Ken Berry, Esq., is a nationally-known writer and editor specializing in tax and financial planning matters. During a career of more than 35 years, he has served as managing editor of a publisher of content-based marketing tools and vice president of an online continuing education company in the financial services industry. As a freelance writer, Ken has authored thousands of articles for a wide variety of newsletters, magazines and other periodicals, emphasizing a sense of wit and clarity.
December 28, 2015
Calls for federal income tax cuts are a time-honored tradition by presidential candidates of all stripes, but the Tax Policy Center study says that Trump’s plan dwarfs the proposals made by other GOP contenders.
December 9, 2015
Are your federal income taxes overdue? You could lose your passport if you try to leave the country – even if you’re just taking a vacation or business trip abroad.
December 8, 2015
A new proposed regulation that would result in some nonprofit organizations reporting the Social Security numbers of donors to the IRS is drawing fire from the conservative sector.
November 2, 2015
The deduction for taxes claimed on Schedule A includes amounts paid for state and local income taxes such as the taxes withheld from your paychecks and any estimated taxes paid during the year. It also includes property taxes if you’re a homeowner.
October 4, 2015
With income tax planning now on the minds of many taxpayers and tax professionals, our year-end tax planning series looks at several methods to lower tax liability in the current year.
July 19, 2015
National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson has released a report on the state of affairs at the IRS. There was plenty to complain about during the first half of 2015, but it remains to be seen how much the IRS can improve.
July 16, 2015
The tax law provides some "tax insurance” for gambling activities. Generally, you can deduct the amount of your losses up to the amount of your winnings if you keep the proper records. But you can’t deduct an overall loss or related business expense.
July 16, 2015
One of the groups working on tax reform for the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) has just recommended that the two higher education credits and the tuition deduction be combined into a single credit. But significant tax reform is still in its infancy.
July 7, 2015
Effective midway through this year -- July 1, 2015, to be exact – certain employers that pay the health insurance premiums of its employees will be assessed hefty fines for their generosity.
July 7, 2015
The provision for so-called Cadillac plans doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2018. But employers are already exploring the available options or at least they should be. Reason: If a plan exceeds certain limits, it is subject to a stiff penalty in ...
July 1, 2015
The tax break for “net unrealized appreciation” (NUA) is one of the biggest tax breaks on the books for retirement-savers, but it is often overlooked.
July 1, 2015
Practically every Roth IRA owner knows that you can take qualified distributions from the account without paying any tax on the withdrawals. That’s why many of your clients set up the Roth in the first place. But it’s not as well-known that ...
