1. “Like it or not, you may need help with your taxes.”

When Cindy Hockenberry and her husband sent in a tax penalty payment in 2007, they knew there was a chance their math may not jibe with the IRS’s. When that turned out to be true and the total was much higher than projected, they decided to dispute it. Luckily for them, Hockenberry’s a pro. As tax research coordinator at the National affiliation of Tax Professionals, she spotted a glitch in the IRS’s calculation, after visiting the local IRS office, the agency admitted its mistake and lowered the penalty. “There’s no way the average taxpayer could Noticed,” she says.

As newly as 2000, less than half of all taxpayers Used A preparer. Today 80 use software or a tax pro, “because they are afraid of making a mistake,” says Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate. “That’s a sign the system’s too complex.” A pro may not be needed for basic returns that include just a W 2 and, mortgage interest, in those cases, TurboTax will do. But, if you have made many of market moves or run a side business, think about a preparer. You can find one at natptax.Com, expect to pay $150 to $200 per return.

More from SmartMoney.Com:

•, Download Our New 2009 Tax Guide for Free

• You may be able to Still Lower Your 2008 Tax Bill

•, Tax Tips: More Time From The Tax Man

2. “You do not must be rich to get audited.”

The IRS’s job is to enforce the tax laws enacted by Congress and to gather what is due. Its main weapon? The audit, whose use has more than doubled since 2000, to surpass one of all returns, as indicated by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a Syracuse University data research organization. The increase may be attributed to the increasing number of so called communication audits those done through the mail asking for particular info rather than, investigating your whole return, says Susan Long, codirector of the organization. “It’s more economical.”

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One way to get the IRS’s audit sensors tingling is to assert deductions much higher than are common for your earning level. We’d share them with you, but the IRS keeps that info under wraps. What is more clear: Big charitable donations have been to get a much closer look, says Bob Meighan, VP of TurboTax. “It’s been an area of abuse for a while,” he says. To protect yourself, get a receipt for any donation you plan on deducting. And keep those receipts for seven years unless it suspects you of outright fraud, that is how far back the IRS will go with an audit.

3. “Fear is frequently our best weapon.”

The threat of an audit is enough to send many people scurrying to their tax preparer, and no wonder. “With audits, you are expected guilty till proven otherwise,” says Long. It is this fear, coupled with the complexity of the system, that causes many to overpay their taxes by not taking deductions they are entitled to, as indicated by experts. A study by the Government Accountability Office found that 2.2 million people a year overpay, by an average of $438. “Americans are leaving many of money on the table,” says Roni Deutch, a Sacramento based tax attorney.

The GAO report listed mortgage interest, personal property tax, and state and local earning tax as the major deductions not being taken. But there are more. Net market losses may be subtracted up to $3,000, and if you lost more, you may be able to roll it over into the next year. Note: To assert a loss now, you have to have sold the stock last year. You may also subtract things like tax prep software, a r&eacute,sum&eacute, service and IRA fees if they total more than two of your adjusted gross earning. Bottom line: “Take every rightful tax break out there,” says Kay Bell, a tax expert at Bankrate.Com. “Just be sure you may be able to justify it.”

4. “The AMT is our ATM.”

When the alternative minimum tax was presented in 1969, it influenced only a few of taxpayers with high earning and big deductions. But by 2010, it’ll hit 87 of married couples with earning between $75,000 and $100,000. That is not what it was intended to do, the AMT was meant to push big earners with lots of deductions to pay their just share. Now it “brings in a group of taxpayers the IRS has no problem with,” says Olson. “The AMT has run its course.” The problem is, the AMT has not been updated to be inflation. Instead, Congress was adjusting exemption requirements on a yearly base. “It’s just a Band Aid,” says Hockenberry.

The Band Aid in this year’s stimulus plan decreases the number of taxpayers subject to the AMT to 4.4 million it would’ve been 30 million, as indicated by the Tax Policy Center. But if you are living in a high tax state or married with two or more kids, you may find as you compute both your regular return with the AMT form 6251, which taxpayers are accountable for that you may be liable for the latter. Confused? The IRS offers AMT help at irs.Gov, click on “Online Services.”

5. “Just because we billed you does not mean you owe us money.”

Receiving a CP2000, aka a communication audit, sure sounds scary, but usually, you do not really owe any more money. Not that the IRS will make that clear it is probably billing you because of a discrepancy on some deduction or stated income, then it is up to you to prove otherwise. But as the number of these audits have risen, up 176 since 2000, the chance for error goes up also. The IRS says 98 of the audits it sends out require clarification, not payment, but Charlotte Ogorek, an Illinois based enrolled broker, thinks it is more like 85 .

