I wanted to do a quick review of this new app for you; I hope you find it useful as I’ve found it for me (US version).

TurboTax Refund Calculator Features

If you’re looking at the app store, you’ve probably noticed some of the nice features offered.

• Estimate Tax Returns – Allows Canadians  to estimate their refund or tax amount owed. Simply enter your data so it can calculate.
• RRSP – Do you want to get an idea of how your RRSP contributions impact your taxes? This app can do that for you.
• What if Scenarios – If you’re planning on a purchase down the road, like an appliance, this app can calculate how much your refund is going to be?
• Examine Upcoming Events – Are planning on moving or starting a family? Use this tool to help you figure out some of the tax implications ahead of time.

While it can do some wonderful things, I should mention that you can not file your taxes with this app. It’s meant to give you a general estimate on your tax refund for the year based on the information you give. It can be a handy tool for those that love to project their finances.

Thoughts on the Tax Refund Calculator

Curious to learn more? Go over to Apple’s site and pick up the app. If you’ve downloaded and used this handy app, please leave your feedback. How many of you have already filed your taxes? How quickly did you get your refund? If you haven’t filed yet, when do you plan on getting that done?

Organize All Your Paperwork

Before we prepare our taxes, I try to keep all of the paperwork we receive in the mail in one central location. It is quite stressful trying to hunt down a 1099 in our multi-floor place and I don’t want to miss a deduction or tax credit because I’m missing paperwork.

My recommendation is using a large manilla envelope to keep everything contained. Depending on how you’re going to file, it can serve as a drop box or a quick item to grab on your way to the tax preparer’s office.

Decide How You’re Going to File

There are several options to filing your taxes, each comes with their own advantages.

• Do It Yourself - If you have a simple return to file or you just love to do the math, filing your taxes is a good option.
• Tax Preparation Software - Whether online or desktop, filing your taxes with already designed software is a very popular option. The two popular ones in the United states are H&R Block TaxCut and Intuit’s TurboTax.
• Tax Preparation Chain - H&R Block, Jackson and Hewitt, and Liberty Tax offer you thousands of locations in your neighborhood where you can bring in your documentation and have someone else prepare your taxes.
• Independent Tax Preparer- If you prefer a more personalized experience, ask your friends and family who they would recommend to help with your taxes.

You have to do what is right for you, so look at all your options before making a decision.

Double-check with a Salary Tax Calculator

Whatever method you decide to go with, you should try and make sure that the figures you get make sense to you. After all your taxes are your responsibility. You could use a free salary calculator online to see if your paychecks have a proper amount of taxes withheld. It’ll give you an idea if you might be getting a refund or not.

Thoughts on Taxes

Is this your first time filing taxes? How are you filing your taxes this year? Did you get a refund last year?

As more people become aware of environmental issues and strive to reduce their carbon footprint, “green living” is becoming more common. The expense of becoming more green is almost always higher than other, less “green” options; but the good news is that over time your green living choices will save you money on a daily basis as well as on your taxes in the form of a tax credit during the year you purchase or put a green energy system into service.

What are Tax Credits?

There is some confusion between tax credit and tax deduction for many people. A tax deduction reduces your taxable income by a percentage, rather than the full amount which results in lower taxes but not by the amount of the deduction. Tax credits reduces your taxable income dollar-for-dollar, which makes them more valuable than a tax deduction in terms of savings at tax time. Realize that these tax credits are non-refundable. In other words, they can lower your tax liabilities to zero but refund you money below $0.

Federal tax credits for green energy not only save you money on your taxes, but offer further savings through lower energy bills, better gas mileage on fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as a reduction in air pollution (which was the goal of cash for clunkers). Some states offer rebates and tax incentives on green energy purchases and upgrades, too.

Tax Credits for 2010

For the 2010 tax year, there are a number of tax credits given for various green energy upgrades and purchases.

Home Energy Efficiency Property Improvement Tax Credits: you receive a federal tax credit up to 30% for the first $5k you spend on improving your home’s energy efficiency through new windows, insulation, roofs, air conditioners, doors, and heating systems (non solar). In other words, for going green you can save up to $1.5k a year. Understand that to qualify this must be an existing home and your main residence. This credit is set to expire at the end of 2010.

Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credits: you receive a 30% tax credit for installing solar energy systems like water heaters (solar) and electricity; geothermal heat pumps, wind turbines and residential fuel cell and microturbine systems through December 31, 2016. Realize unlike the credit above this credit applies to new construction, and second homes as well.

Automobile Tax Credits: you receive a tax credit for purchasing or leasing hybrid gas-electric vehicles based on the vehicle’s fuel economy and weight before 12/31/2010. Vehicles must use less gasoline than other vehicles in it’s weight class, and must meet emissions standards to qualify for tax credit. Alternative-fuel, fuel-cell vehicles, plug-in vehicles and diesel vehicles with lean-burn technology are eligible for tax credits as well. If the manufacturer sells at least 60,000 vehicles then the credit disappears. There are other limitations so check with the IRS.

Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Credit: There was a modification to the credit for qualified plug in vehicles (electric) bought after 12/31/2009. As long as the vehicle is purchased new, has 4 or more wheels, weighs less than fourteen-thousand pounds and is battery propelled (with at least four kilowatt hours) you can take a minimum $2.5k credit and a maximum $7.5k credit contingent on the battery life. Check the IRS.gov website if you have questions.

