Tax Refunds For Long Distance Excise Tax

If you are a heavy user of long distance telephone services you have a chance to recoup the excise taxes you paid on long distance service from March of 2003 to July of 2006 when you file your income taxes this year.

The levy was originally imposed to pay for the Spanish-American War.

Businesses and Self employed individuals with incomes over $25,000 can request a refund based on actual charges (if you have the records) or a formula approved by the IRS. Regardless of the method used to calculate the request, businesses must complete new Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid, and attach it to their returns to claim the refund.

For individuals there is a standard deduction of $30 to $60 or they can elect to fill out the form 8913. Either way it is something to be happy about on April 15.

To read more from the IRS and download the form 8913 you can go here.

Save Some Money - Save The World

Maybe you've seen the TV show "Heroes" and heard the phrase save the cheerleader, save the world. Quite a fantasy. But you can save some money and help save the world at the same time.

I read this post from Seth Godin. It is about compact florescent light bulbs. In his post he stated "If we switched all our bulbs, we could stop importing oil altogether. Without giving up one Hummer." I really thought this was a way over hyped claim. So on a rainy day I searched Google to verify the claims. I found this "According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, if every U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact florescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road." at about.com. They also provide a link to a calculator that will show how much money and the number of pounds of CO2 emissions you will save by replacing just one bulb.

Not yet satisfied I looked further and found this from the Department of Energy"If you replace 25 percent of your light bulbs with fluorescent, you can save about 50 percent on your lighting bill."

Go ahead do your own research. I just went out and bought some compact florescent bulbs. I used one in the office and I promise I will put one in my home. Please do us all a favor, save some money and save the world.

Health Savings Accounts - New and Improved!

In the waning days of the republican controlled congress an update to the rules governing Health Savings Accounts passed with little fanfare, but the new legislation can make a big difference in the usefulness of HSAs.

As of January 1, annual HSA contributions of $2,850 for individuals and $5,650 for families are allowed regardless of health insurance policy deductibles (you still must use a high deductible plan), and you now have the ability to transfer assets from an IRA into a HSA.

Why is this such a big deal?

If you are a healthy high wage earner or young self employed individual you could find the savings of a high deductible health insurance policy coupled with tax deductible contributions to a HSA very attractive.

Look at the HSA as another IRA. You can reduce current taxes by making contributions to your HSA and when you do have a need to spend the accumulated balance on health care needs you can withdraw it tax free! This makes it like a blend between a regular IRA and a Roth IRA. Current deductions - future tax free withdrawals.

If you retire early, whether by choice or by corporate downsizing, health insurance expenses can be substantial. Often times it is the overlooked expense that throws a wrench in retirement plans.

The new option of transferring money from your IRA into your HSA can ease the burden of insuring yourself and your spouse in the gap between retirement and your eligibility for Medicare. You can lower the expense of health insurance by using a high deductible plan, and by transferring funds from your IRA to a HSA you convert taxable withdrawals into tax free withdrawals.

Health Savings Plans are not yet widespread but this legislation could help change that.