Tax Day - It's Not What You Make, It's What You Keep

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

Your U.S. Federal taxes are due. The average work week is over 40 hours now, and the IRS has decided to veer from its job description and play the role of U.S. job creator as well, after requesting funds for 9,000 new positions that would work to enforce Obamacare regulations. These additional jobs will count as added Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which means more people working on taking rather than making something useful like a service or product, which means someone - you, a U.S. citizen - will be taking on the burden of financially covering the expenses via heightened taxes. Each year the IRS makes changes to the tax code, and this year is no exception. One out of every four businesses will be affected by the Affordable Care Act. For those businesses or individuals that do not offer private insurance, market insurance, or any type of qualifying insurance at all, they will be required to pay the dreaded fine. However, despite proposals for ongoing increased costs, there are ways to bypass and cash in on the ultimate tax refund. [more...]