From now until January 31, 2010, TurboTax is answering your tax questions! Just go to freetaxquestion.com from 8am to 5pm Pacific time to request your tax advice. All you do is submit a personal, federal tax-related question online and a tax expert will call you back at the time you request.

You can also ask questions on their “Live Community” message boards. What a great way to get a jump on your taxes or to plan any tax-saving moves before the end of the year!

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If you want to check on the status of your tax refund, you can check it at the IRS website and Where’s My Refund.

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You can’t win if you don’t enter, so do it today! Today’s the last day to enter.

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Spring is here and taxes are in the air. Did you know that today’s the first day of spring? That just means that Tax Day is even closer.

So how about getting a chance to win a free access code to TurboTax Premier Online to help you with your taxes ($85 value; courtesy of TurboTax; includes one free federal & state preparation & e-files)?

Since I’ve already filed my taxes, I have no need for these. So I’m giving away two free access codes to TurboTax Online so you can finish your taxes now!

And after that huge Presidential Giveaway, you thought I’d be tired of giveaways. Don’t think so!

How do I win?

• Write a comment below about your what you would do for spring break if you still had one (do your taxes, go to Cancun, work, etc.), along with a valid email address.
• Do it before 8:59 pm PST (11:59 pm EST) on March 26, 2009.
• Both winners will be selected randomly and announced on March 27, 2009.
• Enter only once; duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified.
• I cannot guarantee safe delivery of items. In the rare case that mail is lost, stolen, etc. I cannot be held responsible. This is impossible as prizes will be emailed
• All local laws, rules, and regulations apply.
• Sign up for the Christian Finance Blog RSS feed to keep up to date on the winner and any upcoming giveaways!

So go ahead and comment away! God bless!

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Woo hoo! I just e-filed my 2008 federal and state taxes! Actually. It’s not a woo hoo because I hate paying taxes. I’m just glad I’m done. I’m getting a refund of $85! That’s exactly how I like it. Why, you ask? Because that means I’m not loaning the government interest-free money throughout the year.

Remember, a tax refund is money that you’re getting back. Not free money like some people may think. You’re only getting a refund because you overpaid your taxes throughout the year! And who in their right mind likes to overpay for anything, especially taxes?

Anyways, if you haven’t started your taxes yet, there’s no better time than the present! Don’t wait until the last minute. Be different.

Image source: IRS

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You could read the entire stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) online at the Library of Congress that President Obama signed into law today. Or…you could just find out how it affects you right here on Christian Finance Blog!

First things first. You’ve probably heard that the new bill has a tax credit on your paycheck. It’s called the Make Work Pay credit and it’s worth 6.25% of any earned income in 2009. The max is $400 for singles making less than $75,000 and $800 for families with $150,000 or less combined income. It will be distributed through payroll for the last 26 weeks of the year. So it equates to about $15 a week for single filers who qualify for the $400. This will not come through your tax refund like the last stimulus. It also provides a one-time $250 payment for those who don’t work and retirees.

The next big tax credit in the new bill is the $8,000 New Homebuyer credit. This is different from the $7,500 new homebuyer “credit” that was supposed to be paid back over 15 years. The new $8,000 new homebuyer credit is a real tax credit, not an interest-free loan. It actually reduces your tax liability. Even if your tax bill is less than $8,000, you’ll get the difference back. If you overpaid your taxes throughout the year, you’ll get your regular refund plus the $8,000 extra! Sounds like a good deal to me!

So how do I qualify? You have to purchase a home between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009 and be a first-time homebuyer. To qualify to be a first-time homebuyer, you must not have owned a primary residence home within the last 3 years. It’s okay to have owned investment property or a vacation home as long as you didn’t live in it for most of the year. Also, you need to stay in the new home for 3 years to keep the tax credit. Income restrictions are the same as the Make Work Pay credit; $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for married filing jointly.

The next part of the bill that may affect you is the Car Buyer tax deduction. This is a tax deduction not a tax credit (which is more valuable). A tax deduction only reduces your income so it’s only worth the amount times your tax rate. The deduction allows you to deduct the state and local sales tax for any new car, truck, R.V., or motorcycle that was charged on the purchase during 2009. This won’t help you if your state doesn’t have a sales tax and it’s an above-the-line deduction so you don’t have to itemize to get the deduction. Income restrictions are $125,000 for single filers and $250,000 for joint filers.

