By Amy Feldman NEW YORK | Tue May 22, 2012 11:07am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - People trying to reduce their old tax debts should not expect the "pennies on the dollar" deals promised in television advertisements of now-bankrupt tax-debt negotiation firms, but U.S. state and federal tax agencies are willing to talk. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is facing a growing backlog of requests for the "offer in compromise" tax-relief procedure for delinquent taxpayers, according to a Treasury Department report released last month.At the same time, tax attorneys say more Americans are trying to find solutions of all types to their tax debts at both the federal and state levels.In fiscal year 2011, the IRS received 59,411 new offer in compromise requests, a 28 ... Continue reading →

Carl Kaufman doesn't like being boxed in. As the lead manager of the go-anywhere bond fund Osterweis Strategic Income, Kaufman buys what he wants—high quality or low, long duration or short—based on where he sees the best opportunities. Today, with interest rates at rock bottom and everyone searching for yield, his sweet spot is shorter-duration, high-quality, high-yield plays. "We don't like to make bets," Kaufman says. "What the market is doing today determines where we go. I'll take the most attractive area, which is high-yield right now, even though it has rallied a lot, and look for the lowest-risk way of playing that." Think of it as a go-anywhere bond fund for those who like to sleep at night. Since its inception in August 2002 ... Continue reading →

The chief investment strategist of Wells Capital Management on why investors shouldn't panic and why the 'new normal' is 25 years old. By Amy Feldman, contributor James Paulsen, chief investment strategist of Wells Capital Management FORTUNE -- If you're nervous about the economy, you could do worse than talk to James Paulsen, chief investment strategist of Wells Capital Management (and, yes, the other Paulsen -- not former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson or the hedge fund world's John Paulson of the infamous Abacus trade). This Paulsen operates out of Minneapolis, where his firm, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo (WFC), manages $325 billion. He also pens a newsletter known for its scribbled-on charts and colorful commentary. Now, with debate over the recovery raging, he argues that we've ... Continue reading →

By Amy Feldman NEW YORK | Fri May 4, 2012 1:27pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Divorce and taxes: Two topics you'd probably rather not think about. But if you're going through a divorce, or recently finalized one, there are going to be tax issues that crop up. After all, your financial lives have been entwined for years, and especially if you have young kids, they're going to continue to be that way for some time. "When I was in private practice in San Francisco, I had several divorce lawyers who would call with tax questions, and it was always, ‘I have a divorce that's getting contentious and ugly….,'" says CBIZ MHM's Bill Smith, managing director of the CBIZ national tax office. Beyond the ugliness, ... Continue reading →

By Amy Feldman NEW YORK | Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:03pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Julie and Brett Redden are in a hurry for the paperwork to go through for the 6-year-old girl they are planning to adopt from China. It's not just that they are impatient to start their lives with her as she joins an 11-year-old sister adopted from China two months ago. The Reddens are also playing a game of "beat the clock" so they can take advantage of a generous federal adoption tax credit.They have already missed out on the refundable 2011 credit, which allowed tax savings of as much as $13,360 per child. In 2012, the credit is $12,650 and not refundable -- meaning if their total tax bill ... Continue reading →

What Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Partners is doing to prepare for the lean times in fixed-income investing. Interview by Amy Feldman, contributor Scott Minerd, Guggenheim Partners FORTUNE -- Guggenheim Partners chief investment officer Scott Minerd is a financial-history buff with a record of making dramatic predictions. In 2005 he warned clients of a looming cataclysm, and then was buying bonds again by October 2008. Those calls have helped the firm -- founded by the grandson of Solomon Guggenheim -- increase assets to $122 billion at the end of 2011, from $35 billion in 2007. Its fixed-income composite has returned an annualized 7.4% for the decade ended Dec. 31, ranking it in the top percentile of eVestment Alliance's U.S. core fixed income. Now Minerd, 53, says ... Continue reading →

Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:00am EDT By Amy FeldmanNEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - Were you one of the many who were wooed by a gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 2011? Did another commodity ETF catch your eye (and your money)? Now that it's the season to calculate your capital gains and losses for tax purposes, you could be in for a major headache. And if you're thinking of loading up on these shares now, be aware that you could be buying yourself that tax headache for a future tax season.ETFs, for the most part, offer tax advantages over traditional mutual funds because they tend not to distribute taxable capital gains as frequently. When investors sell stock or bond ETF shares, the resulting gains and ... Continue reading →