Hey out there!!  I haven’t quit, but I have been so busy in the last couple of weeks that I just haven’t had time.  I don’t get home til 8:00 or 9:00 PM every night and I’m just toasted.  This tax season is hot!  We have had quite a few computer related glitches and now we are having some problems with the Bank that does the refund loans for us and it has been extremely frustrating. 

It seems my whole life is on hold right now until we get this first wave of people taken care of.  I’m going to have some good stories to blog about when I get caught up, so stay tuned!!

Posted on February 4th, 2009 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes | No Comments »

Another Tax change that I failed to mention in previous posts is the one pertaining to property tax. If you have enough itemized deductions to file a Schedule A, you can claim property taxes paid on your property.  However, many people may have purchased their home in the latter part of the year, or the interest payment isn’t large enough to qualify them for itemization.  The new change for this year allows you to claim the property tax paid up to $500 single and $1000, married filing jointly.  This is a good change and will help many people.

I have been extremely busy the last week getting my Tax Office ready to open for the Tax filing season, which begins this friday.  I will continue to post, but probably not every day.

Posted on January 13th, 2009 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes, Tax Changes | No Comments »

Tax season doesn’t officially get started until next week, but I have really been busy this week.  I will try to catch up on my posting schedule later this week or this week-end.

Posted on January 7th, 2009 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes | No Comments »

Well, the Holiday season is over and it’s time to go back to work.  I had a wonderful Christmas Holiday with all my family in a mountain cabin up in the North Georgia mountains.  It just went by too fast.

Tax season is just about to get started.  The phones are ringing off the hook with people calling about tax loans and wanting to know when they can get their money.  With the current economic conditions, I think that everyone will be in extremely early to get their taxes done this year.  Of course, the IRS doesn’t open until the 16th of January, so it is still a couple of weeks away.

I hope everyone who reads this had a Happy Holiday season and I hope the New Year will be prosperous for all of you.  I’ll be posting more on Income Tax and continue with my series on business entities later this week.

Posted on December 31st, 2008 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes, Personal | No Comments »

In a Partnership, two or more people share ownership of a single business.  Like proprietor-ships, the law does not distinguish between the business and its owners.  The partners should have a legal agreement that sets forth how decisions will be made, profits will be shared, disputes will be resolved, how future partners will be admitted to the partnership, how partners can be bought out, and what steps Will be taken to dissolve the partnership when needed. Read more…

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Terry
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The largest majority of small businesses start out as sole proprietorships.  These firms are owned by one person, usually the individual who has day-to-day responsibilities for running the business.  Sole proprietors own all the assets of the business and the profits generated by it.  They are also responsible for all of its liabilities and debts.  In the eyes of the law and the public, you are the business.  Let me give you a good example.  I have a client who has several employees who drive vehicles for him over long distances on a daily basis.  If one of his employees had an accident resulting in the death or disability of one or more people, or extensive property damage, the insurance may not cover all the claims.  Read more…

Posted on December 17th, 2008 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes | No Comments »

Tax law changes are pretty boring stuff, so I thought I would post some information on different forms or types of business ownership.

This is an area that many people make mistakes in that can cost them money in many different ways. People usually start a business and then decide to change the type of ownership or structure after they have already made mistakes.  In far too many instances, I will get clients in who are operating as an LLC or Partnership, or as a sole proprietor, when another form of ownership would be more advantageous to them taxwise. Read more…

Posted on December 15th, 2008 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes | 2 Comments »

One large change this year is a Tax Credit to aid first-time housebuyers.  It’s rather complicated, but it could help some individuals.  It’s basically an interest-free loan that must be repaid over a 15 year period.

This tax credit is available for a limited time only.

1.  Applies to home purchases after April 8, 2008, and before July 1, 2009.

2.  Reduces a taxpayer’s tax bill or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar.

3.  Is fully refundable, meaning that the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax they owe. Read more…

Posted on December 10th, 2008 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes, Tax Changes | No Comments »

Here are some additional changes for the 2008 Tax Year.

Tax-bracket thresholds increase for each filing status.  For a married couple filing a joint return, for example,  the taxable-income threshold separating the 15% bracket from the 25%  bracket is $65,100, up from $63,700 in 2007.

The maximum earned income tax credit for low and moderate income workers and working families with two or more children is $4824, up from $4716.  The income limit for the credit for joint filers with two or more children is $41,646, up from $39,783.

There are still more changes and I will continue to post them over the next few days.

Posted on December 8th, 2008 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes, Tax Changes | No Comments »

Well, I’m back from my Thanksgiving trip to the mountains and atempting to get ready for the upcoming Tax Season.

I’m going to do a series of posts on tax changes that will affect your Income Tax Return for this year and then I will do a series of posts on different types of business entities, such as Sole Proprietor, Partnerships, LLC and Corporate tax returns.

Inflation adjustments are made each year in order to keep up with inflation.  I’ve already covered the rate changes for automobile mileage, so lets cover some more changes.

The value of each personal and dependency exemption will increase to $3500, up $100 from 2007.

The new standard deduction is $10,900 for married couples filing a joint return (up $200), $5450 for singles and married individuals filing separately (up $100) and $8000 for heads of household (up $150).  Up to 60% of tax payers take the standard deduction, rather than itemizing deductions such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions and state and local taxes.

I’ll continue with these changes in my next post.

Posted on December 5th, 2008 by Terry
Filed under: Income Taxes, Tax Changes | No Comments »