Next up is the American Opportunity Tax Credit for 2009 and 2010. This tax credit increases the existing Hope Scholarship tax credit from $1,800 to $2,500. Income restrictions are $80,000 ($160,000 for married filing jointly). Partial credits are available to those making up to $90,000 ($180,000 filing jointly). Also related to this is the increase of the Pell Grant to $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010.

For those of you who are unemployed, there’s also help for you in the bill. Cobra coverage (which allows the unemployed to keep health insurance from a previous employer) will be subsidized up to 65% of Cobra premiums for up to 9 months if you laid off between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009.

Unemployment benefits are also going to be increased by an additional 20 weeks (and 13 weeks more in certain states where unemployment is higher than 6%) and $25 additional weekly. Also, the first $2,400 is tax exempt in 2009 on your federal income taxes.

There are other portions of the stimulus bill like increased food stamp payments and deductions for energy efficient appliances and others. I may not agree with some of Obama’s policies but I’ll take free money any day! Bring it on Prez!

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With tax season looming in the not-too-distant future, we should all make plans to start at least thinking about taxes and how to pay for them or how much of a refund we’re going to get. TurboTax (which is the software that I use to file my personal income taxes) is offering one free answer by phone about any tax question ($29.95 value) you might have from one of their tax experts!

Just to to their website (www.freetaxquestion.com) and submit your question by January 31st and they’ll call you back within 24 hours for free (up to 20 minutes)!

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In the spirit of Christmas, I am giving away a copy of H&R Block’s 2008 TaxCut Premium Federal ($35 value)! All you have to do is comment right on this post about what you love most about the Christmas season! I will randomly select one person (with a valid email) to win the free tax software!

How do I win?

• Write a comment below about what you love most about Christmas along with a valid email address.
• Do it before 7 pm PST December 31, 2008.
• The winner will be selected randomly and announced right here.
• Enter only once; duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified.
• I cannot guarantee safe delivery of items. In the rare case that mail is lost, stolen, etc. I cannot be held responsible.
• All local laws, rules, and regulations apply.
• Sign up for the Christian Finance Blog RSS feed to keep up to date on the winner and any upcoming giveaways!

If you can’t get enough of free Christmas giveaways, my friend Bob over at Christian Personal Finance is giving away some iPods and some other cool stuff! Check it out!

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By now, most of us have heard about the news of the $700 billion bailout signed into law by President Bush on October 3rd, 2008. The bill is designed to bailout the numerous banks throughout the country that were making bad mortgage loans. The government (read: we, the taxpayers) are now going to own $700 billion worth of homes and hopefully sell them later for a profit. How much later is in question.

Do I support the bailout? It doesn’t matter. It has already passed. What I can do is try to analyze the effects of the bailout to you and I. Joe Doughnut. The average American. I definitely don’t like the idea of using taxpayer money to bailout any huge corporation that made bad decisions. They should be allowed to fail. This is a free market capitalist country. I’m afraid America is moving more and more toward socialism and that’s scaring me. But enough of that.

The real question is why does it matter to me personally? After all, this is a personal finance blog. Along with the huge amount of “bad” in the bailout, there some “good” thrown in there as well. For example, the bill increases the FDIC insured limit from $100,000 to $250,000 deposits at all banks and credit unions (that are FDIC insured). That means more protection for you! Hopefully it will get you to save more and spend less, too! This expires December 31, 2009.

Also included in the bill is about the alternative minimum tax. It was expected to hit 20 million taxpayers with an unexpected tax increase this year but it was originally supposed to affect 155 high-income households who owed little or no taxes at the time when it was introduced.

So what does the bailout mean for me? What does it mean for you? It means that I’m doing everything I can to get out of debt and avoid my own “credit crisis”. If I don’t have any debt and a have whole bunch of cash, I won’t have a credit crisis! If I don’t need to borrow, I don’t need credit! What a concept!

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Great news! The Treasury Department said Thursday that the special economic stimulus rebates would be distributed five days earlier than first said. The first round of rebates are expected to be sent starting Monday, April 28 rather than May 2 as previously thought.

About 800,000 tax filers will receive rebates on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. An additional 5 million will be distributed on Friday. The economic stimulus plan signed in February by President Bush will distribute more than $110 billion to 130 million taxpayers.

