Tax - Deduction

We're only two weeks into December and I've already been approached by more than a dozen charities asking for donations. In a tough economy, those organizations have gotten pretty creative. I'm rarely asked to make a gift of straight cash -- or cash equivalent, such as checks or credit cards....

Early tax projections from the Tax Policy Center suggest that 45% of Americans will pay no federal income tax for 2009. Credits, deductions, and tax breaks have whittled down the federal income tax liability for most Americans -- from the poorest to the wealthiest -- such that many Americans will...

Here's a scary statistic: The average cost of a private, four year college is $26,273, an increase of 4.4% from last year. That works out to more than $100,000 per degree. As the mother of three kids (and a former student still paying off grad school loans), those numbers are pretty...

At tax time, there is plenty of advice out there about how to maximize income tax deductions. With so much publicity focusing on what you can properly deduct, it's easy to think that almost anything you spend money on during the year can be a potential tax deduction. Not so fast. That type of...

Last week, our family made a now familiar trip to the hospital for my five-year old. She's been diagnosed with a form of vasculitis known as Henoch-Schonlein Purpura. It is a nasty and invasive -- but fortunately, not contagious -- illness that attacks the joints and blood vessels in your body. As...

When my husband and I first started our business, we turned part of our house into a proper office. It was furnished with two desks, computers, and a copy machine on one side; a small conference table and chairs on the other. A separate phone line and fax ran only to that part of the house. Ten...

Too often, taxpayers are led to believe that if they don't itemize, then there are no real deductions available to them beyond the standard deduction. In reality, there are a number of deductions that a taxpayer can claim without itemizing. Here are 10 ways to maximize your tax deductions --...