One of the biggest tax benefits available today is the exclusion of gains when you sell your qualified home. Here is what you need to know.

Despite what you may have heard from friends or family, you can still claim generous tax benefits for charitable contributions. Here are three prime examples of charitable tax breaks ripe for the picking if you know where to look:

If you are looking for tax-free income and more flexibility during retirement, perhaps you should look into investing in a Roth IRA. While Roth IRA contributions are not sheltered from current taxes like contributions to traditional IRAs, they offer other tax benefits during retirement.

What's the average tax refund check?

The IRS returned more than $323 billion in tax refunds to taxpayers last year.

You’ve loved dogs all your life so you decide tostart a dog breeding and trainingbusiness. Turning your hobby into a business can provide tax benefits if you do it right. But it can create a big tax headache if you do it wrong.

One of the main benefits of turning your hobby into a businessis that you can deduct all your qualified business expenses, even if it results in a loss. However, if you don’t properly transition your hobby into a business in the eyes of the IRS, you could be waving a red flag that reads, “Audit Me!” The agency uses several criteria to distinguish whether an activity is a hobby or a business. Check the chart below to see how your activity measures up.

If you rent rather than own a home, you could be missing out on tax benefits that favor home ownership. The current low interest rates make the cost of getting a mortgage relatively inexpensive, despite U.S. house prices at record highs.