25Jul 2014 by Mike Giotto
Tips for Employers Who Outsource Payroll Duties

Tips for Employers Who Outsource Payroll Duties

Business Advisory, Tax
The IRS has released the following reminder with regard to an employer’s responsibility for payroll taxes even when the employer uses a payroll service. Many employers outsource their payroll and related tax duties to third-party payers such as payroll service providers (PSP) and reporting agents (RA). Reputable third-party payers can help employers streamline their business operations by collecting and timely depositing payroll taxes on the employer’s behalf and filing required payroll tax returns with state and federal authorities. Though most of these businesses provide very good service, there are, unfortunately, some who do not have their clients’ best interests at heart. Over the past few months, a number of these individuals and companies around the country have been prosecuted for stealing funds intended for the payment of payroll taxes. Examples…
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21Apr 2014 by Mike Giotto
Tax Alert: Eight Facts about Penalties for Filing and Paying Late

Tax Alert: Eight Facts about Penalties for Filing and Paying Late

Tax
April 15 is the tax day deadline for most people. If you’re due a refund there’s no penalty if you file a late tax return. But if you owe taxes and you fail to file and pay on time, you’ll usually owe interest and penalties on the taxes you pay late. Here are eight facts that you should know about these penalties. 1. If you file late and owe federal taxes, two penalties may apply. The first is a failure-to-file penalty for late filing. The second is a failure-to-pay penalty for paying late. 2. The failure-to-file penalty is usually much more than the failure-to-pay penalty. In most cases, it’s 10 times more, so if you can’t pay what you owe by the due date, you should still file your tax return on…
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02Apr 2014 by Mike Giotto
IRS Warns of New Email Phishing Scheme Falsely Claiming to be from the Taxpayer Advocate Service

IRS Warns of New Email Phishing Scheme Falsely Claiming to be from the Taxpayer Advocate Service

Tax
The Internal Revenue Service today warned consumers to be on the lookout for a new email phishing scam. The emails appear to be from the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service and include a bogus case number. The fake emails may include the following message: “Your reported 2013 income is flagged for review due to a document processing error. Your case has been forwarded to the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance. To avoid delays processing your 2013 filing contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance.” Recipients are directed to click on links that supposedly provide information about the "advocate" assigned to their case or that let them "review reported income." The links lead to web pages that solicit personal information. Taxpayers who get these messages should not respond to the…
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02Apr 2014 by Mike Giotto
Tax Scams to be on Alert About

Tax Scams to be on Alert About

Tax
With the tax season upon us, we remind you and your clients to be wary of tax scams andtheft ploys involving scammers who attempt to mimic us to obtain access to your personal information. Do not give out social security, bank, or credit card numbers over the telephone or by email to anyone who cannot verify they are our employees. Have your clients ask the agent to confirm information on the tax notice we mailed to them or hang up and contact us immediately to talk to a live agent. We heard from people who received phone calls from scammers impersonating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), telling the “would-be victims” that they owed taxes and, if the taxes not paid, they would be arrested. These scammers also told the taxpayers that the…
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09Feb 2014 by Mike Giotto
Landlords Required to File Forms 1099

Landlords Required to File Forms 1099

Tax
Rental property landlords, beginning January 1, 2011, must obtain the name, Federal Tax Identification Number (or Social Security number), and address from all individuals and businesses that provide services to your property. Examples include gardeners, painters, property managers, and maintenance people. The recently enacted Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 requires landlords to report payments of $600 or more to each service-provider during the year to the IRS on Form 1099-MISC. The $600 threshold is cumulative for a year. In other words, if you pay a maintenance person $350 on January 15, 2011, and pay that same person $400 on December 1, 2011, you must file a Form 1099-MISC reporting $750 paid to that person for 2011. The new information-reporting requirement applies to all payments made on or after January…
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29Jan 2014 by Mike Giotto
Report Name Change Before You File Taxes

Report Name Change Before You File Taxes

Tax
Did you change your name last year? Did your dependent have a name change? If the answer to either question is yes, be sure to notify the Social Security Administration before you file your tax return with the IRS. This is important because the name on your tax return must match SSA records. If they don’t, you’re likely to get a letter from the IRS about the mismatch. And if you expect a refund, this may delay when you’ll get it. Be sure to contact SSA if: - You got married or divorced and you changed your name. - A dependent you claim had a name change. For example, this would apply if you adopted a child and that child’s last name changed. File Form SS-5, Application for a Social…
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