Please click the book icon next to any article that you would like to read. Each article opens in a new window, and each is printable. Please close the article window when done.

Unless otherwise indicated, the informa- tion included in these tax articles is based on federal (IRS) regulations. State tax law often varies from federal tax law.

Topics
	General	[top]
	Address change: Notifying IRS of address change
	Administrative appeal of IRS levies
	Electronic filing is available for most individual returns
	Mailing: “Timely mailing equals timely filing” rule applies when you use designated private delivery service
	Paying taxes by credit card
	Penalty: Penalties for late payment or filing
	Penalty: Reasonable cause excuse to avoid civil penalties
	Penalty: Substantial understatement penalty can be avoided by adequate disclosure
	When a taxpayer can’t pay his tax liability
	Automobiles	[top]
	Depreciation rules for automobiles
	Automobiles: Tax benefits for buying hybrid automobiles
	Heavy trucks and vans: Faster write-off for heavy trucks and vans
	New car: Tax strategies for business people stepping up to a new car
	Divorce	[top]
	Basis of residence in a divorce
	Deductible alimony
	Deductible legal fees in divorce
	Dependency exemption for child of divorced parents
	Filing status during divorce
	Tax implications of divorce
	Transfers between spouses during marriage or incident to divorce
	Employment & Income/Loss	[top]
	401(k) plans: Hardship withdrawals and loans from 401(k) plans
	401(k) plans: Tax aspects to participant
	Alternative minimum tax: Individuals
	Alternative minimum tax credit: Individuals
	Barter income: Taxation of barter income
	Deductions for temporary job assignments away from home
	Disability income: Taxability of disability income
	Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
	Employee stock purchase plan: Employee perspective
	Foreign earned income exclusion
	Gambling: Reporting gambling winnings and losses
	Gambling: Taxation of lottery winnings
	Gambling: Withholding on gambling winnings
	Hobby: Avoiding hobby-loss restrictions
	Home office: Office at home for non-telecommuting employees
	Income in Respect of a Decedent (IRD)
	Loss: Computing a net operating loss for an individual
	Military severance pay
	Scholarships: Tax treatment of scholarships
	Social Security: Taxation of social security benefits
	Tax benefit rule: Recovery of a previously deducted item (tax benefit rule)
	Withholding status
	Insurance & Health	[top]
	Life insurance: Taxation of life insurance dividends
	Medical expense deduction for special education costs
	Medical expense deduction for weight-loss program
	Self-employed deduction for health insurance costs
	Investments, Property & Stock	[top]
	Basis: Determining basis of a principal residence
	Capital gains and losses of individuals: An overview
	Capital gains: Holding period rules for preferential capital gains treatment
	Deductions: Code Section 179 expense election
	Deductions of investor who manages his own investments
	Dividends: Qualified dividends taxed at favorable 0% and 15% adjusted net capital gain rates
	Exchanges: Deferred like-kind exchanges
	Exchanges: Multi-party like-kind exchanges
	Exchanges: Related-party like-kind exchanges
	Incentive stock options (ISOs)
	Installment sales: Using installment sales to sell property or a business
	Investment yields: How to compare tax-exempt and taxable investment yields
	Involuntary conversions: Electing to defer gain
	Loss: At-risk loss limitation rules
	Loss: Loss disallowed on sale to related parties
	Loss: Passive activity losses
	Loss: $25,000 loss allowance on rental property
	Property tax: Allocating the property tax deduction when a house is sold
	Rentals: Converting a home into rental property
	Rentals: Renting a home to a relative
	Rentals: Rental of vacation property
	Sale of depreciable realty: Computing tax on gain on sale of depreciable realty by an individual
	Sale of small business stock: Elective rollover and 50% exclusion of gain from sale of qualified small business stock
	Sale of small corporation stock: Section 1244 stock
	Sale of trade or business property (including recapture rules)
	Savings bonds: Reporting interest on U.S. savings bonds
	Stock or non-cash gifts: Tax aspects of receiving stock or other noncash gifts
	Tax shelters: Penalties for investors in tax shelters
	Travel for investment
	Marriage & Family	[top]
	Coverdell education savings accounts
	Dependents: Child care credit/dependent care flexible spending account
	Dependents: Child tax credit
	Dependents: The “kiddie tax” rules
	Dependents: Qualifying for the dependency exemption
	Domestic partners
	Filing: How to split income and deductions when married couples who live in a community property state file separate returns
	Filing: Survivor’s filing status for years after spouse’s death
	Filing: When married couples should file separate returns
	Head of household: Qualifying for head of household filing status
	Innocent spouse relief from joint and several liability on joint return
	Marriage penalty
	Payroll: Tax benefits of putting junior family members on the payroll
	Support: Multiple support agreements
	Transfers between spouses during marriage or incident to divorce
	Partnerships	[top]
	Basis: Keeping track of your basis in your partnership interest
	Income reporting: Why a partner reports more income than he receives in cash
	Loss deductions: Limits on a partner’s loss deductions
	Retirement & IRAs	[top]
	IRAs: IRA distributions
	IRAs: No penalty for early withdrawal of IRA funds for first-time homebuyers
	IRAs: No penalty for early withdrawal of IRA funds to pay higher education expenses
	IRAs: Overview of various types of IRAs available
	IRAs: Spousal IRAs
	Retirement: Types of retirement plans
	Roth IRAs
	Saver’s credit
	Travel & Entertainment	[top]
	Business meals and entertainment
	Business travel away from home (within the U.S.)
	Business travel: Combining business and vacation plans for domestic dravel
	Foreign business travel
	Frequent flyer miles: Taxation of frequent flyer miles
	Local transportation costs
	Spouses: Deducting the costs of a spouse on a business trip
	Other Individual Taxes Issues	[top]
	Bankruptcy: Individual nonfarm bankruptcy
	Moving expenses: Deductible moving expenses
	“Net” gifts
	S corporations: Why what an S shareholder reports is different from what he receives