NumberInsights.com

Rubbed the wrong way

Shane — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 07:43:07 +0000

The new paid tax preparer regulations and competency examinations have caused quite a stir in the tax preparation community, but most agree that some regulation of tax preparers will be beneficial. However, what has some tax professionals fired up is the list of exemptions for who doesn’t have to pass a competency examination, and Robert Flach is [...]

Lawyers don’t get Walmart

Shane — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:10:58 +0000

I sat in on an enlightening chat today thanks to a heads up from Joe Kristan’s Tax Update Blog with Sen. Joe Bolkom and Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, lawmakers involved in setting Iowa’s tax policy, regarding the future of some of Iowa’s generous tax credits. The biggest thing that I learned today was how the legislature [...]

New Homebuyer Tax Credit Form Available

Shane — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:24:52 +0000

For those who purchased a home after November 6, 2009, the wait is finally over, you can now apply for your first time homebuyer tax credit with the new and improved form 5405 and its related instructions. You can use this new form with either your 2009 tax return or an amended 2008 tax return. [...]

Hurry up and wait for your home buyer tax credit!

Shane — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:50:32 +0000

If you bought your new home after November 6, 2009, be prepared to wait before being able to file an amended 2008 return to claim your refund for the new and improved home buyer tax credit. The changes made to this legal provision on November 6, 2009 prompted the IRS to revise the form 5405 [...]

Really Share the Wealth

Shane — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:49:34 +0000

Over the last week I have heard some replays of statements from our sharing is caring President regarding his ideas about “sharing the wealth” and “redistributive justice.” It seems to me that he and his friends have somewhere in their childhood missed this wise old saying, “Give a man a fish, feed him for a [...]

Extending and Expanding the Homebuyer Tax Credit

Shane — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:16:20 +0000

The new and beefed up homebuyer tax credit will likely help home sales continue to improve, but does it help in a temporary or long-term manner? While a temporary boost makes us all feel warm and fuzzy, the real focus of any economic program needs to come back around to long-term fixes. An area of [...]

Keeping Good Records Reduces Stress at Tax Time

Shane — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:49:48 +0000

August 28, 2009 IRS Summertime Tax Tip 2009-23 Although most people won’t be filing their tax returns for several months, the dog days of summer are actually a great time to start planning for the tax filing season by ensuring your records are organized. Whether you are an individual taxpayer or a business owner, you [...]

The market for health care

Shane — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:12:30 +0000

This graph demonstrates that while the health care market may as a whole find an equilibrium price, we suffer from few customers for health care. The main customers for health care are major health insurance companies and the government. If we were to segment the prices paid by those respective customers into private and government, [...]

Income statement for Open Office Spreadsheets!

Shane — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 05:47:41 +0000

I have finally gotten around to publishing my income statement from check register for multiple activities in one account in an Open Document Spreadsheet (.ods). I have made a few improvements from the version I made in Excel, mostly around making the year of the income statement another factor in the equation so that you [...]

Conviscating professional services

Shane — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:52:50 +0000

I’ve been watching a lot of the health care debate and town-hall meetings lately, as I believe this is a seminal issue that will define our view of rights vs. privileges in this country for a long time to come. Now the analogy that I am going to draw is a stretch, but it really [...]