A major component of your overall expenses are the various taxes that you must pay. Paying taxes is a fact of life; however, it does not mean you should not be looking for way to reduce your taxes. Articles in this section will help you better understand various taxes and things that you could do to minimize your tax burden. Additionally, check out these related sections: budgeting, smart spending, and insurance and risk management.
Taxes is a subsection of expense management.
Understanding the many tax deductions can be nothing short of a minefield, and many taxpayers are unaware of the many deductions that can be used to legally reduce your tax bill. This article highlights just a few of the tax deductions that you can claim if your circumstances lend themselves. Standard Deductions A standard deduction … Read more
We’ve briefly touched on the topic of paying income taxes on eBay sales in the past, but a lot of people are unsure as to whether additional income in general needs to be reported to the IRS. By additional income, I’m referring to anything that’s not part of your usual pay packet, which can include … Read more
We hear a lot about diversifying across asset classes — owning stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. We also hear a lot about diversifying within asset classes — owning mutual funds of hundreds of stocks rather than owning a few individual stocks. But there’s another, lesser-known form of diversification from which you could benefit: Tax diversification. … Read more
It’s a great feeling to be your own boss and make money at it. At least, until you discover that you are now responsible for paying self-employment tax and may be required to make estimated tax payments. I have been paying self-employment tax over the last few years; however, I have not made an estimated … Read more
The other day I was wondering if I owe any income tax this year, so I decided to give Intuit TurboTax Online Federal Free software a try. In general, I was impressed at how far online software industry has evolved over the years (not just Intuit’s). For this 2008 tax year software, you could hardly … Read more
Unlike my regular job, where my employer withhold a portion of my salary to pay various taxes — i.e., Federal, State, City, Social Security, and Medicare — there’s no tax withholding for my self-employment income. To avoid any penalty, I have to pay self-employment tax and make estimated tax payments four times a year. However, … Read more