Suggested tax book for beginner?
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Suggested tax book for beginner?
I have looked around the WIKI. I did not see a Tax book for investors suggested. I do my own taxes but it has never been more than itemizing for charity, state sales tax or property taxes? I have never had a capital gain that I know of. I see tax harvesting? Yes I read the post but most of it went over my head. I just started reading about investing a couple months ago. Before that I did not know what an index fund or a REIT was. Any suggestion for a book to read to get me started understanding the tax implications of investing? A beginner book maybe?
Thanks
Tony
in Houston
Thanks
Tony
in Houston
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
IRS Publication 17. It's free. You can download it from the IRS website, or you can have the IRS mail it to you, which may take awhile.
I checked several hours ago. The 2014 version is not out yet.
(Edited to add "17".)
I checked several hours ago. The 2014 version is not out yet.
(Edited to add "17".)
Last edited by gkaplan on Sat Dec 13, 2014 8:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Gordon
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
The IRS has publications that one can access online. I think they are better than a book because one can bite off and chew a little bit at a time.
Pub 17
Pub 550
should give you an idea of whether they suit your purpose. Just use those terms in a web search and they will be in the search results.
Pub 17
Pub 550
should give you an idea of whether they suit your purpose. Just use those terms in a web search and they will be in the search results.
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
Capital Gains, Minimal Taxes by Kaye Thomas, author of tax help website, fairmark.com
http://fairmark.com/books-fairmark-pres ... mal-taxes/
http://fairmark.com/books-fairmark-pres ... mal-taxes/
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
IRS Pub 17 "Your Federal Income Tax" is a great place to start.
Here's a link to 2013 version, should be "good enough" if you just want general info and aren't trying to solve a specific 2014 tax issue (since 2014 pub isn't available yet):
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf
As well written as any book on taxes with plenty of examples. No need to pay for anything else.
Here's a link to 2013 version, should be "good enough" if you just want general info and aren't trying to solve a specific 2014 tax issue (since 2014 pub isn't available yet):
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf
As well written as any book on taxes with plenty of examples. No need to pay for anything else.
Warning: I am about 80% satisficer (accepting of good enough) and 20% maximizer
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
Volunteer at a VITA tax prep site in your community. You'll learn all that and much more!
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
I don't know whether to be impressed of horrified you all are rec reading the IRS guidelines to understand taxes. I would need Aleve plus Tylenol plus something else to have the patience to read and reread those to make sense of them. On the occasions I try to read about a specific question, I do not always have the answer after a few reads of the same pages ! It reminds me of teaching someone to drive by telling them to sit in the driver's seat and read the owner's manual
I like something such as this as a simpler starting point so I at least have an understanding of what the rule is generally before trying to make sense of the IRS' writings. For me the IRS info via the internet is more to fact check once I think I have it figured it out by reading after a google search of my question.
This looks like the book I would choose to read
http://www.amazon.com/Taxes-Made-Simple ... 8524512803
I have also liked the NOLO book I bought re rental property, and they have a lot of info on their website. (I have no $$ ties to any of these recs)
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/taxes
And, of course the great resource of posting your question here
lafder
I like something such as this as a simpler starting point so I at least have an understanding of what the rule is generally before trying to make sense of the IRS' writings. For me the IRS info via the internet is more to fact check once I think I have it figured it out by reading after a google search of my question.
This looks like the book I would choose to read
http://www.amazon.com/Taxes-Made-Simple ... 8524512803
I have also liked the NOLO book I bought re rental property, and they have a lot of info on their website. (I have no $$ ties to any of these recs)
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/taxes
And, of course the great resource of posting your question here
lafder
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
It's really not that difficult. You just need to read thoroughly and have some patience.Lafder wrote:I don't know whether to be impressed of horrified you all are rec reading the IRS guidelines to understand taxes. I would need Aleve plus Tylenol plus something else to have the patience to read and reread those to make sense of them.
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
This sounds like the best suggestion yet (but, it would definitely take a lot more time than learning just what you need for your taxes). I plan on doing this this tax season, because I actually enjoy doing taxes and learning of legal ways to minimize them.mlipps wrote:Volunteer at a VITA tax prep site in your community. You'll learn all that and much more!
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
They are just a start. I agree that reading about the foreign tax credit gives one a headache. Do those books you recommended talk about the FTC when one has more than $20,000 in foreign qualified dividends?Lafder wrote:I don't know whether to be impressed of horrified you all are rec reading the IRS guidelines to understand taxes.
How to make adjustments. To adjust your foreign source qualified dividends or capital gain distributions, multiply your foreign source qualified dividends or capital gain distributions in each separate category by 0.3788 if the foreign source qualified dividends or capital gain distributions are taxed at a rate of 15%, and by 0.5051 if they are taxed at a 20% rate. Include the results on line 1a of the applicable Form 1116.
You adjust your foreign source qualified dividends or capital gain distributions taxed at the 0% rate by not including them on line 1a.
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
I found entering questions at the Turbo Tax website was extraordinarily helpful when I first started doing taxes.
You can do the same at TaxAct and HR Block.Another great site is Fairmark Tax Guide For Investors.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/
http://fairmark.com/forum/index.php
You can do the same at TaxAct and HR Block.Another great site is Fairmark Tax Guide For Investors.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/
http://fairmark.com/forum/index.php
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
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Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
I generally find that the IRS publications are pretty well written and have a good set of relevant examples and to besides the ones mentioned anyone with an IRA should read 590 thoroughly.
Last edited by placeholder on Sun Dec 14, 2014 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
Great overview book "Taxes Made Simple: Income Taxes Explained in 100 Pages or Less"
Kindle Price - 4.99 ( I think I paid $9.00) last year.
http://www.amazon.com/Taxes-Made-Simple ... ade+simple
Kindle Price - 4.99 ( I think I paid $9.00) last year.
http://www.amazon.com/Taxes-Made-Simple ... ade+simple
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
Agree, if you have a specific question you're seeking an answer to, the IRS pubs are pretty readable for the most part.placeholder wrote:I generally find that the IRS publications are pretty well written and have a good set of relevant examples and to besides the ones mentioned anyone with an IRA should read 590 thoroughly.
- Epsilon Delta
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Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
Some of the third party tax books have huge chunks that are direct copies of the IRS pubs. At one time it was convenient to have information from multiple pubs indexed under one cover, rather than wait for mail from Denver. Not so much since they invented the Internet.
- Peter Foley
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Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
The difficulty with Pub 17 is that it is not organized to take the reader from the simple to the complex. It is a great reference, but not a good learning tool. It also does not look at taxes from the perspective of managing your finances to exercise some control over your annual tax obligation.
- JupiterJones
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- Location: Nashville, TN
Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
A third recommendation here for Mike Piper's excellent "Taxes Made Simple".
"Stay on target! Stay on target!"
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Re: Suggested tax book for beginner?
Thank you all very much for the suggestions.
Tony
Tony