Personal Finance Answers

Posts Tagged ‘Income’

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I am an USA citizen (California resident). I moved to Taiwan 10 years ago to teach English. In the past 10 years, I file tax return in Taiwan, but I thought I don’t need to file tax return in USA and California. I earn approx. US$30,000 every year. Now I am applying green card for my wife. The embassy here ask me to file tax return for year 2005. My questions are: Read more...

When filing an income tax return, do I need to include insurance refund from auto accident? My car was total loss. My insurance pay off my loan for the car and gave me back $6000 after the payoff. Do I need to report this when filing my income tax return?
(from Yahoo Answers)

Image taken on 2007-11-26 12:35:02 by foundry press. Read more...

We got a large tax return this year in early February. We are now in the process of filing chapter 13 and have to provide 6 months worth of income history. Will the trustee consider our 5,000 tax return as part of our income? I know that they will take future returns. We actually had to file an amendment and now have to pay 2,700 of that back anyway, so it was really only 2,300 in excess. Also, can I include this tax debt in my repayment plan?
(from Yahoo Answers)

Image taken on 2010-02-17 15:14:58 by onebutan-iphone. Read more...

This is the first of a series of 2007 Tax reference sheets that I’ll be sharing with you over the next month or so. This one focuses on some of the major federal income tax key numbers. I’ll do future ones for estate planning, retirement planning and business planning in the not too distant future so stay tuned.
Since federal income taxes are such a large part of most peoples life or expenditures, I thought that you might like a summary or reference sheet for some of the important figures for 2007.
Many people believe that if someone is in the 28% tax bracket, they pay all taxes due at the rate of 28% of taxable income. This is not correct. A couple having a taxable income of $125,000 does not pay 25% federal income tax on ALL of the taxable income… but only on everything over $63,700. The first $15,650 is only taxed at 10%, the taxable income from $15,560-$63,700 would be taxed at 15% and so on. The figures below is taxable income (after deductions and exemptions).
I’ll start out with the tax brackets for the 2007 tax year.
The figures below show the various “steps” on how the
marginal income brackets are progressively taxed higher.
Married, Filing Jointly:
$zero – $15,650 is taxed at 10%
$15,650 – $63,700 is taxed at 15%
$63,700 – $128,500 is taxed at 25%
$128,500 – $195,850 is taxed at 28%
$195,850 – $349,700 is taxed at 33%
over $349,700 is taxed at 35%
Married, Filing Separately:
Note: Often times it make more sense for a married couple to file taxes separately for either tax reduction strategies or for non-tax reasons. Your tax advisor should help you decide if there are important reasons for YOU to take advantage of this filing status.
Tax brackets for Married Filing Separately: Simply cut the above taxable figures in half for those six tax brackets
Single:
$zero – $7,825 is taxed at 10%
$7,825 – $31,850 is taxed at 15%
$31,850 – $77,100 is taxed at 25%
$77,100 – $160,850 is taxed at 28%
$160,850 – $349,700 is taxed at 33%
over $349,700 is taxed at 35%
Single, Head of Household:
$zero – $11,200 is taxed at 10%
$11,200 – $42,650 is taxed at 15%
$42,650 – $110,100 is taxed at 25%
$110,100 – $178,350 is taxed at 28%
$178,350 – $349,700 is taxed at 33%
over $349,700 is taxed at 35%
Standard Deduction:
Standard Deduction is ONLY for those who do NOT itemize expenses like mortgage interest, charitable contributions, etc.
Married, Filing Jointly: $10,700
Married, Filing Separately: $ 5,350
Single: $ 5,350
Single, Head of Household: $ 7,850
Those who are blind or over age 65 can ADD $1,050 (if married) or $1,300 (if single or head of household) to the above Standard Deductions
Personal Exemptions:
Personal Exemptions are set at $3,400 per allowed person subject to Phaseouts (which are reductions in the Exemptions) based on taxable income. This is not an issue unless your taxable income is at least $117,300 (depending on filing status).
Maximum taxable EARNED income subject to FICA tax: $97,500
The Social Security and Medicare combined tax rate is 15.3% on income up to that figure. W-2 employees pay half of the 15.3% and employers pay the other half. Self-employed pay the whole amount.
Long-term Capital Gains and Qualified Dividend Rates:
For those in the 10% and 15% Income tax brackets only: 5%
For taxpayers in the higher tax backets: 15%
Capital gains on collectibles (coins, stamps, etc.) 28%
One of the important functions of a financial advisor is to help reduce taxes to your legal minimum due by using all appropriate deductions, methods and strategies. A good tax advisor is worth their weight in gold! So go find a pro-active tax advisor, not someone who just files tax returns.
And now, hopefully you will have a better idea of what that person is talking about.

