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How to Cut Property Taxes
A few steps to take to manage your property tax bill.
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How to Do Your Own Taxes
With advances in technology, filing and paying your taxes has become as easy as checking email.
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How to Give to Charity
You should be diligent when making charitable contributions.
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How to Manage Important Documents
Given how scattered our digital lives have become, it’s important to have a good system for storing and managing your important papers.
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Tar Heel Tax Reform
WSJ.comNorth Carolinians may get their long-awaited tax cut after all. Last week the state Senate passed an ambitious plan that chops the personal income tax rate to 5.25% from 7.75%.
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The real Apple tax scandal; Commentary: Senators should scrap the corporate tax
MarketWatchApple is a tax dodger. A cheat. Among the “biggest tax avoiders” in America. A company using “gimmicks” and “the Holy Grail of tax avoidance” in order to deprive the U.S. taxpayers of billions in revenue.
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Muni Bonds Deserve a Tax Break; Obama's proposal to limit the municipal-bond tax exemption would raise the cost of public works.
WSJ.comPresident Obama's budget, introduced in April, includes proposals to attract private investment in partnership with government for upgrading the nation's infrastructure. As he said in his State of the Union address, "what our businesses ...
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10 U.S. cities with the lowest taxes
MarketWatchThe District of Columbia’s Office of Revenue Analysis reviewed the estimated property, sales, auto and income taxes a family paid in 2011 in the largest city in each state. One of the biggest factors in how much a family can expect to pay ...
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The Apple Tax Diversion; Senators beat up a U.S. success for following the tax laws they wrote.
WSJ.comYou almost have to admire Carl Levin's timing. Amid a furor over politicized IRS tax enforcement, the Michigan Democrat on Tuesday tried to change the subject to a hardy Washington perennial—corporate tax loopholes. Too bad his designated ...
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Political Reality and the Tax Tables
WSJ.comRep. Kevin Brady makes a valiant effort in "Tax Reform Needs Accurate Tax Tables" (op-ed, May 6) to put pro-growth tax rationalization alongside or ahead of tax-progressivity maintenance in the current tax reform debate.
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Apple Avoided Taxes on Overseas Billions, Senate Panel Finds
WSJ.comApple Inc. paid no corporate income tax to any national government on tens of billions of dollars in overseas income over the past four years, Senate investigators found, a revelation that fuels the debate over whether the U.S. tax code ...
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Nina Olson for IRS Commissioner; To atone for political abuse, give the Taxpayer Advocate a promotion.
WSJ.comPresident Obama named one of his budget functionaries, Danny Werfel, as the new acting Internal Revenue Service commissioner Thursday. Given that Mr. Werfel has spent the last year planning the sequester across the executive branch, he's ...
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How to make our tax system less painful; Commentary: At age 100, time is right for federal tax code overhaul
MarketWatchJ.J. Zhang is a chemical engineer and amateur financial adviser who was the winner in MarketWatch’s second annual World’s Next Great Investing Columnist contest. He runs the blog MarketTech Reports. You can follow him on Twitter ...
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Obamas' Tax Return Shows Lower Earnings
WSJ.comPresident Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama paid $112,214 in federal income taxes for 2012 on adjusted gross income of $608,611, an effective rate of 18.4%, the White House said.
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Plan Sees Extensive Tax-Code Overhaul
WSJ.comThe White House took small but important steps toward lawmakers of both parties who favor rewriting the U.S.'s often-criticized tax code.Notably, the budget proposal released Wednesday endorses the idea of revamping both the individual and ...
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Advisers, Clients Plan For Next Tax Season
WSJ.comFor a lot of taxpayers, tax season doesn't end on April 15.Soon after sending off their returns and other documents to the Internal Revenue Service, many people start right back again planning for the next tax season.
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Romain Hatchuel: What's French for 'Economic Nonsense'? Taxi unions and the pursuit of a 75% income tax can signal a lot about a country—and the unlikelihood of reform.
WSJ.comFinding a cab in Paris is often an ordeal. For years, French taxi unions have bullied the government into maintaining what they consider their most valuable privilege: a strictly limited number of taxi medallions and for-hire vehicle ...
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3 last-minute moves to lower your tax bill; Commentary: There’s still time to take advantage of these tax breaks
MarketWatchAlthough 2012 is in your rear-view mirror, it’s not too late to make some moves that will save taxes on Form 1040 and maybe on your state income tax return as well. Here are three possibilities.
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Jindal Scraps Plan to Abolish Income Tax
WSJ.comLouisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Monday he is shelving a proposal to scrap the state's income tax by 2014 in the face of widespread opposition to the plan.
