Welcome to our website!  We hope you find this information useful.  If you have any questions, please contact us at (225) 291-4141. For the 2008 tax year Louisiana residents may be eligible for two Louisiana income tax credits related to premiums paid for homeowner's insurance.  New for 2008, is a tax credit equal to 7% of the premiums paid during 2008.  In addition, taxpayers may continue to qualify for a tax credit equal to the amount of the FAIR Assessment paid with their premiums.  A copy of your 2008 Homeowner’s Declaration page is required to take the credit.  Please provide a copy with your tax information or have your agent fax a copy to our office.   Casualty Loss deductions related to federally declared distaster areas, such the areas affected by Hurricane Gustav, may not be subject to the 10% of Adjusted Gross Income Floor, limiting similar losses in unaffected areas.  In addition, non-itemizing taxpayers may be able to deduct their losses as an additional standard deduction.  Please provide our office with information necessary to compute your unreimbursed casualty loss, such as adjuster estimates, repair bills, etc. Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) for the 2009 tax year are waived for most retirement plans.  To read more about this click the following llink Required Minimum Distributions Waived for 2009. The recently enacted “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” contains a wide-ranging tax package that includes tax relief for low and moderate-income wage earners, individuals and families with college expenses, and home and car purchasers. Summarized here is an overview of the more widely applicable tax changes affecting individuals and families in the new law. Please call our offices for details of how the new changes may affect you and your family. “Making Work Pay” credit. The new law provides an individual tax credit in the amount of 6.2% of earned income not to exceed $400 for single returns and $800 for joint returns in 2009 and 2010. The credit is phased out at adjusted gross income (AGI) in excess of $75,000 ($150,000 for married couples filing jointly). The credit can be claimed as a reduction in the amount of income tax that is withheld from a paycheck, or through a credit on a tax return. Under the credit, workers can expect to see perhaps $13 a week less withheld from their paychecks starting around June. Next year, the extra take-home pay will go down to around $7.70 per week. IMPORTANT: Employers will need to update their computerized payroll systems to reflect the lower federal tax withholding.  Employers doing payroll manually will need to use the updated charts available here.  Employers should update computer systems or begin using the new charts as soon as possible, but no later than April 1.  If you have any questions regarding how to do this, please contact our office.  Economic recovery payment. The new law provides for a one-time payment of $250 to retirees, disabled individuals and Social Security beneficiaries and SSI recipients receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration and Railroad Retirement beneficiaries, and to veterans receiving disability compensation and pension benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs. The one-time payment is a reduction to any allowable Making Work Pay credit. Unemployment compensation exclusion. A provision temporarily suspends federal income tax on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits received by a recipient in 2009. Expanded earned income tax credit. The new law provides tax relief to families with three or more children and increases marriage penalty relief. The changes apply for 2009 and 2010. Expanded child tax credit. A measure increases the eligibility for the refundable child tax credit in 2009 and 2010 by lowering the AGI threshold to $3,000 (from $8,500 in 2008). Expanded and revised higher education tax credit. The new law creates a $2,500 higher education tax credit that is available for the first four years of college. The credit is based on 100% of the first $2,000 of tuition and related expenses (including books) paid during the tax year and 25% of the next $2,000 of tuition and related expenses paid during the tax year, subject to a phase-out for AGI in excess of $80,000 ($160,000 for married couples filing jointly). 40% of the credit is refundable. The new credit temporarily replaces the Hope credit. Computers as an education expense. A provision permits computers and computer technology to qualify as qualified education expenses in 529 education plans for tax years beginning in 2009 and 2010. Expanded credit for first-time home buyers. Last year, Congress provided taxpayers with a refundable tax credit that was equivalent to an interest-free loan equal to 10% of the purchase of a home (up to $75,000) by first-time home buyers. The provision applied to homes purchased on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009. Taxpayers receiving this tax credit were required to repay any amount received under this provision back to the government over 15 years in equal installments (or earlier if the home was sold). The credit phases out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return). The new law enhances the credit by eliminating the repayment obligation for taxpayers that purchase homes on or after January 1, 2009. It also extends the credit through the end of November 2009, and bumps up the maximum value of the credit from $7,500 to $8,000. Tax break for new car purchasers. The new law allows taxpayers to deduct State and local sales taxes paid on the purchase of a new automobile, including light trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, and motor homes. The tax break phases out starting with taxpayers earning $125,000 per year ($250,000 for joint returns). The deduction is allowed to both those who itemize their deductions as well as to nonitemizers. However, the deduction cannot be taken by a taxpayer who elects to deduct State and local sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes. Alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch. To hold the number of taxpayers subject to the AMT at bay, the new law increases the AMT exemption amounts for 2009 to $46,700 for unmarried individuals, to $70,950 for joint returns, and to $35,475 for married individuals filing separate returns, and allows the personal credits against the AMT. We hope this information is helpful. If you would like more details about this or any other aspect of the new law, please do not hesitate to call.