On our Services page you can see that we service “All States(where required)” and not “all 50 States” or even “all 50 States plus the District of Columbia and all US Territories”. This is because not all states have an income tax.

The seven states that do not have an income tax are: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

Not having an income tax would make these sound like perfect places to live and do business, however, there is a catch.

First off, Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming are among the 5 least populous states. All three are very large in area which means the low population density means there are many areas that are uninhabitable.

Up next is Washington, a somewhat populous state with a great metropolitan area in Seattle as well as the affluent town of Redding, home of Microsoft.

After Washington is a group of Florida and Texas, both of which are great retirement destinations with warm climates(aside from the wonderful snow storms in Texas now).

The final income tax free state is Nevada, home of Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the US, a major reason why Nevada’s state treasury can afford to operate without an income tax.

So let us look at the states individually and see the pros and cons of living without an income tax. Is it worth it? What other costs make up for the lack of an income tax?

Alaska

Some of the positives of living in Alaska aside from the gorgeous Summers are the monetary incentives. Did you know that residents of Alaska are actually given a monetary incentive to live in the “Last Frontier” known as the “Alaska Permanent Fund”?

This fund is only available to full year residents of Alaska and is an encouragement for citizens to brave the brutal Winters and live and work here. Despite this fund Alaska has some of the highest costs of living from the necessities(a gallon of milk can cost over $10, almost 5x the national average) to the indulgences(the liquor tax is about $13/gallon).

As you can see the lack of income tax is made up for in desolate Winters, high sales taxes and high excise taxes.

Florida

Known for its beaches and Disney World, Florida is a great destination for families, partiers and most of all, retirees.

The recent Recession though, has hit Florida hard, especially in the job market. With double-digit unemployment as well as some of the worst hit housing markets for foreclosures and a steep drop in housing prices Florida’s economy took a beating.

This doesn’t even factor in the worst part about Florida, the annual hurricane season, which doesn’t bother locals who are accustomed to this natural disaster as much as those who emigrate here.

Finally, the “catch” to no income tax is the relatively high sales tax, gas tax and liquor tax. All of which more than make up for the lack of a state income tax.

Nevada

Despite the gambling tax making up some of the gap in income tax revenue lost, Nevada, home of “Sin City”, is not without sin.

Much like Florida it has the same issues of a depressed housing market, high unemployment and high sales taxes. The plus side is that there is a high median income for those who are employed.

Bottom line, if you’re not an entertainer, gaming mogul or a dealer, Nevada might not be right for you, despite the lack of a state income tax.

South Dakota

Grouped with Alaska when it comes to population, it differs in the fact that South Dakota is among the lowest in unemployment rates and boasts a high median income.

However, in South Dakota’s largest city, Sioux Falls, the issue of under-employment comes to mind. Yes there is low unemployment, however, with the highest density of restaurants per capita, a lot of employees are working for minimum wage and barely meeting basic costs of living.

This is in stark contrast to the salaries and bonuses of executives at some of the financial giants such as Citigroup and Wells Fargo who are based here due to the business incentives for holding operations in South Dakota.

Texas

Everything’s bigger in Texas! From the steaks to the ranches to the Cadillacs it is all big. Without an income tax and better yet, a great climate for most of the year as well as cheap property it sounds like a great place to live.

There is a catch. From high sales taxes to high property taxes, the Lone Star State more than makes up for its lack of income tax. In addition, despite deregulation over 15 years ago, the energy costs are still sky-high.

Washington

With beautiful scenery of the Pacific Northwest Washington is a great place to live. Add to it business giants like Amazon and Microsoft and it is a great place to work. The Seattle area has plenty do, however, as is the case with this entire article, there is a catch.

Aside from the high unemployment and sales tax, there are other taxes that are higher than normal such as property taxes. Looking at the bottom line, WA might not be the best financial decision, unless you have the wealth of Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founders of Microsoft and Amazon, respectively.

Wyoming

Saving the best for last, the least-populated state, Wyoming.

Aside from having many wide-open, desolate spaces, WY is starting to feel the pain of the depressed economy with rising unemployment.

In addition, it boasts the second highest tax burden per capita at $2,973.87, behind Hawaii at $3,050.03. This shows that the lack of income taxes is more than made up for in other taxes.

The verdict: No state income tax comes with a catch. In addition, one must not forget that there is still a Federal income tax to pay that is the same no matter where you live. Consider the big picture when relocating and if you do live in a no income tax state it is worth your while to consult with a tax professional such as one of our Tax Patriots to make sure you are getting the best deal on your taxes.

