By Blake Ellis | CNNMoney.com

More than three months after rushing to file their taxes early, some filers still haven’t received refunds from the IRS.

Taxpayers claiming education credits on Form 8863 encountered their first delay when the IRS said it wouldn’t be able to start processing the forms until mid-February because it needed to update its systems. Then, on March 12, the IRS said several tax software providers erroneously filed more than 600,000 returns containing the 8863 form –resulting in delays of up to six weeks from the date they were filed. Read the rest of this entry »

By Kay Bell | Bankrate.com

The goal of every taxpayer is to make sure the Internal Revenue Service gets as little as possible. For that to happen, you need to take every tax deduction, credit or other income adjustment you can.

Here are 10 tax breaks — some for itemizers only, others that any filer can claim — that often get overlooked but could save you some tax dollars.

1. Additional charitable gifts

Everyone remembers to count the monetary gifts they make to their favorite charities. But expenses incurred while doing charitable work often aren’t counted on tax returns. Read the rest of this entry »

By Rachel Louise Ensign | The Wall Street Journal

What’s a more valuable tax deduction, a deadbeat boyfriend or a vicious guard dog? It depends on how big a deadbeat the boyfriend is.

No, this isn’t a bad joke.

It’s among the things taxpayers ask each year as they try to squeeze out whatever deductions they can. Read the rest of this entry »

By Sharon Epperson | CNBC

If you’re an early bird, you’ll be able to start filing your federal income in less than a week – and you’ll want to make sure you can claim all of the tax breaks you deserve.

Read the rest of this entry »

By The Associated Press

Key numbers to know when filing your 2012 tax returns, according to the Internal Revenue Service:

PERSONAL EXEMPTION:

—Each personal or dependent exemption is worth $3,800. Read the rest of this entry »

By Derek Thompson | The Atlantic

No, the U.S. is not a high-tax country. But saying exactly how not-high-tax we are gets a little tricky.

The graph at the top of this article comes from a KPMG report excavated by Henry Blodget. It shows personal tax rates on $100,000 around the world. The U.S. comes in at 55th out of 114. Read the rest of this entry »

By Serena Ng | The Wall Street Journal

American workers are opening their first paychecks of the year and finding an unpleasant surprise: The government’s take has gone up.

A temporary cut in Social Security withholdings gave Americans hundreds of extra dollars to spend over the past
two years. But Congress allowed that break to expire during the wrangling over the fiscal cliff, meaning that Social Security taxes have reverted to 6.2% of
salary from the temporary 4.2%. Read the rest of this entry »

By Laura Saunders
| The Wall Street Journal

The annual scramble to make smart tax moves before Dec. 31 is proving especially vexing this year.

Congress still hasn’t settled 2013 tax rates on income, investments, large gifts and estates. Deductions and other
breaks are also in doubt, now that politicians from both parties are calling
for cutbacks—although in different ways. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are a freelancer, consultant or other self-employed person, the government offers a $50,000 tax break that could help secure your retirement. Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AP) — A typical middle-income family making $40,000 to $64,000 a year could see its taxes go up by $2,000 next year if lawmakers fail to renew a lengthy roster of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, according to a new report Monday Taxpayers across the income spectrum would be hit with large tax hikes, the Tax Policy Center said in its study, with households in the top 1 percent income range seeing an average tax increase of more than $120,000, while a family making between $110,000 to $140,000 could see a tax hike in the $6,000 range. Read the rest of this entry »