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1,001 Deals and Steals: A Guide To Online Classifieds
Some naysayers way back in the 1990s predicted that online shopping wouldn’t last. Sure, and they said television was a passing fad, too! As we all know, just the opposite has occurred. There’s a television in every household, and more than...
How To Realistically Set Your Fees - Part 4
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So far, we have covered the major factors involved in setting your fee structure. We have set a realistic number of billable hours, calculated the effect of expenses and taken into account the cost of a benefit package.
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Little Known Tax Deductions That Can Save You Big
When you say "end of the year", most small business owners think of two things immediately. The *second* is the holidays. The *first* is taxes! While almost all of us pay taxes quarterly, we still have to file in January. That means November and...
Review: Small Business Taxes Made Easy
Publishing Guidelines: You may freely reprint this article in a print or online magazine, e-zine, or newsletter provided you leave the byline intact, don’t change the content (except for grammar/punctuation), and make The Dabbling Mum web address...
RRIF'S + DEATH = TAXES
First Published Summer 1992 The Registered Retirement Income fund, known as a RRIF, is the most popular option chosen when converting RRSP's into retirement income. In the past, most people would start with a RRIF and only convert to an annuity if...
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4 Simple Steps to Reduce Your Taxes
With Tax Season upon us, here are 4 simple steps to lower your tax bill this year.
STEP #1: Understand How Serious Your Tax Problem Is
Are you aware of just how much in taxes you are paying?
Here's how much the average family spends on various consumer categories -- as a percentage of income.
You must realize that it's not how much you spend on taxes that is important, it's how much you spend on taxes as compared to all other major categories of spending!
Consumer Spending:
How Do You Spend Your Hard-Earned Dollars?
Taxes ---------------------- 32.0%
Housing -------------------- 16.7%
Medical Care --------------- 11.5%
Food ----------------------- 8.2%
Transportation ------------- 7.9%
Recreation ----------------- 5.7%
Clothing ------------------- 4.1%
Savings -------------------- 1.4%
Other Miscellaneous -------- 12.5%
TOTAL --------------------- 100.0%
So, if you think you are being "nailed" by the government, you are absolutely right. You spend more on taxes than any other category of consumer spending.
In fact, you spend more on taxes than on food, clothing, and housing combined!
And it's not just federal income taxes we're talking about here. There's also state and local income tax, payroll tax (Social Security and Medicare), sales tax, excise tax and property tax.
Maybe you already knew "intuitively" that your tax bill is outrageously high. If not, the picture I've just painted should thoroughly convince you that you pay too much tax, period.
STEP #2: Get The Right Attitude About Your Taxes
What do I mean by this? Well, you simply must have a certain "mental attitude" toward this whole idea of paying taxes. I'll get right to the point -- you must have an attitude about taxes that says, "Enough is enough. I'm paying way too much tax and I don't like it! And it's about time I did something about it -- TODAY!"
After reading those numbers above, how do you feel? Doesn't that just make you furious? If so, great, then you are on your way to solving this problem. (Remember the old cliche -- "You can't solve a problem until you admit you have one!")
If you saw those numbers above and said, "Big deal. So I pay 32% in taxes. So what? So does everybody else in this country" -- well, I'm sorry, but you might as well just stop reading this article right now. You will continue to pay too much tax because you really don't care about it.
To reduce your taxes, you must have a passion for paying less tax. You must get angry about it.
Before today is over, go get last year's personal income tax return (Form 1040) and look at how much tax you paid.
When you have Form 1040 in front of you, do you realize where the most important number is on this form?
NO, it's not Line 67 -- which tells you how much of a refund you got (if any!).
NO, it's not Line 70 -- which tells you how much you still owed, the balance due with the return.
The most important number on Form 1040 is Line 58.
It says: This is your TOTAL TAX. That is how much federal income tax you paid for all of last year. When it comes to reducing your taxes, it doesn't matter whether you got a refund or whether you had a balance due.
What matters is -- what was your total tax liability for the year. That's the "magic number" that should just make your blood
boil and your heart beat so fast that you can hardly stand it.
Now that I've got you all "riled up" about paying so much tax, let's move on to Step #3.
STEP #3: Realize That Reducing Taxes Is The Easiest Path Possible To Creating Wealth
Consider this simple fact: Reducing your taxes by just $4,000 per year is the easiest way possible to becoming a millionaire.
Let me elaborate.
Let's say you implement some new tax-saving strategies that reduce your taxes by $4,000 each year. Now, if you take that $4,000 per year in tax savings and invest it over the next 30 years, assuming you earn 11.5% on your investment, you end up with $1,048,745.98 at the end of the 30 years!
And here's the best part about this scenario: Where did you get the $4,000/year to invest? Well, you got it from money that would have gone to Uncle Sam! It's money that you used to spend on taxes, part of the 32% of your income that goes to taxes each year.
