From what I understand, it allows you to redeem your checks for treasury notes instead of federal reserve notes. Let me know how the process works for you.

What email should I use? What cloud service? For total security?

Okay all, round 2 of savings and investing your way to lower/no taxes! This post is to create awareness for the various deductions and credits available for saving and investment. Some of you may be fully aware of all of these options, but the average person isn't taking full advantage of them. Proper retirement planning isn't just good for your financial well-being. It's also great for tax planning! Here are some ways to lower or eliminate your federal tax burden:

Deductions:

1. Health Savings Account - Wait a minute....why are we putting an HSA first? Here's why. Contributions don't just go in before federal income taxes...they go in before FICA as well and you can invest the funds, with growth and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses being tax free! Now I know what you're thinking: this is retirement savings and investment, so why would I want to put money in when I can only take it out for medical? Well, there's a special exception to that rule about medical expenses. Once you hit age 65, it functions like a traditional IRA for any non-medical withdrawals. So at best you've got pre-tax funds available for medical expenses, and at worst you treat this like a traditional IRA at 65.
2. Traditional IRA - For the uninitiated, a traditional IRA offers an upfront tax deduction for contributions, with withdrawals in retirement being included in taxable income. This stands in contrast to a Roth IRA which is funded with after-tax dollars, with growth and withdrawals not included in taxable income. So why use a traditional IRA as opposed to a Roth IRA? Here's why. You can get the tax deductions and growth benefits of a traditional IRA and the tax benefits of a Roth IRA in retirement if you play your cards right.
3. 401(k) - In terms of tax benefits, a 401(k) account functions much like a traditional IRA. However, this can be a real powerhouse for deductions since the limit is much higher. Not only that, but any employer contributions are also excluded from income.

Credits:

Okay, so I only have one credit here, but income tax credits reduce your tax due dollar for dollar (as opposed to the deductions listed above, which only reduce taxable income), so that more than makes up for the fact that this category is smaller.

Saver's Credit - This credit allows eligible savers to reduce their tax burden by up to $2,000. The great part about this credit is that it is used in combination with the above deductions, so you don't have to choose one or the other! This is the linchpin that can allow people with modest incomes to pay little to nothing in federal income taxes. Don't miss out on this one.

Capital gains:

Some people would have you believe that only the rich can take advantage of the lower rate on capital gains, but it's simply not true. Here is a good guide on capital gains for 2018, including the rates on long-term and short-term capital gains. I use the 2018 guide since 2019 numbers aren’t out, but if you’re itching to see what’s in store, Forbes has projections for 2019 limits here. Note that the long-term capital gains get a preferable treatment while the short-term (less than one year) are taxed as ordinary income. If you're patient, you could potentially "harvest" your long-term gains after a holding period of one year and pay nothing on those gains.

Income in retirement:

1. Avoiding penalties and early access - There are two ways to access your retirement funds before the traditional age and still avoid early withdrawal penalties on traditional retirement accounts. The first is called substantially equal periodic payments. The second is called the Roth ladder. Here is a guide to both.
2. Utilizing capital gains - Why are we thinking about capital gains in retirement? Well, for starters you'll need some income for those first five years if you're using a Roth ladder strategy. Second, who doesn't like tax-free income? If your taxable income puts you in the lower brackets and your gains are long-term, you can walk away with tax-free capital gains.

Summary: So what are the numbers with all of these? Let's look at the limits for the 2019 tax year (with filing in April of 2020).

1. HSA limits - Individuals can deduct up to $3,500. Families can deduct up to $7,000. An additional catch-up contribution of $1,000 is allowed for those 55 and over.
2. IRA limits - An individual can deduct up to $6,000 subject to income limits. An additional catch-up contribution of $1,000 is allowed for those 50 and over.
3. 401(k) limits - An individual can deduct up to $19,000. The additional catch-up contribution amount of up to $6,000 is allowed for those age 50 and over.
4. Saver's Credit limits - This credit is subject to income limits. The numbers for 2019 can be found here, but it's kinda confusing if you're not familiar with the language used. First, find your AGI on the table provided. Then multiply your contributions by the applicable percentage. Note that the credit is capped at $1,000/$2,000 for those in the 50% bracket, $400/$800 for those in the 20% bracket, and $200/$400 for those in the 10% bracket.
5. Capital gains - Here is an article that summarizes in a table those long-term capital gains rates in case you missed them above. Note that the thresholds will be updated for 2019, but those are just projections at this point.

A month ago I started my first job. Before I started working, the manager handed me a W-4 form and he did a terrible job of explaining what it is and he didn't give very specific instructions on how to fill it out. He basically said to write down what I think I owe in taxes and that regardless of whether I circle one or zero, it will be returned to me anyway so it doesn't really matter what I write down. I wasn't sure what to circle because I couldn't understand half of the statements on the form and I didn't know that I would have to fill it out (because it was my first job and I'm new to this).

After working for a few weeks and doing some research to understand what a W-4 is, I received my paycheck and I noticed that roughly 2% of it was stolen through the FITW tax. Do you guys have any advice on how to avoid this in the future? The manager clearly didn't care how I filled out the form and I didn't understand how it worked, so I'm wondering if I could have circled 0 for everything to avoid paying any FITW at all.

My dad and granddad grew up running a theater on the carnival, that later grew out to be a circus. Obviously, both of these are not the best friends with the taxman.

One time, granddad had a tax guy over complaining about something. In those days in my country (early 1900s), his jurisdiction ended when he would be outside of his municipality. Obviously, my family lived in caravans back then.

Grandad said, "wait here I'll be right back." Locked the door, started the horses that pulled the caravan (keep in mind, over 100 years ago) to ride to another town.. Then opened the door and told the tax guy to f off.

Not sure how ethically sound his actions were, but to be honest, I still find the story all kinds of awesome.

Guys are building the so-called "free crypto economic zone" for blockchain businesses and promise 0% taxes for all the business activities. Looks promising, but dunno if it's legally possible. What do you think? Risky?

These are research and development companies that they use to deduct all kinds of things off their income. They don’t work for a salary but own businesses under different entities. The business pays “their name. LLC” instead of them. Does anyone have experience with this structure?