The Small Business Tax Help Blog

Posts Tagged ‘taxes’

Question: who has the best tax preparation software?

I am starting a home based business doing taxes, and i am trying to find out who has the best software?

Answer: personally I believe it is Turbo tax.

Group offers tips on finding tax preparation help

Associated Press - February 5, 2010 4:14 AM ET CHICAGO (AP) - The Better Business Bureau is encouraging taxpayers to use caution when selecting tax preparation help.

Daniel Stoica Minimize Your Tax Preparation Expenses

Question: Why does the % of my paycheck withheld go up if I’m paid semimonthly versus monthly?

According to several online calculators, it looks like my Tax Withholding will be a larger percentage of my income if I’m paid semi-monthly as opposed to monthly. Why is this? I’m expecting to get most of my withheld tax back, so I don’t want to give the gov’t an interest-free loan if I don’t have to.

Answer: It shouldn't if you have correctly entered the gross salary figure.

For instance, a $4000 per month salary equates to a semi-monthly of $2000.

If you enter the wrong numbers, you'll get the wrong answer.

GIGO, in other words.

Brian J. O'Connor: Fight the urge to splurge and put that tax refund check to a good, responsible use

There's still more than three weeks until Tax Day, but it's not too early to start figuring out what to do with whatever refund you might be getting.

IRS TAX TIPS: Making Work Pay - General (ASL, Captions & Audio)

Question: Running 4 political office(councilman)Best way 2 set up campaign account? personal account or business/tax id?

First time candidate…trying to find out whether I should setup my campaign fundraising account as a business account complete with tax ID numbers or can it simply be ok to use a seperate personal account. Not expecting over $5,000 in donations. Worried about tax implications…want to make it as simple as possible

Answer: Your county board of elections will be able to assist you with any questions on the proper ways to set up a campaign account. It will be important to follow what they say because even with small amounts of money, there will need to be some type of filing with that government office.

IdentityTruth Shares Top 10 Tips for ID Theft Prevention in 2010

WALTHAM, Mass.----IdentityTruth, the leading provider of a new breed of services to help consumers safeguard their privacy and identity, today is sharing its top 10 tips for avoiding ID theft in 2010.

How to Start a Business in Providence for RISDfolks

Question: How much in TAX REVENUE will be lost because of the Wall St. salary caps?

Rough estimate.

It is estimated that because of the 44% decrease in Wall St. bonuses that New York State will lose $1 billion, and that NYC would lose $275M.

How much do you think will be lost with the salary caps? And is the loss in tax revenues worth the empty populist gesture?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123336371503735447.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

Les – you assume too much, yet know too little.
Ed J – How do you know who I voted for? What is with all the assumptions today….

Answer: With the raise in taxes NONE it will be more expensive to give thousands of wall st. guys millions of dollars each or cap them and collect maybe 5 thousand less.

Between 2001 and 2004 (the most recent data), the percentage of federal income taxes paid by those with $200,000 incomes and above has risen to 46.6% from 40.5%. In other words, out of every 100 Americans, the wealthiest three are now paying close to the same amount in taxes as the other 97 combined. The richest income group pays a larger share of the tax burden than at anytime in the last 30 years with the exception of the late 1990s -- right before the artificially inflated high tech bubble burst.
Millionaires paid more, too. The tax share paid by Americans with an income above $1 million a year rose to 17.8% in 2003 from 16.9% in 2002, the year before the capital gains and dividend tax cuts.

The most astounding result from the IRS data is the deluge of revenues from the very taxes that were cut in 2003: capital gains and dividends. As shown in the nearby chart, capital gains receipts from 2002-04 have climbed by 79% after the reduction in the tax rate from 20% to 15%. Dividend tax receipts are up 35% from 2002 to 2004, even though the taxable rate fell from 39.6% to 15%. This is as clear evidence of a Laffer Curve effect as one will find: Lower rates produced increased revenues.

What explains this surge in tax revenues, especially at the high end of the income scale? The main factor at play here is the robust economic expansion, which has led to real income gains for most tax filers. Higher incomes mean higher tax payments. Between 2001 and 2004, the percentage of Americans with an income of more than $200,000 rose from 12.0% to 14.2%. The percentage of Americans earning more than $50,000 a year rose from 40.8% to 44.2% -- and that's just in two years. While these statistics are not inflation-adjusted by the IRS, price rises were relatively modest during these years, so adjusting wouldn't alter much.

We can already hear the left objecting that the rich are paying more taxes simply because they have hoarded all the income gains, while the middle class and poor wallow in economic quicksand. But, again, the IRS data tell a more upbeat story of widespread financial gains for American families. The slice of the total income pie captured by the richest 1%, 5% and 10% of Americans is lower today than in the last years of the Clinton administration.

Mayor Bloomberg rivals Gates for charity gifts: Donated $254M in 2009

Mayor Bloomberg donated $254 million to charities last year during a period when most donations plunged. The groups Bloomberg gave money to range from helping the arts in New York to reducing traffic deaths in poor countries.

Gingrich: Fire Politicians Who Vote For Big Spending Budget

Question: What is personal income tax rate in california?

My friend told me it is about 18.5% for married. But I saw withholding tax is not more than 10% in most web pages. Can somebody explain me why? Are there other taxes?

Thanks.

Answer: If you look at Page 6 of the PDF linked below, you will see that the highest tax bracket for California individual income tax is 9.3%. It would not make sense to withhold more than that unless you are withholding extra to compensate for something (like self-employment income on the side that will generate extra taxes).

More on the Budget Deficit

I have decided to dig a little bit deeper in to the trends in revenues and outlays so far in this fiscal year.

013 2009Nov04b