Free Digi-Scrapbooking Goodies

I don't know about you but I love to scrapbook. What I love more than scrapbooking is digi-scrapping. You can do so much more with digi-scrapping than you can just scrapbooking. The possibilities are endless. A perk to digi-scrapping is if you dont find the right embelishment you can make it yourself. For those of you who are looking to get into degi-scrapping but would like to try it out without investing any money, your in luck. Scrapbook Flair offers not only many FREE designer collection of embelishments and paper but they also offer a FREE digi-scrapping program. I started out using this program and got really good. I actually eventually outgrew the program. Thats good news. It means I learned all the basic and was ready to create my own stuff. Luckily there are other programs out there. When I was ready to move on from Scrapbook Flair I searched all over the internet until I stumbled upon a program that I swear by and recommend to everyone. I found Paint.Net. It's alot like photoshot and does the same stuff. The plus to this program is that it is ALOT cheaper. By cheaper I'm talking FREE! I use Paint.net for digi-scrapping and all my photo editing needs. Another awesome point to Paint.Net is that there are tutorials all over the internet to teach you new tricks. All you do is google Paint.Net Tutorial. Happy Scrapping!

You Could Win $10,000

You could win $10,000 just by going to My http://www.jacksonhewitt.com/Introducing-MyTaxManager/ and creating a free account. There are daily prizes and one grand prize of $10,000. My Tax Manager gives you free tips on current and new tax laws and many other helpful tax tips. You can also save all your tax documents throughout the year making it easier to file your taxes when the time comes. It's free, its's easy and you could get a big reward.

Tax Tip

Tax season is comming to a close quickly with only 19 days left to file. In the mad rush to find a preparer make sure they are CTECH certified because that is California Law. Also pay attention to the question they are asking you. I've heard of some places asking you extensive questions about your different bank accounts and their balances. They tell you they ask these questions to figure out how much your interest income is. If you have interest income from your bank, your baml will send you a 1099-int. There is no reason why your preparer needs to know how many bank accounts you have and what their balances are. The only questions they should be asking you is if you have authority over a foreign bank account or trust. If your getting your refund deposited into your account than they will need to know your institutions name, routing number and account number, but never should they need to know the balance in your account. I had a customer inform me that she went to a notary last year to have her taxes done and the lady asked her all kind of questions about her accounts and how much she had in them. Also make sure all of your questions are answered. If you want to e-file make sure you ask them if e-filing is available at the location you are using. This also happened to a customer. She asked if they would e-file their taxes and the preperer said yes but after her taxes were prepared and she had paid the fees the preparer handed her her forms and said all she had to do now was mail them in. So do make sure that the preparer is listening to your questions and taking them seriously. Also this is the last year to claim energy star improvements on your home as well as claiming the special credit for new vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles, motorhomes, boats) purchased between feb 2009 and before Jan 1 2010. Good Luck and happy, painless tax season to you all.

The Importance of Providing Accurate Tax Info

Make sure when you file your taxes that you provide ALL your information to your preparer. If you do not then it could result in an IRS audit and you could end up oweing the IRS money. Bringing all your paperwork to your preparer is very important. If your recieving social security, or some kind of retirement like a 401k or have interest income from a savings account it is important to bring the proper paperwork because those items are taxable. I know what your thinking..."But my social security income or 401k has already been taxed when I paid in the money". I hear that alot from taxpayers. Truth is only a portion of your social security is non-taxable. Same goes for unemployment benefits. For unemployment benefits anything you recieved over $2500 is taxable. Not to mention any about of money made over $500 has to be claimed. For instance, I had a taxpayer come in who had done their 2009 taxes and recieved a refund. They filed their return without using retirement paperwork because they hadnt recieved it in the mail and were in a hurry to file. Now, a year later they recieved a letter in the mail from IRS stating that they now owe the IRS money because the IRS refunded them more money than they were actually entitled too. They now have to pay back almost $2000 because they didnt provide all the correct information to their preparer. When you are recieving things such as retirement money they payer of said funds has to send in paperwork to the IRS on the money they paid you. Not reporting these wages is a bad idea. Your tax preparer cannot be held responsable for entering in false or incomplete data when you do not provide the correct and full data to them. Always provide complete and accurate information. And remember the IRS can audit you up to 3 years from the year you file your taxes. Just because they didnt catch the mishap immediately doesnt mean you got away with anything.

