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Financial News
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You've decided it's finally time to take that big technological tax step. This year, you're e-filing.You definitely won't be alone. For the last several years, the number of taxpayers electronically filing their returns has increased.Not surprisingly, e-filing comes in two waves: early filers, who generally are getting tax money back and like the speed e-filing offers in getting the refund process going, and taxpayers who wait until just before the tax deadline to hit the "enter" key.In addition to the appeal of more precise time control over your 1040's delivery, electronic filing offers several more attractions. In most cases, the computer filing programs have all the forms you'll need and they are regularly updated. That's important because Congress often makes last-minute changes to tax laws that delay publication of forms. By using software, you'll get the current and correct filing material sooner. [Read the full article]
Dear Tax Talk,I wonder if anyone would be so kind as to help me with a 2011 tax question. I am a widow on a fixed income and trying to do my taxes myself -- as I have the last couple of years.I live in South Carolina. I sold a rental condo in South Carolina to a lady in California four years ago. She paid $18,500 down (went to commission), and I took back a first mortgage (owner-financed) for $50,000. She kept the same renter, collected rent and paid me mortgage payments.In November 2010, her renter defaulted. In early 2011, she advised she could no longer make mortgage payments to me and couldn't manage the property from the West Coast.I agreed to take the property back by deed in lieu of foreclosure. It cost me $1,000 in attorney fees to get the property back.I had to finish the eviction of the tenant. The property was basically destroyed by the tenant, who was judgment proof, so that was not an option. [Read the full article]
(Reuters) - Paycheck a little lighter this month? Despite the extension of the payroll tax cut, taxes are still taking a bigger slice of many workers' pay in 2012. And 2013 could be even worse. Thanks to little-known factors such as lower transit and childcare benefits, some workers can expect to have their net pay decrease by several hundred dollars this year as new federal regulations rolled out January 1. "Unless a company is willing to bump up salaries to offset it, taking away a tax advantage or benefit will always impact employees at the margins," says Steve Wojcik, vice president for public policy at the National Business Group on Health, a coalition of 325 large employers. "That's probably what many workers are feeling right now." Carrie Hughes, who commutes three hours roundtrip from New York City to her office in Princeton, New Jersey, is feeling the pinch. In 2011, Hughes was eligible for a pre-tax public transit payroll deduction of $230 per month. [Read the full article]
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