Maximize Your Refund With TurboTax

If you are using TurboTax 2015 to Maximize Your Refund while filing, the software can save you a lot of time by transferring last year’s information into the current year, explains Frank Ellis, a tax specialist.

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In an article in the Traverse City based Tax Preparation Examiner, Ellis explains in detail how users can simply use last year’s information and then submit their return to the IRS with the up to date information.

Users are also able to use TurboTax 2015 to get the largest possible refund, and Ellis tells you how to do this by explaining how to access many of last year’s details and entries that have been saved on your computer.

This saves time as you do not need to retype much of your information, and also ensures more accuracy. The convenience of TurboTax 2015 doesn’t stop there; the software also allows you to transfer important and relevant information from other files.

Maximize Your Refund
Photo by JeepersMedia

The fact that TurboTax 2015 looks for important documents and enters financial details automatically is one of the biggest appeals for most users filing their 2014 taxes. The software is designed to make the filing process as easy as possible, and to maximize the refund amount.

Ellis also points out the security and safety of the software – two things important to anyone dealing with personal financial information. Also pointed out are those all important little known deductions and credits, the many innovative tools of TurboTax 2015, and any important deadlines for filing.

Using a tax refund calculator is highly recommended during the entire process, to give users a fairly accurate idea of how much refund to expect. The entire tax filing process is easier and goes much more smoothly when you are able to make any necessary adjustments, based on your estimates of any tax refund.

Many users like to have some idea of their refund amount during the filing process, and the tax refund calculator allows you to be informed every step of the way. You can prepare more efficiently for the financial year when you are able to estimate the amount of your tax refund in advance.

Sales Tax Rules And Prepared Foods

Sales taxes are a fact of American life, and they are really noticeable in the area of fast food. Lets review some Sales Tax Rules to make sure you are following the law.

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For instance, when a hungry consumer drives through his favorite drive-thru, he should expect to pay the price of his burger plus additional coinage to cover sales tax. Most states, counties and municipalities feed their coffers by charging a local sales tax on most every kind of purchase imaginable. Local law regulates what purchases are taxable and at what rate.

Sales Tax Rules
English: Picture of an authentic Neapolitan Pizza Margherita taken by Valerio Capello on September 6th 2005 in a pizzeria (“I Decumani”) located on the Via dei Tribunali in Naples. Italiano: Fotografia di un’autentica pizza Margherita napoletana scattata da Valerio Capello il 6 settembre 2005 nella pizzeria “I Decumani” situata in Via dei Tribunali a Napoli. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Application of sales tax regulations is not always straightforward, though. “Prepared food” sales tax rules are different from sales tax rules on single items such as milk or bread. For example, a take and bake pizza at your local eatery incurs sales tax, but some people, and states, are confused and upset about that. Is a cold pizza that the customer has to take home and bake actually prepared food?

Amazingly, the states of South Dakota and Arkansas wrote and published rules which say that pizza which is put together in a store and the baked at home is actually a prepared, and taxable, food because the restaurant had to assemble two or more ingredients to put the product together.

The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Governing Board says a take and bake pizza is prepared food and therefore, taxable. The state of Wisconsin has a flow chart that its Department of Revenue employs to apply sales tax regulations to pizza and everything else.

Recently, an amendment to the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement says all states can make their own decisions on which pizzas are subject to sales tax. Yes, even pizza can get complicated when it comes to the tax man.

H&R Block specializes in navigating the muddiest of tax waters for the American taxpayer.

Bitcoins Ruled As Taxable Property by the IRS

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The US Government has recognized Bitcoins which is good in a way but at the same time they have decided to view them as property, making them taxable. If they had decided that the virtual currency actually was a currency then a tax could not be placed on them when they gain in value. Some view this as making the currency legitimate, and a good thing.

Bitcoin Magazine
Bitcoin Magazine (Photo credit: zcopley)

The fact that they can now be taxed reduces the interest for some who see the risk in the fluctuations in value and don’t want to take on the additional tax risk. Spending them would trigger the taxation while holding onto the property would not create a taxable situation. An odd part of the IRS decision is that miners would need to count their Bitcoins as income.

Stability in the marketplace is what many hope for with a couple exchanges having financial trouble in recent months. This decision by the government should increase stability.

It will be interesting to see if there’s a form to claim Bitcoin income in the future or if exchanges will need to issue 1099 tax forms to miners at the end of each year.

