News Features

News Features

What You Need to Know for Your 2011 Tax Filing and What's New for 2012

By Bonnie Lee | Fox Business

Tax season is here again! While the filing deadline might be a couple of months away, this month you will receive all required third-party reporting documents: W2s, 1099s for interest and dividends, 1099s for nonemployee compensation if you are an independent contractor, 1099-Bs from your broker reporting proceeds from the sale of stocks and bonds, 1098s from your mortgage holder, K-1s from partnerships, S Corps, estates, and trusts. Hopefully, you've set up a file to store all these documents to make data gathering for tax preparation a snap. If not, now's the time to create one.

Note that the due date for filing this year is April 17. If a tax due date falls on a weekend or a holiday, the next business day becomes the due date. This year April 15 is a Sunday and Monday, April 16 is a federal holiday so the due date falls on Tuesday, April 17. If you are unable to file by the deadline, you may obtain an extension to Oct. 15. Bear in mind that the extension is for filing, not paying. All taxes must be paid by April 17 otherwise you may suffer penalties and interest.

If you pay estimated tax payments throughout the year, the due date for your next quarterly installment for prepayment of 2011 income taxes is Tuesday, Jan. 17. Estimated tax payments for 2012 will be due on April 17, June 15, Sept. 17 and Jan. 15, 2013.

Beginning in 2011, brokerage firms are required to report to the IRS not only proceeds from sales of stocks and mutual funds, but also the cost basis of the investments that are sold. The IRS has designed a new Form 8949 for reporting capital gains and losses. A summary of the information listed on this form is carried over Schedule D. A couple of new columns are added to Form 8949 reporting – one for adjustments to basis (in case your broker has an incorrect figure) and one for coding the transaction to identify the type of sale.

Business mileage rates for 2011 were changed mid-year, so when calculating your mileage for 2011 use the rate of 51 cents per mile for miles driven up to June 30, 2011 and 55 ½ cents per mile from July 1 to Dec. 31.

Mileage rates for 2012 are as follows: 55 ½ cents per mile for business, 23 cents per mile for moving and medical, and 14 cents per mile for charitable purposes.

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News Features - Energy News


breakdown_regular_gasoline-largeThe single biggest factor in the price of gasoline is the cost of the crude oil from which it is made. In recent years, the world's appetite for gasoline and diesel fuel grew so quickly that suppliers of these fuels had a difficult time keeping up with demand. This demand growth is a key reason why prices of both crude oil and gasoline reached record levels in mid-2008. By the fall of 2008, crude oil prices began to fall due to the weakening economy and collapse of global petroleum demand. These factors helped gasoline prices to drop below $2 per gallon of Regular gasoline in late 2008 and early 2009. The gradual improvement in the U.S. and world economies in 2010 and the political events in the Middle East and North Africa in early 2011, the source of about one third of world oil production, contributed to the increases in crude oil and gasoline prices in 2010 and 2011.

There are three main grades of gasoline, based on octane levels: regular, midgrade, and premium. The octane level of a fuel refers to its resistance to combustion; a fuel with a higher octane level will be less prone to pre-ignition and detonation, which is also known as engine knocking. Premium grade is the most expensive; the price difference between grades is typically about 10¢ per gallon.

 

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News Features - Energy & Tech Blog

CalvaryMentorI'm not sure when it happens, but it seems that our kids go through different stages. First, we have to carry them everywhere because they can't walk. After they learn to walk, they want to walk everywhere. Sometime after that, they want to be carried again. And it seems that finally sometime later they want to walk again. Last year we went to the Texas state fair. My oldest daughter, Morgan, is 5 years old and was in the last stage of this progression when we went. She didn't want to be carried, she wanted to show everyone that she was a big girl. She wanted to walk everywhere because she's not a baby anymore and she can ride the big rides and do the big kid things.

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News Features - Mentor's Corner

Brain_Fun_Brain Fun:

Neurobics™

Neurobics™ is a unique system of brain exercises using your five physical senses and your emotional sense in unexpected ways that encourage you to shake up your everyday routines. They are designed to help your brain manufacture its own nutrients that strengthen, preserve, and grow brain cells.

Created by Lawrence C. Katz, Ph.D., a professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center, neurobics can be done anywhere, anytime, in offbeat, fun and easy ways. Nevertheless, these exercises can activate underused nerve pathways and connections, helping you achieve a fit and flexible mind.

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News Features - Funnies

CalvaryMentorMy wife and I used to have an old Corsica. After several years of driving abuse, it began to show signs of wear. I was beginning to have to repair one thing or the other on that dumb car. One time the radiator got a leak so I had to fix that, the alternator went out, the alignment went out, the horn quit working, the door stopped opening...every little thing started to break on it. Finally, I told Ceresa that if I was going to have to spend money and work on something all the time, it might as well be something I liked. I began to scour the newspaper and internet for a new vehicle. We decided that we should either get an old Bronco or a Jeep. After weeks of searching, I found a pristine 1983 Jeep CJ-7. I went to look at it and it was an awesome vehicle. It had a 4" lift kit, 33 inch tires, soft top, half doors...it was everything I wanted. Finally, after much persuading and a test drive, I put the money together and got it. I noticed when I test drove it that it hesitated a lot, but the owner said that it was just cold natured. I also noticed that the steering was extremely sensitive. Well, I drove it for a while, and it still hesitated. In fact, I drove it for a couple of weeks and it was still messing up. I took it to a mechanic and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. After some research, I found out that the distributor was in wrong. I fixed it and went on. I added some bracing to fix the steering. I put in another brake master cylinder. What was going on? I thought I had bought a turn key jeep! Finally, after much ridicule and busted knuckles, I had it fixed. One day, we were driving down the interstate. I patted it on the dash and told Ceresa that "she (the jeep)" was going to be OK. About that time, we heard a loud thud and I look out her door and the drive shaft was bouncing down the road. See, I had bought something that looked great, but on the inside it wasn't a jeep, it was a heap.

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News Features - Mentor's Corner

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