What makes this book different?
Two Things: It is organized by life event instead of tax topics and it is written in English.
87 Chapters and 4 appendixes the majority of which are either absolutely necessary tax knowledge, timely updated information for a specific year or tax law, or a specific life event such as having kids or retiring for which it would be good to know how it affects your taxes, preferably BEFORE you file or make a mistake. Each chapter is organized in the best way possible to make it easy to understand, and, most importantly, easy to apply to your personal situation. Most chapters have a section on what you NEED to know, a section with nitty-gritty details, a section of the author's personal best advice and often some specifics for the military. If this system doesn't work for a chapter, a different system is used. Here is a simplified list of chapters: Read Me First
Do I Have to File a Tax Return?
How Should I Be Preparing my Taxes?
How Much Should Tax Preparation Cost?
10 Simple Pieces of Tax Advice
Common Tax Myths
The IRS is Having Problems
How Fast Can I Get my Refund?
Where's my Refund?
I Owe Taxes and Can't Pay
I Owe Taxes and Want to Get a Refund
I Get a Big Refund and Want a Bigger Paycheck
I Get a Big Refund, Is That Okay?
I Get a Big Refund and Don't Know What to Do with It
I Want to Lower my Taxes
I Can't File by April 15th
How do Taxes Work?
What is My Filing Status?
The Long Sordid Tax Forms Tale
Can I Use Itemized Deductions?
I am Getting Married
I am Having a Child
My Kid's Getting a Job
My Child Had a Child
My Child is Getting Married
I am Getting Divorced (or already am)
My Spouse Abandoned me and our Children
My Spouse Died
I Inherited Money or Property
I am Buying a Home
I Made Home Improvements
I Made Energy Efficient Home Improvements
I am Considering an Electric or Alternate Fuel Car
I Have to File Married Filing Separately
I Have Medical Expenses
I Have a High Deductible Health Plan and/or HSA
I am Donating to Charity
Let's Talk About Disasters and Coronavirus
I am Living with Someone Who Helps Pay my Bills
I am Supporting my Parents
I am Supporting an Adult Relative or Friend
I am Supporting a Minor Who is Not My Child
Someone Claimed my Child!
My Tax Return Got Rejected by the IRS!
I (or my Child) am Going to College
I Have Job Expenses
I Tele-Commute
I Work Overseas
I Lost my Job
I Had to Move
I Sold my Home
I Sold my Rental Property
I Sold a Home that Wasn't my Primary Residence
I Get Tips at Work
I Receive Benefits from the Government
I Have Investments Outside of Work
A Quick Discussion of Cryptocurrency
I Have Tax Sheltered Investments
I Want to Take Money out of my IRA or 401k
I Had Debt Written Off
I Lost my House (Foreclosure)
I am Retired (or retiring)
I am Retiring from the Military
I am Receiving Social Security (or Thinking about It)
I am Receiving an Annuity or Pension
I am Paying on Student Loans
I am Changing Jobs
What the Hell is Alternative Minimum Tax?
I Sell Amway, Mary Kay, etc.
I'm an Independent Contractor or I Got a Form 1099-NEC
I Drive for UBER (or Lyft etc)
I am a Real Estate Agent
I am an Artist
I am Renting out my Former Home
What about Obamacare?
I Get Health Insurance Through the Marketplace
I Do Not Have Health Insurance
State by State Tax Guide for Military
The IRS Called and is Threatening Me!
I Got a Letter from the IRS
IRS Letter Types
I Got a CP2000 Letter from the IRS!
I Got This Tax Form
What about the Trump Tax Plan?
Do I Get the 20% Business Deduction?
The 2020 Chapter
The 2021 Chapter
Appendix A - Support Worksheet
Appendix B - Insolvency Worksheet
Appendix C - Sample IRS Response Letter
Appendix D - Fixing DFAS Witholding