Press Release Details

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- While 2009 has been an economically tough year for many, you may be able to cut your 2009 tax burden, according to Harris Abrams, senior tax analyst from the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters. "There are a number of steps you can take in the next few months to reduce your taxes for this year," he says. "But these opportunities could be lost if you don't act on them soon."

To maximize your tax savings, Abrams advises taxpayers to immediately see if any of the following maneuvers will work - some of these opportunities will not be available next year:

    1. Uncle Sam can help you buy a house. You may remember last year's Housing
       Act included a tax credit giving first-time homebuyers up to a $7,500
       credit for buying a home between April 9, 2008, and June 30, 2009, for
       single taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) up to $75,000
       and married couples with MAGI up to $150,000 qualifying for the full tax
       credit. However, the credit had to be paid back over time.  Now, Congress
       has 're-built' the credit. First and foremost, the 2009 legislation
       eliminated the repayment requirement for homes purchased on or after
       January 1, 2009. (There is an exception: homeowners who sell the house
       within three years of purchase must pay the credit back.) The 2009 law
       also extends the credit through the end of Nov. 2009, and bumps up the
       maximum credit amount to $8,000. However, by the time you are reading
       this, the credit could have been extended.
    2. Uncle Sam can help you buy a new car. If you buy a new vehicle -
       including a light truck, SUV, motorcycle, or motor home - you can deduct
       state and local sales taxes paid on up to $49,500 of the purchase price,
       whether you itemize or not. You must buy the vehicle by Dec. 31, 2009.
       The tax break starts to phase out if your MAGI is $125,000 ($250,000 for
       joint filers) or more this year.  And the deduction can't be taken next
       April if you elect to deduct state and local sales taxes in lieu of state
       and local income taxes.
    3. Uncle Sam can help you buy a computer for school. Many taxpayers maintain
       a qualified tuition plan (also known as a '529 plan') to save for
       education expenses. These plans allow your savings to grow tax-free, and
       to be distributed tax-free as long as the distribution is used to fund
       certain education expenses. For 2009 and 2010 only, you can use funds
       from your qualified tuition plan to pay for computer technology and
       equipment, and Internet access and related services. Prior to 2009, you
       could use these funds to buy a computer only if the computer was required
       by the college or by a specific degree program or course.  So, the new
       rules make it much easier to buy a new computer for any student in your
       family with tax-free dollars.
    4. Uncle Sam can help you help others via charity. You can distribute up to
       $100,000 per year from your IRA directly to a qualified charity without
       paying any tax on the distribution. This exclusion is available if you
       are age 70 1/2 or older, but act quickly - this tax break is scheduled to
       expire at the end of 2009.
    5. Uncle Sam can help small business owners.  If you run a small business,
       you can elect to write off the cost of certain capital expenses when you
       make an acquisition, instead of recovering those costs over time through
       depreciation. Congress has temporarily increased the amount that small
       businesses can write off for capital expenditures incurred in 2009 to
       $250,000 and increased the phase-out threshold for 2009 to $800,000. That
       is, if the total cost of qualifying property that you place in service in
       2009 is more than $800,000, the immediate deduction limit is reduced by
       that extra amount. For example, if you place in service $810,000 of
       qualifying property in 2009, you can make the election for no more than
       $240,000 of property: $250,000 minus $10,000 (the excess of $810,000 over
       $800,000). Remember that the $250,000 and $800,000 amounts are scheduled
       to be reduced for qualifying property placed in service in tax years
       beginning after 2009.

    6. More tax help for business owners.  Businesses can recover the costs of
       some capital expenditures faster than the ordinary depreciation schedule
       would allow by immediately writing off 50 percent of the cost of many
       types of depreciable property acquired in 2009 for use in the U.S. This
       break is available for most types of tangible personal property, certain
       improvements to leased real property, and most software, but expires for
       most eligible property at the end of 2009.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters is the leading provider of technology and information solutions, as well as integrated tax compliance software and services to accounting, tax and corporate finance professionals in accounting firms, corporations, law firms and government. Tax & Accounting includes the Professional Software & Services, Corporate Software & Services, and Research & Guidance business groups.

SOURCE Thomson Reuters

Melissa Lande, 1-800-993-7600, +1-215-654-7950, mlande@landepr.com, or Pam Bruno, +1-203-461-9409, pbruno@landepr.com, both of Lande Communications, for Thomson Reuters