Sources:

Yahoo! Finance – 7 States With No Income Tax

Statemaster.com – Total Tax Burden Per Capita

With the 2010 filing season upon us there are a few strategies you can still employ to adjust your tax bracket. A tax bracket is a defined threshold of “taxable” income levels taxed at a certain percentage(i.e. 10%, the lowest and 35%, the highest). The most common tactic is contributing to a retirement plan if you are on the borderline between two tax brackets or just want to lessen your liability. If you do not have the funds available to contribute to a retirement plan or utilize any other strategies to get your 2010 taxable income lower, then you need to start planning for 2011.

Thanks to the 2 year extension of the “Bush Era” Tax Cuts, the tax percentages have remained the same, however, the income thresholds have changed slightly. As stated in our article Death and Taxes – Do I Need To File A Return This Year? the standard deduction and exemption amounts from 2009 to 2010 remained virtually the same with the only difference being a bump of $50 for the standard deduction on Head of Household status from $8350 to $8400. For 2011 the exemption amount will go up $50 from $3650/individual to $3700/individual. The standard deduction will go up across the board, with the following increases for each respective filing status:

Single = +100 from $5700 in 2010 to $5800 in 2011

Married Filing Joint = +200 from $11,400 in 2010 to $11,600 in 2011

Head of Household = +100 from $8400 in 2010 to $8500 in 2011

Keep in mind that these rates are also important for those who itemize their deductions as you need to cross those thresholds in order to benefit from common itemized deductions such as mortgage interest, charitable donations and state/local taxes paid.

With that out of the way, here’s your 2010 Tax Brackets based on “taxable” income which is: Adjusted Gross Income – (Adjustments + Deductions).

Numbers below provided by IRS.gov(with the exception of MFJ/QW and MFS for 2011):

An example of tax planning strategy would be if you were MFJ and your 2010 taxable income was $118,000, which puts you in the 28% bracket. Say you expect a slight pay increase in 2011, you might want to find a way to deduct enough or get more adjustments to get you in the 25% bracket for 2011. In addition, for 2010, you could just contribute an extra $500 to your retirement plan(if you haven’t already maxed it out) to get you to the 25% bracket.

Knowing the RIGHT deductions and adjustments you can take is just another reason you NEED to contact us now to consult with a Tax Patriot so we can use our extensive knowledge of the tax laws to help you pay less! Remember, audits are usually the result of either improper/overstated deductions, adjustments or credits with the remainder being from understated income. The tax laws are complicated! This is why you need a professional who knows them and a full understanding of the tax laws is behind everything we do.

This article is a response to a post on a business forum that posed the question- “Who here has been audited?”. Never a victim of an audit ourselves, we have seen way too many victims of poor tax services come for help in this time of need and here’s our take from experience in dealing with real-life audit representations:

Keep in mind that an audit is not the end of the world. If you have documentation that supports your write-offs then you are fine. Yes, it is a small inconvenience, but it is not as “dreaded” as most think. The sad reality is there are many tax cheats out there that ruin it for legitimate taxpayers and this is why you might be the “victim” of an overzealous auditor who wants to audit you because of one questionable deduction.

If you find yourself in an audit situation or want to make sure you’re taking your deductions correctly, please contact us for a FREE consultation and one of our Tax Patriots will assist you.

Finally, not all accountants are created equal and the following comment in regard to a so-called “professional accounting firm” was downright horrifying:

This example shows that this so-called professional accountant has either never been through an audit OR wants to withhold this valuable information until they get paid their exorbitant hourly rate, usually north of $150 per hour.

That is why we believe in giving a free initial consultation and disapprove of the “traditional” CPA Firms as well as Tax Attorneys who have the “billable hours” model. Advice should be free! Services rendered and RESULTS are what should have a cost.

With tax time here, it is important to give you this information. In the time we live in it is great that you can buy a tax software for $79 that can do most simple returns, however, is it really worth the money? Watch this and decide for yourself:

As you can see the initial savings of doing their own taxes ended up costing this couple a lot more in the long-run!

Liberty Cost- $431
Liberty Refund- $1464
Net– $1033

PROS: Lower cost and higher refund than H&R Block

CONS: Took two preparers to do return. Preparer had too many questions and lacked confidence. According to CPA who double-checked, there were errors made. Liberty has no quality control system to catch errors.

