LAP Financial Services

If you or your spouse are a member of the military, you may be eligible to receive free tax return preparation assistance. The U.S. Armed Forces participates in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program and provides free tax advice, tax preparation, return filing and other tax assistance to military members and their families. The Armed Forces Tax Council oversees the operation of the military tax programs worldwide, conducting outreach with the IRS to military personnel and their families. The AFTC consists of tax program coordinators for the Marine Corps, Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard. Volunteer assistors at Military-based VITA sites are trained to address military-specific tax issues, such as combat zone tax benefits and the new Earned Income Tax Credit guidelines. To receive this free assistance, you should bring the following records to your military VITA site: * Valid photo identification * Social Security cards for you, your spouse and dependents or a social se...

If you already filed your federal tax return and are due a refund, you can check the status of your refund online, in English or Spanish. Where’s My Refund? and ¿Dónde está mi reembolso? are interactive tools on the IRS Web site at IRS.gov. Whether you split your refund among several accounts, opted for direct deposit into one account, or asked the IRS to mail you a check, Where’s My Refund? and ¿Dónde está mi reembolso? give you online access to your refund information nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you e-file, you can get refund information 72 hours after IRS acknowledges receipt of your return. If you file a paper return, refund information will be available within three to four weeks. When checking the status of your refund, have your federal tax return handy. To get your personalized refund information you must enter: * Your Social Security Number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). * Filing status (Single, Married Filing Joint Return, Married Filing...

If you earn foreign income you may be entitled to the FEIE, the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. There are a few details you must be aware of before you try to claim the FEIE:1. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion: United States Citizens and resident aliens who live and work abroad may be able to exclude all or part of their foreign salary or wages from their income when filing their U.S. federal tax return. They may also qualify to exclude compensation for their personal services or certain foreign housing costs. 2. The General Rules: To qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, a U.S. citizen or resident alien must have a tax home in a foreign country and income received for working in a foreign country, otherwise known as foreign earned income. The taxpayer must also meet one of two tests: the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test. 3. The Exclusion Amount: The foreign earned income exclusion is adjusted annually for inflation. For 2008, the maximum exclusion ...

The following link in IRS notice 1036 in PDF format. This is the revised withholding tables that is in effect from the stimulus bill just signed by Pres Obama. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n1036.pdf This means most taxpayers will start seeing a bigger paycheck as soon as this spring.Eligible workers will get the benefit of this change without any action on their part. This means that workers don’t need to fill out a new W-4 withholding form to get the Making Work Pay credit reflected in their take-home pay. A Form W-4 will not need to be submitted for the automatic withholding change. Individuals and couples with multiple jobs may want to submit revised Form W-4 forms to ensure enough withholding is held to cover the tax for the combined income. Publication 919 provides additional guidance for tax withholding. For many taxpayers wondering what the Making Work Pay Credit is, its a part of the new stimulus package. Basically, For 2009 and 2010, the Making Work Pay provision of the Amer...

Gambling winnings are fully taxable and must be reported on your tax return. Gambling income includes, but is not limited to, winnings from lotteries, raffles, horse and dog races and casinos, as well as the fair market value of prizes such as cars, houses, trips or other noncash prizes. Depending on the type and amount of your winnings, the payer might provide you with a Form W-2G and may have withheld federal income taxes from the payment. Here are some general guidelines on gambling income and losses: Reporting winnings: The full amount of your gambling winnings for the year must be reported on line 21, Form 1040. You may not use Form 1040A or 1040EZ. This rule applies regardless of the amount and regardless of whether you receive a Form W-2G or any other reporting form. Deducting losses: If you itemize deductions, you can deduct your gambling losses for the year on line 28, Schedule A (Form 1040). You cannot deduct gambling losses that are more than your winnings. It is important t...

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n703.pdf Click here to see if your SS benefits are taxable. If Social Security Benefits are your only income, your benefits will not be taxable. SSI is also not taxable income and you may not even be required to file a return for 2008. If you have earned income or receive a 1099-misc, a portion of your SS income may be taxable. How much, if any, of your social security benefits are taxable depends on your total income and marital status. Generally, if social security benefits were your only income for 2008, your benefits are not taxable and you probably do not need to file a federal income tax return. If you received income from other sources, your benefits will not be taxed unless your modified adjusted gross income is more than the base amount for your filing status. Your taxable benefits and modified adjusted gross income are figured in a worksheet in the Form 1040A or Form 1040 Instruction booklet. Before you go to the instruction book, do the follow...

Education tax credits can help offset the costs of higher education for yourself or a dependent. The Hope Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit are two education credits available which may benefit you. Because they are credits rather than deductions, you may be able to subtract them in full, dollar for dollar, from your federal income tax. The Hope Credit The credit applies for the first two years of post-secondary education, such as college or vocational school. It does not apply to the third, fourth, or higher years of undergraduate programs, to graduate programs, or to professional-level programs. It can be worth up to $1,800 ($3,600 if a student in a Midwestern disaster area) per eligible student, per year. You're allowed a credit of 100% of the first $1,200 ($2,400 if a student in a Midwestern disaster area) of qualified tuition and related fees paid during the tax year, plus 50% of the next $1,200 ($2,400 if a student in a Midwestern disaste...

