Congress originally devised the alternative minimum tax (AMT) rules to ensure that high-income individuals who take advantage of multiple tax breaks will owe something to Uncle Sam each year. In recent years, however, that concept has eroded. Now, even upper-middle-income taxpayers are likely to owe the AMT. Here’s an overview of how the AMT works and...

A “100% penalty” can be assessed against a responsible person when federal income tax and/or federal employment taxes are withheld from employee paychecks but aren’t handed over to the government. This Trust Fund Recovery Penalty got its informal “100% penalty” moniker from the fact that the entire unpaid amount can be assessed against a responsible person (or...

With the ever-increasing cost of health insurance and medical care, you should be vigilant in finding ways to claim tax breaks related to health care. Unfortunately, that’s now harder than before because a change included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increased the income-based threshold for deducting itemized medical expenses. However, some seniors have been...

The federal income tax rules on qualified residence interest have been around for many years, but there’s always a steady flow of disagreements between the IRS and taxpayers on these rules. Here are some background materials and recent developments on qualified residence interest that may affect you. Rules in a Nutshell Unlike most other types of...

Fall is a good time to pause and review your financial planning strategy. A lot can happen in a year. If your personal life, market conditions or tax laws have changed, you may need to revise your long-term financial plans. Here are some retirement and estate planning considerations that may be worthwhile. Roth IRAs Do you...

Medical expenses can be costly — and they’re not always covered by insurance. But there may be a silver lining: You may be able to claim an itemized deduction for the amounts you pay for medical, dental and vision care, if you incur enough costs to exceed the applicable threshold for the tax year. Here are...