The first-time homebuyer credit created by last year’s housing law didn’t do much to stimulate home sales throughout the country. But the new economic stimulus law sweetens the pot. Most homeowners no longer have to repay the credit! Read More

It’s not enough if you pay your income tax to Uncle Sam, it’s also a question of when the tax is paid. You could be assessed an “estimated tax” interest charge penalty if you don’t fork over the required tax in a timely fashion. The penalty is equal to the going interest charge rate for other tax underpayments. Read More

When you set up a deferred compensation arrangement between you and your company, you agree to provide current services in exchange for a future payday. But there’s a chance you won’t live to collect the deferred comp. Read More

Normally, forgiving a debt results in “cancellation-of-debt” (COD) income that is taxable to the corporation. But a loophole in the tax law allows a company to effectively avoid COD income when it forgives a debt owed to the owner (you). Read More

Do you own a “vacation home” near a beach or in the mountains? It’s a great place, but maybe your children have grown up and moved away or the place has become too expensive to maintain—or both. Read More

The new economic stimulus law provides special relief for some small business owners. It allows you to carry back net operating losses (NOLs) for up to five years instead of just two. This tax break applies to NOLs in tax years beginning or ending in 2008. Read More

Attention, filing procrastinators: The IRS is opening up free e-filing to all individual taxpayers on 2008 returns. (IRS News Release IR-2009-5) Should you do it? Read More

Image by Roscoe Van Damme via FlickrThe three-week rally that ended last Thursday is looking more and more like just a bear market rally and not the start of a major advance. Having advanced better than 20 percent off the lows, the major market… Read More