Helpful Tax Tips From A Tax Professional

Tax season is almost up, the dealine to file is April 18th and quickly approaching. There are alot of things that many people don't know about filing taxes or deductions. Every profession has different deductions, but here are a few examples:

Construction Workers
Uniforms (cannot be able to be worn as street cloathes)
Speacialized headgear (IE Hardhats)
Safety Boots (IE Steel toed boots)
Rain Gear
Gloves
Safety Glasses
Coveralls
Cloathing repair
Union Dues
Liability insurance
License fees
Legal and professional fees
Memberships
Publications
Job Seeeking expenses
Cost of meals and lodging while away from home
Mileage
Cell Phone
Fax
Pager
Internet
Voicemail
Travel Cards
2nd phone line in home
Small Tools
Power Tools
Compressors
Generators
Camera
Storage
Ladders
Portable Lights
Fans/Heaters
Vacume Cleaners
Tool bags/boxes
First Aide Kits
Repair to Tools


Truck Driver
Uniforms
Speacialized underware
safety or black ice boots
rain gear
safety gloves
safety glasses
coveralls
alterations
clothing repair, sewing kit
union dues, trade ass. fees
business inssurance, security bonds
licenses, permits
legal/professional fees
magazines/publications
safety training
annual DOT physical
lap desk/laptop/pc
pens/pencils/paper
stapler/staples/hole punch
log book and accessories
money orders/wire charges
camera/film/degital supplies
calculator, supplies
copy fees
truck/trailer storage
towing/parking
truck interest
truck funigation/wash
lumpers
truck/trailer license
gas/lube/oil/parts/service
Cell/long distance
voice mail/fax
CB, antenna, rapairs
power cords, boosters
satelite tracking service
travel cards
airfreshners, dissenfectants
hand cleaner, soap, detergent
alarm clock, travel iron
pillows, sheets, towels
TV, vcr, refrigerator, radio
bunk heater, fan
map atlas
flashlight, batetries
key, locks, security kits
cleaners, wd40
vacume, broom, dustpan
bug spray, flu swatter
trash bags, paper towels
curtains, window screens
seat covers, shift grip, floor mats
salt for ice, de-icer
load locks, cables, tie downs
hammer, crowbar, other tools
buffer and supplies
duct tape, sand
shelving
storage containers
first aide kits
back supports
fire extenguishers/flaires
seat cushions

Day Care Professional
Advertising
Books, magazines
business cards
bank charges
child proofing
client gifts
food, snacks
Insurance: Bonds
Insurance: Business
Insurance: Liability
payroll wages
payroll wages-your child
payroll taxes
office expense
professional fees: legal, tax prep
rapairs, replacements
Supply: art, cleaning, party
Telephone: cell, business, pager
tickets, fees, field trips
toys
video rental/purchase
car seats
cribs
high chairs
riding equipment
swings/slides
sand box, sand
playstation, xbox, nintendo, video game system
computer equipment
dishwasher
dryer
fencing
fridge
TV
vcr/dvd player
washer,dryer
total mileage of vehicle
total daycare mileage
lease vehicle cost
interest on vehicle
insurance on vehicle
license plates for vehicle
converstions
total sq feet of home
business sq feet
business hours
home mortgage interest
propert taxes
hazard insurance
rents
cleaning service
maintence and repairs
utilities: cable, electric, gas, sewer, water, trash
pool service, gardener
telephone: home



Please keep in mind these are only example of what you can deduct and some of them are only partially deductable. Like your cell phone. If you only use it part time for business and part for personal you can only deduct the portion that is used for business. Same goes for your home (IE utilities, morgage, rent). These helpful tips were brought to you by a tax professional. If you need a good tax place, check into Jackson Hewitt. Every one of their employees goes through extensive training and is CTECH certified and registered with the IRS. Not all places follow the tax laws when it comes to hiring certified tax professional but Jackson Hewitt does. They're also up to date on all the current tax laws. Remember you need a tax preparer that will not only file your taxes but do it correctly. Deadline to file your taxes are April 18th!!

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