can i deduct student loan interest

Is my student loan interest deductible?

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Question: ” Is my student loan interest deductible?” Answer: Assuming you meet certain requirements, you may be able to claim all or part of the student loan interest that you’ve incurred during the year. Generally, a qualified education loan is a debt you incur to pay qualified higher education (undergraduate and graduate) expenses for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent at an eligible educational institution in a program that leads to a degree. The IRS … Read More

7 tips for making progress with your financial goals

Do you know about the Alternative Minimum Tax?

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More folks are starting to ask me to explain the Alternative Minimum Tax and how to know if they’re subject to it.  I find in my practice that most folks aren’t even aware that this tax exists unless they get hit by it.  So I thought it was a good time to run an AMT-101 lesson for you. What is the AMT? The AMT is essentially a separate federal income tax system with its … Read More

7 tips for making progress with your financial goals

Am I having enough tax withheld?

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Question:  How can I be certain that I’m having enough tax withheld from my paycheck? Answer:  Now that we are in November, it’s a good time to take a look at your year-to-date paychecks and properly estimate your tax bill for the year. This way you’ll know if you are in a safe withholding range and you’ll still have time to make adjustments if necessary.   If an insufficient amount of taxes is withheld, you … Read More

Extra

What would you do with an extra $1,000?

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With The Tax Relief Act of 2010 Employee payroll taxes have been cut from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011.1 So if you pay into Social Security, you’re looking at a slight increase in your take-home pay. Have you considered what you will do with that extra money? How about directing it into your 401(k) or IRA? That 2% “tax savings” will show up in higher take home pay throughout the course of the year – it … Read More

7 tips for making progress with your financial goals

Tax Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010

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The Tax Relief Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 has been passed by Congress and is set to be signed by President Obama later today. (Could they come up with longer titles for these laws?) This legislation not only extends previous Bush tax-cut provisions, but includes some additional measures.  Here are the highlights: On federal income taxes: Most of the current federal income tax bracket rates were scheduled to increase in … Read More