The tax news we have received of late is not all positive; at least not for those planning on claiming an energy tax credit in 2011. If you remember correctly, in 2009 Congress passed legislation (ARRA) which allowed taxpayers to claim energy tax credits for 30% of the cost (i.e. furnaces, windows, insulation) or up to $1,500. This same energy tax credit is being reduced for 2011. Read More.

The good news is that tax rates across the board will not increase as Congress passed a bill late last night to extend the bush tax cuts. This was a big surprise and shift in the Obama Administration’s prior policy to raise taxes for the very wealthy. Instead, most Americans (including the rich) will benefit from the extended tax cuts. The big ticket items cover the marginal income tax, the capital gains & dividend tax, the social security payroll tax, estate tax, and AMT exemption. Let’s review the numbers in more detail. Read More.

The back to school purchase season has come and gone and now the focus should be on saving those receipts for tax credits. Don’t be the college student or parent of a college student that misplaces a receipt only to find out that you can’t take advantage of the tax credits that are available to you. Read More.

If you have experienced severe damage to your home as a result of flooding, fire or wind, then you've probably gone through the process of filing an insurance claim. Unfortunately, the whole process takes months & sometimes you don't even get fully covered. Anyway, if your claim is approved then the first question that usually comes up is, "Are the proceeds from the claim taxable & then what happens if I don't use up all of the proceeds?" .

The headlines regarding the homebuyer tax credit haven’t stopped. Rather then add more ink to the news that the tax credit has been extended to September 30, 2010, we’re going to shed some light on exactly what that means & why it was really extended. Read More.

Happy spring everyone! Here at BIDaWIZ, we’ve been seeing a lot of “spring time” questions – you know, questions that have to do with things like marriage and finances, taxes (did you file on time?), home purchases and more. Speaking of that last item, if you’re looking to take advantage of the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, there’s a ton of information out there – perhaps a little too much information. To help, boil everything down into digestible terms we all can understand, we’ve outlined the basics of what you need to know. Read More.

The answer is NO if the credit card was for PERSONAL USE but the answer is YES if the credit card was for BUSINESS USE. Below we have detailed the three different scenarios that you likely fall under if you have made credit card interest payments. Read More.

We have experienced a high volume of tax refund questions so we are going to address this topic. But, for those who haven’t filed their tax return yet or received a tax refund, don’t worry, it is still early. Read More.

Congress passed a bill which allows donations to the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort to be claimed as a tax deduction on 2009 tax returns. The donations must have been made between January 12th and February 28th, 2010. For those that have already filed their 2009 returns, rest assured, you can amend your return to include this tax deduction. Just a little more paper work. Read More.