Closing In On Tax Time

Closing In On Tax Time

Closing In On Tax Time. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

January is giving way to February and before you know it the tax man will be here with his hand out. Eileen St. Pierre of Oklahoma State University Extension talks about several tax credits that will continue through the end of this year.

ST. PIERRE: The Obama Administration with a lot of the expiring Bush tax cuts, they just decided to extend many of them to the end of 2012.

St.Pierre says there are a number of tax credits that you should be taking advantage of.

ST. PIERRE: Earned Income tax credit which is for low to moderate income. They have kept the same higher level of income to make you eligible so we encourage families, particularly those that have 3 or more children to apply for that. It’s a refundable credit and they can get up to - as much as $5751 back for that. They've extended the higher level of the child tax credit to $1000 per child. The American Opportunity tax credit which is a tax credit for higher education expenses - that’s been extended to the end of 2012 and for that you can claim up to $2500 a year the first 4 years of higher education. 40% of that is refundable. Refundable means even if you don’t owe any taxes you get that
amount of the credit back. And that’s the best type of tax credit.

She continues with more ideas.

ST. PIERRE: They still have the retirement saving contribution credit. If you are a low to moderate income worker and contribute towards a retirement plan you can qualify for a tax credit up to $1000, $2000 if you file jointly so that rewards you essentially for making retirement contributions. Other credits that were extended through 2012; the Dependent Care Credit which essentially helps parents who are trying to find work and they need to put their children in childcare, it gives them a credit up to $3000 for one child and $6000 for 2 or more children. But again it’s for people who are looking for work. That also covers disabled dependents as well. The adoption tax credit will stay at $10-thousand dollars.

And what about the estate tax that’s getting a lot of press these days?

ST. PIERRE: As for as the Estate Tax go, the Estate Tax for this year is going to be 35% and that’s on estate above 5.12 million and that also applies to the gift tax as well. It’s 35% and the lifetime exemption amount is again the 5.12 million.

The deadline is Tuesday, April 17th.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network. 

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