Tax Carnival Ecstasy – August 20, 2013

Tax Carnival Ecstasy – August 20, 2013

Welcome to the August 20, 2013 edition of Tax Carnival Ecstasy. We start this edition an article about filing back taxes from the blog 2009 Taxes by Bill Smith. John Schmoll takes a look at when is the right time to start saving money for retirement. Finally Daniel has an article on paying a personal tax to yourself from his site Sweating the Big Stuff. Hope you like the articles, like on Facebook, +1 with Google, and share the link on Twitter.

filing

Bill Smith presents Can You Still File 2009 Taxes With Turbo Tax 2009? posted at 2009 Taxes, saying, “Turbo Tax 2009 was released in late 2009 as a way for people to prepare and file their taxes themselves from a computer.”

Leader Phil Mickelson teeing off on the 18th h...
Leader Phil Mickelson teeing off on the 18th hole at TPC at Sawgrass during the final round of the 2007 Players Championship. Mickelson bogeyed the hole but still won the title by two shots. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

retirement

Bill Smith presents Phil Mickelson Needed to Pay 61% in Taxes For His Fame posted at 2010Taxes, saying, “Phil was recently ranked at number 7 in Forbes list that consisted of the highest earning athletes around the world but paying this heavy amount of taxes to the government(s) is really a tough thing to do for him.”

John Schmoll presents When Should You Start Saving for Retirement? posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Saving for retirement can be challenging for many. There are many excuses to use from not having enough money to it being too far away. However, by starting to save for retirement earlier rather than later, regardless of the amount, you put yourself in the best position possible.”

John Schmoll presents Investing in Stocks: Are You a Trader or Investor? Plus a Giveaway! posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “There are various strategies investors can implement in the stock market yet many do not stop to think which is best for them. This lack of preparation can significantly undermine their investing efforts and hinder their attempts to grow wealth and saving for retirement.”

taxes

Bill Smith presents 5 Popular Business Destinations For Tax Havens posted at 2014 Taxes, saying, “Taxes can often prove to be rather annoying expenditures that Government enforces on its people.”

tips

Daniel presents Force Yourself To Save With A 100% Personal Tax posted at Sweating The Big Stuff, saying, “With income taxes, you pay the government for money you earn. But with a personal tax, you pay yourself for money you spend.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tax carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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TurboTax Makes Tax Season a Breeze

Financial capability is a major part in an adult’s life. Finishing your degree and getting a job is needed in order to maintain a sustainable life, along with paying taxes. Tax which comes from the Latin word “taxo” meaning rate, is a monetary obligation given to individuals to support the government; it is not a donation or a voluntary contribution, rather it is an imposed donation as mandated by law. Taxes are necessary for the government to function and provide services to the people. There are two forms of taxes levied to individuals: direct and indirect. Direct taxes are imposed directly on the income or property/business of an individual while indirect taxes are imposed on commodities, sales, etc.

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)4
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)4 (Photo credit: Antonio Villaraigosa)

Get to Know Your Taxes

  1. Payroll Taxes – tax which is taken out directly from an employee’s wages and calculated based on their earnings. This includes Income Tax Withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes and Unemployment Taxes.
  2. Property Taxes – these are imposed taxes based on property’s fair market value. Generally, it is imposed on realty but some jurisdictions may tax business properties, as well.
  3. Sales Taxes – it is imposed on the retail price of commodities and services.
  4. Inheritance or Estate Taxes – a levy paid by a person inheriting money or property from a deceased individual.
  5. Gift Taxes – it is tax on property or money given by one living person to another. Some “gifts” are not taxed due to exemptions in taxation law.

Tax Season

Tax season begins and it’s time to file the necessary forms such as the W-2 form or the Wage and Tax statement. The W-2 form is an account of earnings (wages and other forms of compensation) that an employer must submit to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by the end of the fiscal year. It is an employer’s account of their employee’s compensation and the withheld taxes on their paycheck.

Filing taxes is a gruesome and tiring task where companies or individuals hire professionals in order to file accurate accounts. TurboTax offers a stress-free tax season.

TurboTax in Action

TurboTax helps in filing the necessary taxes along with tax deductions that the company deserves. They ask questions which are relevant to the company’s profile enabling them to see which taxes suit you along with the corresponding deductions to benefit the business. No need to worry about calculations; they will do it all. They will be there every step of the way. Their experienced and expert employees have handled taxes for years and know exactly what works on behalf of the business.