Even if the charge is unfounded, to attraction it may cost you anywhere from $500 to $4,000, based on how long it takes, says Bill Wandel, a licensed taxpayer rep at JK Harris. If you’re planning to challenge a CP2000, contact your local taxpayer advocate from the IRS go to Irs.Gov/advocate To find yours, who will supply advice and representation free. If it turns out you need more specialty, contact a tax lawyer or an enrolled broker a professional licensed by the IRS to represent taxpayers in front of the IRS. Find one at naeathe.

6. “If you do not pay, we will sic a collection agency on you.”

If you thought dealing with the IRS was bad, wait till you are past due on a payment and get turned over to one of the two private collection agencies the IRS taps to help gather its money. Since 2005, the IRS was assigning delinquent taxpayer accounts to either Pioneer Credit recuperation or the CBE group of Iowa much like any other business or lender. “These are federal taxes,” says Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate. “The IRS should be collecting them.” The retention of these private agencies costs $7.65 million annually, still when the IRS works these cases instead, “it’s three times more productive,” Olson says. A spokesperson for Pioneer Credit recuperation and CBE says the issue is not who can do the work more efficiently, it is if these taxes could get collected at all without the private collection agencies.

If the IRS puts a private collection agency on your case, Olson says the 1st thing to do is to ask that your case be turned back over to the IRS. The reason: IRS collectors have the authority to offer you a agreement settlement, something the private agencies are not authorized to do.

7. “Want to go green? We will help pay.”

Tucked into last year’s unprecedented $700 billion bailout plan was many pork that a vegan could love. Congress not only added an expansion of the eco friendly Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was set to expire at the end of 2007, but it also sweetened the pot for homeowners wanting to green up their homes.

Want to grab many energy from the sun? Starting in 2009, some energy saving steps will garner tax breaks for green buyers. Installing a photovoltaic system for solar energy, as an example, will net you a tax credit worth 30 of the total cost, at solar estimatethe you may be able to learn the price and possible savings of installing a system in your neighborhood. Or if you are gung ho for wind energy, you will get up to $4,000 or 30 of the cost of installing a small home windmill system to produce energy. Check out the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s “In My Backyard” tool at its Web site To see how much energy you may be able to expect to get from a windmill. For homeowners who are not wanting to go quite that green, there will be a $500 onetime credit for installing energy efficient windows, insulation or a central air system.

8. “April 15 is not essentially a hard deadline.”

If you are one of the 112 million taxpayers who get a refund every year rather than owing more, you have many more flexibility around the standard Apr. 15 deadline than you may think. Feeling rushed this year? By filling out IRS ,form 4868, which you may be able to find online, you may be able to purchase yourself a no questions asked six month extension on filing your taxes. And you may be able to file the form requesting your extension as late as Apr. 15 without getting any penalties. The only catch and it is important for some: If you do owe any taxes, then you have to still pay those by the 15th.

How do you know if you are going to owe taxes this year? If your life is just the same year to year, then your refund is pretty much on autopilot, says Bell. But any big changes like a big increase in salary, unexpected commission or year end bonus, or having a child go from reliant to independent could possibly swing you into the loss column. So when in doubt, do the math in advance, or verify with a tax pro to see if there is anything you may want to be worried about.

9. “We can be a government agency, but that does not mean your data’s safe.”

One things you may not be thinking about as you file your taxes this year is that the papers you are sending off to the IRS contain almost every part of info an identity thief could ever have to drive your credit, and your sanity, into the ground. And considering that data breaches are on the rise up 47 in 2008 from 2007, as indicated by nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center defending your info, which will include your Social Security number and home address, should be paramount. But a recent report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax governance TIGTA, an independent IRS oversight organization, casts many doubt on the agency’s capability to protect your info. As an example, TIGTA says two new systems the IRS is implementing to manage taxpayer accounts and account data were “deployed with recognized security vulnerabilities in the controls over sensitive data protection, catastrophe recuperation and system access.”

Alarming as this info is, it is hardly a new problem at the IRS, says J. Russell George, inspector general for TIGTA. “We’ve seen this before when they implement a new system. The organization’s unwillingness to change its behavior is possibly harmful to taxpayers,” he says. The IRS had no comment.

10. “We may still have your refund.”

Waiting on a refund? Usually, it takes three to six weeks to get your money back from Uncle Sam, based on if you e filed or sent your paper return through snail mail. Either way, the IRS does a pretty great job, by and big, of to get refund checks out to taxpayers in a timely manner. But the agency’s record is hardly perfect: Every year a small percentage of refunds belonging to more than 100,000 taxpayers, and with an average due of $988 never get to their destination.

