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6 March 2012 1:25 pm

Technical Connection sets out a game plan for tax-saving opportunities as the end of the tax year looms.

The run-up to the end of the tax year is a good time to consider tax planning to maximise the use of an individuals allowances, reliefs and exemptions for the current tax year (many of which will be lost if not used before the year end) and to put in place planning strategies that will minimise tax paid in 2012/13.

In this article all references to married couples include registered civil partners. (article continues below)

The following are what we believe are important to take account of in determining fundamental income tax planning strategies:

Keeping the above key factors firmly in mind, the following tax planning opportunities exist for most people regardless of their tax position.

Maximising the use of a couples allowances, exemptions and lower tax rates

For married couples, important income-tax-saving possibilities exist. Most of these need a full tax year to operate to give maximum effect so these suggestions may serve more of a remin-der for planning for the com-ing tax year than as a means of saving tax this tax year.

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Special report: End of tax year planning

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

TurboTax, the nations leading tax software, today announced a new app now available for Android tablets. Designed and optimized specifically for the Android platform, the app rounds out a robust suite of TurboTax mobile offerings. TurboTax is the only tax preparation software to offer customized, native apps, not just a browser experience, for the growing number of consumers who choose to prepare their taxes on a mobile or tablet device.

TurboTax for Android is among the first Android tablet apps from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), and is the first and only tax prep app designed specifically for Android tablets that enable taxpayers with simple and complex returns to prepare and e-file both their federal and state taxes completely from their tablet. For Android phone customers, SnapTax, a mobile app designed for a simple return (1040EZ) is also available.

The new TurboTax app gives users the freedom to work on their taxes anytime, anywhere, and without always being connected to the Internet. The TurboTax for Android app takes advantage of the tablet environment with a unique look and feel, easy navigation and automatically presents customized keyboards, on devices that support it, to make entering tax data easier and more intuitive.

Tax returns can be password protected for an extra layer of security. Customers can e-file their return directly from their tablet and get a refund in as little as seven days with direct deposit and can easily and securely email a copy of their return to their computer.

Once again, TurboTax apps combine the unparalleled ease of TurboTax with the convenience and portability of mobile devices so that taxpayers feel confident their taxes are done right.This year, TurboTax is the only software to offer everyone free one-on-one live tax advice, via phone or chat from a highly experienced tax professional.

Pricing and Availability

Customers can download the app for free from the Android Market and pay when theyre done. Customers start in TurboTax Deluxe, for $29.99, and based on their tax situation, they can choose TurboTax Premier or TurboTax Home & Business for an additional cost. State tax preparation is additional. All pricing is subject to change and includes e-file at no additional cost.

For more information and to see a video, visit the TurboTax blog. Taxpayers can follow TurboTax on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

About Intuit

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TurboTax First to Deliver Android Tax Prep App to Mobile Tablet Customers

Heritage Village will be asset to area

As a retired Nazareth business owner who remembers the zoning challenge when Moravian Hall Square was built in the mid-1980s, I would respectfully ask those on the Upper Nazareth Planning Commission who oppose the Heritage Village project to reconsider prior to the March 15 meeting, based on these criteria:

As a businessman I understand the need for sensible regulation, but I also understand that when the hoops you have to jump through are on fire, over-regulation can lead to a lot of lost opportunity.

RODNEY APPLEGATE Nazareth

Hypocrisy reigns in debate on birth control

Last week Rush Limbaugh, the thrice-divorced, ex-drug addict that conservatives look to for moral leadership, called a Georgetown Law student a slut on the air. Sandra Fluke had testified in an unofficial House of Representatives hearing about the importance of contraception.

Since then Republicans have been in a snit because the debate isnt about birth control, its about religious freedom. (And the Civil War wasnt about slavery, it was about states rights.) Kathleen Parker waded into this mess to give us her opinion which, judging by her March 3 column, Rush Limbaugh plays unlikely role of uniter, seemed to object to the use of the word slut while pointing out Im not convinced by Flukes premise that her need for contraception is anyone elses responsibility. Allow me to translate: Parker thinks Fluke is a slut.