Healthcare & Intuit TurboTax

To know the ropes of TurboTax Health care and understand the highlighters of Affordable Care Act, turn your glances towards Intuit Inc. to get apprised of the facts. In addition to Health Care, you can File taxes online 2013 with the assistance of nation’s No. 1 rated online tax preparation services, Intuit TurboTax.

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TurboTax(R) has been at your services for over 20 years, and has helped countless Americans decode the know-how of taxing processes. And, with the innovative launch of TurboTax Health, it has widened its spectrum and has taken up the initiative to educate the uninsured Americans how they can be a beneficiary of the Affordable Care Act, as per their requirements.

English: Depiction of the House vote on H.R. 3...
English: Depiction of the House vote on H.R. 3590 (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) on March 21, 2010, by congressional district. Democratic yea Democratic nay Republican nay No representative seated (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Feel free to logon to www.TurboTaxHealth.com, and check out the new free online tool TurboTax Health. It provides you with the insight into ACA, and how you can make the most of it through an interview-like experience, synonymous with the popular TurboTax software.

Making health care choices can be brain-rattlers, for people may not be sure if they are barking the right tree. Hence, this is where TurboTax Health steps in, and in three easy to-understand steps familiarizes you with Affordable Care Guide. You learn about the health care options you have to make the right decision. Answering to few questions simplifies thing for you, including:

  • · Do you qualify for a tax subsidy? And the estimated amount that would help you to get health insurance at a discount.
  • · Know the estimate of how much you have to pay for your health insurance.
  • · You come to know about the tax penalties in-case you opt not to go for health insurance.

For the ones opting to buy health insurance, TurboTax Health simplifies things for you, as it gets you connected to your state or federal health insurance sellers, or to eHealth, a leading private health insurance site.

Intuit Inc. has helped Americans to decode the complexity of taxation procedures and educated the masses with layman’s terms on the latest tax laws and legislation, and this process they have carried forward with health care.

People with health care queries can get their answers from TurboTax Health, which has created a unique social community of tax professionals and, personal experiences of peers. With the help of AnswerXchange community, people are breathe easy has they can get step-by-step guidance and be more confident on taking their own decision for their health care needs.

With Intuit you are in safe hands, as it has made impression with revenue of $4.2 billion in its fiscal year 2013.

Tax Carnival Ecstasy – January 14, 2014

Welcome to the January 14, 2014 edition of Tax Carnival Ecstasy. In this edition we start with an article from Bill Smith presenting the IRS Tax Adjustments made in 2014. John Schmoll has some Retirement Planning Tips for the Self-Employed. And Kurt at Mymoneycounselor.com looks into Tax ID Theft Awareness. Hope you enjoy all the articles, bookmark, share, tweet and like our carnival on Facebook.

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deductions

Justin @ Root of Good presents 11 Tips to Finish the Year Strong posted at Root of Good, saying, “Don’t make a huge financial mistake by ignoring these 11 things you have to do before 2013 comes to a close. These tips include a number of deductions that are “use it or lose it” each tax year.”

IRS Tax Adjustments
Self-employed (Photo credits: www.myhardhatstickers.com)

filing

Bill Smith presents IRS Tax Adjustments In 2014 posted at 2013 Taxes, saying, “Taxes in 2014 are set to undergo various adjustments, affecting more than 40 tax provisions.”

retirement

John Schmoll presents Betterment Review: A New Investing Option to Consider posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Investing in the stock market is vital to building wealth and with the variety of options available of where to invest it can be confusing. Choosing a good brokerage that has good offering and low fees can be a great way to help grow your retirement portfolio and get your investing on the right foot.”

John Schmoll presents Retirement Planning Tip for the Self-Employed: Don’t Make My Mistake posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Retirement planning when you’re self-employed can be easily overlooked when you’re busy managing your business. However, this can cause a worse problem as you’re also losing out on a 401k match. With some appropriate planning and selection of the appropriate retirement vehicle you can set yourself up for success and grow your retirement portfolio at the same time. Just make sure that the option you select is the one that’ll benefit you from both a retirement and a taxation perspective.”

taxes

Bill Smith presents Start Filing Your Returns With TurboTax 2014 posted at 2014 Taxes, saying, “Get Your Refund Early by Filing Your Returns Early: E-filing with TurboTax 2014 to Start on Jan. 2”

tips

[email protected] presents Tax ID Theft Awareness posted at Money Counselor, saying, “Responding to explosive growth, the FTC has made January 13-17 Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week. What are the risks? What should you do if you’re victimized?”

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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