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The IRS has been stepping up its efforts to ensure that Americans are accurately reporting the taxes they owe and is auditing a growing number of taxpayers.

Although the federal Tax Code (the Code) and its accompanying regulations cover myriad topics, they do not address every possible financial transaction.

While small interest-free loans may be common in your family, you should be aware that all larger transfers of money between adult family members can have tax consequences.

A conservation easement can be helpful as a means of reducing income taxes and lowering the value of estates for tax planning purposes.

It is obviously important to any financial plan that tax returns be filed on time. However, the IRS will accept certain reasons for failure to file returns on time.

While choosing a tax filing status may seem straightforward, the decision to file as single, married, married filing separately, or head of a household can become surprisingly difficult,.

If you have an office in your home, you may be able to deduct a portion of the costs of owning and operating your home (including depreciation) as a business expense.

Like your financial strategy, your tax strategy operates in two time frames—now and later. “Now” covers the 12 months of the current tax year, such as income tax preparation and filing.

Each time you start a new job, your employer will give you a Form W-4 to complete that determines the amount of Federal income tax that is withheld from each paycheck. You should strive to match the amount withheld as closely as possible to your actual tax liability, adjusting your rates and allowances as your status changes.

Waiting until just before April 15 to start thinking about your taxes may prove to be a costly mistake. Advance tax planning is especially important if your circumstances have changed over the past year.