Week ending . . .

Posted by Bruce Mc on Jan 25, 2009 in News Flash, Opinions, Week in review | 0 comments

            Wow! What a week this has been. Not just in my world but around the world. As much as I’d like to talk about what is going on “everywhere”, I think I had better just stick with the taxing world and the world of taxguy.

            Nine days ago I transmitted the first e-file return. Following that transmitted return, I started to complete a few other returns as the official start of tax season began.  (Are you ready?) With it being officially the filing season, I thought I’d throw some info out there for you to help you get going.

             We have a new president and he is off and running. The neatest thing so far that I have noticed, is President Obama created WhiteHouse.gov. “WhiteHouse.gov will be a central part of
President Obama’s pledge to make his the most transparent and accountable
administration in American history.” If you want to follow along with what is happening this is a very interesting site, along with a blog. Follow our government in a new and unique way.

            Understandably, it is a work in progress but the information it is making available so far is really interesting. You’re able to find out about the Agenda of the new administration as well as read short bio’s on them. History of the White House, and other great informational places. I haven’t searched it all, but what I have read and seen, I think this is really interesting.

            Second chance for economic stimulus check is a great informational tip from Bankrate.com. Every weekday until the end of tax season, Bankrate.com will be providing these tips. I strongly recommend to everyone to check these out.

I was lucky enough to take part in Second chance for economic stimulus check. Myself with fellow tax blogger Robert The Wondering Tax Pro have been included in the observations and insights of this article wonderfully written by Kay Bell. Thank you Kay for allowing me to provide my input.

Along those lines, I was also given the honor to join the ranks of tax professionals who were able to “vent” about a few client aggravations. As Kay Bell writes in her post Are you a good or bad tax client?, “. . . the truth is if you and I were better clients, we’d not only make our tax advisors’ jobs easier, we’d likely end up with a better tax result. That adage “garbage in, garbage out” applies here; even the best tax professional can only work with what he or she gets from the taxpayer.” The post is great, from a prepares point of view.

Finally, while I seem to be focusing on the writings of Kay Bell, the author of Don’t Mess With Taxes, Kay as also written a book that is now available. The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes was released last week. I haven’t received my copy as of yet (UPS tracking says I’ll have it Tuesday).

February, I will be posting a book review of The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes, and I will be having my first giving away, a signed copy by its author. So you’ll need to stay tuned for more information.

Okay, what else has been going on around the blog-o-sphere?

Grocery Store Mind Games form Wide Open Wallet is a real eye opener. “. . . according to studies as much as 60 to 70 percent of all purchases at the grocery store are unplanned.”

The Contest at Pecuniarities ended last night. Still waiting to hear who won. Also from Pecuniarities, Carnival of Personal Finance No. 188: The Jane Austen Edition has some great reading. You have to click the links.

File Your Income Taxes Online for Free is a post from No Debt Plan. The IRS has a list of all the places that offer e-file, most of which you have to click the link from within the IRS website. OF them all which is best? Well neither I or anyone else can answer for you without knowing your situation, but “. . .there is a pretty simple weeding out process you can do. Check the websites of the companies listed.”

This week Living Almost large reviews the book Coming Up Short – The challenge of the 401k plans. It’s a book talking about the challenges facing 401ks and what has happened since their inception in 1981. I love the history. But this isn’t just about the history. Read the review, get the book.

Guesstimating take-home pay from a job is a great bit of info for those trying to figure out their take home pay.

There are two post of interest at A Personal Finance Guide. “Becoming smart about money and thriving requires more than a basic financial plan. Knowing how much you need to put away for retirement or college is all very well but to achieve your goals and dreams you need a lot more than mere time-value-of-money calculations. There are many more aspects to being successful. . .” They are discussed in part here. Money and Success – Become Smart About Money and Thrive in Three Basic Steps. And Learning to Save Money Isn’t As Hard As You May Think, it may be a “. . . challenge at first, but the more you do it the easier it gets.”

Filing your taxes: D-I-Y Taxation Software or a Professional Preparer is a great post from Andy. (Even though I thought a small bit of info was miss-communicated.)

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards recently provided ten tips on selecting a financial planner as reported and linked to at Tick Marks in the post Planning to Choose a Financial Planner–10 Questions to Consider.

KEEPING TRACK OF BUSINESS MILEAGE and BRIDE OF KEEPING TRACK OF BUSINESS MILEAGE are both great pieces on keeping track of well, yes, your business milage from The Wondering Tax Pro.

Peter over at The Tax Lawyer’s Blog has a real look at on a few things in his post Repeal the Corporate Income Tax and Bring Those Jobs Back Home.

Kelly from Taxgirl reports Google ate Feedburner.

California Tax Refunds Delayed as reported by Russ Fox at Taxable Talk. Have you considered what you would do if this happened in your state?

Being from Oklahoma I always find interesting some of the things I hear from down there. The Tax Foundation Oklahoma’s Budget is ######## is just more interesting info from there.

Joe Kristan from Roth & Company, P.C. Tax Update Blog, reports Ways and Means passes stimulus bill, but weakens 5-year NOL carryback. Hummm.

He also looks at IRS guidance on reporting K-1 percentages.

Next post scheduled for 02/01/2009