19 Quotes by Mark Steber

Many times, certain deductible expenses are overlooked. Be sure to keep track of all of your travel expenses, including transportation, parking fees, ferry fees, tolls, lodging, meals and other incidental expenses. An important point to remember about military differential pay is that while the income is taxable, this pay is not considered wages and is not subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. So it's important that military taxpayers ensure that their employers treat these earnings correctly.

The AMT is not just a tax that rich people pay anymore.

Under the old rules, each tax benefit had its own definition of a child, a qualifying child and an eligible foster child. Now, the term 'Qualifying Child' is no longer benefit-specific. Unlike prior years, the new rules have one definition for all five of the child-related benefits.

Very often, siblings will share in the support of the aging parent but will be surprised to learn that only one of them can claim the parent as a dependent.

The unique thing about both of the disaster acts is you do not have to be a victim to somehow be affected.

You should calculate your tax return both ways (including and not including combat pay as earned income for EITC purposes) to determine which option gives you the best result. Alternatively, combat pay is included as earned income when calculating the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit.

This means that a couple with a joint taxable income of $80,000 this year will have $13,336 in tax, saving $145 from the previous year. Also, the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly has increased to $10,000 in 2005, from $9,700 in 2004. This change will be most significant for couples that do not itemize their deductions.

It's a year of limited big tax changes, but an awful lot of smaller changes that affect a lot of taxpayers.

For example, children not related to the taxpayer who live with both the taxpayer and a parent will generally not qualify as a dependent for the taxpayer.