If you’ve been doing your research on tax credits and deductions, some of the sources that youve come across might mention that you’ll want to watch out for the AMT when using them. The alternative minimum tax (AMT) system is intended for higher-income taxpayers, but over time has come to affect middle-class families as well, and if you trigger it, it can be very expensive.
Lets take a look at what the AMT is, why you need to be aware of it, and how it can be triggered.
Why is there an Alternative Minimum Tax?
The alternative minimum tax was added to the tax code in 1969, and its present form was created in 1982. It is an alternate system of calculating the income tax that you owe, in which many credits and deductions are phased out when your income is very high. The
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Gold fell 4.7 percent over the previous six sessions to the lowest since July 7 as gains by the dollar against the euro curbed demand for the metal as an alternative investment. That may boost seasonal purchases, said Marc Ground, a commodities strategist at Standard Bank Plc. In the first quarter of 2011, jewelry demand jumped 12 percent from a year earlier in India, the world’s biggest buyer, according to World Gold Council data.
While we haven’t seen physical demand pick up yet, maybe people are anticipating it for next year, Ground said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg. January and February are usually good months in India, and a lower gold price might attract some buyers.
Gold futures for February delivery climbed 2.1 percent to $1,573.30 an ounce at 9:52 a.m. on the Comex in New York, ending a six-session slump that was the longest since March 2009.
While gold was up 8.4 percent this year as of yesterday, heading for an 11th straight annual gain, prices have plunged as much as 21 percent since touching a record of $1,923.70 on Sept.
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Robert Miller with the main City and business news as markets fret over the rise to a 17-year high in the number of people out of work in Britain as well as the lack of a plan to rescue the Eurozone and no word from the US Federal Reserve about more monetary easing; US lawmakers are deadlocked over extending tax cuts and benefit payments as part of the 2012 Federal government spending programme; troubled travel firm Thomas Cook reveals a £400m annual pre-tax loss and online sports betting firm Betfair reports a 182pc rise in half year profit.
Amazon supports a bill that would give states the ability to force online retailers to collect sales tax, but eBay does not.
Those were some of the reactions to the Main Street Fairness Act, which Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced on Friday.
Congress has considered the bill before, but Durbin is hoping there is momentum now for his effort. In the past year, numerous states have passed online sales tax laws and have been battling with online retailers, in particular Amazon, over the issue of requiring those retailers to collect sales taxes.
Amazon has fought some state laws by challenging them in court and by severing business partnerships in the state. In California, Amazon is backing a referendum to overturn the law.
The Durbin bill includes something it calls a “small seller” exemption. Determining who qualifies as a “small seller” will be the job of the Governing Board of the Streamline Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which promotes standardizing the myriad of state tax policies.
The senator has support for the bill from other Democrats, including South Dakota Sen. Tim Joh
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[Note: The following post was originally published on May 18, 2010. Recently, I noticed that TD Waterhouse now offers a lot more high interest savings accounts than they used to and I have extensively revised and updated the original post with new information. I intend to keep this post current, so feel free to have it bookmarked.]
In response to yesterdays post on the Renaissance High Interest Savings Account (ATL5000), reader Joseph pointed out that a number of savings accounts are available through discount brokers. These accounts typically pay much better interest than money market funds and may be ideal for parking cash in RRSP accounts. A note of caution: first check with your broker that no fees of any kind are charged for purchasing, selling or redeeming these funds early. I wrote about the Altamira Cash Performer account many years back and the biggest knock then was the steep redemption fees and penalties charged on these funds.
The savings accounts offered through discount brokers have one huge advantage over high interest savings accounts offered by online banks such as Ally and ING Direct.
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