These Situations Could Lead to a Higher Tax Bill This Year

shutterstock_398205748

 

Unless you’ve filed for an extension then the tax deadline is officially upon us. That means you need to get your taxes in pronto, if you still haven’t. While most people hate doing their taxes, they do enjoy the typical reward after the hard work is all done: a nice refund check.

However, there is no guarantee that you will get a refund. In fact, it’s entirely possible that you could end up owing the IRS some money, even if you weren’t expecting to. That’s because there are certain life events and decisions that can end up putting you in the red instead of the black.

For example, if you have started a side business there is a good chance you could end up owing more in taxes than you expected. If you don’t plan ahead and you don’t make any estimated tax payments on that additional income, you will owe some extra money when you report it come tax time.

Getting married or filing for divorce can also impact your tax status greatly. If you change your filing status to married filing jointly, you could end up owing more than you did when you filed as a single. Additionally, when you get divorced you might end up losing some of the deductions you once enjoyed when you were married.

There are several other events in life that could negatively affect your tax bill, including selling your home, withdrawing money from a retirement account, losing your job, winning prize money or receiving an inheritance from someone. The bottom line is, there are several things that can affect your tax bill, so make sure you track everything and be prepared for the worst. As always you can contact us at GROCO for more tax help.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/09/surprise-tax-bill

Posted in

Should University Donations Trigger Tax Breaks for the Wealthy?

Universities big and small receive donations from many different sources, including wealthy alumni. However, not all donations are created equal and because the wealthy donors get a huge tax break for their significant donations, some wonder if that is really fair. For example, Nike co-founder, Phil Knight, recently donated $400 million to Stanford, where he…

Money-Saving Tips for Freelancers

When you hear the term freelancer, you might think of someone working a small business out of his or her home and just doing things on the fly. However, freelancers come in all forms and many owners of small businesses or startups are also freelancers. Being a freelancer means you are self-employed and being self-employed…

Who Really Qualifies as a Dependent for Taxes?

How many dependents do you really have? Who can really be counted as a dependent? These are some of the most common questions that all taxpayers have. Can you count all of your children, live-in help, or perhaps a dog or other family pet? What about a friend who decides to crash at your place…

Obama Looking to Stick the Wealthy With Even More Taxes

His second term in office is winding down, but President Obama would still like to raise taxes on high net worth individuals before he checks out of the White House at the beginning of next year. Although the president has already taken several measures to raise the effective tax rate on the wealthy, he is…