To claim the $500 credit, file IRS Form 5695 you’ll need to know the facts. Here are the requirements as outlined by Did you literally put a new roof over your head in 2011? You may be eligible for a $500 energy tax credit for the roof replacement on your 2011 return.

To claim the $500 credit, file IRS Form 5695 you’ll need to know the facts. Here are the requirements as outlined by HouseLogic.

Tax credit limits and deadlines:

• 10% of expenditures, up to $500 for the year, for all energy improvements combined.
• A relevant roof must have been installed by Dec. 31, 2011.
• Save receipts and labels.
• For roofs, installation isn’t covered.
• See Energy Star for guidelines on what exactly is covered. It’s your safest bet for information on how to get the credit.
• Be warned that not all roofs, not even all roofs with the Energy Star seal, will qualify. Only specially manufactured roofs, as listed on the Energy Star site, are eligible.
• Don’t rely solely on contractors who may not know the details or who promise their products will get the credit in order to make a sale.
• As of January 2012, the feds haven’t extended the energy tax credit for roofs beyond 2011.

Organize Your Shed
Spring-cleaning means not only giving everything a good wipe-down [...]]]> Spring has sprung, and it is time to get the house in tip top shape. Traditionally Spring is when most homeowners do a thorough cleaning and organizing and who better than to take home tips from than Martha Stewart Living.

Organize Your Shed
Spring-cleaning means not only giving everything a good wipe-down but decluttering your space to welcome the warmer seasons ahead. Follow these tips and you’ll breathe a sigh of spring relief.

For storing everyday garden and home tools, wood lattice is even handier than a basic trellis. Choose a heavy-duty variety, sold in sheets at hardware stores and lumberyards, and screw it onto a door using spacers. Then hang implements from S hooks, which fit snugly in the diamond framework. For items that can’t be hung, attach broom clamps or suspend binder clips from hook.

Tackle Your Garden Cleanup
Streamline your round of gardening chores by sorting debris as you go. Throw biodegradable waste into a wheelbarrow, ready to dump on the compost heap when you’re finished. Keep other yard trash — labels, broken pots, and rocks, for example — separate in a bucket hung over the barrow’s edge with a large S hook.

Tame Your New Plants
Here’s an attractive way to prevent invasive plants such as dwarf bamboo from overrunning your garden: Plant them in terra-cotta chimney flue tiles. Use a tile with a diameter that is at least 4 inches wider than the plant’s root ball. Sink the tile into the soil so that the lip sticks up 1 inch; plant inside the tile.

Save Time with a Spring-Cleaning Bucket
For easier spring-cleaning, fill a bucket with basics that need to be toted from room to room: all-purpose and glass-cleaning sprays, a sponge, a toothbrush, a squeegee, a scrub brush, hopsacking, and terry-cloth towels in washcloth and hand-towel sizes. Between tasks, hang rubber gloves over the rim to dry.

Document Your Expiration Dates
Putting warranty expiration dates on appliance boxes lets you know when it’s safe to throw those cartons away. To store the receipt and warranty slips, place them in a cellophane bag. Write or type the expiration date on a self-adhesive label, and affix it to the bag. Attach the bag to the box with double-sided tape.

Protect Your Stored Clothing
Take a deep breath: Aromatic herbs like rosemary, cinnamon, lavender, and balsam can keep clothing and shoes smelling fresh; cedar can help protect woolens from moth damage.

Prepare for Summer Fun
Now’s the time to make sure you have sunblock, mosquito repellant, and citronella candles. A pail filled with these summer staples makes a thoughtful gift for the host of the season’s first cookout.

If you’ve [...]]]> While you’ve probably heard many negative stories about the real estate market over the past few years, there are many buyers who have actually taken advantage of the current market to great success. For savvy homebuyers, the current marketplace has yielded tremendous opportunity—most notably in the area of high-end or luxury homes.

