2007 IRA Deduction: Contribute By April 15

If you haven’t contributed funds to an Individual Retirement Arrangement for tax year 2007, or if you’ve put in less than the maximum allowed, you still have time to do so. You can contribute to either a traditional or Roth IRA until the April due date for filing your tax return for 2007, not including extensions.

Be sure to tell the IRA trustee that the contribution is for 2007. Otherwise, the trustee may report the contribution as being for 2008 when they get your funds.

Generally, you can contribute up to $4,000 of your earnings for 2007 or up to $5,000 if you are age 50 or older in 2007. You can fund a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA (if you qualify), or both, but your total contributions cannot be more than these amounts.

• Traditional IRA: You may be able to take a tax deduction for the contributions to a traditional IRA, depending on your income and whether you — or your spouse, if filing jointly — are covered by an employer’s pension plan.
• Roth IRA: You cannot deduct Roth IRA contributions, but the earnings on a Roth IRA may be tax-free if you meet the conditions for a qualified distribution.

You can file your tax return claiming a traditional IRA contribution before the contribution is actually made. However, the contribution must be made by the due date of your return, not including extensions. If you report a contribution to a traditional IRA on your return, but fail to contribute by the deadline, you must file an amended tax return by using Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. You must add the amount you deducted to your income on the amended return and pay the additional tax accordingly.

For more information get IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), available on the IRS Web site at IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676). Taxpayers who need to have any IRS publication mailed to them should act soon to be sure they have the item in time to meet the April due date.

Remember that for the genuine IRS Web site be sure to use .gov. Don't be confused by internet sites that end in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov. The address of the official IRS governmental Web site is www.irs.gov.

Links:

• Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (PDF 449K)
• Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (PDF 123K)
• Form 1040X Instructions (PDF 45K)

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Can You Use Schedule C-EZ?

Want to save time and trouble when filing taxes for your small business? You may be eligible to use the abbreviated Schedule C-EZ instead of the longer Schedule C when reporting business income and expenses on your 2007 Form 1040 federal income tax return. The maximum deductible business expense threshold for filing Schedule C-EZ is $5,000.

Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business (Sole Proprietorship), is the simplified version of Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business (Sole Proprietorship).

Schedule C-EZ:

• Has an instruction page and a one-page form with three short parts — General Information, Figure Your Net Profit, and Information on Your Vehicle.
• Includes a simple worksheet for figuring the amount of deductible expenses. If that amount does not exceed $5,000, and if your business did not have a net loss, you may be able to use the C-EZ instead of Schedule C. (Other restrictions apply; be sure to read the instructions carefully.

Schedule C:

• Is two pages long and is divided into five parts — Income, Expenses, Cost of Goods Sold, Information on Your Vehicle, and Other Expenses.
• Requires more detailed information than the C-EZ. The instruction package is 10 pages long.
• Must be used when deductible business expenses exceed $5,000 or when a business has a net loss.

Using Schedule C-EZ can save time and reduce paperwork burden for eligible businesses. More information about Schedule C-EZ and reporting net profit for sole proprietorships can be found on the IRS Web site at IRS.gov.

Remember that for the genuine IRS Web site be sure to use .gov. Don't be confused by internet sites that end in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov. The address of the official IRS governmental Web site is www.irs.gov.

Link – Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business (PDF 407K)

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Guidelines For Roth IRA Contributions

From the IRS:

Although Roth IRAs are popular retirement arrangements, some taxpayers may be confused about whether they can contribute to a Roth IRA. Here are some helpful guidelines:

• Income Limits To contribute to a Roth IRA, you must have taxable compensation (e.g., wages, salary, tips, professional fees, bonuses). These limits vary depending on your filing status.
• Age There is no age limitation for Roth IRA contributions.
• Contribution Limits In general, if your only IRA is a Roth IRA, the maximum 2007 contribution limit is the lesser of your taxable compensation or $4,000 ($5,000 if age 50 or older). The maximum contribution limit phases out depending on your modified adjusted gross income.
• Spousal Roth IRA You can make contributions to a Roth IRA for your spouse provided you meet the income requirements.

Time Contributions to a Roth IRA can be made at any time during the year or by the due date of your return for that year (not including extensions).

Roth IRA contributions are not tax deductible and are not reported on your tax return. On the other hand, you do not have to pay tax on any qualified distributions, distributions that are a return of your regular Roth IRA contributions, or distributions that are rolled over into another Roth IRA.

For complete information and definitions of terms, get Publication 590,

Individual Retirement Arrangements. Visit the IRS Web site at IRS.gov, or call 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676) to request a free copy of the publication.

Remember that for the genuine IRS Web site be sure to use .gov. Don't be confused by internet sites that end in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov. The address of the official IRS governmental Web site is www.irs.gov.

Links:

• Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (PDF 461K)

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Planning For Your Taxes

Tax planning is very important if you want to make sure that your income tax return is filed quickly, effectively, accurately, and painlessly. Through careful tax planning, you can have everything you need to file your income tax return at your fingertips whenever you are ready to file. Tax planning is also helpful in the case that your income tax return is brought up for audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

Tax planning is essentially tracking your income tax deductible items as they come up, and keeping records organized and handy in case they are needed. The most important tool for tax planning is a small filing cabinet. You can use this filing cabinet to file your tax planning documents and receipts, as well as keep track of previous tax returns filed and other important documents such as birth certificates and social security cards. The file cabinet you get to use for your tax planning should be fire proof and have a lock. That way your tax planning documents are safe in almost any disaster, and other people cannot easily gain access to your tax planning and other important documents.

Part of tax planning is making sure that you are aware of what expenses are tax deductible. You cannot engage in tax planning and track tax deductible expenses if you don't know what you should be tracking! The Internal Revenue Service offers many publications on this subject. However, if you have any questions about income tax deductible items you should contact a qualified, certified, and licensed tax professional or tax attorney.

Once you know what tax deductible expenses you will need to track for the coming tax year, you need to set up tax planning record keeping system. This can be a simple receipt book, expanding file, index cards, envelopes, or any other method that makes sense to you. Keep in mind, however, as you engage in tax planning, that your tax planning record keeping system should not only make sense to you, but also make sense to your income tax preparer and the Internal Revenue Service if necessary.

At the end of each month, you can add up the totals for the different types of income tax deductible expenses you recorded in your tax planning records for that month. This way, all you have to do to discover your tax deductible amount is add up the totals for each month. The other records you collect and track through your tax planning are simply for proof that you can claim these income tax deductions, and are not really needed for preparing your income tax return if you have all of your totals in order.

On the surface, income tax planning may seem complicated and difficult. But with proper organization, tax planning is really quite easy. Not only that, but when you engage in income tax planning, you better your chances for that larger income tax refund that you need and deserve. If you have any questions about tax planning, you should contact a tax planning professional or tax attorney.

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Tim Watson is a tax preparer during the tax season who also runs an Search Engine Optimization directory and an Video iPod directory. You may use this article as is provided the resource box stays intact.