H&R Block Cost- $463
H&R Block Refund- $1446
Net– $983

PROS: Highly trained, good quality according to CPA who checked work.

CONS: High cost, not ALL H&R Block offices are this level of quality.

TurboTax Cost- $79
TurboTax Refund- $229
Net– $150

PROS: Low upfront cost.

CONS: Refund much lower and net much lower than going with a professional. Improper deductions taken can lead to an IRS Audit. Missed deductions led to a lower refund.

Verdict– GO to a Tax Professional to get your taxes done!

Is it worth saving a few dollars for the risk of getting audited? NO!

Is it worth saving a few dollars and getting a lower refund, thus taking money out of your own pocket? NO!

Without knowing the exact situation of the couple in the video we can’t make any guarantees on cost or refund. We CAN make the guarantees that one of our Tax Patriots will give you the professional level of service that the H&R Block preparer gave and we will try our best to match Liberty Tax’s refund while giving you a fair price and making your NET gain as high as possible!

Don’t take our word for it, contact us now for a FREE consultation and decide for yourself if Jefferson Franklin Tax Services is for you!

The short answer is PROBABLY. However, there are cases where you are not required to file, but it would be to your benefit to file. I’m sure if you’re used to getting a refund you tell yourself “taxes, what’s the big deal? I don’t pay any, I ALWAYS get a refund.” Well what you fail to understand is that refund comes from overpaying taxes and while it is great to get a check after the holidays to cover the damages for shopping for a huge family, this is money you should not have paid in the first place.

I am not advocating NOT paying your taxes, what I am saying there is you should not be paying too much. That is a topic for another post though and another great reason to schedule a FREE consultation with one of our Tax Patriots for tax planning purposes. For the purposes of this post, we want to inform you as to whether you NEED to file a return or not. For anyone who owes money it is an absolute must! While most put it off in hopes that the IRS will never catch you, they are like Elliot Ness, they always get their man and the longer you avoid filing the more you pay in late filing and late payment penalties in addition to the balance you already owe.

On the other hand, those who are not required to file are usually ones who will get a refund if they file and are only shooting themselves in the foot by not filing. For this year, 2011, it is the 2010 Tax Return(not 2011), here are the filing requirements, which are based on Filing Status, Age and Gross Income:

If you are ____ and your(combined- if married) income is greater than ____ you must file!(even if you’re expecting a refund)

In addition, if you are blind there is an additional “standard deduction”, which means a bonus deduction from your Adjusted Gross Income that is non-taxable. For Tax Year 2010 this “standard deduction” has stayed the same for all filing statuses except for Head of Household, where it went from $8350 to $8400.

If you are a dependent of someone else, these numbers will be different as you will not be able to claim your own “exemption”, another amount of income that is non-taxable, which for 2010 is $3650. Additionally you also need to factor in unearned income, a topic one of our Tax Patriots can assist you in better understanding.

For more information as to whether you need to file or not, please contact a Tax Patriot for a FREE consultation and we will let you know whether or not you need to file or if you would like to find out for yourself, go here on the IRS website and answer the questions to see if you need to file or not.

*Married Filing Jointly is by far the WORST filing status and must be avoided at all costs! If you are considering this status you NEED to consult with a Tax Patriot to discuss potential alternatives.

Welcome to 2011 everyone!

To ring in the new year, we have been given wonderful news at Jefferson Franklin Tax Services. Our preferred video conferencing service, Skype, is now available on the iPhone!

Now for anyone who already owns an iPhone, you might be saying “I’ve had the Skype App for a while now, big deal?” Well if you ever tried to video chat, you would’ve noticed that this option was not available until now. This is crucial as here at Jefferson Franklin Tax Services we strive to make tax preparation and tax consultation more convenient using Skype, a free and secure service you can download here. With this service, you can meet with one of our Tax Patriots from the convenience of your own living room or ANYWHERE in the world with the peace of mind that your consultation will be safe and secure!

For more information on this breakthrough event, check out this article: Skype for iPhone Adds Two-Way Video Calling

Keep in mind that two-way conferencing via the iPhone can only be done on models with front-facing cameras. You can still do one-way conferencing with any iPhone model so you can meet your JFTS Tax Patriot face-to-face whether you’re in your living room in the Phoenix Area, a library in New York City or anywhere else that you have a 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

Stay tuned for more helpful tips on how we can fulfill your tax consultation and preparation needs!