If Parker had actually listened to Flukes testimony she would have heard about a student who didnt seek treatment for being raped because Georgetown doesnt cover contraception and she would have heard about a woman whod lost one of her ovaries due to a cyst, a condition treatable with hormonal birth control. But then Parker has never been one to advocate for women.

While religious organizations are determined to not pay for contraception because its against their teachings, rest assured that they will continue to cover Viagra. And dont worry, gentlemen, the priests will not double-check to make sure its for procreation purposes only before filling your prescription (wink, wink).

BECKY BARTLETT Upper Nazareth Township

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Heritage Village will create jobs, boost tax revenues; Who's Limbaugh calling a slut? - March 5 letters to the editor

JUNEAU -- A bill intended to do away with property tax breaks for church-owned houses occupied by religious school teachers, such as those owned by the Anchorage Baptist Temple, has hit a snag in its first committee.

Rep. Cathy Munoz, R-Juneau and the chair of the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee, said she's heard a lot of opposition to House Bill 305 and that some other legislators on the committee also don't like it. The measure was heard in her committee Feb. 9 and is still locked up there.

"The votes aren't there," acknowledged the prime sponsor, state Rep. Berta Gardner.

The measure would only affect few residences but because of the religion angle and the connection to the Baptist Temple and its chief pastor, the Rev. Jerry Prevo, it has generated huge public interest.

"There's been a lot of push back, much of it wrong and misinformed," Gardner said. Some opponents are framing it as an attack on religious freedom, or as somehow relating to protections for people who are gay or lesbian.

Prevo and the church's administrative pastor, the Rev. Glenn Clary, have long been Republican Party activists and now are leading opposition to the One Anchorage Initiative, the equal rights ballot measure next month.

Gardner and one of the co-sponsors, Lindsey Holmes, both Anchorage Democrats, say they'll try a new tack: letting local governments decide whether to exempt religious educator housing from local property taxes. That wouldn't outlaw the tax breaks, the way their original bill would, but wouldn't automatically grant them, either, the way current law does. Instead, municipalities would control the issue.

That's the approach the Alaska Municipal League told the committee it favors, since the lost revenue would affect local governments, not the state.

It appears the only houses that could lose a tax exemption under the measure are those owned by the Baptist Temple.

The House committee was told that the state assessor found 10 residences now getting the exemption, five owned by the Baptist Temple and five owned by Alaska Christian College. However, Alaska Christian College later told the committee its housing is for students and volunteers, not teachers.

See the original post here:
Bill to ax tax breaks for churches hits hurdle

TRUMBULL -- Making good on his campaign promise, First Selectman Tim Herbst is proposing an expansion of the town's senior tax relief program.

His proposal calls for raising qualifying income levels for seniors 65 years old and older from $61,000 to $70,000. The proposal also doubles the benefit for the lowest income levels, from $1,350 to $2,600.

Herbst said the purpose of the program is to keep seniors in Trumbull.

"You need a proper balance of young families with children and seniors in your community," Herbst said. "You don't want to accelerate your attrition rate."

About 931 seniors benefit from the town's current relief program, which costs $614,940. About 30 more seniors would benefit under the new structure, which overall would an additional $642,940. Herbst's proposal restructures the existing tax relief brackets from seven to four.

Herbst is proposing the new tax relief program take effect in July 2013, so there is enough time to educate the public about the changes.

When campaigning for first selectman in 2011, Herbst also proposed a personal property tax deferral. His opponent, Mary Beth Thornton, as well as state Sen. Anthony Musto said that would be against state statute and would put the town at risk of litigation.

Towns have the right to regulate the "mode of collection" of property taxes, town attorney Dennis Kokenos wrote in a letter to the first selectman. State statutes allow for personal property credits in certain circumstances, such as for local firefighters, but the laws are ambiguous when it comes to seniors or the elderly. Therefore, he could not recommend the tax credit, Kokenos wrote.

A tax deferral could be legal if construed as a mode of collection, but would be open to legal challenges.

"We don't want to enact tax relief that will be challenged in court," Herbst said "We want to pass tax relief that is permanent."

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Trumbull seniors could see more tax relief