Another feature of TurboTax is that it’s done online. No need to visit a tax store, it’s just a download and a click away. The main idea is to maximize time for other things and not all on taxes, no need to pull your hair out and burn the midnight oil. They handle the IRS too, if they have any questions regarding your taxes.

No need to have your W-2 handy, they can get it from the company. Are you indecisive about which product to get? They can assist in the decision making. No need to worry about making a mistake, they can double check to avoid any penalties; if the IRS still finds mistakes, they’ll pay for your penalty plus interest.

Are the refunds taking too long to be released? They can get it fast for you through efile and direct deposit at no extra charge. Worried about not owning a bank account? Don’t worry; they can have it mailed to you.

TurboTax Survives Twitter Panic

TurboTax Survives Twitter Panic

The 2013 tax season was fraught with unprecedented problems caused by government budget fights and IRS delays in updating forms.  In addition, some major tax preparation firms, most notably H&R Block, caused problems for taxpayers claiming education credits by not properly updating their own software, delaying some clients’ returns by weeks.  TurboTax managed to escape most of the tax season controversy until the evening before the filing deadline.  On that night, they had their own crisis which was exacerbated by Twitter.

English: Sketch for Twitter. See also the auth...
English: Sketch for Twitter. See also the author’s description on Flickr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TurboTax admits that on Sunday, April 14th, some of their online users were not able to access their accounts, causing a panic among those who had waited until the last possible moments to file.  The outage was caused by a glitch in the company’s software and the extremely high volume on the web site. According to TurboTax officials, the site was never entirely down, though the outraged tweets on Twitter painted a different picture.

Although the problem only lasted about one hour, from 6:40 pm until 7:50 pm PT, last minute filers panicked and tweeted frantic questions and complaints to TurboTax’s Twitter account.  TurboTax was aware of the problem before the tweets hit, but users had their doubts, and so kept reminding the tax company of the problem.  All was quickly fixed; however, leading many to blame procrastinators instead of the company for the problem.

Twitter users may not have passed on any useful information this time, but the pressure they exerted probably didn’t hurt anything. In the future, TurboTax will surely be more prepared for traffic surges on their site.

Tax Carnival Ecstasy – January 22, 2013

Welcome to the January 22, 2013 edition of tax carnival ecstasy. In this edition we start off with an article from Bill Smith on the IRS delay in tax filing acceptance until the end of January, a delay caused by the late tax law changes passed by congress. There is also an article from John Schmoll who looks at 4 Helpful Free Investment Tools that you can use. Hope you like all the articles, tweet our carnival on Twitter, share with your friends, bookmark and come back next time.

Brian McKay presents Mortgage Debt Cancellation Relief Extended Until December 31, 2013 posted at Bank CD Rates, Mortgage Rates, Savings Rates, Banking Reviews, saying, “Homeowners facing a foreclosure, a short sale or reduced loan principal by their lender after December 31, 2012, faced owing taxes on any mortgage debt that was forgiven by the mortgage lien holder. Home owners had rushed to complete short sales or debt reduction before the end of the 2013 because it looked like the fiscal cliff tax issues wouldn’t be worked out in Washington.”

Taxes
Taxes (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

swapnil presents Share Market: Tax Structure in India posted at Share Market.

filing

Bill Smith presents Free Tax Filing for 2011 Taxes posted at 2011 Tax, saying, “Each year, thousands of taxpayers fail to file their federal income taxes. Some individuals willingly forgo this action while others run into special circumstances.”

Bill Smith presents Processing of Tax Returns to Begin on January 30 posted at 2012 Tax – Free Tax Filing Options, saying, “Earlier this week, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that electronic filing of tax payments for the year 2013 will commence on January 30.”

retirement

John Schmoll presents 4 Helpful Free Investment Tools posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Investing in the stock market can be a challenge for the seasoned investor, much less a newbie investor. By using some free investment tools you can make more informed investment decisions that will benefit your portfolio.”

taxes

Bill Smith presents Eliminating State Income Taxes Could Spur Economic Growth posted at 2012 Taxes – Free Tax Filing Options, saying, “While Washington continues to struggle with attempts at major changes to the federal tax system, individual states have no such problem.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tax carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Technorati tags: tax carnival ecstasy, blog carnival.