So what are you going to do with the money? Most people I’ve talked to and read about seem like they aren’t spending it but rather paying down debt and/or boosting their emergency funds and not necessarily the economy. I’m doing the same.

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I just received my federal income tax refund yesterday! I filed on April 5th and my refund came exactly 13 days later. That was pretty quick! I’m glad I e-filed for the first time this year. I think I’m never going to mail in my tax return ever again. The benefits simply outweigh any of the negatives.

Here’s how to check the status of your refund. Just go to the official IRS “Where’s My Refund” page (can also be accessed from the main IRS website) and enter your social security number, filing status, and exact refund amount shown on your tax return. It showed that mine would be direct deposited on April 18th and it showed up exactly on April 18th in both accounts (I split my refund into two accounts). Most states also have a way to check the status of refunds. Check your particular state tax websites for more information.

Now I’m just waiting for the economic stimulus rebate to arrive. It will be direct deposited to the same account that I filed with (only the first one). Check out this post to find out when you can expect yours.

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The tax deadline is fast approaching! If you’re like many Americans and have procrastinated so far, here are several ways to prepare and file your taxes for free! Nothing beats free!

All you have to do is go through the IRS Free File page. Generally, your adjusted gross income (AGI) needs to less than $54,000 for 2007 unless otherwise noted.

Here are some of the companies that provide this service and are recommended:

1. TurboTax Freedom Edition
The limitation here is that your adjusted gross income (AGI) needs to less than $30,000. If you qualify, this is a great way to do your federal as well as state taxes (AL, AR, AZ, GA, ID, IA, KY, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NY, ND, NC, OK, OR, RI, SC, VT, WV) for free!

2. H&R Block’s TaxCut
This is available as a free access to the TaxCut software. Adding a state return costs $24.95.

3. TaxAct
Available with a free federal return. A state return will cost $12.95.

4. CompleteTax
A state return will cost an additional $9.95.

5. Tax Engine
A state return will cost an extra $10.

6. TaxSlayer
This comes with a free state return if you prepare a federal return with it. Otherwise, a state return will cost an additional $9.95.

All of these can be accessed through the IRS Free File website. I filed my taxes last weekend and I’ve already received my state return direct deposited. My federal refund should arrive within a week or so. I’m glad that I e-filed this year and used direct deposit. I used the paid version of the TurboTax software. Just be aware that if you purchase the retail version, you’ll have to pay $17.95 each return to e-file. So if you file a federal and state return it will cost $35.90 in addition to the software cost. Just so you know. If you haven’t filed yet, get to it! This is the last weekend to file your taxes. Hope this helped.

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You can use the IRS’s own online calculator to figure out exactly how much of a rebate you’ll get and whether or not you’re eligible.

I’ve written about this special stimulus rebate here and here.

Source: IRS

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7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Romans 13:7 (NKJV)

Yes, the Bible talks about paying taxes! Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world nothing can be certain, except death and taxes.” Even in Biblical times they had to pay taxes. It’s nothing to get all upset about. We have to pay taxes in the United States and most anywhere else in the world. The best thing we can do is to try and minimize our taxes as much as possible instead of complaining about them.

I haven’t filed my taxes yet although I am pretty much finished with most of it (I use computer tax software). I just need to finish up some last details and find some paperwork and I’ll be done. I’m thinking about e-filing this year just because it’s more convenient. Last year I mailed mine out after printing the forms out from my tax software and I just think e-filing is less of a hassle plus I can get my refund faster. The IRS has reported that 46.9 million taxpayers have already filed their 2007 tax returns for a total of $106.7 billion in refunds through February 22. Out of those, 38 million e-filed. The average refund is $2,708.

I’m getting about $700 back this year not including the secondary stimulus package refund that I’ll be getting later that President Bush signed. That’s still too much for me. I like to get as close to zero as possible so I may have to adjust my withholding. Remember that if you receive a large refund you’re loaning the government an interest-free loan. That’s money you could use every paycheck to help pay off debt, bolster your emergency fund, or something else. But if you don’t have the discipline to use the money wisely, it may be a good idea to keep your withholding the same so it forces you to save. The math doesn’t work out but if it works for you, it works for you.

It’s tax season so start now! The sooner you start, the better off you’ll be and the faster you’ll get your tax refund. Plus you may be eligible for the stimulus refund. God bless!

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