In effect, it's free money! It's money that was always there -- you just didn't realize it.
Is this a good deal or what? By simply reducing your taxes, the government will finance your million-dollar retirement.
And let's say your tax situation is such that you save $2,000/year instead of $4,000/year. Same assumptions: you invest the $2,000 each year at 11.5% for 30 years. End result: $524,372.99. Not too shabby, eh?
So all you have to do is come up with the tax-saving strategies that will put $2,000 or $4,000 in your pocket each and every year. Which brings us to Step #4.
STEP #4: Get Hold Of The Tax-Saving Strategies That Will Make You A Millionaire!
You know, it doesn't really take much information to save a bundle in taxes. It is true: Just A Little Bit Of Tax Knowledge Can Save You Thousands Of Dollars Every Year!
Useful tax information is freely available. On the Internet, at your local library, and through your local tax professional.
The question is: Are you willing to spend some time this year learning about effective tax strategies that can save you literally thousands of dollars?
Here's a simple goal to set for yourself: Over the next 10 weeks, set aside just an hour a week to read up on tax-reduction strategies. That's all, just 10 hours.
Chances are you'll find 2 or 3 strategies that reduce your tax bill by $1,000 this year.
So you spend 10 hours and, in effect, pay yourself an extra $1,000 for your time. Not a bad hourly rate, eh?
Many times, that's all it takes to pay less tax.
==========================================================
Wayne M. Davies is author of the new eBook, "The Tax Reduction Toolkit: 29 Little-Known Legal Loopholes That Will Reduce Your Taxes By Thousands (For Small Business Owners and Self-Employed People Only!) Don't file another tax return until you visit: http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com oolkit.html
About the Author
Wayne M. Davies is a Tax Professional serving small business and self-employed clients in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Wayne has been helping his clients reduce their taxes for the past 15 years. Wayne provides a complete line of accounting, payroll and tax preparation services for all business types: sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and LLC's. He is author of the new eBook, "The Tax Reduction Toolkit" available at http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com/toolkit.html.
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| The US government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement. Includes income tax forms, instructions, and agency publications. |
| www.irs.gov |
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| en.wikipedia.org |
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| H&R Block | Taxes, Online Tax Preparation, Tax Software, Filing ... |
| Offers online and in-person tax preparation and tax software, mortgages, brokerage and financial services, consumer tips and tax planning information. |
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| TaxCut Online | H&R Block | Online Taxes, File Taxes Online ... |
| File your Taxes online with TaxCut Online. Learn how to file taxes online here. |
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| Income Taxes, Tax Returns, Refunds, Deductions and E-File Software ... |
| Popular tax preparation software by Intuit. Integrates with Quicken, spreadsheets and offers state by state electronic filing. |
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| Taxes & Estates, Tax and Estate Planning Advice - Forbes.com |
| Personal Finance - Get tax and estate planning advice and information from Forbes.com. |
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| Essential Links to Taxes |
| TurboTax Premier For Federal Returns 2005 Win/Mac, TurboTax Total Tax Solution Deluxe 2005 with State Win/Mac, TurboTax Basic 2005 Win/Mac... ... |
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| Taxes - Tax News for Home and Business from CNNMoney |
| The latest in tax law updates, news, forms & advice from CNNMoney.com. Includes a refund savings calculator, and interactive tax lessons. |
| money.cnn.com |
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| The Tax Foundation - Educating Taxpayers Since 1937 |
| Devoted to educating taxpayers about tax policy and the total tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government. |
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| Welcome to the Vermont Department of Taxes |
| Welcome to the Vermont Department of Taxes... ... Changes to Property Tax Adjustments in 2007 - updated 10/18. - Tax Expenditures Transition Report on ... |
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| Franchise Tax Board Homepage |
| The department that collects state personal income taxes and bank and corporation taxes for the State of California. Access to forms and tax information. |
| www.ftb.ca.gov |
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| HM Revenue & Customs: Home Page |
| News and information on tax and national insurance, including downloadable leaflets and forms and the latest news on filing tax returns on-line. |
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| State and Local Tax |
| Piper Resources; State Tax Rates and Structure ...Federation of Tax Administrators; State Payroll Taxes Information ...Symmetry Software ... |
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| Quicken.com |
| www.quicken.com/taxes/ - 3k - Cached - Similar pages |
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| Tax news and advice from Bankrate.com |
| Information on all phases of tax planning and preparation. |
| www.bankrate.com |
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| Online Tax Advice - Tax Preparation Help - Income Tax Tips |
| Income Tax Tips - MarketWatch offers online tax advice and tips. ... IRS inflation adjustments mean tax break on next year's taxes. ... |
| www.marketwatch.com |
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