Taxes Blog

Regular readers of Bankrate tax stories this month have already received a lot of good advice on what they can do now to cut their 2011 tax bill. But because I’m still in a festive, giving holiday mood, I thought it would be a nice post-Christmas gift to list some quick and easy moves you

The 4.2 percent payroll tax rate, two percentage points lower than the usual rate collected from workers to pay for Social Security, will remain in place through Feb. 29, 2012. Now the House and Senate must work on a way to keep the lower payroll tax rate effective through all of 2012. The two-month extension

OK. Extension of the payroll tax cut probably is not just in limbo, but dead for at least a while. In a largely party-line vote today, the House voted to go to conference with the Senate to work out a deal to keep the 4.2 percent payroll tax rate in place. As everyone knows by

If you ever had any doubt that things in Washington, D.C., work — or don’t work — differently from the rest of the world, the latest turn in the payroll tax cut extension makes that very clear. The payroll tax collected from workers to finance Social Security is usually a 6.2 percent rate. In 2011,

Congress is dilly-dallying as year-end deadlines approach for various measures, including continuation of the 4.2 percent payroll tax rate. Such down-to-the-wire legislative antics aren’t unusual. I worked for a representative, senator and finally the House Ways and Means Committee in a previous professional life and I remember several holiday breaks being delayed so Congress could

Congress is caught up right now with the payroll tax issue. That is important. Unless the temporary 4.2 percent tax rate is extended, workers will get smaller paychecks in 2012. But this legislative single-mindedness means that some other tax laws that also expire on Dec. 31 are falling by the wayside. One of those tax

Remember when General Electric stiffed Uncle Sam on federal taxes? Then we found out that more than two dozen big companies also found ways to avoid paying the IRS and some even got back tax refunds? Now comes word that 265 of the most consistently profitable U.S. corporations cost states $42.7 billion in taxes over

After 10 days of sneezing, coughing and sniffling, not to mention dealing with sore, scratchy throats (I almost lost my voice; to the hubby’s dismay, I didn’t) and itchy eyes, my better half and I are finally over our colds. We each get one every time we fly. Usually that means one of us gets

How many Christmas presents could you buy with $1,547? That’s the average amount of tax refund checks returned this year to the Internal Revenue Service because the U.S. Postal Service couldn’t deliver them. Now Uncle Sam wants to get the cash, which totals more than $153 million, to its rightful owners, all 99,123 of them.

You got a job for the holidays. That extra cash certainly will come in handy. But be careful, or you could end up paying more than you expected to the IRS. Many businesses nowadays are hiring folks as independent contractors rather than as employees. The distinction makes a big difference in who’s responsible for income