The 2015 tax season is now in full swing. As you finish preparing your own return for this year, maybe you were too generous with Uncle Sam last year, and he owes you a refund. If that’s the case, here are 5 ways you might consider using this year’s tax refund other than heading off to the Caribbean or buying a new flat-screen TV.
Most of us know to check our mail around this time of the year for our copies of IRS Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Our employers have to send us copies of Form W-2 by January 31st of the following year. Because January 31, 2015 was a Saturday, the deadline to send us our 2014 Form W-2 was February 2, 2015. February 2 was also the deadline to receive another key form if you took an IRA distribution in 2014.
The power of compounding. It's value over time is illustrated by IRA Technical Expert Jeffrey Levine in this IRAtv video. Jeffrey details the IRA and Roth IRA contribution parameters and looks at how making a contribution early in the year can benefit you over the long term.
IRAs are U.S.-based retirement accounts. Today, however, more than ever we live in a globalized world. Many U.S. citizens work, sometimes for many years, overseas. The reverse is also true. And many of our country’s citizens still have many close friends and family overseas. Put all that together and today, it’s possible that you may have questions about how the IRA rules work when either you or your beneficiaries live abroad. With that in mind, below we tackle three of the most common questions.
You want to make a contribution to a Roth IRA for 2014.
As long as you’re working and have compensation (earned income) you can potentially make a Roth IRA contribution of up to $5,500 if you’re under age 50 or $6,500 if you’re age 50 or older this year.
We get this question a lot. I have income from _________(fill in the blank). Can I make an IRA contribution? Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes it is no. Click to read about the different scenarios.
If you're lucky enough to be getting an income tax refund from IRS for 2013, you might be wondering what you can do with that money. Certainly you can use it to pay some bills, or treat yourself to something you've wanted to buy for a while. But if you're thinking about using that refund to help save for retirement, you're in luck. The IRS allows you to have that refund check directly deposited into an IRA if you follow certain procedures when you file your federal income taxes for 2013.
How do I tell IRS that my IRA distribution or Roth conversion is not taxable? We get this question fairly frequently at tax time - especially if the client has done a "backdoor" Roth conversion. Click to find the answer and more information on After-Tax IRA Contributions, Distributions, and Conversions at tax time.
The latest TIAA-CREF survey finds that fewer than 1 in 5 Americas are contributing to an IRA, potentially missing tax and savings benefits. The survey, conducted by an independent research firm between February 13-16, 2014, showed that just 17% of respondents contributed or were contributing to an IRA in 2014 - down from 19% last year and 22% in 2012.
