(George Sterling) - There are many people who know and have heard about amendments but don’t necessarily know their implication in the financial world. We use the word amendment in our daily lives and as far as the literal meaning of the word goes, it means “making a small change in a document”. However, using the word in [...]

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(Money Manager) - A 457 plan is a deferred and non-qualified compensation plan. These plans are established by state and local governments, tax-exempt local governments, and employers who are tax-exempt. Employees who are eligible can make contributions to these plans, which are tax-deferred, so that all contributions will not be taxed until the assets are distributed at retirement.

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(Michael Schwartz) - CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS As a general rule, you may deduct the full amount of monetary donations made to qualified charitable organizations. If you donate appreciated property held for more than one year, you can generally deduct the fair-market value of the property.

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(Mark Rogers) - Retirees over the age of 70 ½ have, prior to 2009, been required to withdraw a small percentage of their retirement accounts (401k, IRA's, etc.). This is the government's way of gaining tax revenues on money that had been growing for years tax deferred. The person taking the distribution was required to pay income tax, at their current tax rate, on any money withdrawn.

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(Money Manager) - Abusive tax schemes have evolved from simple structuring of abusive domestic and foreign trust arrangements into sophisticated strategies that take advantage of the financial secrecy laws of some foreign jurisdictions and the availability of credit/debit cards issued from offshore financial institutions.

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(Money Manager) - The purpose of this application is to help employees to ensure that they do not have too much or too little income tax withheld from their pay. It is not a replacement for Form W-4, but most people will find it more accurate and easier to use than the worksheets that accompany Form W-4. You may use the results of this program to help you complete a new Form W-4, which you will submit to your employer.

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(Money Manager) - Payments that you receive from your IRA or qualified retirement plan before you reach age 59½ are normally called ‘early’ or ‘premature’ distributions. These funds are subject to an additional 10 percent tax and must be reported to the IRS.

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(Money Manager) - Tax evasion using foreign jurisdictions is accomplished using many different methods. Some can be as simple as taking unreported cash receipts and personally traveling to a tax haven country and depositing the cash into a bank account. Others are more elaborate involving numerous domestic and foreign trusts, partnerships, nominees, etc. The following schemes are not all-inclusive, but just a sample of abusive tax schemes.

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(Money Manager) - WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers to be on the lookout for a new e-mail scam that uses the Treasury Department's Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) as a hook to lure individuals into disclosing their personal information. The system, which is used by more than six million taxpayers, allows businesses and individuals to pay all their federal taxes online or by phone.

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