The straight line

Many people itemize deductions on Schedule A of their tax returns, rather than taking the standard deduction. Your tax preparer will generally advise you to do so if your allowable itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction. Most itemized deductions are well known and fairly well-understood. Examples include property taxes, home mortgage interest, state and local income...

If you travel a lot on business, you may make some international trips — as well as trips within the United States. When traveling abroad, you may want to add a few extra days to a trip for relaxing and sightseeing. Keep in mind that the tax rules for foreign business travel are different from those...

Employers and other organizations got some good news from the IRS for the start of the new year. The tax agency announced that it’s extending the due dates for filing 2015 Affordable Care Act (ACA) information returns. This gives employers extra time to complete two tasks: Provide the forms to the recipients and File the forms...

The following table provides some important federal tax information for 2016, as compared with 2015. Many of the dollar amounts are unchanged or have changed only slightly due to low inflation. Other amounts are changing due to legislation. Social Security/ Medicare 2016 2015 Social Security Tax Wage Base $118,500 $118,500 Medicare Tax Wage Base No limit...

Choosing the appropriate legal form for a business is one of the first issues most entrepreneurs face. It is an important decision at the formation stage and also as a business grows. Sole proprietorships are generally the easiest. Corporations offer some different advantages, but often with additional complexity. This article addresses some of the pros and cons of...

This holiday season, taxpayers are receiving a “gift” from Washington, D.C. It’s the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 or, simply, the PATH Act. It does more than just extend expired tax provisions for another year. The bipartisan deal makes about one-third of these tax provisions permanent. Many others have been extended for periods ranging...