Pay attention here or it'll cost you.

Wherever you are on the income scale, there's always a way to be generous to others in need without damaging your own budget. Generally, if money is tight, give your time. And if both time and money are tight, you can get creative. Consider these steps first.

Every Illinoisans is on the hook for 3 percent of their income going to state income taxes. Their federal taxes, however, likely will vary, and municipalities throughout the state levy their own local taxes on different things and at different levels. But some places in Illinois, and throughout the country, benefit more from state and local tax deductions than others.

In this season of giving, let's call out the "humbug factor" that degrades the moral value of charitable gifts as merely self-serving gestures.

Americans would be served better if Congress considered the real world lessons that states have learned by experimenting with limits on charitable tax deductions: local communities lose far more than governments gain.

If looking in your closet makes you feel as dreary as the weather, take heart. There are three simple ways you can enlist a professional to help you upgrade your style and it may be more affordable than you think. Here are some options, both online and offline.

This benefit has made private equity shops among the most desirable destinations on Wall Street. The profits are big, and

In Tuesday night's debate, Romney offered up the latest rendition on his tax plan, which includes slashing marginal tax rates

If the memory of hours spent hunting for and organizing paperwork for tax season is still fresh in your mind, maybe it's time to do some financial spring cleaning so preparing next year's taxes won't be such an ordeal.

Remember: Taxes for 2011 are due on Tuesday, April 17. The IRS has said it plans to issue taxpayer refunds in 10 to 21 days

The corporate tax code in the US creates a significant bias toward debt finance over equity. However we have come to realize that excessive debt is much more costly than we have always thought.

"Labeling rotten trash as good food and getting a full whack off your taxes looks like fraud to me. At this point, I don't