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The alternative minimum tax (AMT) was enacted back in 1969 to ensure that high-income individuals don’t take advantage of multiple tax breaks and avoid paying federal tax. However, in recent years, the AMT has been imposed on many middle-income taxpayers. Unfortunately, the...

The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly changes some parts of the tax code that relate to personal tax returns. In addition to lowering most of the tax rates and increasing the standard deduction, the TCJA repeals, suspends or modifies some valuable tax deductions. As...

Most of the talk about possible tax legislation this year has focused on either wide-sweeping tax reform or taxes that are part of the Affordable Care Act. But there are a few other potential tax developments for individuals to keep an eye on. Back in December of 2015, Congress...

What should you do if you discover an error on a previously filed individual tax return? For example, you might have missed some tax-saving deductions and credits on your 2016 personal federal income tax return that you filed in February. Or you might have recently discovered...

In recent years, the IRS has offered “green” tax credits to individuals who purchase qualifying residential energy-efficient equipment and certain electric vehicles. Some of these breaks expired at the end of 2016. But others are still ripe for the taking in 2017 and...

In order to take advantage of two important depreciation tax breaks for business assets, you must place the assets in service by the end of the tax year. So you still have time to act for 2016. Section 179 deduction The Sec. 179 deduction is valuable because it allows businesses...

August is back-to-school time across the country. Whether the school buses are already disrupting your commute to work — or will be soon — the start of the school year brings opportunities for savvy business owners.   Here are some insights into this market segment and...

Favorable depreciation rules for business use of “heavy” SUVs, pickups and vans were locked in by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015. By taking advantage of these rules, you may be able to write off the entire business-use portion of a heavy...

With Congress returning from its August recess, this is the question on tax-savvy Americans’ minds. Many valuable tax breaks aren’t permanent, so Congress has to pass legislation extending them to keep them in effect. Unfortunately, Congress often waits until the last minute to...

President Obama signed two trade bills into law on June 29 that include various tax provisions. The focus of the trade bills is mostly foreign competition and domestic jobs, but they contain new rules for claiming higher education tax credits, new fees for failing to file...