The United States Congress is about to pass the largest single-year increase in domestic federal spending since World War II . Despite the fact that neither the Republicans in Congress, the media, nor the American people have been allowed to read the bill, the House plans to vote on the plan today . The Senate will quickly follow suit so that the bill will hit President Barack Obama's desk by Monday. Even without the full benefit of digesting what is in this trillion dollar debt bill, over 200 economists have expressed their belief that this plan is destined to fail. And conservative economists that once supported the idea of a stimulus are now calling the current plan " An $800 Billion Mistake. " Even center left economists like President Bill Clinton’s budget director, Alice Rivlin have told Congress that the long-term spending items in the plan " should not be put together hastily and lumped in with the anti-recession package ." Recent Entries Linco...

Did you get your W-2? These documents are essential to filling out most individual tax returns. You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from each of your employers each year. Employers have until February 2, 2009 to provide or send you a 2008 W-2 earnings statement either electronically or in paper form. If you haven’t received your W-2, follow these steps: 1. Contact your employer. If you have not received your Form W-2, contact your employer to inquire if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to the employer because of an incorrect or incomplete address. After contacting the employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for them to resend or to issue the W-2. 2. Contact the IRS. If you still do not receive your W-2 by February 17th, contact the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040 . When you call, have the following information: Employer's name, address, city, and state, including zip code; Yo...

I brought up this topic on this blog a few weeks earlier but have received more questions after the post than before. Its simple folks, MOST taxpayers that received a stimulus check last year WILL NOT get a rebate check this year. And as mentioned before, stimulus payments are not included in your earned income this year. The IRS sent taxpayers nearly 119 million economic stimulus payments last year. When filing a 2008 federal tax return , taxpayers will need to know the amount of their stimulus payment to properly determine if they are eligible for a recovery rebate credit. Here are six tips for finding how much you received and correctly claiming the credit on your return: 1. Get your notice. Check the amount listed on Notice 1378, which the IRS mailed last year to individuals who received the economic stimulus payment . 2. Visit IRS.gov to find the amount. If you don’t have your Notice 1378, go to the “How Much Was My 2008 Stimulus Payment?” t...

You know those poor souls paid taxes on non-existent profits, and for seasoned investors, over a long period of time. So suddenly, a $50 billion Ponzi may balloon a few bill. The SEC should, in my opinion pay back all these investors every dime they lost to this guy. If the SEC is the governing body to securities trading, my God there is no EMH. A second wave of bad news is coming for victims of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's purported $50 billion Ponzi scheme: personal tax troubles. The victims have seen promised profits vanish and may see only pennies on each dollar of principal they invested. Now add to that the specter of severe limits on their ability to recover taxes paid for years on those phantom earnings, and the added burden of having to wait to claim losses due to theft, according to tax lawyers. Madoff investors who never touched the alleged profits reported on account statements most likely paid taxes on the purported gains for years. Not only did the profits nev...

You must file a tax return if your income is above a certain level. The amount varies depending on filing status, age and the type of income you receive. For example, a married couple both under age 65 generally is not required to file until their joint income reaches $17,900. However, self-employed individuals generally must file a tax return if their net income from self employment was at least $400. Check the “Individuals” section of the IRS Web site at IRS.gov or consult the instructions for form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ for specific details that may affect your need to file a tax return with IRS this year. Even if you don’t have to file, here are six reasons why you may want to file: 1. Federal Income Tax Withheld. If you are not required to file, you should file to get money back if Federal Income Tax was withheld from your pay, if you made estimated tax payments, or had a prior year overpayment applied to this year's tax. 2. Recovery Rebate Credit. If you did not qualify or d...

From liveleak.com Is this for real? Did we really have an electronic run on our banks? This is a startling revelation. LiveLeak has caught a scary moment of previously undisclosed insight by Paul Kanjorski where he reveals some facts that have not been captured by the media previously. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds in the video below, Democratic Representative Kanjorski explains how the Federal Reserve told Congress members about a "tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars." According to Kanjorski, this electronic transfer occurred over the period of an hour or two. And it gets worse. Kanjorski paraphrases the following disclosure by Bernanke and Paulson: On Thursday (Sept 18), at 11am the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the U.S., to the tune of $550 billion was being drawn out in the matter of an hour or two. The Treasury opened up its window to help and pumped a $105 bill...

Sirius XM Satellite Radio has been working with advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing in a move that could put pressure on satellite company EchoStar, which owns a substantial amount of the company’s debt. Sirius has been working with the restructuring expert Joseph A. Bondi of Alvarez & Marsal and the bankruptcy lawyer Mark Thompson of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett to help prepare a Chapter 11 filing, peole close to the company said. The documents and analysis are close to being completed and a filing could come within days, according to a source familiar with the matter. Sirius has also been working with investment bank Evercore Partners. Charles Ergen, who controls a satellite-television empire including the Dish Network Corporation and EchoStar, recently acquired the majority of a $300 million tranche of Sirius debt that matures next Tuesday. Since the news about the debt purchase has emerged, questions have surfaced over whether Mr. Ergen will make a bid to p...