If you’ve always dreamed about buying a luxury property but considered it just out of reach, the market may paint an entirely different picture today. Many homeowners, unable to sustain the costs associated with a luxury home, have been forced to sell. The general decline in home values in recent years has also put downward pressure on the prices of higher-end homes.

Buying a luxury home requires a specific strategy, however, so before you embark on the process, RISMedia offers following things to consider:

1. Select the right agent.

Working with an agent who is experienced and successful in the luxury home market is essential. A luxury-property specialist has the right knowledge and the right connections to help you locate and negotiate an offer on a high-end home.

2. Know where to look.

While traditional house hunts begin online these days, finding the right high-end home will require the right networking. Many of these properties are discovered through word of mouth or referrals. This is where your real estate agent comes in. The right agent will know about luxury finds before they’re even officially on the market.

3. Consider cash.

Many luxury buyers are also cash buyers and cash is king in today’s market. In fact, according to the May 2011 REALTORS® Confidence Index from the National Association of REALTORS®, 30 percent of all purchases between mid-April and mid-May of last year were financed with cash. The number was even higher for luxury properties. Investors and luxury buyers with cash are a welcome sight in today’s credit-crunched market where jumbo loans, in particular, are hard to come by. If you’re fortunate enough to be a cash buyer, your chances of getting a great deal on a luxury property will increase exponentially.

4. Invest the time.

As with any major investment, spending the proper amount of time on evaluating a high-end home is essential. Be prepared for this to take much longer than the walk-through of a typical home. Investigating a luxury property means taking careful note of a variety of details, such as how the home was constructed, security systems that may have been put in place, architectural and design highlights, outdoor areas and special features.

5. Devising the offer.

Making the right offer on a luxury property is tricky—lean heavily on the guidance of your agent. In market’s better day, luxury sellers were known to be very particular about who was buying their property as well as the final selling price, usually having the financial wherewithal to stay in the home until the right offer came along. While these tendencies still exist, many of today’s luxury sellers are in a distressed property situation. Be sure to carefully weigh these factors with your agent prior to making an offer.

Tax season is underway and the IRS is keeping an eye out for scam artists who steal identities, lie about charitable donations and hide income in offshore accounts, among other abuses.

The IRS released its annual list of “dirty dozen” tax scams outlining the most common ways taxpayers are cheating the system.

Tax season is underway and the IRS is keeping an eye out for scam artists who steal identities, lie about charitable donations and hide income in offshore accounts, among other abuses.

The IRS released its annual list of “dirty dozen” tax scams outlining the most common ways taxpayers are cheating the system.

Money Magazine warns of the 12 scams to be most wary of this year:

1. Identity theft

A growing number of identity thieves are using other taxpayer’s personal information to file fraudulent tax returns and claim undeserved refunds, the IRS warns.
In 2011, the agency stopped more than $1.4 billion in refunds from getting into the wrong hands, and it plans to weed out more identity thieves this year.
If you believe someone stole your personal information for tax purposes, call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490.

2. Phishing

Scammers can steal your personal information from e-mails, phone calls, text messages or social media like your Facebook page. Some fake websites are also set up to dupe potential victims into giving out their information.

They tried to deduct what?!
If you see anything suspicious or receive a message from someone claiming to be from the IRS, don’t open any attachments or click on links included in the e-mail. Instead, forward the message to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

3. Sketchy tax preparers

With about 60% of taxpayers expected to use professionals to prepare and submit their taxes this year, be careful about who you entrust with personal information.
There are many preparers out there who will take a portion of a client’s refunds, charge more than they should for services and lure taxpayers to their offices by promising unattainable refunds.

Federal courts have issued hundreds of injunctions ordering tax professionals engaging in these scams to stop preparing returns, and the Department of Justice has issued many complaints against preparers as well.

