Category Archives: Tax Tips

If you are gifting property or stocks, your deduction depends on whether the property is ordinary income property or capital gain property.

A number of requirements must be met before divorce-related payments between spouses can be deducted by the paying party as alimony.

If you are a sole proprietor, you may be able to offer health care coverage to your spouse if your spouse is a bona fide employee of your business.

You can deduct investment interest up to the amount of net investment income received; however, then you have to decide to treat net long-term capital gains as investment income, and forgo the long term capital gains tax rates.

The “Understanding Taxes” website is designed to teach students about the mystery behind the U.S. tax system.

Once you reach 70½, you are required to withdraw from your IRA. How much do you withdraw? The IRS has simplified the calculation with Life Expectancy Tables to help you calculate your withdrawal.

Use Table III if you are the IRA owner, unless your spousal beneficiary is more than 10 years younger than you are.

Use Table II if you are the IRA owner and the periodic payments are for your life and the life of your spouse who is more than 10 years younger than you.

Use Table I if you are an individual and the owner’s designated beneficiary but are not both the owner’s spouse and sole beneficiary. (There are special rules for the owner’s spouse.) Use Table I if you are the owner’s estate or otherwise not an individual and the owner died on or after the required beginning date. (Not to be used in the year of the owner’s death.)

Since the 1996 tax law change, one of the main areas of dispute between taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service has been the allocation of “damage awards.” When you, the taxpayer, receive a settlement payment for damages, the tax consequences vary, depending on the type of award received.