When Can I File My 2012 Tax Return?

If you want to get a jump on tax season, you can file your return starting on January 30

You'll have to wait a bit if you are used to filing your annual tax return at the earliest possible date. The Internal Revenue Service has revised its opening date for tax season -- pushing it eight days to January 30, 2013. The tax filing deadline is Monday, April 15 The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on January 30, 2013. Most taxpayers should be able to file on that date though some revised forms may not be immediately available. You can blame the delay on the federal "fiscal cliff" crisis and the new tax bill Congress passed just after Dec. 31. You can find more information in this Forbes article. Electronic filing season was originally set to start on Jan. 22 this year. As a result of the delay, nobody will get a refund in …

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Upper Milford: No Tax Hike, Yes to Library Funds

Upper Milford supervisors approve a 2013 budget with no tax increase.

Upper Milford supervisors passed a $2.2 million spending plan Thursday that includes 2 percent raises for the township's 13 employees and money for the Emmaus Public Library. The millage rate will drop from .5 mills to .171 mills, which is adjusted to bring in the same amount of revenue for the township following the reassessment by Lehigh County.  Supervisor Chairman Daniel Mohr pointed out that some residents will see their property taxes rise in 2013 and others will see them drop depending on their new county assessment.  At .171 mills, a homeowner with property assessed at $100,000 would pay $17 in property taxes. Township Manager Dan DeLong said the average homeowner pays about $40 a year. Property taxes only raise about $126,000 for …

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Emmaus OKs Tiny Tax Hike for Fire Dept.

Emmaus Council approves millage increase that will cost the average homeowner about $20 a year to keep a small paid crew at the fire station overnight.

In a meeting that lasted less than three minutes, Emmaus Borough Council Monday morning officially approved a 4.325 millage rate that includes an eighth- of-a-mill hike to fund the overnight standby coverage at the fire station. The vote was 4-3 with no discussion. The eighth of a mill is expected to restore about $80,000 for fire department funding that council had cut in an effort to hold down taxes. Water, sewer and the refuse fees will increase. With millage at 4.325, a homeowner with a property assessed at $100,000 would pay $432 a year in borough property taxes.  Like other municipalities, Emmaus has been reminding residents that their individual property taxes might be going up or down in 2013 due to Lehigh County’s reassessment of …

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"Fiscal Cliff" Could Mean $22 Billion More in Taxes for Pennsylvanians

Business owners say they are waiting to hire new workers or expand operations until the fiscal cliff is resolved by Congress.

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Pennsylvanians will face billions of dollars in higher taxes unless Congress acts by the end of the year to defuse a threatening combination of tax increases and spending cuts contained in the so-called “fiscal cliff.” A recent report by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office, Pennsylvania’s version of the federal Congressional Budget Office, suggests the fiscal cliff would drain billions from Pennsylvania’s economy, putting a strain on state tax revenues and the state budget. Based on estimates from the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., the IFO projects the fiscal cliff will raise federal taxes by $536 billion — with about 4.1 percent of that total, or $22 billion, …

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logansteele

9:34 pm on Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Well, not having a budget is what our leader does best. Next to playing golf.   more ›

Toomey: 'Fiscal Cliff' Spending Cuts 'Trivial' Compared to Looming Budget Crisis

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey tells Valley Chamber of Commerce that without reform, current federal deficit spending will lead to much more painful cuts.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey spoke to members of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce at a breakfast gathering Monday at DeSales University and neither the eggs nor the message was sunny side up. The Pennsylvania Republican and well-known deficit hawk addressed the so-called “fiscal cliff” the U.S. government is facing Jan. 1 if Congress and the Obama administration cannot make a deal to avert tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically kick in. But Toomey, whose family lives in Upper Milford Township, said that the across-the-board spending cuts slated for Jan. 1 look mild compared to future actions that will be needed if the nation doesn’t start shrinking the federal deficit and paying down the debt. The fiscal cliff would …

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Taxes will Likely go up for Older Upper Milford Homes

Some Upper Milford residents will see an increase, others will see a decrease, following Lehigh County reassessment.

Upper Milford Township Manager Daniel DeLong delivered a short report to the Upper Milford Township Board of Supervisors at the end of last night’s supervisors meeting, summarizing where the township stands with respect to the Lehigh County tax reassessment.  According to DeLong, the county will be mailing preliminary reassessments to residents beginning late next week. He stressed that these are only preliminary, not the final reassessments. For Upper Milford Township, he said, it will mean this: DeLong offered the following guideline: “As a general rule of thumb, properties from the mid-1990s and older will probably see the increase, while properties from the mid-1990s and newer will most likely see the decrease.” He also added that …

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Living in Emmaus Will Cost $10 More in 2012

Mayor casts tie-breaking vote in standoff pitting a water bill increase against higher taxes at Monday’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting.

One way or another, Emmaus residents are going to be paying about $10 more a year to live in the borough in 2012. But, it’s still a little bit up in the air after Monday’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting as to whether that additional charge will come in the form of an increase on residents’ water bills or in the form of an approximately .25 mil tax increase. That’s because the six members of council in attendance last night split down the middle about whether the $63,000 needed to balance the budget should come in the form of a tax increase or a $10 yearly water bill increase. Emmaus Mayor Winfield Iobst cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of a water bill increase. “I prefer the water, our water is cheap,” he said. But, on Councilman Brent …

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VOTE: November 8, 2011

East Penn School Board Candidates are Highly Educated

But money is the key issue.

Editor's Note: This article is the third in a four-part series covering the Emmaus Borough Council and East Penn School Board races, which will be decided through the Nov. 8 general election. Decades ago, a slogan often heard in East Penn School District was “Books not Bricks!’’ Today, it‘s a little more complicated. “Web casting” and “cyber schools” are some of the buzz words stealing the spotlight in East Penn. The district includes Alburtis, Emmaus and Macungie boroughs and Lower Macungie and Upper Milford townships. Seven people running for five four-year spots on Nov. 8 are seeking solutions on how to run one of Lehigh Valley’s finest school districts during a down economy, according to information provided by the League of Woman …

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The (Single) Parent Guide to E-filing Your Taxes

Returns due April 18th; where are your deductions?

The Internal Revenue Service announced that it was extending the tax return deadline by three days—April 18th is the 2011 deadline.  This is good news for all those procrastinating parents who are still trying to gather paperwork. If you are filing your own taxes online with an H&R Block, Turbo Tax or another free e-file website, there are several child-related deductions of which parents should be aware. For a good part of the last decade, I have e-filed my own taxes and have found great results.  By no means does this make me an expert on the subject, but if this soccer mom can do it; I think pretty much everyone can be walked through the steps of the e-file process. The e-file program that I used through H&R Block provided a list of all…

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