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Taxes

Book Reviews

A Great Tax Resource for Americans

J.K. Lasser’s Your Income Tax 2011: For Preparing Your 2010 Tax Return

Whether you do your own taxes or you hire an accountant, if you are an American, you will benefit from reading J.K Lasser’s income tax book.  It provides you with all kinds of tips that will ensure you are filing your taxes properly and maximizing your tax savings.  Even if you have an accountant do your taxes, it is still important for you to understand any tax credits or deductions that you are entitled to.  It is in your best interest to make sure you are taking advantage of everything available to you..

The book is an easy to read, comprehensive guide that will walk you through the tax process, outlining information on the various tax forms, and much more.   After skimming this book, you will be well equipped to tackle your taxes.  While doing your taxes, if you come across something that is unclear that requires clarification, you can be sure you will find the answer in this guidebook.

Use J.K. Lasser’s book as a reference while you prepare your taxes to ensure that it goes as smoothly as possible.  Since we are not all tax accountants, it is nice to know that there is a well written and easy to understand guidebook that can walk you through the process and make it less painful.

Check out this book today.  You will not be disappointed.  There is information in this book that will be helpful to anyone who has to file taxes in the United States.  The book covers a wide range of topics including discussions about IRAs, real estate, life insurance, and so much more.

 

Taxes

Ways To Reduce Your Taxes

Canadians pay a lot of income tax and any way that we can find to reduce our tax bill is a major plus.  Yahoo! Finance has a really great article titled “Slash Your Taxes” that I would recommend you read before filing your taxes this year.

The majority of the tips discussed in the article focus on how spouses can effectively split their incomes in order to reduce the taxes owing for the highest wage earner.  Examples include using a spousal RSP, having the lower wage earner opening sole-owned investments, and lending money to the lower wage earner spouse so they can invest.

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Taxes

Top 7 Ways To Trigger A CRA Review

Forget a T slip: You are required to report all your income. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) receives copies of all the T slips issued, so if you forget, misplace or hide a T slip, it will inevitably be uncovered by their matching program and result in a reassessment. Do this twice in a two-year period and you will be looking at substantial penalties.

Your business looks like a hobby: The CRA does not expect every new enterprise to make a profit their first few years in business. However, you cannot create a business for the purpose of creating losses. There must be some reasonable expectation of profit in future years. If you claim year after year of losses, you may be answering questions about your business plan from a CRA auditor.

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Taxes

What Is In Your Tax Survival Kit?

Tips to make preparing your tax return easy:

1. Keep it together: It may seem simple but as your slips and receipts arrive, pick one spot to keep all your paperwork together. Some suggestions: envelope, shoe box, plastic bag or a really big clip.

2. Search and retrieve: A taxpayer is responsible for reporting their income during the tax year even if they don?t receive all the right paperwork. If you are missing a T4 or other income slip, do your best to track it down before you file. If not, provide the best estimate of your income and report it.

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Taxes

What Papers Do I Need To Do My Taxes?

When it comes to doing your taxes, whether you do them on your own or hire an accountant, you will need to get your papers in order.   Examples of items you will need to do your taxes are as follows:

1. Charitable donation receipts

2. Moving expenses

3. Medical, dental, medical insurance, and nursing home expense receipts

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