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So through some miracle, you ended up with enough healthy players at the end of your season to triumph in your fantasy football championship.  Although you may still be riding that high, like yours truly, it’s good to know how this may or may not affect your tax return for this year.  With fantasy football becoming ever more popular year after year, it’s becoming a larger target to the IRS.

As summer winds down, many parents are now facing the reality of what their summer child care costs actually totaled. Surprisingly, it is quite significant. When registering little Timmy for day camp back in the spring, the $250 early-bird fee seemed so insignificant. In addition to the weekly cost of camp, there were a variety of incidental costs, such as concession stand monies, field trip fees, souvenir dollars and three replacement swim goggles that contributed to a very shocking bottom line. 

Each year, many people get a larger refund than they expect. Some find they owe a lot more tax than they thought they would. If this has happened to you, review your situation to prevent a tax surprise. Did you marry? Have a child? Change in income? Life events can have a major impact on your taxes. Bring the taxes you pay closer to the amount you owe. Here are some tips to help you come up with a plan:

Recently, pop star Iggy Azalea discovered (the hard way) that even though you might an iconic pop star, you still have to pay your fair share of taxes on earnings.

With school just a few weeks away, many parents are in the thick of back-to-school shopping. The thought of spending countless hours in the stores and comparing sale prices online to save on pencils, paper, book bags and school clothes can be daunting.

Fortunately, the State of Ohio has renewed legislation allowing for a second sales tax holiday, August 5 – 7, 2016.  This sales tax holiday only applies to certain types of goods purchased from 12:01 am August 5^th through 11:59 pm August 7^th. 

So you’ve finally had enough of the hype and are determined to score a pair of tickets to see “Hamilton” for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s final performance as the lead.  Tickets selling through ticket brokering sites are going for outrageous prices, and you’re a bit short on cash.  Should you embark on a personal revolution and loot your retirement accounts to go?

In a recent article, we addressed the exceptions to the early withdrawal penalty on IRA distributions taken prior to an individual reaching age 59 1/2.  In such a case, the IRA distribution would still be subject to federal income tax and, potentially, state income tax, and would result in permanently removing those assets from the IRA, having a negative impact on the availability of future retirement income. 

So, if you need a quick cash infusion and do not want to suffer the income tax ramification of an IRA distribution, what can you do?  One option would be to take a loan from your retirement account.  While an advisor may not typically recommend that an account owner borrow from their retirement account, a loan from one’s retirement can have both benefits and costs, as discussed below:

It's here. Your summer wedding, long in the planning and preparation phase, has finally arrived. You've spent many months knee-deep in details, from the "will you marry me" or "I will's" to selecting the first song you dance to as husband and wife. You've bickered and resolved the guest list, swallowing your pride to allow crazy Aunt Alice to the reception even though you would rather not, and begrudgingly penning "and guest" to your best friends invitation even though you think their choice is less-than-stellar.

In the end, there is one person who many couples usually forget to include when budgeting for a wedding and finalizing the guest list: Uncle Sam. 

Yes, there are tax issues that come along with getting married. Here are six basic tips courtesy of the IRS to help you on your road to wedded bliss:

Have you been notified by the IRS? You may want to think twice before responding to the call, email or letter.

The work of criminals knows no boundaries. Unfortunatley, this time of year brings another wave of antics to the forefront as the criminal will use various ploys to trick taxpayers into providing sensitive or personal identification information by posing as the IRS. 

Aggressive and threatening phone calls by criminals impersonating IRS agents remain a major threat to taxpayers, but now the IRS is receiving new reports of scammers calling under the guise of verifying tax return information over the phone.

With summer vacation season almost upon us, people’s thoughts often turn to travel, and we thought it would be a good time to review the rules for deducting the costs of a business trip where you also take a vacation ("mixing business with pleasure").   These costs may be deductible, but are also subject to limitations.  We will discuss these limitations below.

In my youth, I was fascinated by all things weird and wonderful.  The natural wonders of the world, such as the Grand Canyon or Aurora Borealis, were impressive for their scale and beauty.  However, the man-made wonders were impressive not only for their scale and beauty but also for the fact that they sprung from the minds of men and made real through years of hard work.

I was in awe and fueled my interests through the joy of reading. I always held a love for books and looked forward to trips to the local library, so I could find an armful of books that I could read and fill my book log during the annual summer reading program.