Tax Carnival Ecstasy – February 16, 2012

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taxes (Photo credit: 401K)

Welcome to the February 16, 2012 edition of Tax Carnival Ecstasy. In this edition we have an article by Bill Smith on Discharging Your Tax Debts In Bankruptcy Court. Pat Huddleston wants you to protext yourself from fraud in Accountants; A Love Story. And finally we have 8 Tips to Prepare for Retirement including a tax perspective. Hope you enjoy the articles, bookmark, share, tweet, like on Facebook and come back soon.

filing

Frank Goley presents Bond Analysis posted at Easy Forex News.

tax law

Bill Smith presents Can You Discharge Your Tax Debts In Bankruptcy Court posted at 2008 Taxes, saying, “There are many debts that you can discharge through bankruptcy. Is tax debt eligible for discharge through bankruptcy?”

taxes

Jessica Bird presents How CO2 Affects The Cost Of Your Car Tax posted at CarTaxBands.org, saying, “The amount of pollution that your car emits can have an affect on how much tax you pay. This article shows you how to find out what the CO2 emissions are on a car.”

Ranjita patra presents Top 4 Supply Management Trends Impacting Finance | Business Finance posted at Businesss Finance.

Bill Smith presents 8 Tips to Prepare for Retirement posted at 2008 Taxes, saying, “Whether you’re just starting to plan for retirement, or you’re retiring in the next year or two, there’s never a bad time to learn how to prepare yourself for the wonderful world of retirement.”

tips

Amy Gardner presents Average Interest Rates for Payday Loans posted at Payday Loans Online Resource.

Pat Huddleston presents Accountants; A Love Story | Investor’s Watchblog posted at Investor’s Watchblog, saying, “Tips on how to protect yourself from fraud”

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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4 Steps to Setting Your Own Debt Ceiling

Use Your Tax Return for 2011 To Pay Down Your Debt

Debt is on everyone’s mind these days. The national debt has been covered by every major and minor news outlet for months. They finally reached a resolution to raise the debt ceiling. How nice. If only it were so easy for individual Americans to do the same. Unfortunately it is not, and many Americans find themselves in the same situation as their country. They are living beyond their means and are facing an impending crisis. So how do average American’s deal with their own debt crisis and pay the money owed to their creditors and on their tax return 2011?

1)Refinance

Interest rates have bottomed out and are at record lows. It is a good idea to look into transferring any debt held on high interest credit cards to a those with a lower rate. Pay close attention to transfer fees. You might also take out a home equity loan and go ahead and pay those cars off an cut them up.

2)Cut back

Austerity measures are something that has been advocated for the nation and it can work for you to. Find places where you can sacrifice some creature comforts for long term financial viability.

3)Pay more

By paying down your outstanding debt you reduce the amount of interest owed on outstanding balances. No one ever got out of debt paying only the minimum. Apply your 2011 tax return to this end.

4)Balance your budget

Set up a budget and stick to it. It sounds simple, but it is much harder to establish a budget and stick to it. However, once it is established it becomes habit.

Tax debt: Ways in which you can pay off IRS debt

If you think that you are having problems with tax debt, there are various ways in which you can pay off your tax dues. If you are having financial problems in general, you can include your tax debt in your debt consolidation. You can consolidate debt in order to pay off all of your unsecured debts. However, there are some other tax debt pay off options too.

Tax debt pay off options

The Internal Revenue System or the IRS offers you various payment options that can help you to pay off your IRS taxes easily enough. The different pay off options are:

  1. The installment agreement – In installment agreement you are allowed to make monthly payments.

Some of the different installment agreement types are –

  • Partial payment – If you don’t even have the ability to make minimum payments too, partial payment is the most suitable tax debt relief option. Under this payment option you can make the payments as per your affordability. However, the IRS will re-evaluate your financial situation every 2 years.
  • Guaranteed – If you owe less than 10,000 USD to IRS, guaranteed installment agreement is one your viable tax debt solutions. If you want to qualify for installment agreement, it is essential for you to acknowledge that you will file your taxes and pay it off within the right time for the coming years. However, you may not be eligible for this type of payment if you had made payments through this payment plan.
  • Streamlined – In streamlined payment option, there is no requirement for you to fill out 433-F Form which IRS needs to analyze your finances. However, if you want to make tax payments through this agreement, the amount which you owe should not exceed 25,000 USD. In addition, you may also require to agree to 60 month pay off period with the IRS.
  1. Offer in Compromise – In OIC, the IRS does not require you to pay the full amount which you owe. The offer in compromise is more like the debt settlement pay off option. However, the IRS needs you to agree to some terms and conditions before making payments through OIC, else the IRS can even revoke your OIC.
  2. Currently not collectible plan – Under the currently not collectible plan you are not required by the IRS to pay your due taxes for the time being. If you do not have enough cash in your hands, this might be your best tax debt pay off option.

