In Downtown Orlando on Saturday, March 21st, 2009 at the Lake Eola amphitheater, between 12:00pm-2:00pm, Floridians will unite to “take back their country”.

The Orlando Tea Party is a peaceful gathering to unite voices & express the love for our great nation and the principles upon which it was founded.  The tea party is intended to make politicians hear loud and clear that the taxpayers of Orlando are tired of the wasteful spending in Washington, bailouts, and the consistent urging toward socializing the US.  Those attended in Orlando Tea Party want less government! We want to decide where our hard earned money goes instead of the elitist politicians in Washington taking it and using it to buy votes, doling it out to special interest groups and pork barrel projects!  We want our constitutional rights preserved and protected, not trampled on!

Organizers of the Tea Party would like those who share a common belief to personalize the following message and send it to your elected officials

We, the participants of The Orlando Tea Party, demand that the officials elected by us live up to your oath to serve us! We demand that you uphold the Constitutional rights granted to us by our founding fathers, the liberties that have made America the most extraordinary nation in the world. We demand that you cease further government spending on Stimulus scams and Bailouts meant to punish those who contribute the most to our economy and provide jobs to 70% of American workers. And we demand that you allow the free market to flush years of accumulated trash from our economy and return prosperity and growth to our markets. With this statement, I vow that I will attend every election and will steadfastly vote AGAINST any candidate that does not vote to uphold these demands. I refuse to simply settle for the “lesser of two evils” and expect my candidate to vote in favor of these basic American principles every time. We are ready to reclaim control of our government!

For more information about the Orlando Tea Party see their official site.

The adjusted gross income (AGI) and the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of a family or individual are major factors that can determine tax benefit eligibility. Having an AGI or MAGI that’s out of range can cause denial of certain tax benefits. This can create the same feeling of frustration you get when you can’t perform a simple physical task simply because you’re too big or too small.

It is not hard to calculate your adjusted gross income. The calculation simply requires that you take all of your income reported and subtract your standard or itemized deductions. Legally, you can take the following as deductions from your total gross income.

Expenses Associated With Employment:

• 50% of self-employment taxes 
• Cost of rent and royalties
• Any qualifying expenses relating to the performing arts
• Up to $250 of expenses, if you are an educator
• Money paid into qualified savings, investment, and retirement accounts
• Deductible medical expenses include the cost of health insurance for the self employed, contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs).
• Deductible investment expenses include the interest lost by withdrawing CDs before they mature and up to $3000 of capital losses each year.

If you’re self-employed, tax advice for you is a bit different and you should follow slightly different rules.

Business Expenses

• General business expenses
• Domestic production activities deduction
• Mileage/commuting tax deduction
• Net operating losses (NOLs)

Educational Expenses

• Student loan interest up to $2,500
• Tuition and fees up to $4,000
• Travel expenses from attending National Guard or military reserve meetings more than 100 miles from home

Other expenses include:

• Unemployment benefits repaid because of trade readjustment allowances.
• Legal fees for illegal discrimination claims,
• Jury duty pay turned over to your employer
• Moving expenses

It is very simple to find your AGI if you’ve nearly completed, or have already filed your tax return. It is located directly on the return! You can locate your AGI on line 37 of the Form 1040, line 21 of the Form 1040A, or line 4 of Form 1040EZ.  Just make sure you haven’t missed tax deductions.

To qualify for certain tax benefits you must use your modified adjusted gross income or MAGI. A modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is your adjusted gross income (AGI) with certain deductions added back in. Several modified adjusted gross incomes (MAGIs) may be achieved, depending on the benefits you are calculating for. For example; to receive the benefit of student loan interest, you will need to add tuition fees, any foreign earned income and the expenses associated with the foreign earned income to your adjusted gross income (AGI) to figure the amount of student loan interest you may deduct.

Before choosing which tax benefits you qualify for, you’ll want to first determine your AGI and MAGI. Doing this makes it easier to determine for which tax benefits you qualify. Occasionally your AGI will be too high to claim a certain credit. Plus, it may even be too low. But, there are going to be other times when your AGI is just right!

So, you want to know How to Pick a Tax Attorney, eh?

What makes tax lawyers different from other legal eagles is that taxation itself is a vast subject and there are several branches in taxation. This is why no one tax attorney can be an expert on all tax related matters. So you have tax attorneys who specialize in different tax issues and are considered experts in their respective fields. Thus, it becomes imperative to be well informed about this particular field and also your exact requirement when you go looking for a tax lawyer. This is the case only with tax law, not so much with other legal issues.

The biggest fear of most Americans is a tax audit. If the IRS audits your aggressive tax deductions, it is time to retain an experienced tax lawyer. Audits are undeniably scary things. That being said, not all audits are equal. The IRS, in fact, uses three different types of tax audits. The tax attorney is the person who can help you now.

One form of tax audits is correspondence. In this situation, the IRS normally notifies you that there are errors on your tax return and they might request documentation to support your tax deductions and/or additional funds. It is up to the individual to analyze this request and determine whether they can provide the appropriate funds or send the requested documents. In some cases it might make you more comfortable to retain a tax lawyer. The decision is up to you and your comfort level with the requests from the IRS.

An office audit is more complicated than a correspondence audit. You will need to come to your appointment with backup documents and information. You would be well advised to bring an experienced tax audit lawyer with you. If you come alone, the agent may try to get you to make incriminating statements and may also try to find out information he or she has no right to know. A good tax audit lawyer can protect you from this.

Field audits are the stuff of legend. In a field audit, they come to you. An agent will appear at your office or home and start rifling documents. This should scare the “you know what” out of you. In such a situation, you must get a tax audit lawyer. They will often sit down with the agent as the audit occurs. This is particularly effective since the lawyer can effectively push the agent in directions that are helpful to you while avoiding less comfortable areas.

When the IRS comes calling, it is extremely important to take the situation seriously. They aren’t auditing you unless the agency believes you are playing games with your taxes. The agent’s mindset will not be whether you have done something wrong. Instead, it will be how to find proof you’ve done it. This mindset often leads to further tax assessments and even jail time for tax evasion.

An audit can give you years of stress. When you decide to keep a tax audit lawyer you must choose the right person.

When selecting a tax audit lawyer, you are going to want someone who will be your unceasing advocate. It is essential that you choose an experienced lawyer, preferably one with at least seven years of experience in tax audit law, if not more. You don’t want an inexperienced lawyer who will be learning and making mistakes while defending you. (After all, wisdom comes by learning from mistakes.) Pick a lawyer who already has the wisdom and dedication you need.

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