxes?”
- Tax Reform – The current individual tax rates are expiring at the end of 2010 and there are talks that the government might increase the tax rate to as high as 49%. We can discuss the implications of elevated tax rates and how people can start preparing for this.
- Business Entities – People always want to know if they should incorporate or just stick to their entity’s disregarded status. We definitely can give a lot of information on this.
- Retirement Distributions – Because of the tough times, a lot of people are taking money out of their retirement accounts. We can give information on the tax implications on this.
- Ponzi Scams – Because of the recent Madoff scandal, we can give information on whether victims of these elaborate scams can deduct their losses.
- Offshore Tax Shelters – The IRS wants to narrow the tax gap and have trained their eyes on the foreign financial interests of the taxpayers. Everybody, including investment banks (UBS is very much in the news because of this) have to disclose information on any financial account in a foreign country if the aggregate value exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The IRS has extended the filing deadline of the report from June 30 to Sept. 23. ( We don’t deal with this issue a lot so we may not be able to provide a lot of info on this one.
- Cancellation of Debt Issues – Because of the tough economic times, a lot of people want to know if they can exclude their discharged credit card debt or mortgage loans on their principal residence and investment properties.
- Homebuyer’s Credit – This expires on Dec. 1st but a lot of people may still be interested in this.
- Expiring Small Business Tax Credit and Refund Claims – The provision in ARRA that allows small business owners to carry back up to 5 years (instead of just two) their 2008 NOL will expire on Sept. 15th and the Sec. 179 inflated deduction threshold of $250,000 (instead of the regular $135,000) expires on December 31st.
Tags: business, finance, politics, tax, the tax club
