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Should you directly deposit your tax refund to an IRA?

It sounds like a great idea: Have the IRS directly deposit your tax refund into one or more individual retirement accounts (IRAs). In fact, the IRS touts this option as a way to speed up retirement contributions. The whole process is automated and simple. Read more.

IRS cautions taxpayers about identity theft

The IRS has made preventing identity theft a top priority this year. Here’s what identity thieves have been doing: They steal a taxpayer’s personal information and use it to file a tax return claiming a refund under the taxpayer’s name. Then when the...

Dependents: What are the tax rules?

Most taxpayers believe that a “dependent” is a minor child that lives with them. While that is essentially correct, dependents can include parents, other relatives and nonrelatives, and even children who don’t live with you. There is really much more...

Home office recordkeeping simplified

The IRS is reducing the recordkeeping required for the home-office deduction, effective for 2013. Taxpayers who qualify may use a new optional deduction calculated at $5 a square foot for up to 300 square feet of an area in a home that is used regularly and...

New law causes filing season delay

The delayed passage of the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” has put the IRS behind schedule. Due to several provisions of the law affecting 2012 tax returns, the IRS could not open the Form 1040 filing season for the majority of taxpayers until late...