BUSINESS
By Janet Kidd Stewart and Janet Kidd Stewart,Tribune Media Services | June 15, 2008
Retirement savers have been plowing money into foreign stocks, but experts say many are failing to consider taxes and how the investments fit within their overall plan. Foreign stock mutual funds accounted for $722 billion in workplace retirement accounts, including 401(k) plans, and in individual retirement accounts last year, says the Investment Company Institute, a mutual fund trade group, a more than 80 percent increase in just two years. As investors pile on, however, many fail to realize their foreign dividends are subject to tax, even though their money is sitting in tax-deferred retirement accounts.
BUSINESS
By JAMIE SMITH HOPKINS | May 30, 2008
Local property tax rates range considerably in Maryland, as anyone who's moved to and from Baltimore knows. You might not want to make homebuying decisions based on taxes alone, but it doesn't hurt to understand the differences beforehand. Check out the accompanying chart to see some comparisons: what you'd be paying in county and state property taxes this fiscal year if you bought the median-priced home in various jurisdictions in 2007, and what you'd be paying for a $300,000 house. (This assumes that your taxable assessed value is the same as your purchase price, which isn't always the case.
BUSINESS
April 13, 2008
Editor's note: Every Sunday through the end of tax season, The Sun has run an edited transcript of Baltimoresun.com's weekly tax advice column featuring experts from the Sparks accounting firm SC&H Group who answered reader questions. This marks the final installment for this season. I worked as a paid high school basketball coach for the 2007-08 school year. Our season started Nov. 15, 2007, and ended in February. I received my lump sum coaching payment in March. I purchased basketball books from the beginning of the season until the end. Since I purchased the bulk of these books before Dec. 31 but received the check in March, can I write these off on my taxes?
BUSINESS
By EILEEN AMBROSE | April 1, 2008
Bills are piling up to the point where you dread opening your mailbox. If only your creditors would forgive your debt. Sometimes, they will -- but even then your money troubles might not disappear. Canceled debt in many cases is considered income -- taxable income. And if a creditor forgives thousands of dollars of debt, you can find yourself whacked by a big tax bill. And that is not the only consequence. Forgiven debt can raise your income to the point where you're ineligible for certain credits and tax deductions, or part of your Social Security benefits is taxed, says Bob Scharin, a senior tax analyst with Thomson Tax & Accounting.
BUSINESS
By CHARLES JAFFE and CHARLES JAFFE,MarketWatch | February 19, 2008
Many fund investors will get an unpleasant surprise from their tax preparer this year, a bill for the distributions they got from their funds, even though those funds may have had a disappointing year. Year-end numbers for 2007 are not available yet, but it is clear that distributions will amount to a record of more than $500 billion. You read that right: a half-trillion dollars, nearly $100 billion more than in 2006, and that was the previous record. That means that $1 out of every $23 invested in funds today was recycled, passed back to the shareholder and, in most cases, back to the fund again, creating a tax liability along the way. By the time final numbers are available, investors with taxable fund accounts will have paid Uncle Sam more than $25 billion for the privilege of playing buy-and-hold in 2007.
NEWS
By THOMAS F. SCHALLER | November 7, 2007
Let's start with a confectionary confession: I like snacks. Friends have accused me of single-handedly - sometimes double-handedly - supporting the Little Debbie snack cakes empire. My family knows I hold a special place in my belly and heart for those creme-centered, round Goetze's caramels that my grandfather stowed in the little compartment between the car seats. I also have a weakness for Doritos. So imagine my visceral unease, figuratively and literally, to news that Maryland legislators are yet again considering a tax on snack foods.