Important Tax Changes

[Exotix]

New tax changes you need to know.

Among many revisions to the 2010 tax year, these three are most important.




Today

Most important tax changes from the IRS - Business - Personal finance - msnbc.com



Despite the availability of professional tax preparation services, an estimated 40 percent of Americans do their own taxes.
The typical do-it-yourself filer needs about 24 hours to complete the task, according to the IRS.

Commercially available software undoubtedly makes the job a lot easier, but no brand is guaranteed to be infallible.

Thus, it's important for do-it-yourself filers to keep up as best they can with relevant changes to the tax code as a safeguard against errors in their tax prep software.



Here are three of the most important changes to know about as you prepare your 2010 return.

1. Smaller deductions for business and medical mileage

You can't write off the cost of a daily commute by car, but you can deduct other work-related mileage you're not reimbursed for.

This year, for example, you'd get 50 cents a mile for driving from, say, Boston to New York City and back for a trade show.
That's five cents less per mile than you'd have gotten for the same trip in 2009.

At 16.5 cents a mile, the deduction for operating your car for medical reasons is 7.5 cents less than last year.
However, driving for charitable purposes is still deductible at 14 cents per mile, just like last year.



2. Better limits on deductions for property damage or loss due to theft

For damaged or stolen property to be deductible, the loss amount must now only exceed $100, compared with $500 in 2009.
The "10 percent of AGI" rule still generally applies though.

Remember, AGI is the sum of all your income — such as wages, interest and alimony received — minus certain adjustments, such as IRA contributions, student loan interest you've paid and moving expenses.



3. Bigger deductions for Long-Term Care (LTC) insurance premiums

IRS rules allow LTC insurance policy owners to deduct more of their premiums in 2010 than in 2009.

For example, those ages 51 to 60 can claim up to $1,230 in LTC insurance premiums this year, compared with $1,190 last year — about a 3 percent increase.
Similar increases have been approved for other age groups as well: 40 and under, 41-50, 61-70 and 71 or over. At $330, the deduction is smallest for the 40-and-under age group.
It rises progressively to a maximum of $4,110 for those ages 71 or over.




Other tax law changes

As you can probably imagine, the government has tinkered with the tax rules quite a bit more than this article describes.

To see what other potentially beneficial changes have been made, check out a list called "Tax Changes for Individuals" at the IRS website.

Who knows what other sorts of breaks you might unearth?






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Are you Taxed Enough Already ?

[mrvette]

eh, my wife and stepdaughter do taxes for a bunch of businesses, and book keeping also....even go with clients to the IRS for problems....

I been filing my taxes for decades....had my CPA do it for a number of years up north when things got really sticky wicket and the zeros were fairly wide....