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Hire your kid, get a tax break; Commentary: There are many tax advantages to child labor
MarketWatchBy now, your tax return for last year has probably been filed, and it’s time to focus on cutting taxes for the rest of this year. So here’s an idea for those running a small business as a sole proprietorship or husband-wife partnership. ...
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Governors, GOP Allies Clash Over Tax Cuts; GOP Legislators in Several States Balk at Plans Advanced by Their Governors to Seek Deep Cuts
WSJ.comRepublican lawmakers in several states are blunting plans by GOP governors to reduce or eliminate income taxes, putting the legislators at odds with figures many in the party see as leading voices on reshaping government.
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Carbon tax: An idea whose time should not come; Commentary: Congress incapable of getting it right
MarketWatchWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has announced his retirement, and he wants to see Congress pass major tax legislation before he leaves in 2014. Here’s one piece of advice: stay away from a carbon tax.
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There's No Going Back to the 1950s Tax System; What progressives admire about the Eisenhower economy is either wrong or irrelevant today.
WSJ.comThe federal budget proposed by President Obama last week differs in details from the budget approved by Senate Democrats in March. But they both assume significantly higher effective tax rates on the wealthiest Americans.
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7 top nations for dodging taxes á la Depardieu; Higher U.S. tax brackets may tempt some to follow the actor’s lead
MarketWatchFrench actor Gerard Depardieu’s decision to renounce his citizenship in order to avoid paying taxes might be tempting to those moving into ever high brackets. But experts warn that making such an exit is often a complex and costly process.
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Cracking the 2013 tax code; A guide to the changes wrought by the fiscal-cliff deal
MarketWatchEarly in the morning of January 1, Congress finally got around to dealing with the tax part of the fiscal cliff drama by passing what is inaccurately named the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Thanks to the demise of the so-called ...
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A New Year With Old Policies
Barrons.comIt was a New Year's party to remember. Facing the fiscal cliff, Congress did all the easy stuff. It made most of the existing tax rates permanent, instead of letting them rise. For nearly everything that might have been painful, especially ...
The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT); Most vulnerable to the AMT are taxpayers with several children, interest deductions from second mortgages, capital gains, high state and local taxes, and incentive stock options.
SmartMoney.comRemember back when you were young and poor and nothing made you madder than tales of rich people who paid nothing in income taxes? Well, you weren't alone, and that anger led to the creation of something called the alternative minimum tax, ...
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Shell to Contest India Income Tax Notice
WSJ.comNEW DELHI--Royal Dutch Shell PLC's India unit said Monday it would challenge a tax department notice that claims it underpriced a sale of shares to an overseas group company by $2.7 billion.
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Texas Triumphs
WSJ.comThe spat over jobs between Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of California keeps smoldering.Earlier this month Mr. Perry went to California on a recruiting trip and told businesses that Texas is where they ...
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Advisers See Fix for Alternative-Minimum Tax
WSJ.comFinancial advisers facing so much uncertainty over taxes are counting on one thing to be consistent in 2013: the alternative-minimum tax.Advisers widely believe the White House and Congress will enact legislation that would keep millions ...
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A Buckeye Tax Reform; Kasich joins the queue of income-tax cutting GOP Governors.
WSJ.comFew states outside the South and Mountain West have recovered faster from the financial crisis than Ohio, and now Governor John Kasich is betting on tax reform to keep it going. He's another GOP statehouse executive creating a sharp policy ...
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Many Unhappy Returns—Millions of Them; It's the 100th anniversary of the 16th Amendment. Don't forget to file your taxes.
WSJ.comA century ago, on Feb. 3, 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution authorizing a federal income tax was ratified. But the amendment's adoption was more an accident than an act of political will, and tinkering with the Constitution was ...
Rolling Over Retirement Accounts; Mess up your rollover and you could face an income bill plus a 10% early withdrawal penalty. Here's how to do it right.
SmartMoney.comChances are you'll have to roll over a retirement account at least once in your lifetime. Most likely, it will be when you leave your current employer and take your 401(k) with you. Or, you may be eligible to roll over your current IRA into ...
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Cliff Negotiators Grapple With Tax Issues
WSJ.comWASHINGTON—Senate Republican and Democratic leaders worked Saturday to bridge differences over how to avoid year-end tax increases and possibly spending cuts, and found themselves grappling not only over income tax rates, but also over a ...
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Sequester Looms, No Deal in Sight
WSJ.comSenate Democrats and Republicans squared off Tuesday over whether to try to block across-the-board spending cuts set to begin March 1.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said his party would seek to avert the cuts, known in ...
