United States

Ask TaxMama Issue 627 – Bubbling Over

January 27, 2012

 Dear Family,  Earlier today, IRS announced that electronic refunds are on target. People can expect to find them in your bank accounts within about 10 days. But, some refunds will be delayed. IRS is beefing up the fraud detection system. Returns with Earned Income Credits, American Opportunity Credits and other refundable credits will take a [...]

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Free Tax Help Available Nationwide

January 27, 2012

Courtesy of the IRS [TaxMama note: Read this in conjunction with today’s MarketWatch article – How to file your taxes for free WASHINGTON — Over 12,000 free tax preparation sites will be open nationwide this year as the Internal Revenue Service continues to expand its partnerships with nonprofit and community organizations providing vital tax preparation [...]

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Taxpayers Advocate – 2011 Annual Report to Congress

January 20, 2012

WASHINGTON — National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson today released her annual report to Congress, identifying the combination of the IRS’s expanding workload and declining resources as the most serious problem facing taxpayers. The result, the report says, is inadequate taxpayer service, erosion of taxpayer rights, and reduced tax compliance. The Advocate expressed her continuing [...]

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IRS Offers Tips for Year-End Giving

December 16, 2011

Courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service WASHINGTON — Individuals and businesses making contributions to charity should keep in mind several important tax law provisions that have taken effect in recent years. Some of these changes include the following: Special Charitable Contributions for Certain IRA Owners This provision, currently scheduled to expire at the end of [...]

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Meals Deduction Barely Covers Price of Coffee

December 16, 2011

If you think American tax laws are tough on meals and entertainment, read this story recently reported by Chelm on the Web. The Israel Tax Authority finally updated the amount that the independently employed can put down on their tax returns as expenditures for wining and dining a business associate. It took a High Court [...]

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Information for U.S. Citizens or Dual Citizens Residing Outside the U.S.

December 9, 2011

FS-2011-13, December 2011 The IRS is aware that some taxpayers who are dual citizens of the United States and a foreign country may have failed to timely file United States federal income tax returns or Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs), despite being required to do so.  Some of those taxpayers are now [...]

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Patent Fees

November 7, 2011

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Today TaxMama hears from Douglas in the TaxQuips Forum with this question. “How does one deduct the attorney fees related to obtaining a patent? The patent is for a video game. The taxpayer is not in the business of creating video games. The plan is to sell the patent to a video game company once [...]

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