This year, all paid preparers are required to have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) so customers can verify that they are legitimate. Be wary if your preparer doesn’t sign the return or put their PTIN on it, doesn’t give you a copy of your return, promises unusually large refunds, charges a percentage of the refund amount as a fee, adds forms to the return you’ve never filed before, or encourages you to include false information on your return, the IRS says.

4. Hiding income offshore

Taxpayers who have an offshore bank account, brokerage account, credit card or even an offshore insurance plan, are urged to come forward voluntarily in order to limit the possibility of criminal prosecution.

As part of its ongoing crackdown on hidden offshore accounts, the agency announced another initiative this year that gives taxpayers a reduction in penalties — and no jail time — if they fess up to any undisclosed overseas accounts. Since starting the crackdown in 2009, about 30,000 individuals have come forward and voluntarily disclosed their offshore accounts.

5. No such thing as “Free Money”

Flyers and advertisements have been showing up in community churches claiming that taxpayers can file returns with little or no documentation and receive big amounts of money, the IRS said. These ads typically target low-income individuals and the elderly and often promise non-existent Social Security refunds or rebates.

Inevitably these returns get rejected by the IRS. But by the time that happens, the scam artists have already disappeared with the victims’ money.

The IRS warned that intentionally filing incorrect returns can result in a $5,000 penalty.

6. Inflating income and expenses

Claiming income you didn’t actually earn or expenses you didn’t pay to boost credits and refunds is another common scheme taxpayers attempt. If the IRS catches you in the act, you could end up repaying the extra money you claimed, along with interest and penalties — and, in some cases, you could even be subject to prosecution.

7. Filing false forms

Some scam artists are filing fraudulent forms with their returns that contain fabricated information in order to get fatter refunds.

Same-sex spouses lose big on taxes
“Don’t fall prey to people who encourage you to claim deductions or credits to which you are not entitled or willingly allow others to use your information to file false returns,” the IRS said. “If you are a party to such schemes, you could be liable for financial penalties or even face criminal prosecution.”

8. Picking a bone with the IRS

There are even people who charge money in exchange for advice on how to argue with the IRS in order to avoid paying taxes. The agency has a list of legal positions that have been “thrown out of court” and cannot be used against the IRS, including the argument that filing a tax return is voluntary and that the IRS must prepare a return for anyone who fails to file. So pick your fights carefully this tax season.

9. Falsely claiming zero wages

In an attempt to lower the amount of taxes they owe, some taxpayers file phony wage-related information returns instead of the required returns. This is typically done by filing Form 4852 (a substitute W-2 form) or a “corrected” Form 1099 to fraudulently lower a person’s taxable income to zero.

10. Exaggerating charitable donations

It can be tempting to overvalue the items you give to charity when reporting them on a return — especially for non-cash donations such as furniture or artwork — but the IRS is keeping an eye out for suspiciously high-valued donations this year.

The agency is also looking out for taxpayers who abuse charitable deductions by temporarily donating money or items to tax-exempt organizations, just to shield the money from getting taxed.

11. Disguising corporate ownership

It’s time to fess up to that business you own. The IRS is currently working with state authorities to identify corporations and other entities that are hiding ownership of a business.

Often these businesses are hidden because the true owner uses a third party with its own employer identification number, whose businesses or financial services can be used for the underreporting of income, fictitious deductions, money laundering, financial crimes and even terrorist financing.

12. Misuse of trusts

Beware of anyone that tries to convince you to transfer money into a trust in order to reduce your taxable income, deductions for personal expenses and/or estate taxes. The IRS has seen an increase in the number of taxpayers improperly using trusts — especially private annuity trusts and foreign trusts — to skip out on tax liabilities.

The $13,000 adoption tax credit is back!
“While there are legitimate uses of trusts in tax and estate planning, some highly questionable transactions promise reduction of income subject to tax, deductions for personal expenses and reduced estate or gift taxes,” the IRS said. “Such trusts rarely deliver the tax benefits promised and are used primarily as a means of avoiding income tax liability and hiding assets from creditors, including the IRS.”