Posts Tagged ‘taxes’

Finances: Preparing for tax season if you’re out of work

January 6th, 2012

 By Thomas Doane


If you’ve lost your job, then money is probably pretty tight in your household. Tax season is coming up soon, however, so you’ll need to prepare to disclose your year’s financial information to both your state and Uncle Sam unless you want to be in big trouble. It doesn’t have to be a worrisome time, though. If you’re adequately prepared before tax season hits, you can maximize your refund and hopefully come out better than before.

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The first step towards preparing your lifestyle when you find yourself without a job, whether it’s tax season or not, is to start finding ways to save money. Food can be a major expense, so try to make » Read more: Finances: Preparing for tax season if you’re out of work

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Finances: How the unemployed can prepare for the tax season and avoid incurring debt

December 30th, 2011

By Marlon

When you’re unemployed or you lost your job or suffered a big drop in the income level, you may have a considerably different tax situation from the previous years. Rarely does anyone greet the tax season with a big smile on their face and with a bottle of champagne! More often the arrival of your W2 statement in your mail box causes a sigh. Now, is it possible to erase the pain of filing your taxes? No, it isn’t but there are certainly ways in which the unemployed and the job seekers can end up paying lesser amount to Uncle Sam. Not being able to pay your taxes may land you up in IRS tax debt, for which you may have to rush to the IRS or hire a tax debt consultant to become debt free. But what will happen to you if you’re unemployed? Where will the funds come from?

When you’re financially struggling, you may have forced yourself to withdraw money from the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or maybe you started working out of home. All these instances may have tax implications later on. Taxes are certainly the last thing that may come to your mind when you’re unemployed but remaining oblivious of the situations when you may incur more taxes can push you towards further mess. Check out some such major items so that you can stay educated and effortlessly avoid falling into debt. » Read more: Finances: How the unemployed can prepare for the tax season and avoid incurring debt

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Finances: The Job Search and Tax Season

February 14th, 2011

By Judi Adams Sanek

Did you know that federal income taxes are not due until April 18 this year? Yes, Emancipation Day, a holiday also celebrated in Washington, DC falls on Friday April 15 this year, which means IRS offices will be closed that day. Therefore, tax returns will be due the next business day which is Monday April 18.

Even with all of that extra time (3 whole days) to complete your taxes, this is the perfect time to gather up information about your job search expenses.

Job search expenses can qualify as a tax deduction (see the IRS web site or your tax accountant for complete details). In general, the money you spent to attend networking meetings, the mileage you incurred going to and from the meetings, and the fees you paid a job search coach or resume writer can be submitted for inclusion as deductions on your taxes. This is a great time to start getting that information together.

If you have not been keeping a detailed list of the events or mileage, you can rebuild some of that information.

• A good place to check for information is your e-mail systems Sent folder.  For example you can find the e-mails when you RSVP’d to meeting invitations. » Read more: Finances: The Job Search and Tax Season

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