What Is a Tax Refund? The term tax refund refers to a reimbursement made to a taxpayer for any excess amount paid in taxes to the federal or state government. While taxpayers tend to look at a refund as a bonus or a stroke of luck, it often represents what is essentially an interest-free loan
What Is Tax Relief? Tax relief refers to any government program or policy designed to help individuals and businesses reduce their tax burdens or resolve their tax-related debts. Tax relief may be in the form of universal tax cuts, targeted programs that benefit specific groups of taxpayers, or initiatives that bolster particular goals of the
What Is a Tax Return? A tax return is a form or forms filed with a tax authority that reports income, expenses, and other pertinent tax information. Tax returns allow taxpayers to calculate their tax liability, schedule tax payments, or request refunds for the overpayment of taxes. In most countries, tax returns must be filed
What Is a Tax Sale? A tax sale is the sale of a real estate property that results when a taxpayer reaches a certain point of delinquency in their owed property tax payments. Key Takeaways A tax sale is the sale of a piece of real estate due to unpaid property taxes.There are two types
What Is a Tax Service Fee? A tax service fee is a legitimate closing cost that is assessed and collected by a lender to ensure that mortgagors pay their property taxes on time. Tax service fees exist because lenders want to protect their access to collateral if a borrower defaults. Key Takeaways Tax service fees
What Is a Tax Shelter? A tax shelter is a vehicle used by individuals or organizations to minimize or decrease their taxable incomes and, therefore, tax liabilities. Tax shelters are legal, and can range from investments or investment accounts that provide favorable tax treatment, to activities or transactions that lower taxable income through deductions or
What Is a Tax Table? The term tax table refers to a chart that displays the amount of tax due based on income received. Tax tables are provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to help taxpayers determine how much tax they owe and how to calculate it when they file their annual tax returns.
What Is a Tax Treaty? A tax treaty is a bilateral (two-party) agreement made by two countries to resolve issues involving double taxation of passive and active income of each of their respective citizens. Income tax treaties generally determine the amount of tax that a country can apply to a taxpayer’s income, capital, estate, or
What Is the Taylor Rule? The Taylor Rule (sometimes referred to as Taylor’s rule or Taylor principle) is an equation linking the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate to levels of inflation and economic growth. Stanford economist John Taylor originally proposed the rule as a rough guideline for monetary policy but has subsequently urged a fixed-rule
What Is a T-Distribution? The t-distribution, also known as the Student’s t-distribution, is a type of probability distribution that is similar to the normal distribution with its bell shape but has heavier tails. It is used for estimating population parameters for small sample sizes or unknown variances. T-distributions have a greater chance for extreme values