Electrical Plug In Vehicle Credit: There is also a new tax credit for 2 plug-in vehicle types, low speed vehicles and 2 or 3 wheeled vehicles. Low speed vehicles must have electric motors and at least 4 kilowatt hours of battery life. 2 or 3 wheeled vehicles to qualify must also have an electric motors with a battery that at least last 2.5 kilowatt hours. The credit equates to a maximum $2.5k tax credit if purchased before 1/1/2012.

Cash for Appliances: When you need a new appliance, look for the energy efficient version of the appliance for tax credit savings (be aware not all Energy Star products qualify so check with the IRS). Realize that only washers, certain refrigerators, and dryers are eligible. This program is like the “Cash for Clunkers” program that was enacted. In addition to the reduced electricity use of the new appliance, you can get a credit at tax time. Be sure to check your State (energysavers.gov/financial) to see if the program is still valid as certain states have run out of money (since the Federal government had the administration done by each state). The Cash for Appliances program includes a $50 credit on the purchase of a new energy efficient refrigerator, and is included in the 30% credit you can receive for the first $5,000 spent on qualified home improvements for the federal tax credit.

Central Air Conditioning Rebate: If replacing an outdated and inefficient central air conditioning unit; or installing a new central air unit, you can get up to a $500 rebate. If you’re able to combine this rebate with a factory or in-store discount, you could really double or triple your savings.

When transitioning to a green lifestyle, you’re not only putting money back in your pocket through tax credit and ongoing savings on energy costs – but you’re also doing your part to preserve our environment. Make sure your home improvement makes sense. For example, if you have windows, doors, and insulation that is not efficient, putting a new efficient and more powerful heating system in will do you no good.

This guest post was provided by TaxDebtHelp.com, a central online destination for taxpayers needing IRS tax debt relief tips and guidance. Find self-help articles, and answers to questions pertaining to common IRS problems.

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Entering Business & Personal Income

Turbo Tax made it really easy to get this information. It’s done in an interview style. As you go through the process, TurboTax will keep updating the amount of your refund (or taxes owed).

Looking at tax refund.....

Self Employed: After entering our personal information, I was prompted to enter my business income for 2009. Throughout the tax interview, Turbotax shows the amount of tax owed or the refund to expect at the top of the screen. It’s nice to have a running tab as you go through the process. I personally enjoyed seeing the refund amount.

W-2s and Personal Income: Filling out our personal income was easy with Turbo Tax and it took a few minutes.

Something that I liked with Turbo Tax this year was how simple it was to correct and fill in information. If you forget to fill in an amount, it will right away catch this and you can fix it. This avoids you pulling out the W-2 again much later. There is also a fantastic flag feature that you can use to book mark certain areas you need to look over again.

Tax Deductions and Credits

Once we entered information, Turbo Tax helped us with tax deductions and credits. The goal is to make sure you don’t miss a single deduction or tax credit. Turbo Tax will comb all the deductions and credits. I wanted to highlight just a few of the topics that Turbo Tax reviews with you.

Tax time is much easier with Turbo Tax.

Business Deductions: Turbo Tax reviewed my business information and inquired about certain expenses that I might be able to deduct, such as vehicle for business use.

Mortgage: Quicken asked if we owned a home in 2009 to interview and possibly pick up some deductions. Unfortunately we did not own a home in 2009.

Family: Many of the deductions and credits did not fit us and our circumstances, but I was impressed with how thorough the interview was. It covered:

• Child and Dependent Care
• Earned Income Credit
• Adoption Expenses

Cars and Personal Property: Did you know that some states you can deduct car registration fees, like California?

Live Community Feature

This by far is my favorite feature of Turbo Tax. They’ve collected thousands of questions over the past 3 years and created a resource that allows you to get the answer to some of your most common tax questions. Tax experts are moderators, checking to make sure the answers are correct so you’re not given bad information.

Grab a Copy of Turbo Tax

You can either purchase a desktop copy of turbo Tax by box or download,  or you can do all your taxes online. If you’re looking at another opinion, check out Matt Jabs’ wonderful Turbo Tax review on Debt Free Adventure.

Photo Credit: alancleaver_2000

Consider using your tax refund to build your finances.

Maximize Your Tax Refund’s Potential

If you’re getting a big refund, look at it as a chance to improve your finances with a big shot.

Create a bare bones emergency fund. Before you do anything else, you should have a barebones emergency fund. How much is that? For most college students and new graduates, I say it’s somewhere between $500 and one month’s worth of essential expenses. You can build it up through out 2010 with automatic deposits.

Pay off a high interest credit card. If you’ve created an emergency fund and have some money left, then go ahead and pay off a credit card if you can or at least pay a big chunk off. Even if you only manage to pay off a small store credit card you’re giving yourself a big win. You can work on your debt snow ball during the rest of the year.

Deposit the remainder into a Roth IRA. Why should you care about a Roth IRA while you’re in college? Starting an IRA even with $500 has some big consequences thanks to the power of compounding interest.

Spend 20% on What You Want

Despite all the smart financial choices you can make, it doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with it. You should keep 20% for yourself.  The catch is you have to wait a month before you use it.  Why?

Waiting at least a month can give you time to really figure out how you want to use the money. Do you want to travel? Do you want to save money for a TV? Do you want to donate that money to a charity or a family member dear to you that‘s in need?

Only you know what will give you the most fulfillment. Just don’t squander it away quickly.

Your Take

Which method do you prefer? If you like receiving a bigger tax refund, how do you spend it? What advice do you have for the size of a bare bones emergency fund?

Photo Credit: NickStarr