There are many tax breaks that get overlooked, but homeowners often overlook the most obvious deductions. The truth is, as a homeowner, you stand to save hundreds if not thousands off your taxes. However, it all boils down to knowing what you qualify for. The following are just some of the tax breaks homeowners may be missing out on.

Mortgage Interest

The interest you pay on your mortgage should be one the first tax breaks you take advantage of. Those filing single can deduct mortgage interest on homes up to $500,000 ($1 million for married couples). This will require a … Read more at 2009 Taxes

Many people get nervous when it comes to thinking about retirement investing. It can be a very confusing process with complicated terms and options available. However, it is vitally important to save for your future. The earlier you start the better when it comes to saving for retirement. The successful investors are the ones who consistently put money away no matter what the markets are doing. To reach your financial retirement goals there are a couple of options available to most people.

401(k)

If you work for an employer who offers a 401(k), or similar plan, it is quite easy … Read more at 2009 Taxes

According to emerging news reports, Romney has a vast amount of wealth invested in funds through Bain Capital LLC.  This powerhouse is one of the offshore tax havens often used to help lower the 2012 taxes.  Several of the Bain funds have connections offshore that are allowing the financial elite to take advantage of tax breaks.

These news sources are interested in dissecting Romney’s tax returns to see how his use of offshore strategies has allowed him to avoid taxes.  Investments by Romney and others in Bain funds, have money scattered from Delaware, to Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland … Read more at 2009 Taxes

Filing taxes can be a frustrating experience. Hiring a professional for tax filing is not an option for some people. It is easy to file your own taxes with Turbo Tax. In fact, it is possible to file right from an iPhone.

Since many people use their smart phones to do virtually everything, tax filing should not be left out. That is why Turbo Tax has a app for easy filing. It is as easy as snapping pictures of required documents and the app turns them into proper forms.

There is a small charge for electronic tax filing. … Read more at 2009 Taxes

Some reports from an IRS watchdog have indicted the federal tax agency for certain practices regarding offshore account disclosure. An arm of the IRS known as the Taxpayer Advocate Service has been responsible for reporting these kinds of voluntary disclosure policies aimed at wealthy Americans. According to the watchdog report, the IRS has failed to cap penalties in cases of this kind of disclosure.

A standard practice of the IRS has been to reduce the penalties for those who willingly disclose that they have hidden offshore bank accounts. These taxpayers have often accumulated this wealth from overseas jobs or from … Read more at 2009 Taxes

The career of a freelance writer can be very rewarding. However, the career can quickly lose its appeal when tax time arrives and you owe several thousand dollars. Thankfully, there are things you can do to reduce your tax bill and prevent owing such a large sum at once. The following are just five essential tax tips for freelance writers.

Pay Your Estimated Taxes

This cannot be stressed enough. Freelance writers need to pay estimated taxes in April, June, September and January of the following year. These payments will ensure that you don’t get penalized for paying your taxes late … Read more at 2009 Taxes

Each year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reports the most common tax deductions taxpayers forget about when submitting their income tax return.  Among one of the most common mistakes taxpayers make is they forget to place their Social Security number on the form or they make a mistake when entering the information.

It is possible for some taxpayers to be overpaying so it helps to make sure you review deductions available and understand how to claim them correctly to obtain the credit.  Below is a list of the most common deductions overlooked by taxpayers:

1. State sales tax: Taxpayers who live
… Read more at 2009 Taxes

While many financial experts claim you should avoid borrowing from your 401k as much as possible, it may be your only financial life line in certain situations.  Because so many people often don’t have enough or anything at all saved toward retirement, financial experts claim you could be setting yourself up for financial disaster when you are ready to retire.  On the other hand, depending on your situation, it may make sense to borrow.

If you have considered other financial options such as borrowing from friends, family or home equity line of credit, a loan against your 401k may be … Read more at 2009 Taxes

Today many people have become very skeptical about the current market and economy when it comes to saving for retirement.  In fact the market seems to have become very volatile over the last few years and some are wondering what they could do to protect themselves today.  While you can’t control what the market is going to do you can control where you invest your money and the fees that you pay and in this article we’re going to see which is better fee based investing or traditional investing.

The Traditional Way To Invest

For most people we invest our … Read more at 2009 Taxes

Welcome to the October 25, 2011 edition of Tax Carnival Ecstasy. In this edition of the Tax Carnival Ecstasy we have a number of great articles from different financial blogs. Roger White starts us off with 401k Contribution Limits in 2011 and 2012, for those looking to max-out their retirement savings. SteveR has a good post with What to Expect after Receiving an IRS Certified Letter, if you just discovered that you are being audited. And finally, Al Peters presents 4 Things You Should Know About Your Self Assessment Tax Return 2011. Hope you enjoy the material, bookmark, share, tweet,