Your filing status has a significant impact on the taxes you owe. It determines your standard deduction, your eligibility for certain credits, and if you're married, your liability for your spouse's taxes. The options are single, head of household married filing jointly, married filing separately, and qualifying widow(er) - To optimize your tax situation, you need to choose carefully and ensure you're following the rules. 

Married couples can choose to file their taxes jointly or separately. The married-filing-jointly (MFJ) filing status is the most common for couples, as it offers the most tax advantages. Couples tend to choose the married filing separately (MFS) status when they don't want to be liable for their spouse's taxes or in the rare situations where it's advantageous from a tax perspective. 

Now that you’ve filed your taxes, you might be wondering how long to keep a copy of your return. The IRS has guidelines for keeping track of your past returns and your time to hold on to your information may vary based on your tax situation.

The IRS accepts credit card payments for taxes, but is that a smart move? Before putting your tax debt on plastic, consider the overall cost, the effect on your credit, and whether or not, there are better options. To help you decide, this post looks at these three factors:

FICA taxes are based on your earnings, and they fund Social Security and Medicare. If you are employed, your employer pays half of your FICA taxes, and you pay the other half. If you are self-employed or a small business owner, you pay all of your FICA taxes.