What’s the problem? As indicated by the IRS, these undelivered refunds are primarily caused by issues about the accuracy of a taxpayer’s mailing address or direct deposit info. As an example, people move and do not leave a forwarding address, handwritten returns can be illegible, or the direct deposit routing number can be off by a digit or two. If you have not received your tax return in a reasonable total of time, check out the IRS’s “Where’s My Refund?” tool on its website.

For most, the answer is “no.” You usually can not, as an example, subtract the cost of your daily commute to the office. And if you are in, sales, and frequently travel in your car for your employer’s business, the deduction typically just is not all that great more on that later.

But for those of you who are self employed or small business holders, this is, indeed, an choice. In fact, you have got two ways to write off your auto expense &mdash, a simple one, and a more complicated technique that offers greater rewards. If you are the head of your small organization, read on. I am about to explain to you still another perk of being your boss.

Standard Mileage Rate Method
Let me start off with the easier choice. With the standard mileage rate technique, all you have to do is keep track of your business miles. You then subtract some total &mdash, for 2005 it is 40.5 cents per mile for January through August and 48.5 cents per mile for September through December, for 2006 it is 44.5 cents. This figure is meant to reimburse you for the fixed and variable costs of owning &mdash, or leasing &mdash, and operating the car. You are most likely spending more than that, but many of people pick this technique anyway since unlike the alternative you do not have to produce a pile of receipts to back up your deduction.

If you choose this technique, you may be able to assert separate write offs for parking fees and tolls on your business journeys. You may also individually subtract the business of your vehicle loan interest and any personal property taxes on your wheels.

But there are many qualification rules. You can not use the standard mileage rate technique if:

&middot, You have earlier depreciated the car using the depreciation technique clarified below.

&middot, You use five or more vehicles at the same time in your business activity throughout the year.

Actual Cost Method
If you do not meet the criteria for the standard technique, or if you want to save many extra taxes, you may want to think about the actual cost technique. This is trickier, but it does maximize your deductions usually. That is because, depending on your business mileage , you may be able to subtract pretty much anything related to the business use of your car, as well as depreciation, insurance, personal property taxes, registration and license fees, tires, maintenance, repairs, gas, oil and trips to the car wash.

But think about yourself warned: you are going to have to keep in depth and I do mean detailed records. The best way to do so is by religiously entering all your business miles &mdash, with the date, starting point and destination &mdash, into a diary kept in your glove compartment. As well, make sure to keep all receipts and note your beginning and ending odometer readings for the year.

If you do decide to use this technique, let’s give you a tip on your car selection: You most likely do not want to go with one that is going to wildly impress your neighbors and clients. Why? Unfortunately, your friends in Congress have forced ridiculously low limitations on depreciation for most passenger vehicles. If you put your car into business use in 2005, your maximum depreciation allowance will usually be as follows:

&middot, Year 1: $2,960
&middot, Year 2: $4,800
&middot, Year 3: $2,850
&middot, Year 4: $1,675
&middot, Thereafter: $1,675

The 2006 figures will be about the same, when they’re declared.

As you may be able to see, your car’s cost is not a factor. So you may not live long enough to finish depreciating that new $60,000 BMW. And it gets worse. The above allowances assume 100 business use. If you use that BMW only 60 for business, your first year depreciation write off will be only $1,776 .60 x $2,960. Time to write your congressman?

SUVs, Pickups and Vans
Mercifully, though, there’s an exemption. If you purchase a “heavy” SUV, pickup or van as opposed to what the IRS calls a “passenger automobile” and use it over 50 for business, you are entitled to more generous depreciation allowances.

What exactly is “heavy”? It is a set of wheels with a gross vehicle weight ranking GVWR above 6,000 pounds. SUVs, pickups and vans weighing in above the magic number are considered trucks for tax reasons, and you may be able to usually subtract the following percentages of the business use part of your “truck’s” cost:

&middot, Year 1: 20.00
&middot, Year 2: 32.00
&middot, Year 3: 19.20
&middot, Year 4: 11.52
&middot, Year 5: 11.52
&middot, Year 6: 5.76

Even better: Certain pickups and vans used over 50 for business also meet the criteria for the “Section 179 deduction.” This big break lets you to now subtract up to $105,000 of equipment additions throughout 2005 $108,000 for 2006, subject to certain limitations. Heavy vehicles that are classified as SUVs are qualified for a reduced Section 179 deduction at $25,000. Bottom line? You may be able to usually write off a big part of the complete business use of the cost in year one. Sweet!

