Tax NFS

If you are married filing separately, you and your spouse must both take the standard deduction or you must both itemize your deductions. You cannot mix-and-match (where one spouses itemizes and the other takes the standard deduction). As such, it usually makes sense to figure your taxes both ways (each spouse itemizing vs. each spouse taking the standard deduction) to see which will yield the best overall tax savings.

IRS predicts miserable 2015 tax filing season. Close to half the people trying to reach IRS by phone might not get through. “Phone service could plummet to 53%,”down from already unacceptable 72% during the 2014. The average hold time: 34 minutes! What’s to blame? Budget woes.