Why Physicians Should Double-Check Their 2012 Taxes

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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A New AICPA Service

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is offering a new service on the Total Tax Insights Website.

Surveys by the AICPA show that most Americans do not realize how much they are paying in federal, state and local taxes. AICPA President Barry C. Melancon noted, “Our recent national poll showed that taxpayers do not know the percentage of their income that goes to pay taxes or how many types of tax they pay annually. AICPA’s goal is to make federal, state and local taxes more transparent and the total tax insights calculator does that.”

In AICPA surveys, two-thirds of Americans did not understand the amount of tax that they were paying. Many did not realize that they were paying 10 to 20 different taxes over the course of a year.

The Total Tax Insights Website

AICPA’s website, www.totaltaxinsights.org is designed as a public service to help everyone understand taxes. AICPA believes that understanding taxes will be very helpful to Americans in their monthly financial planning.

The Total Tax Insights calculator enables taxpayers to enter their basic information. This includes their city, marital status, adjusted gross income and number of dependents. The optional entries include medical deductions, property taxes, charitable deductions and similar items.

After entering in your information, the calculator will show your federal income tax, state income tax and 10 to 15 other potential taxes. In addition to the list of potential taxes, there also is a pie-chart that shows the total amount and the percentage of each tax.

Assessment

Your identification is protected on the site. There is no name or identification required. The AICPA offers the educational website and calculator as a public service. So doctors, check it out and tell us what you think?

Conclusion

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Tax Facts for Taxpayers and Young Physicians

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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The Tax Foundation

By Children’s Home Society of Florida Foundation

The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization, monitors the taxes paid by Americans each year.  On April 11, 2012, they released their report for the past year.  As Americans prepare to file before the April 17 deadline this year, many may be interested in the impact of taxes on their daily lives.

In tax year 2010, the total federal income taxes paid were $945 billion.  143 million families filed tax returns.  85 million paid taxes and 58 million were not required to make tax payments.  The taxpayers with more modest incomes received refundable credits of $105 billion.

The following table shows the income, effective tax rates and percent of the total tax paid by three groups of taxpayers.

Effective Tax Rates and Payments

Income Effective Tax Rate Percent of Taxes Paid
$0 – $50,000 3.5% 6.7%
$50,000 – $250,000 14.1% 47.6%
$250,000+ 23.4% 45.7%

About one-third of taxpayers chose to itemize deductions.  Twenty-five percent of taxpayers deducted mortgage interest and saved approximately $381 billion.  Charitable gifts were reported by 27% of taxpayers.  These gifts produced a tax savings of $158 billion.

The tax code continues to grow in size and complexity.  It now has expanded to 3.8 million words.  For the past decade, there has been an average of one change to the tax code every day.  What is the time required to complete taxes this year?  Over seven billion hours will be devoted to complying with the tax code.

Editor’s Note:  There is great debate on many aspects of tax law.  However, there is a general agreement by Americans from all walks of life that a tax code with 3.8 million words is too long and too complicated.  When Congress turns its efforts toward major tax reform in 2013, it hopefully will be able to reduce the size and complexity.  By working diligently, perhaps Congress might be able to reduce the Internal Revenue Code to only 3.7 million words.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:

Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Product Details  Product Details

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