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It's getting to the point in tax season where you might be worried about not filing, filing late, paying late, or both. You don't need me to tell you that you shouldn't file or pay late, but you may wonder what happens if you don't. Here's the short version

In a system like the United States' system, where the taxing authorities can treat the taxable unit as either a single person or a union of two people, there's always going to be some people that are penalized by marriage, and some people that benefit from it. Consider two couples, the Joneses and the Smiths

There are many tax benefits associated with saving and paying for higher education, which is great to hear for prospective, current, and even former students. But it's also confusing as to who qualifies for what, and what benefit someone should claim if you potentially qualify for more than one. To offer some clarity on the matter, here's an overview of the five benefits that can be claimed on a federal tax return by current and former students, and who qualifies for them.

Homeownership is a great financial decision for lots of reasons: Leveraged investment, forced savings, and the opportunity for rental income. This is only compounded by the fact that there are a number of tax benefits to owning your own home. Here are some details on the two most important ones, and a very short listing of some of the others.

A common difficulty that many people doing independent work run into is the hefty tax bill due at the end of the year. Many people whose primary source of income is from their own business (including full-time contractors) are prepared for this and make the proper allowances and estimated tax payments during the year. But others who are just starting out, or who do some independent work on the side of their full-time (or part-time) job can often be shocked at the balance due to the IRS and state tax agencies. It's not uncommon for a $5,000 job to incur a total tax liability of $2,000 or more. Why?