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Details of Tax Law Changes Spelled Out
WSJ.comThe tax changes included in the bill hashed out between the White House and congressional Republicans Monday includes the first increases in top income-tax rates in nearly two decades. They also set new thresholds for determining who is ...
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Paycheck Debacles
WSJ.comLawmakers are working to keep the country from going over the "fiscal cliff," but already they have caused two snafus that will soon hit millions of pocketbooks—and maybe even the economy.
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Taxes after the death of a spouse; Commentary: Four steps to navigating your changed tax situation
MarketWatchIf your spouse died last year, it of course affects your 2012 federal income tax return. But there are other tax implications as well. Here are four of the most important things to know.
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Minnesota's Snowbird Tax; Spend most of the year in St. Pete, pay the government in St. Paul.
WSJ.comYou may have heard it can get cold in Minnesota in January, or for that matter in April. Last week the temperature dropped to seven below zero in the Twin Cities, which is one reason many Midwesterners head to Florida or Arizona for the ...
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U.K. Opposition Party Proposes Property Levy
WSJ.comLONDON—The U.K.'s opposition Labour Party said Thursday it would introduce a levy on homes worth more than £2 million ($3.1 million) and use the money raised to cut income tax for low earners if it was in power now, backing a tax on ...
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Goldman Drops U.K. Bonus Proposal
WSJ.comLONDON—Four years after the financial crisis, banks operating in the U.K. are finding out that the annual bonuses they pay to employees are still everybody's business.
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Party Eyes 'Red-State Model' to Drive Republican Revival
WSJ.comTOPEKA, Kan.—Even if he doesn't enter the race himself, this state's Republican governor, Sam Brownback, is determined to play a starring role in the next presidential election.
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Indian Rupee Slides Heavily On Budget Disappointment
WSJ.comThe Indian rupee nosedived against the dollar Thursday, dragged down by disappointment surrounding the new government budget for the next fiscal year.
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Mickelson and the Sports Star Tax Migration; If Lefty moves to a state with no income tax like Florida, he'll find he has plenty of elite athlete company.
WSJ.comAmerica's top-grossing golfer Phil Mickelson drove himself into a bunker on Jan. 20 when he said that federal and California state tax hikes had made him contemplate making "drastic changes" in his life—including, it was widely assumed, ...
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Obama can resolve cliff by backing his 2011 plan; Commentary: Revenue can be raised without raising tax rates
MarketWatchWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama has abandoned his Hawaii vacation, returning to Washington to try to prevent the economy from going off the so-called fiscal cliff — the combination of tax increases and spending cuts that ...
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The $9 Minimum Wage That Already Exists; The Earned Income Tax Credit alleviates poverty without costing low-income workers their jobs.
WSJ.comOn Tuesday night, President Obama used his State of the Union address to call for a 24% increase in the federal minimum wage, to $9 an hour from its current $7.25. He left out an important detail: For many low-wage employees, single parents ...
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Strassel: Big Business Sells Out Small Business; CEOs say yes to higher individual taxes in return for Obama's promise of corporate tax reform.
WSJ.comWere the Hollywood academy to hand out Oscars for roles in this fiscal cliff drama, the winner of the Best Charlatan award would not be in much doubt. Corporate America, take your bow.
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More Taxes, Fewer Taxpayers
WSJ.comAccording to new Census data, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island led the country last year in out-migration (measured as a share of their population). Not incidentally, the Tax Foundation ranks New York, New Jersey ...
Closing Down the Estate; Being named the executor of someone's will is tricky tax business.
SmartMoney.comWhen a loved one dies, somebody must step up to the plate to handle all the resulting tax issues. This person may be identified in the decedent's will as executor of the estate. If there isn't a will, however, the probate court will appoint ...
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New Threat to Municipal Bonds: Lower State Taxes
Barrons.comState finances are on the mend, presenting a new wrinkle for holders of tax-free municipal bonds: A handful of states are pushing to cut income-tax rates. That could cause their bonds to underperform in coming years by reducing local demand ...
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What cliff deal means for your taxes; The last-minute agreement affects every taxpayer’s bottom line
MarketWatchAfter weeks of wrangling and brinkmanship, Congress has finally passed a deal to avoid the dreaded fiscal cliff, striking compromises on a slew of outstanding tax questions, from what rates the wealthy will pay on income to who will face ...
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How to Write a Will
There's no better time to start than today.
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How to Cut Property Taxes
A few steps to take to manage your property tax bill.