What is mortgage interest? It is any interest you pay on a secured loan when you bought your first or second home. The loans include the mortgage to buy your home, a second mortgage, a line of credit or a home equity loan. The loan must be secured debt or it will be considered a personal loan and the interest is not deductible. For the average consumer who has managed to acquire credit card debt, car loans, and various other small debts, is the mortgage interest, especially with an interest only loan an answer to mortgage interest deductions and the […]

April 15th – “The Day of Reckoning”! Every year, millions of Americans get ready to pay taxes to Uncle Sam, or get ready to collect a tax refund from Uncle Sam; when did this become the great day that it is for taxpayers, and when are we actually required to file a income tax return? Let’s take a look at the beginnings of the income tax date of April 15 and why it was chosen? The first known income tax that Americans were legally required to pay was enacted during the early 1860s, and the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. The […]

All wealth redistribution comes in the form of the equivalent of tax and welfare. However, you need to be careful. Incorrect taxation schemes can result in less wealth for you. You see, by reading this website I would suppose that you’re poor or middle class wanting to skyrocket your income, right. Rich means owning a lot of money. If you’re poor and would want to get rich, you need to have a lot of income. So will income tax help? No! Abolish income tax. The Peril of Income Tax Income tax can exaggerate wealth difference and can cause great deviation […]

The medium is the message, it’s sometimes said. Think of Franklin D Roosevelt and his “fireside chats” to the nation. In a pre-TV era, the radio was the perfect medium to “have a conversation with the American people”. He could get his reassuring message right into folks’ homes, and become a part of the family. A different medium, for example a grandstanding speech, wouldn’t have got the message across as effectively as an intimate radio chat. The medium most surely was the message. But let’s come back to the 21st.century and something close to all our hearts: tax preparation, or, […]

Does Tax Season get you down? Here are 4 simple steps that any small business owner can take to lower your tax bill this year. STEP #1: Understand How Serious Your Tax Problem Is Are you aware of just how much in taxes you are paying? Here’s how much the average family spends on various consumer categories — as a percentage of income. You must realize that it’s not how much you spend on taxes that is important, it’s how much you spend on taxes as compared to all other major categories of spending. Consumer Spending: How Do You Spend […]

Let’s all sing a new version to the tune of the 60’s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” … “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of mishandled use; that started with our nation’s past to form a fiscal noose. The tax was a mighty hurtin’ vice, our wallets paid the price; working hard to pay our share, it’s not always fair, it’s not always fair. The economy started heating up, so the Fed put on the breaks; if not for the courage of the consumer’s purse, things could’ve been ‘lot worse. The yields hit bottom as we turned […]

Wealth Tax Do you want to move money from the wealthy to the poor? Well, tax wealth. Wealth tax causes far less market distortion, and hence, much fairer than income tax. Wealth tax hurt productivity less. If you live in a capitalistic country, then your income is yours fairly. However, Bob’s wealth might not be traceable to productivity. Bob might have gotten his wealth through inheritance gained through slavery, or genocide. The link between wealth to productivity is less than the link between incomes and productivity. Hence, wealth tax discourages productivity less than income tax. Wealth tax also has meritocratic […]

Most commercial building owners are grossly overpaying federal income taxes because they are not depreciating their property as quickly as they should. A cost segregation study allows property owners to both defer and reduce federal income taxes. When properly performed by an appraiser with expertise in cost segregation, this is a conservative tax planning tool which reduces federal income taxes by properly allocating the cost basis between land, 5-year, 7-year, 15-year, 27.5-year and 39-year property. Cost Segregation Study BenefitsBenefits of a cost segregation study are substantial, immediate and enduring. Year 1 federal income tax savings are typically at least two […]

The Exchangor has a maximum of 180 days from the closing of the relinquished property or the due date of that year’s tax return, whichever occurs first, to acquire the replacement property. This is called the Acquisition Period. The first 45 days of that period is called the Identification Period. During this 45 days, the Exchangor must identify the candidate or target property which will be used for replacement. The identification must: This must all occur within the 45-day period. Failure to accomplish this identification will cause the exchange to fail. Identification Three rules exist for the correct identification of […]

First thing Monday morning I’m going to march into my boss’s office and demand a pay cut so that I’ll be in a lower tax bracket next year.