Vehicle costs for Employees
As I said, many employees can subtract business related car costs, but usually speaking it is no great shakes. That said, if you use your car on company business because, you are an outside salesperson, you may be able to still use the standard mileage technique or the actual cost technique to compute your deductible costs.

The problem is, your costs must surpass the total repaid by your employer. And your itemized deduction will be restricted to the total of unreimbursed costs in extra of 2 of your adjusted gross earning. Under these rules, comparatively not many employees are really able to assert any important write offs.

Finally, if you get an employer mileage reimbursement equal to or less than the IRS approved cents per mile figure, you are allowed to pocket the reimbursement tax free and blow off any possible deductions. Many employees decide this trade off in the interest of simplicity.

1. “We’ll do it our way.”

You’ve been planning your wedding for months if not years and the tiniest detail is taken into account. Too bad that all too frequently, the people you hire to help carry

out the plans are oblivious to what you want. When Mary Jane Shroyer of Decatur, Ga., arrived at the church on her wedding day, she found that the L shaped white bouquets she

had requested had somehow become Christmas tree shaped arrangements of big pink lilies and red flowers. The bride had also ordered a single rose for placement at the altar in

remembrance of her newly deceased grandmother and a corsage for her husband’s stepmother, wanting her to feel included as one of the family. The florist brought the wrong

flower to recognize the grandmother and omitted the corsage completely.

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How to avoid mistakes like that one? Jean Picard, a Ventura, Calif., wedding advisor suggests checking affiliations with groups like the affiliation of Bridal

Consultants whose members are wedding planners, videographers and caterers, the Leading Caterers of America and the American Disc Jockey affiliation.

2. “The groom may kiss the bride and pay the kickback.”

Need help picking a florist, caterer, photographer or entertainer? Wedding planners and others will be all too happy to offer a list of suggested vendors. But do not

think they are doing you a favor. More frequently than not, insiders admit, the businesses that pay the highest price are the ones who get the referrals.

That’s right: kickbacks. How does it work? David Danielson, executive chef of catering at Rockefeller Center in New York, says most places have a “preferred” list of

caterers. In many cities, he adds, if a person wants to bring in a caterer not on the list, the caterer has to purchase a license to serve in that building, at the expense of the

client.

In order to get on such a list, a business must pay an yearly fee “in the range of $300 to $500,” says Alan Fields, co author of the bestselling wedding guide “Bridal

Bargains” or pay a 5 10 commission. “People who do not want to pay money are not on the list,” says Fields. Many caterers go more, as indicated by Danielson, and volunteer

to manage the vendors for the client. “You’re paying a 17 20 service charge on something they could have to do anyway,” he says.

3. “We’ll nickel and dime you to death.”

Allison Gouin reserved her reception site in the Detroit suburbs well before her wedding 17 months before, to be exact in the hopes of keeping away from surprises. After all, a

friend had supplied her own cake and champagne at her wedding and was afterward charged $1.25 per person for each item as a serving fee. But when Gouin ordered bench covers at $2

each from a rental company, she learned only after the fact that if she wanted them ironed and tied onto the chairs, it could cost her $2 extra per bench. She also discovered

that there were extra per person charges for napkins and tablecloths. It is common sense to go through your wedding contract with a fine tooth comb, but it is wiser to look

for anything not in the contract. Package contracts may not include every dish or part of flatware, or the waiters to pour the champagne you bought. The things and services not

included are rarely free.

4. “Believe it or not, I expect a tip.”

Gone are the days when a tip was an acknowledgment of superior service. More frequently than not, vendors involved in the wedding will be looking for many kind of handout.

According to The Knot, a wedding planning website, anybody from the civil ceremony official to the chef to the wedding planner may be looking for a donation. “While tipping

is for good service,” says Knot co founder and editor in chief Carley Roney, “people also expect it unless service is very poor.” For a wedding of $25,000, Roney recommends

setting on the side $1,500 for gratuities to be put in envelopes on the wedding day.

5. “If it is for a wedding, it will cost you 30 more.”

You may Suspected That a wedding costs more than any other kind of likewise scaled event. You could be right. Diane Warner, author of “How to Have a Big Wedding on a

Small Budget,” tells of a bride to be who wanted to test this hypothesis for herself. “She called a service in San Francisco, asked for just what she wanted, and they gave her a

bid,” Warner explains. “The next day, she had her fiance call and bid on the same things for a party. He got a lower price.”

