Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tax Deductions Not to Overlook!
Believe it or not, as taxpayers, we may overlook some seemingly obvious deductions that could save us more of our hard-earned money. Here are some of those items to keep in mind when tax time is looming. Remember, if you're ever unsure about a specific deduction, ask a trusted tax preparer, or visit www.irs.gov for more information.
Vehicle excise tax.
If you get a bill from your state or local government charging you a tax for owning a vehicle, you may be able to deduct that tax. You can also get the tax deduction if you lease a vehicle and your finance company bills you for the tax.
Job-hunting expenses.
It pays to save your receipts for job-hunting expenses. These expenses are deductible if they were incurred to locate a new job in the same line of work.
Real estate taxes.
Also, don't forget taxes you paid indirectly, such as taxes paid through a mortgage escrow account. If you bought a house, check your settlement statement for any taxes which you reimbursed the seller at the closing, too.
Cost of tax preparation.
Tax software expenses, preparation fees, and other tax-filing expenses are all deductible on your tax return as a miscellaneous itemized expense. Be careful to deduct them on the return for the year in which you paid the costs.
Estate tax.
If the estate of the person who died was large enough to trigger estate tax, find out the amount of estate tax attributable to the IRA distribution. This amount is tax-deductible.
Capital loss carryover.
If your capital losses are greater than your capital gains, you won't have to pay tax on the capital gains. If you have a capital loss one year and a capital gain the next year, use your capital loss carryover to reduce your taxes in the later year.
State tax you paid in April with your return.
If you owed taxes when you filed your last state tax return, that check you wrote could help you when it's time to pay your next year's taxes.
Reinvested dividends.
Often a mutual fund account is set up to automatically reinvest dividends in additional share purchases.
Credit for excess Social Security tax.
If you worked for more than one employer during the year, look into the credit for excess Social Security tax.
Non-cash contributions.
If you've donated clothes, furniture, or other items to a charity, the value of your donated items is deductible. Always get a written receipt. With non-cash charitable contributions, no receipt means no deduction if you're audited.
New points on refinancing.
Any points you pay to refinance your home can be deducted on a monthly basis over the life of the new loan.
Old points on refinancing.
Lots of people miss this one. All unamortized points on an old refinancing are deducted in the year of a new refinancing.
Health insurance premiums.
Any health insurance premiums you pay are potentially deductible. You have to add these to your total medical expenses, however, and they have to exceed a certain percent of your adjusted gross income (AGI) before they give you any tax benefit. If you're self-employed and not covered by any other employer-paid plan, you can deduct 100% of your health insurance premiums.
Investment and tax expenses.
Many of us forget tax planning and investment expenses because they are part of miscellaneous itemized expenses. Expenses to track include your employee business expenses, tax preparation fees and even the portion of your legal or accounting fees relating to tax planning.
Casualty deductions.
If the area where you live has been declared a disaster area as the result of a hurricane, flood, wildfire, tornado, etc., you may claim your loss on your next tax return.
Retirement tax credit.
This deduction/credit is designed to give moderate and low-income taxpayers an incentive to save for retirement.
Should I Itemize My Deductions?
Itemized deductions are certain expenses that you can use to lower your taxes. You should itemize deductions if your allowable itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction. Some taxpayers must itemize deductions because they do not qualify for the standard deduction.
The categories of itemized deductions are:
Medical and dental expenses
State and local income taxes, or sales tax
Real estate and personal property taxes
Home mortgage and investment interest
Charitable contributions
Casualty and theft losses
Job expenses
Miscellaneous deductions
You may be subject to a limit on some of your itemized deductions based on your adjusted gross income. This limit applies to all itemized deductions except medical and dental expenses, casualty and theft losses, gambling losses, and investment interest.
The Trivia Block
During a severe windstorm or rainstorm, the Empire State Building in New York City may sway several feet to either side!
Believe it or not, as taxpayers, we may overlook some seemingly obvious deductions that could save us more of our hard-earned money. Here are some of those items to keep in mind when tax time is looming. Remember, if you're ever unsure about a specific deduction, ask a trusted tax preparer, or visit www.irs.gov for more information.
