| Tax Advice for Newlyweds |
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| Newly married individuals should notify the Internal Revenue Service of name and address changes. A change in marital status will affect an individual's filing status. Marital status is determined on the last day of the year, so if you were married on December 31, the IRS considers you to have been married for the entire year. More... |
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| Who May File a Joint Tax Return |
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| When a couple files a joint tax return, they are considered a single economic unit in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service. But not every "couple" is entitled to file a joint return. Only a married couple may file jointly, They do not have to be married for the entire year. A husband and wife must be married on the last day of the tax year in order to benefit from the joint filing status for the entire year. These benefits include a lower tax rate and certain credits, such as the earned income credit, the tax credit for the elderly, and the credit for child and dependent care expenses, which are only available to married taxpayers who file a joint return. More... |
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| How Long Should a Taxpayer Keep Records? |
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| Piles and piles of tax returns, papers, bank statements, and canceled checks are accumulating in your attic. Just how long do you have to keep all of this? More... |
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| Rollovers from Retirement Plans |
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| If you withdraw assets from one qualified employer retirement plan and contribute them within 60 days to another qualified retirement plan or traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA), you do not have to include the amount withdrawn in your taxable income for the year. You are entitled to roll over most distributions except for the nontaxable part of a distribution, a distribution that is one of a series of payments based on life expectancy or paid over a period of years, a required minimum distribution, or a hardship distribution. More... |
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| Unemployment Compensation |
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| You lost your job a few months ago and have been receiving state unemployment compensation benefits. To add insult to injury, your neighbor tells you that he thinks the benefits are taxable! Could that possibly be right? More... |
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