how can i save money for tax time?

Question

I remember reading in a magazine that you can claim all the sales taxes from recipts of things you purchased, like from stores, etc. is that true? how do i go about claiming them? if it is true, i need to start saving them now....

Answer 1

its not that simple. true, there is a new law that says you can itemize your sales tax and claim on your return - but its an 'either-or' type of thing. currently, you deduct your california state taxes on your fed return. (i presume you do itemize, if you dont, then this is all a moot point) presuming you do itemize, then on your previous schedule a, you have an amount that you deducted for state taxes paid - most likely from your w-2 earnings. well this law states that you can either deduct your state taxes, or in lieu of that, you may deduct your sales taxes. so unless you, for one reason or another, happen to pay an insane amount of sales tax in a given year, most people pay more state taxes than sales taxes.

Answer 2

Saving money for tax time implies you earned income. Another way you should look at the question is how to minimize the amount of tax you have to pay. Not everyone is polished in tax law but there are specific deductions available to individuals based on the type of income (salary vs self-employment vs investment income) they earn. Get familiar with your situation by talking to someone with tax knowledge or taking a basic tax preparation class. You'd be surprised how much $$$$ you save.

Answer 3

If you take the standard deduction, you can't deduct them. If you itemize instead, you have a choice of deducting either state and local income taxes OR state and local sales taxes. If you don't have much in state and local income taxes, this might benefit you. You can either save receipts, or there's a table the IRS puts out that lists and allowable amount that depends on your state of residence, your income, and family size. You can add taxes paid on a car or boat purchase to the amount listed in the table.

Answer 4

G-Man is right. This law was enacted for those people who live in states with no state income tax but very high sales tax rates, such as Tennessee, Florida, Texas etc. Unless you live in one of those states, don't even bother, your withholding WILL be higher (unless you purchased a lot of big ticket items) and the record keeping will be a full time job.

Answer 5

YOU SHOULD NOT BE TAXED YOU SHOULD BE PAID!


The Alaska state constitution claims common heritage rights of ownership of oil and other minerals for the people of the state as a whole. Citizen dividend checks are distributed every year in Alaska out of the interest payments to an oil royalties deposit account called the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) created in 1976 after oil was discovered on the North Slope. The APF is a public trust fund - a diversified stock, bond and real estate portfolio - into which are deposited the oil royalties received from the corporations which extract the oil from the lands of Alaska. The first citizen dividend check from the interest of the APF was issued in 1982 and was for $1000 per every person for everyone in Alaska who had resided in the state for at least one year. Annual citizen dividends have been issued every year since then, for a total of more than $23,000 per person.

In 2003, each of the nearly 600,000 Alaska US citizens (residents of Alaska for at least one year) received a check for $1,107 from the APF. The total amount dispersed was $663.2 million. The $25 billion investment fund's core experienced stock market losses which led to the dividend's decline this past year compared to the several previous years. The amount was $433 less, a 28 percent drop from the 2002 pay out of $1,540, and a 44 percent decrease from the all-time high of $1,964 in year 2000. The amount changes based on a five-year average of APF investment income derived from the bonds, stock dividends, real estate and other investments.

Alaska relies on oil for about 80 percent of its revenue and has no sales or income tax. Alaska state government is mandated to invest 25% of its oil revenue into the APF while the other 75% of oil royalty revenue is dispersed to other government funds to finance education, infrastructure and social services. If 100% of Alaska's oil royalties had been deposited into the APF, it is conceivable that the CD this year could have been about $4,400 or $17,600 for a family of four. But then there would have been no funds for roads, education and other public services and no funds available to run the state legislature - a libertarian dream fulfillment or a social and economic disaster, which one we will never know. If state services were to have been maintained while 100% of oil royalties were deposited in the APF, there would of course have been the need for income, sales and other taxes on wages and production.
Source(s):

Hoover Institution
Kuwait:

Democracy, Kuwait Style
Peter Berkowitz



It’s not that the woman question was the only issue faced by voters. From the owner and editor in chief of Kuwait’s largest newspaper, to the chief executive officer of Kuwait Petroleum Company, to the former Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States, our interlocutors argued that the Kuwaiti economy is stagnating and that the remedy is privatization. This is a difficult proposition, however, in a country where 90 to 95 percent of the labor force is employed by the government, which generally pays more than the private sector. And designing institutions to create the right incentives will be difficult in a country whose oil wealth supports a massive welfare state with no taxes that generously funds its citizens’ health, education, and housing needs.

If Alaska pays
Kuwait pays even it’s indirectly after the gulf war losses
Dubai pays
I’ve read Norway does something like this
I’ve read Nigeria is working on a fund to pay the people also

Oil is just 1 of thousands of commodities.

With all the commodities in your state.

Why can’t your state pay you?

With the resources the feds can’t they pay 50 times what Alaska pays?

The dems and reps have all the power and all the control.
Shouldn’t they bear all the responsibility for their mismanagement?

It is time to take America back for the people.

VOTE! Vote for anyone as long as they’re not a democrat or republican!

If our founding father were alive today.
They would lay siege to DC tar and feather ALL the officials.
Then hang them on the steps for all to see the consequences of screwing Americans!!

If we continue to ask for truth, then refuse to listen.
Mankind will forever, be doomed to destruction.

There must be security for all, or none are secure!
This requires losing no freedoms, only to act responsibly!

Answer 6

I dont believe that is true. Unless you are purchasing the stuff for school or a business. but you cna look up soem quick tinfo in the Publication 17 on the irs website.

Answer 7

I put away a certain amount from each pay check into a special account (about $120) it adds up quickly

Answer 8

Better move to Luxembourg o Liechtenstein and don't pay them anymore!!!