In researching Bridal Bargains, Fields and his wife spoke to some number of florists who told them that if they get the sense a bride has big bucks, they will propose exotic or out

of season flowers. “If you are wearing a big diamond ring or your fiance is a doctor, it looks you have to fly in orchids from Hawaii,” he says.

6. “We can not keep our weddings straight.”

“A bride wants to think she’s the only bride in the world,” says Gerard Monaghan, president of the affiliation of Bridal Consultants. “What she does not have to see is another

bride in the bathroom at her wedding reception.” But wedding pileups happen, particularly at hotels and catering halls that hold some number of receptions in one day. Many weddings

may also cause a place to spread its staff too thin.

Chris Cady of All Star Entertainment in Reno, Nev., arrived to emcee a reception some years ago and found that the hotel had set on the side only one waitress to serve 150 people.

“The one girl showed up and cried,” Cady says.

“When a place does two functions per day per weekend, it is a wedding factory,” says Lynn Broadwell, co author of the resource book “Here Comes the Guide.” “Mistakes will

be made.” She says a wedding reception can be bounced in favor of a bigger function, gifts can get mixed up, guests can end up at the wrong party, or the wine meant for one

reception can end up at the one down the hall. “You have to ask, ‘Am I going to see the people from the other function? Are we going to be rubbing elbows? Are we using the same

bathroom facilities?’ And you have to have it in writing.”

7. “We own your wedding pictures in perpetuity.”

It costs thousands of dollars to hire a wedding photographer, and it does not stop there. Want a simple 8×10 reprint? You could well pay up to $40, since many photography

packages do not include negatives. Many photographers refuse to turn over their negatives till ten years or more Passed To prevent their clients from reproducing pictures

on their own. Others will sell them only at a high price. That is only a problem, of course, if you are lucky enough to have pictures of your wedding in the 1st place. On occasion

photographers are no shows, on occasion negatives are damaged or lost.

How frequently does such a catastrophe happen? Frequently enough to Inspired An insurance product called Weddingsurance, underwritten by the Fireman’s Fund. The policy supposedly

will cover the reassemblage of the wedding party as well as travel, meal and hotel costs, also as costs for the cake, flowers and reception hall in case of a photo

mishap.

8. “This is the 1st time I have ever used a video camera.”

How do you know if it is the next George Lucas you have hired to shoot your wedding or Ed Wood? “If someone Charged $800 for a wedding on a Saturday, I’d be suspicious,”

says Jack O’Brien of Video Life Productions in Middletown, N.Y. The high end digital equipment that a professional videographer should use costs tens of thousands of dollars

too much to justify package prices under $1,000.

It’s also vital to hire someone who will let you have the digital master tape, also to the VHS copy. “Anyone who holds a VHS tape in their hands thinking they are

going to show it to their grandchildren is mistaken,” says O’Brien. He recommends transferring the tape from the digital master to a DVD.

Then there is the question of who owns the footage. On many contracts, it’s written that any and all footage becomes the copyrighted property of the videographer’s business.

So what can a couple do if an unscrupulous or unknowing videographer tries to sell a hideously embarrassing moment on their tape to, a TV blooper show? “They could have a

right of privacy assert, so it could surely be a mistake,” says Lisa Alter, a New York entertainment and lawyer. “But theoretically, if you own it, you may be able to do what you

want with it.”

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9. “No matter how you slice it, the cake is overpriced.”

Wedding cakes used to be easy. Three tiers, white icing, a couple hundred bucks. These days, you may be able to order a cake “sculpture” with individually crafted garlands of sugar

flowers. Prices, too, have gotten more complicated, ranging anywhere from 75 cents to more than $20 a slice. The problem is, nobody can agree on how big a “slice” is. What could happen if

that $10 part of cake is paper thin?

10. “While you give the toast, we are to get toasted.”

When Michael Sullivan and his wife, Suna, got married in Kenwood, Calif., two years ago, they were in the mood to celebrate. Unfortunately, so was their DJ. He arrived

some number of hours before the reception with a friend and began drinking. “When it came time for him to play the music, he was totally blasted and apparently on drugs,” says

Lesley Stein, one of two photographers at the event.

Sullivan says the music was lousy, the DJ missed his cues for the father daughter dance and the cake cutting and guests left early. “It was really evident that it wasn’t fun

for many of people,” Sullivan says. “He really ruined the day.”

“I teach many people who got into the business because they thought they may make many of money fast by having quote unquote fun,” says Shelby Tuck Horton of Exquisite

Expressions & Events in Mitchellville, Md. “Those people tend to take the job less seriously, and they do not follow the same rules.”