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Income tax benefits and income tax expenses are retained by the grantor, thus he pays income taxes on the income of the trust. Income taxation system bears progressive character. In order to help pay for its war effort in the American civil war, the United States government issued its first personal income tax, on August 5, 1861 as part of the revenue act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800; rescinded in 1872).
401(k) plan deferrals are not taxable for income taxes; taxable for unemployment purposes. There will be a number of tax liability matters that you and your accountant will need to thinking about when dealing with income taxes and payroll taxes. They are taxed on capital gains and passive income, but given exemptions from other federal income tax.
If you’re self-employed, you would get to use the $9,000 of health insurance costs as a business income tax deduction. Though 529 plans differ from state to state, they are all exempt from federal income tax, and that can give a real bottom-line boost to your college fund. The IRS requires that you keep records that affect the basic cost and deductions until the limitations for income tax returns expires, typically a set period of time after you sell your home.
Do you report your income and/or expenses on your income tax? Note: in a C corp. sale, there are no long-term capital gains tax rates only income tax rates. Like owners of partnerships or sole proprietorships, LLC owners account for business profits or losses on their personal income tax returns and the LLC itself is not a separate taxable entity.
The tax preparation fees deducted on Schedule C save the taxpayer income tax and self-employment tax. Paying for your credit card, for instance, will not exempt the amount you repay in interest from your income tax dues. Several specific taxes, in addition to the general income tax, are also collected by the federal government.
You can create a home based business and immediately qualify for related expenses as income tax deductions. Sales tax deduction If you itemize deductions, you have a choice of deducting your state and local income taxes or your state and local sales tax.
Investments can be transferred between spouses to take advantage of one having lower income tax rates than the other, without incurring capital gains or inheritance tax liabilities, or stamp duty.
Giving them additional salaries and bonuses can put you in higher a income tax bracket. The IRS is expecting more than 84 million individual income tax returns out of which more 50 million returns are expected to be filed online.

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Most place a very high priority on securing their future. Securing the future usually means the preservation of their hard earned money and proper utilization of it. Anyone can accumulate large sums of money over their lifetime. But it can be difficult to keep track of their income and expenditure. And this may lead to monetary problems later. Everyone needs to plan for the future. This financial aspect cannot always be done by oneself. This is where professional financial advisors come in. Read more...

Scholarship program for moms by Obama is not a new subject anymore. It has been a topic of many ever since it was proclaimed by the president in pubic and many are still not aware of it. The main objective of the scholarship program is to help in need mothers have nicer way of living by providing free college education. The government has provided enough funds with additional contributions from individuals who are willing to give some amount for the program to be able to pay lesser income tax to the government. This scholarship program is one of the priority programs of the government especially at present that the country is still experiencing bad economic situation. Every mom who will be part of the program can receive an amount up to $10,000 for their education purposes. The amount provided will be enough to pay for their school fees educational materials, and other expenses related to the said schooling. If they are able to spare some, they can also use it to pay some of their personal bills.

The money grant given by the government not only helps moms pursue college education but it also helps cover small bills and other small expenses at home. In addition, since the money is intended for a scholarship program, it will not require scholars to pay a single cent after they have completed their education unlike for student loans and other financial assistance offered to students. In student loans, you will even be asked to pay accrued interest from the time you were receiving money from the institution for your education. Obama’s scholarship program was designed to fit every mom lifestyle whether they are working or staying at home to take care of household errands. For moms who cannot attend the school campus regularly, they have the option to study online at their own home. Time is also flexible that one can choose when to access their online modules and do its correspondence. Working moms do not have to leave their jobs just to go to college and same thing with stay at home moms; they do not have compromise the time for their kids just to go to school. Education is the key to success as we used to hear it and it is true in most cases. It’s a very effective and powerful tool to make your dreams come true. You can have your dreamed job that will provide you with enough income to make things in life easier for you and for your family.

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I heard that if you are old enough to work that you will get income tax is that true
(from Yahoo Answers)

Image taken on 2008-04-14 14:32:07 by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent). Read more...

Scholarship program for moms by Obama is not a new subject anymore. It has been a topic of many ever since it was proclaimed by the president in pubic and many are still not aware of it. The main objective of the scholarship program is to help in need mothers have nicer way of living by providing free college education. The government has provided enough funds with additional contributions from individuals who are willing to give some amount for the program to be able to pay lesser income tax to the government. This scholarship program is one of the priority programs of the government especially at present that the country is still experiencing bad economic situation. Every mom who will be part of the program can receive an amount up to $10,000 for their education purposes. The amount provided will be enough to pay for their school fees educational materials, and other expenses related to the said schooling. If they are able to spare some, they can also use it to pay some of their personal bills.

The money grant given by the government not only helps moms pursue college education but it also helps cover small bills and other small expenses at home. In addition, since the money is intended for a scholarship program, it will not require scholars to pay a single cent after they have completed their education unlike for student loans and other financial assistance offered to students. In student loans, you will even be asked to pay accrued interest from the time you were receiving money from the institution for your education. Obama’s scholarship program was designed to fit every mom lifestyle whether they are working or staying at home to take care of household errands. For moms who cannot attend the school campus regularly, they have the option to study online at their own home. Time is also flexible that one can choose when to access their online modules and do its correspondence. Working moms do not have to leave their jobs just to go to college and same thing with stay at home moms; they do not have compromise the time for their kids just to go to school. Education is the key to success as we used to hear it and it is true in most cases. It’s a very effective and powerful tool to make your dreams come true. You can have your dreamed job that will provide you with enough income to make things in life easier for you and for your family.

Read more...