Cindy Hockenberry Tax Quotations

More and more people are going to fall into the alternative minimum tax trap unbeknownst to them until they get the nice letter from the IRS that says it appears you are subject to AMT.

Because of the way this form used to work, it calculated the tax as if you had received the money over a five-year period. You would divide it into five equal parts and pay taxes on each of those parts which significantly reduced your tax bill.

June is a good time to sit down with your tax practitioner and review things to date. If you wait until later it is going to be harder to catch up.

Sometimes it is fun to go back and look at old tax records. But for reasons other than nostalgia, it's not necessary to hold on to most of your records for more than three years.

People forget about tax credits and they don't take all the deductions to which they're entitled. That happens all the time.

A lot of anxiety is created by people when they think about filing their tax return. It's like going to the dentist. Just do it and get it over with.

Tax laws are constantly changing. There have been six major tax bills passed in the last two years alone. Average taxpayers are not likely to be aware of all the changes that may affect their tax return. A tax professional stays abreast of these changes, and, as a result, is in a better position to assist taxpayers with filing accurate returns and claiming all the deductions and credits to which they are entitled.

It used to be, if you sold your main residence, you had to either pay tax on the gain or buy another home that cost more than the home you sold. Because the rules have changed, you no longer have to worry about that gain.

If you want to save tax dollars, deferring your funds into a retirement account is probably the best solution. That money grows tax free and (if you take out a traditional IRA) you reduce your taxable income in the year you make the contribution.

The Earned Income Tax Credit is on a bell curve.