Vehicle excise tax.
If you get a bill from your state or local government charging you a tax for owning a vehicle, you may be able to deduct that tax. You can also get the tax deduction if you lease a vehicle and your finance company bills you for the tax.
Job-hunting expenses.
It pays to save your receipts for job-hunting expenses. These expenses are deductible if they were incurred to locate a new job in the same line of work.
Real estate taxes.
Also, don't forget taxes you paid indirectly, such as taxes paid through a mortgage escrow account. If you bought a house, check your settlement statement for any taxes which you reimbursed the seller at the closing, too.
Cost of tax preparation.
Tax software expenses, preparation fees, and other tax-filing expenses are all deductible on your tax return as a miscellaneous itemized expense. Be careful to deduct them on the return for the year in which you paid the costs.
Estate tax.
If the estate of the person who died was large enough to trigger estate tax, find out the amount of estate tax attributable to the IRA distribution. This amount is tax-deductible.
Capital loss carryover.
If your capital losses are greater than your capital gains, you won't have to pay tax on the capital gains. If you have a capital loss one year and a capital gain the next year, use your capital loss carryover to reduce your taxes in the later year.
State tax you paid in April with your return.
If you owed taxes when you filed your last state tax return, that check you wrote could help you when it's time to pay your next year's taxes.
Reinvested dividends.
Often a mutual fund account is set up to automatically reinvest dividends in additional share purchases.
Credit for excess Social Security tax.
If you worked for more than one employer during the year, look into the credit for excess Social Security tax.
Non-cash contributions.
If you've donated clothes, furniture, or other items to a charity, the value of your donated items is deductible. Always get a written receipt. With non-cash charitable contributions, no receipt means no deduction if you're audited.
New points on refinancing.
Any points you pay to refinance your home can be deducted on a monthly basis over the life of the new loan.
Old points on refinancing.
Lots of people miss this one. All unamortized points on an old refinancing are deducted in the year of a new refinancing.
Health insurance premiums.
Any health insurance premiums you pay are potentially deductible. You have to add these to your total medical expenses, however, and they have to exceed a certain percent of your adjusted gross income (AGI) before they give you any tax benefit. If you're self-employed and not covered by any other employer-paid plan, you can deduct 100% of your health insurance premiums.
Investment and tax expenses.
Many of us forget tax planning and investment expenses because they are part of miscellaneous itemized expenses. Expenses to track include your employee business expenses, tax preparation fees and even the portion of your legal or accounting fees relating to tax planning.
Casualty deductions.
If the area where you live has been declared a disaster area as the result of a hurricane, flood, wildfire, tornado, etc., you may claim your loss on your next tax return.
Retirement tax credit.
This deduction/credit is designed to give moderate and low-income taxpayers an incentive to save for retirement.
Should I Itemize My Deductions?
Itemized deductions are certain expenses that you can use to lower your taxes. You should itemize deductions if your allowable itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction. Some taxpayers must itemize deductions because they do not qualify for the standard deduction.
The categories of itemized deductions are:
Medical and dental expenses
State and local income taxes, or sales tax
Real estate and personal property taxes
Home mortgage and investment interest
Charitable contributions
Casualty and theft losses
Job expenses
Miscellaneous deductions
You may be subject to a limit on some of your itemized deductions based on your adjusted gross income. This limit applies to all itemized deductions except medical and dental expenses, casualty and theft losses, gambling losses, and investment interest.
The Trivia Block
During a severe windstorm or rainstorm, the Empire State Building in New York City may sway several feet to either side!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Coldwell Banker United Has Great Year in 2010!
Coldwell Banker Has Impressive Sales in 2010!
Coldwell Banker United has the most SOLD properties and the most PENDING properties in our Market according to the MLS market data for 2010. Our Company has the second highest number of LISTINGS in our market area. Those impressive statistics tell you we get the job done at Coldwell Banker United.
Coldwell Banker United has the most SOLD properties and the most PENDING properties in our Market according to the MLS market data for 2010. Our Company has the second highest number of LISTINGS in our market area. Those impressive statistics tell you we get the job done at Coldwell Banker United.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
December Events on the Emerald Coast!
