The IRA (Individual Retirement Arrangement) is one of the more underutilized tools for retirement planning.  The primary benefit to an IRA is tax-deferred investing.  Income taxes are not paid until taxable distributions are made.  With limited exceptions, distributions made prior to age 59½ are subject to a 10% penalty in addition to income taxes. more…

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that some taxpayers will not be able to file their returns until mid to late February 2011 due to last year's tax changes.  The IRS will need to reprogram its processing systems for three provisions that were extended in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 that became law on December 17, 2010.

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1.  Know Your Tax Bracket
This is where every taxpayer needs to start.  What is your tax bracket?  If you don't know this number, just pull out your tax return from last year.  Look at the taxable income and look up the rate that is located in the tax tables. This will help you when looking at realizing capital gains or losses, exercising and selling stock options, or dealing with the Alternative Minimum Tax. more…

In December, 2010 President Obama signed into law the tax bill which extends many of the Bush-Era federal income tax cuts and the Pension Protection Act of 2006. This law has extended the provision that allows some people to make qualified charitable distributions from their IRAs. more…