What to Know About Taxes on Found Property

It’s happened to many of us at some point—you may be walking along a street and look down. Lo and behold, there’s a $20 bill in your path. Or maybe it’s a silver bracelet. Either way, it’s found property. The tax ramifications of finding a $20 bill are negligible. The bracelet is a different story if it has any value. Now the Internal Revenue Service gets involved. See the full TurboTax article to get the breakdown on how the IRS treats found property at tax time.

Cost Basis: Tracking Your Tax Basis

"Basis" is one of the most important words in the lexicon of taxes. Sometimes you see it by itself. Sometimes it's called "cost basis" or "adjusted basis" or "tax basis." Whatever it's called, it's important to calculating the amount of gain or loss when you sell an asset. To find out more about this important tax concept, see the full TurboTax article.

Top Tax Deductions for Consultants

Consultants are likely to have deductible business expenses that can help you save big on your taxes. A checklist can help you account for every deduction you’re entitled to use. See the full TurboTax article for the top tax deductions for consultants.

What Is My Tax Bracket?

The term "tax bracket" refers to the highest tax rate charged on your income. Under the federal income tax system, different rates apply to different portions of your income. So people in, say, the 25 percent tax bracket don't actually pay 25 percent of their income in taxes; rather, the last dollar they earn is taxed at 25 percent. To find out more, see the full TurboTax article.

What Are Tax Brackets?

The United States uses a progressive tax system, which means different portions of your income are taxed at different rates. To learn more about this system and how it impacts your taxes, see the full TurboTax article about tax brackets.

What Is the Federal Supplemental Tax Rate?

If you work as an employee, the amount of tax withheld from your paycheck is based upon the information you provided on Form W-4. However, if you receive any form of supplemental wages during the year, your employer may be required to withhold tax using a different method. To learn more how supplemental wages affect your tax return, see the full TurboTax article.

Tax Tips for Nannies and At-Home Caregivers

When it comes to working in people's homes, the working arrangements are often casual and wages are paid out in cash. This grey area can lead to confusion for both parties, but determining if a nanny or an at-home caregiver is considered a household employee can make tax filing simpler for everyone involved. To learn more, see the full TurboTax article.

Do You Have to Claim Pell Grant Money on Your Taxes?

The IRS treats a Pell grant as a scholarship, which means it's possible that you'll have to report the grant money on your tax return and maybe even pay income tax on the money. For details, see the complete TurboTax article.

5 IRS Penalties You Want to Avoid

Careless mistakes at tax time can leave people paying more money to the IRS. Those mistakes are avoidable through awareness of and strict adherence to the tax rules, including deadlines. See the full TurboTax article to learn the five most common IRS penalties and how to avoid them.

What Is Form 1098-E: Student Loan Interest Statement?

If you paid interest on a qualified student loan, you may be able to deduct some or even all of that interest on your federal income tax return. Student loan companies use IRS Form 1098-E to report how much you paid in interest. Borrowers get a copy of this form, and so does the IRS. To learn more about who sends it and what to do if you don’t receive one, see the full TurboTax article.

Top Tax Deductions for Photographers

Running a photography business requires a lot of space—from the studios where you shoot to the storage space where you keep a library of props. You can deduct the cost of the venues used for your business. You can also deduct other costs associated with studio space that are used to maintain it, like electricity, phone, internet, and insurance. For more tax tips, see the full TurboTax article.

Real Estate Tax Tips: Owning Property as a Tenancy in Common

"Tenancy in common" (or TIC) refers to a situation in which ownership of a piece of property is divided among multiple people. When the owners of a piece of real estate have a tenancy in common, it can create a number of complications related to taxes. See the full TurboTax article for details.

How to Pay Taxes on Gambling Winnings and Losses

For many of us, gambling means buying the occasional lottery ticket on the way home from work, but the Internal Revenue Service says that casual gambling also includes raffles, casino games, poker, sports betting—and, yes, even fantasy football. When you win, your winnings are taxable income, subject to its own tax rules. Read the full TurboTax article for details.

Buying Your First Home

Buying your first home is a huge step, but tax deductions available to you as a homeowner can reduce your tax bill. To make sure you know about all these breaks that may now be available to you, see the full TurboTax article.

Home Improvements and Your Taxes

As a homeowner you may be asking, "Do I get a tax break for all the money I've spent fixing up my house?" The answer is, maybe yes, maybe no. But one thing is certain: You'll need to keep track of all those home improvement expenses. To find out more, see the full TurboTax article.

Sales Tax 101 for Online Sellers

Most people are familiar with sales tax—that extra percentage stores collect from customers in many states. If you own a store in a state that collects a sales tax, you must add state and local sales taxes to the customer's total bill, collect it and send it off to the local tax authority. But if you sell your products online, you may—or may not—have similar sales tax collection duties. For a crash course in online selling sales taxes, see the full TurboTax article.

The Dirty Dozen: 12 Tricky Tax Dependent Dilemmas

Claiming dependents on your tax return can make a big difference in what you pay in taxes, but knowing when someone qualifies as a tax dependent can be trickier than it seems. Visit the full TurboTax article for 12 examples that will help clear up the confusion about who you can and can't claim as a dependent on your tax return.