SPECIAL DECEMBER EVENTS
Christmas In Baytowne Wharf Light Show on Wednesday nights in December at 6:00, 7:00 and 8:
Sinfonia Orchestral Holiday at Destiny Worship Center at 7:30 on December 17th
Baytowne Wharf New Year's Eve Celebration! December 31st, Great Entertainment All Evening!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
New Home Sales Up 6.6 Percent in September, 2010
New-Home Sales Climb 6.6 Percent in September 2010
Sales of new homes climbed 6.6% in September 2010, figures released by the federal government showed, representing the second straight month of gains, but still well below the pace when a tax credit existed. Sales of new single-family homes rose 6.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 307,000, which is stronger than the 300,000 that economists expected in a MarketWatch-compiled poll.
A recent report showed sales of existing homes were also stronger than expected, rising 10%, and the two reports lend support to some economists who believe housing demand hit a bottom in late summer.
"After dropping precipitously following the expiration of the first-time home buyer tax credit, it looks as though new home sales have stabilized," said Nicholas Tenev, an economist at Barclays Capital. "We expect a gradual recovery over the coming months."
Still, the pace of new-home sales is 21.5% below the same level of last year. The pace of new-home sales is also considerably below the 414,000 rate in April, when the market was buoyed by a tax credit that has since expired.
There's also still plenty of supply, with the government estimating supply of eight months of unsold homes, though that's down from 8.6 months in August. The stock of unsold houses fell 1% from August and dropped 19% from Sept. 2009.
"With little new construction going on, inventories of unsold new homes at least aren't a problem even with sales at a depressed level, with the number of new homes for sale extending a run of record lows," said David Greenlaw, an economist at Morgan Stanley.
The median sales price rose 1.5% from August and 3.3% from Sept. 2009 to $223,800-about 30% above the median price of an existing home.
The margin of error for new-home sales is a considerable plus or minus 16.9%.
September's housing market was only partly affected by a foreclosure moratorium of some leading lenders, which gathered pace in October.
New-home sales, by definition, wouldn't be affected by foreclosure disputes and in fact could benefit by virtue of purchasers getting "clean" title when buying new properties.
(c) 2010, MarketWatch.com Inc. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RIS
Sales of new homes climbed 6.6% in September 2010, figures released by the federal government showed, representing the second straight month of gains, but still well below the pace when a tax credit existed. Sales of new single-family homes rose 6.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 307,000, which is stronger than the 300,000 that economists expected in a MarketWatch-compiled poll.
A recent report showed sales of existing homes were also stronger than expected, rising 10%, and the two reports lend support to some economists who believe housing demand hit a bottom in late summer.
"After dropping precipitously following the expiration of the first-time home buyer tax credit, it looks as though new home sales have stabilized," said Nicholas Tenev, an economist at Barclays Capital. "We expect a gradual recovery over the coming months."
Still, the pace of new-home sales is 21.5% below the same level of last year. The pace of new-home sales is also considerably below the 414,000 rate in April, when the market was buoyed by a tax credit that has since expired.
There's also still plenty of supply, with the government estimating supply of eight months of unsold homes, though that's down from 8.6 months in August. The stock of unsold houses fell 1% from August and dropped 19% from Sept. 2009.
"With little new construction going on, inventories of unsold new homes at least aren't a problem even with sales at a depressed level, with the number of new homes for sale extending a run of record lows," said David Greenlaw, an economist at Morgan Stanley.
The median sales price rose 1.5% from August and 3.3% from Sept. 2009 to $223,800-about 30% above the median price of an existing home.
The margin of error for new-home sales is a considerable plus or minus 16.9%.
September's housing market was only partly affected by a foreclosure moratorium of some leading lenders, which gathered pace in October.
New-home sales, by definition, wouldn't be affected by foreclosure disputes and in fact could benefit by virtue of purchasers getting "clean" title when buying new properties.
(c) 2010, MarketWatch.com Inc. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Copyright© 2010 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RIS
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