However, if you want you can also take the help of a debt help attorney who can provide you in handling and paying off your tax debts.

Best Use of the Tax Refund

Tax time starts creeping up as soon as the calendar turns to the New Year. No matter how you feel about the experience, it is one that has to be done. What you do after filing your taxes may be the key to setting the tone for your financial future. Finding the best use for the tax refund starts with careful planning and then continues with consistent follow through.

Making Plans for the Tax Refund

1.      Make a list of all the places you would like to use the tax refund.

2.      Put them in order of most important to least important.

3.      Estimate cost of each of the items.

4.      See how far the tax refund would go if you were to spend it on each of the items on the list.

5.      Repeat the process several times over the next few weeks to see if your needs, wants or desires begin to shift.

6.      Only begin to make your purchases AFTER the tax refund has been deposited.

Possibilities for the Tax Refund

  • Look at the big expenses. The last year was a tough one for many people trying to meet the expense of a mortgage. A portion of the tax refund could be used to set up an account that would cover three to six months worth of mortgage expenses if necessary. It would provide some security for the upcoming year.
  • Consider the unexpected. The cost of insurance deductibles, surprise auto repairs or even medical expenses can hurt a budget that is already on tight ropes. One of the best uses of the tax refund can be in setting up an emergency account that would only be used to cover any of those unexpected costs.
  • Pay off a debt. The release that comes from paying off a debt can be a great motivator for tackling the next debt. Review any rotating credit balances or other outstanding debts. Consider using a portion of the tax refund to pay off that balance in full.
  • Invest in the future. Now may be the best opportunity to attend that seminar or take that class that will help you move up the ladder in your career. Measure the amount of increase you will receive with the amount of investment (including time, energy and finances) that it will cost and then thing about taking that leap.
  • Give it away. Put a portion of your tax refund to work for others. Setting aside as little as 10% can go a long ways towards helping your favorite charity meet its budget demands.
  • Invest in a little fun. The tax refund represents a full year of work. Splurge a little on something fun or exciting for the family. Set aside a portion of the tax refund for a great vacation or for a toy the whole family could enjoy (like that outdoor pool table you have been talking about).

There is never one way to spend the tax refund, but there can be one best way. It all starts with preparation. Thinking about the money and how it should be spent will start the process moving in the right direction. Evaluating the options several times begins to focus in on the best choices. Waiting until the check has been deposited will help to complete the package.

No matter when you plan to face down the tax man, start planning on the refund right now. The more time you invest in planning how to best use the tax refund then the more likely you are to make choices that will push you towards a solid financial future.

Nicole has been in the finance industry for 3 years, currently she blogs about the different ways for people to maximize their savings through the use of a brokerage account.

Settling Tax Debt

Filing for tax returns and finding money for those ridiculous taxes are enough stress that can add another wrinkle in one’s aging memorabilia. However, these things are simply unavoidable and mandatory. Despite how one tries to live ideally and be a model citizen, there are times where one fall short from his/her responsibilities to pay taxes. Some simply ignore the payments due to financial concerns while others neglect such duties to focus on important circumstances. Whatever reasons they may have, settling tax debt requires certain processes.

Firstly, it best for the debtor to check on his/her previous tax returns just to double check on unseen deductions. Amending your tax return can mean lower tax payment. Second, read on the different IRS debt settlement program and choose on a program that suits your financial status. Third,decide whether to hire a profession or you can manage to settle IRS tax debt on your own.

When do you hire a professional or when is it okay to settle IRS debt on your own? Hiring or not is purely your prerogative. Nevertheless, it is recommended to hire a professional when you are dealing with a tax debt of $10,000 or more. You must make sure that the professional you hire is a certified public accountant, enrolled agent or a tax attorney. These professions are credited by the Internal Revenue Service as eligible to handle such problems.

You would also consider that fees charged by these tax experts. Some would have an hourly rates while others might have fixed rate for services rendered. See to it that the task done by these experts requires specialized skills and knowledge, offer to do the task on paper works and errands.

Lastly, remember when there is an opportunity to make money, most of the time, con artists and scammers will seized this chance to snatch your hard earned money. According to reports, fake tax companies guarantee results without prior knowledge of you tax debt situation, require amount of cash as deposit, pass you to different representatives, and does not a physical address. Always be on the look out for these signs.