I wish captain Sully was the skipper today on wall street after the bailout was announced, strikingly similar i guess to being hit by a double bird strike. Minutes after the Pork Fried bailout was passed by the Senate, investors ran for cover and the markets hit the hudson nose down zero flaps and a 381.99 tail wind. This piece is from CNBC..... US stocks fell sharply Tuesday in a broad-based decline as the government announced details of its latest bailout plan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 381.99, or 4.6 percent, to close at 7,888.88 after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner revealed details of the bank-bailout plan . Earlier, the blue-chip index was down less than 100 points. The S&P 500 dropped 4.9 percent, and the Nasdaq shed 4.2 percent. The "Financial Stability Plan," as it's now called, consists of four main components: 1) It will set up a public-private fund to mop up to $500 billion of spoiled bank assets. 2) It will set up a consumer-lending facilit...

There are several tax credits and benefits available to qualifying taxpayers with disabilities as well as to the parents of disabled children. Listed below are several tax credits and other benefits available if you or someone else listed on your federal tax return is disabled. The Earned Income Tax Credit The EITC is available to disabled taxpayers as well as to the parents of a child with a disability. The EITC is a tax credit that not only reduces a taxpayer’s tax liability but may also result in a refund. Many working individuals with a disability, who have no qualifying children, but are older than 25 and younger than 65 do, in fact, qualify for EITC. Additionally, if the taxpayer’s child is disabled, the age limitation for the EITC is waived. The EITC has no effect on certain public benefits. Any refund you receive because of the EITC will not be considered income when determining whether you are eligible for benefit programs such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. The...

This is the list of Madoffs' victims. This is so sad and unbelievable all at once. DIVERSIFICATION DOES NOT MEAN TO GIVE ONE PERSON YOUR MONEY TO INVEST IN HIS/HER FUND.......COME ON THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE OCCURED.... http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2009-02/44895487.pdf

With an ailing economy, Madoff making off with your retirement savings, 7.6% unemployment, and a pork infested bailout bill, the last thing many consumers want to hear, INVEST. A large amount of our clients are going all cash, taking their money out of the economy, to store it in safes or under their beds. BAD IDEA. Firstly your money is sitting at home being eroded by inflation. Remember, the dollar you took out yesterday will be worth less thaan a dollar in the future. Another reason to invest, the many opportunities or undervalued investments that are sitting just waiting to be bought. Consumer spending is a better bailout package than government spending, since they have to get the money from taxpayers in the first place so they can spend. I dont think the money in the economy when the DOW was at its 14 000 peak suddenly vanished into thin air. It has been taken out by AIG bitten and Madoff abused consumers. The word INVEST has several meanings depending on its usage. When I say IN...

With so much clout as to what can be reported as income, preparing your tax returns can be a tedious task. The IRS can help you with this issue. I usually tell my clients that EVERYTHING IS TAXABLE until proven otherwise. What Income is Taxable? While most income you receive is generally considered taxable, there are some situations when certain types of income are partially taxed or not taxed at all. Some common examples of items that are not included in your income are: Adoption Expense Reimbursements for qualifying expenses Child support payments Gifts, bequests and inheritances Workers' compensation benefits Meals and Lodging for the convenience of your employer Compensatory Damages awarded for physical injury or physical sickness Welfare Benefits Cash Rebates from a dealer or manufacturer Economic Stimulus Payment received in 2008 Some income may be taxable under certain circumstance, but not taxable in other situations. Examples of items that may or may not be included in you...

As an alternative method for donating to a charity, certain taxpayers may transfer funds from their IRA to an eligible charitable organization . Here are ten things taxpayers who are thinking about making such a donation will need to know. 1. The IRA owner must be age 70 ½ or older. 2. The donor must directly transfer the money tax-free to an eligible organization. 3. The maximum amount that an IRA owner may transfer annually tax-free is $100,000 to an eligible organization. 4. This option, created in 2006 and recently extended through 2009, is available to eligible IRA owners, regardless of whether they itemize their deductions. 5. Distributions from employer-sponsored retirement plans, including SIMPLE IRAs and simplified employee pension plans – commonly referred to as SEP Plans – are not eligible. 6. To qualify, the funds must be contributed directly by the IRA trustee to the eligible charity. 7. ...

The Ugly Face of Progressive Corporatism During the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, President Bill Clinton mastered the art of burying bad news: release everything late on Friday afternoon and hope everyone in Washington forgets about it by Monday. Only one week into his presidency and it is clear that President Barack Obama is equally adept at this skill. Late Friday night, Obama's Health and Human Services secretary nominee Tom Daschle told reporters that he paid over $140,000 in back taxes and interest to the IRS on January 2, of this year. The $128,000 in unreported income came from the $353,552 he received in consulting fees and the use of a car service from a wealthy Democratic donor in just the three years since Daschle left the Senate. But Daschle's trouble paying taxes on income he received from wealthy Democratic donors is just the tip of the iceberg. As the New York Times reports this morning, Daschle's post-Senate career, which allowed Daschle "to ...