Article Highlights: Daycare Providers Simplified Food Deduction Special Rules for Business Use of the Provider’s Home Home Sale Consequences Other Expenses Other Daycare Provider Issues Daycare User Credit Employer Dependent Care Benefits Other Credit Criteria When discussing daycare for children so their parents can work, there are two primary areas of discussion: one from the viewpoint of the individual providing the daycare services and another from the parents using a daycare provider’s services. Tax law provides special benefits for both….

Article Highlights: Hobby Losses Not-for-Profit Rules Determining Factors Trade or Business Presumption Hobby Tax Reporting Self-Employment Tax Generally, when individuals have a hobby, they have it because they enjoy it and are not involved in their hobby with the goal of making money. In fact, most hobbies never make money or don’t even create any income, for that matter. Tax law generally does not allow deductions for personal expenses except those allowed as itemized deductions on the 1040 Schedule A,…

Article Highlights: Purpose of the Earned Income Tax Credit Qualifications Earned Income Qualified Child Credit Phaseout Computing the Credit Investment Income Limit Combat Pay Election Fraud Safeguards Any discussion of the earned income tax credit (EITC) needs to begin with a discussion of why Congress created it in the first place. It has a twofold purpose: first, as an incentive for people to work and get off public assistance, and second, to provide financial assistance for low-income taxpayers and their…

If you have unpaid taxes that you haven’t yet been making payments toward, it might make you fearful that the IRS will come a-knocking one day to collect on what you owe. Tax debt can quickly snowball from interest, penalties, late fees, and the amount of the taxes due. However, a lot of the scaremongering surrounding the IRS is largely sensationalized in media and daily conversation. Agents won’t come bursting through your door just because you have tax debt. Instead,…