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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Jan. 9, 2007 / 19 Teves, 5767

Too busy for tax planning? It'll cost you

By Vicki Lee Parker


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) From January to April, most people will be so bogged down preparing their 2006 income tax returns that they will forget all about the 2007 tax year. That means putting off tax planning for at least half a year. That's not a good idea.


Keeping good records throughout the year can result in significant tax savings.


So how can you start your tax planning off right? I spoke with Roby B. Sawyers, a certified public accountant and business professor at North Carolina State University, and other tax experts for recommendations.

  • Take a little time in January to decide what savings contributions and charitable donations you want to make during the year. Where possible, set up automatic deductions. Otherwise, plan to write checks or pay with a credit card to keep track of payments.

  • Create a tax filing system. Suggested files: medical bills, personal property tax payments, donation receipts, stock purchases and sales, documents from the sale or purchase of a home, home equity loans, and home office expenses if you're self-employed, a contract worker or otherwise must work from your home.

  • Prepare to itemize deductions. A recent government study found that as many as 2 million taxpayers might have overpaid their taxes because they didn't itemize when they could. To itemize, simply keep track of state and local taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions and medical expenses that weren't reimbursed.

  • New for next year: You'll need canceled checks, receipts and credit card statements for all monetary donations, no matter how small. No more handing over $50 here and there and getting to claim it.

  • Consider contributing to the state's 529 college plan. Individual filers who do can deduct up to $2,000; joint filers can deduct up to $4,000.

  • Adjust 401(k) contributions to accommodate pay raises or bonuses. Take advantage of any catch-up contributions. People 50 or older can contribute up to $5,000 in an IRA account and $20,500 in a 401(k). Try to budget contributions over the year instead of paying one lump sum at the end of the year.

  • Finally, if you fear that you might be snared by the alternative minimum tax, meet with a tax adviser, preferably after you file your 2006 return, to determine your best tax strategy.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

Vicki Lee Parker is a columnist for The News & Observer. Comment by clicking here.

© 2007, The News & Observer Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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