Understanding Basic Tax Terms

If your like many, you don't always understand what people are talking about when it comes to Taxes. It's important to know the main tax terminology, especially when tax season comes around. Knowing the basics will make tax season less of a hassle for you, and maybe even save you some money. There are hundreds of terms; Below are some of the most important:

Tax Form
A Tax Form is the form that is filled out and submitted to your government to report all of your tax information for the past year.

Audit
An audit refers to an unbiased examination and evaluation of the financial statements of an individual or organization such as a business. Audit's are performed for the purpose of ensuring that accounting records are fair and consistent, and are following the guidelines laid out for the individual or organization.

Capital Gain
Capital Gain refers to the amount of money made on Capital during a given tax period. For example if you own a house, and over the past year the value of your house increased by twenty thousand dollars, you would have to claim this twenty thousand dollars as a capital gain in your income taxes.

Capital Loss
Capital Gain refers to the amount of money Lost on Capital during a given tax period. For example if you own a house, and over the past year the value of your house decreased by twenty thousand dollars, you would have to claim this twenty thousand dollars as a capital loss in your income taxes.

Child Tax Credit
Child tax credits are tax credits that are given to the caregivers for each dependent child, that at the end of the tax year is under 17.

Flat Tax
Flat tax refers to a system where everyone is taxed at the same rate, regardless of how much they earn.

Gross Income
Gross income is an individuals or corporations total income before any taxes or deductions have been applied to the sum.

Net Income
Net Income is the total amount of income after all deductions and expenses.

Property Tax
Property tax is a tax that is assessed on real estate value by a local government.

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Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Taxes Area. Which is a great web directory and information center on Taxes and related issues like Income tax and property tax.