In recognition of recent gasoline price increases, the IRS has raised the standard mileage rate for the final six months of 2008.

The rate will increase to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008. The rate for the first half of 2008 is 50.5 cents.

The IRS normally updates the mileage rates once a year, but given the significant increases in gas prices this year, the IRS has made a special rate increase in the middle of the year.

If you’re like me, tax season is exhausting and stressful, especially if you owe Uncle Sam. The deadline is past, but you may still wonder if you paid too much or if you missed any deductions that could have saved you money. Well the best way to avoid that overtaxed feeling (pun intended) is to get a jump on next year’s taxes now.

Here are a few smart tax moves you can do now to make next year’s tax season less painful:

Get organized: If your tax filing system consists of shoeboxes and shopping bags, now is a good time to move your finances to your computer. You still need to save key receipts and documents, but entering spending, savings and investment information into a program like Quicken or Microsoft Money (whichever is easier for you to use), will not only give you a clearer idea of your finances, but it will make your tax filing process much easier for your tax professional or if you do it yourself.

Continue Reading Get a Jump on Next Year’s Taxes Now

Garrett Planning Network Provides Thirteen Smart Ideas

(Lee’s Summit, MO) February 24, 2008 - After concluding their tax
preparation activities, many people will see that they are entitled to
a refund from Uncle Sam. “Whether you refund is large or small, you are
wise to determine now what you will do when that check arrives,” says
Sheryl Garrett, CFP®, author of Personal Finance Workbook For Dummies®
(Wiley, November 2007) and founder of the Garrett Planning Network (www.GarrettPlanningNetwork.com). “Don’t fritter it away or spend it on a whim.”

On a recent teleconference, network members brainstormed thirteen ways taxpayers can put this “found money” to work:

1. Put the entire amount, up to the maximum allowed by law ($4000
for an individual in 2007 unless you are age 50+, then the maximum
contribution is $5000; $5000 for an individual in 2008 unless you are
age 50+, then the maximum is $6000), into a Roth IRA assuming your
income falls below the government thresholds (the phase out for singles
in 2007 is $99-$114,000 and in 2008 it’s $101-116,000; for married
couples in 2007, the phase out is $156-166,000 and in 2008, it’s
$159-$169,000).

Continue Reading What to Do With Your Tax Refund or Other “Found Money”

Employers are required by law to mail all employee W2’s by the end of January each year. So, January 31st has come and gone and you haven’t yet received your W2. What should you do?

First, consider whether or not you’ve allowed enough time for the mailing to reach you. Employers need only mail the document by the 31st of January, not have it in your hands by that date.