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26Mar 2014 by William Simi

IRS Tax Fraud Alerts

IRS Wants You to Know About Schemes, Scams and Cons "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!" Don't become a victim to any scheme that offers instant wealth or exemption from your obligation as a United States citizen to file tax returns and/or pay taxes. Some of these schemes can literally cost you your life savings. Others can result in your prosecution and imprisonment if you knowingly participate in them. Abusive Return Preparer Taxpayers should be very careful when choosing a tax preparer. While most preparers provide excellent service to their clients, a few unscrupulous return preparers file false and fraudulent tax returns and ultimately defraud their clients. It is important to know that even if someone else prepares your return, you are ultimately responsible for…

22Feb 2014 by William Simi

Beware of bogus IRS e-mails

Tax

The IRS is warning taxpayers and practitioners about potential e-mail scammers who claim to be the IRS. Scammers use the IRS name or logo to make the message appear authentic so you will respond to it. In reality, it’s a scam attempting to trick you into revealing your personal and financial information. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by e-mail or social media channels to request personal or financial information. Never share confidential information via e-mail with someone alleging to be the IRS. If you receive a suspicious e-mail claiming to be from the IRS, or directing you to an IRS site, do not reply, do not open any attachments, and do not click on any links. For more information on these scams and what to watch for,…

09Feb 2014 by Mike Giotto

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…

29Jan 2014 by Mike Giotto

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…

26Sep 2013 by William Simi

IRS Crackdown on Small Business Underreporting

Tax

The IRS has recently begun cracking down on small businesses. Nearly 20,000 small business owners have received notifications of possible income under-reporting since fall of 2012. The notifications have come in light of an IRS analysis that compares percentages of gross receipts from cash transactions versus credit card transactions. If the ratio is different than what they would expect, they send out a notification. This can be a serious issue if you don’t use great care in your bookkeeping. Many of the businesses that receive these notifications are able to go back through their books and provide explanations as to why the ratios are off. Internet sales, for example, would result in higher numbers of credit card transactions versus cash. A change in tax ID number may also set off…

28Feb 2013 by William Simi

Research & Development Tax Credits: Untapped Cash for Business Owners

Tax

In our guest blog this week Smith Miller, the CEO of Strategic Tax Solutions, provides clarification about the significant tax and cash flow benefits that businesses may enjoy by taking advantage of the often misunderstood and overlooked area of Research and Development tax credits. In these tough economic times, business owners may be struggling to stay in the black. Businesses need all the help they can get to be profitable. An untapped source of revenue, oftentimes overlooked by CPAs for their clients, is the Research & Development Tax Credit, which encourages U.S. businesses to invest in improvements that increase their competitive position in the market. This is an enormous opportunity for an immediate source of cash, as well as a reduction to current and future years' federal and state tax…

16Feb 2012 by William Simi

IRS Eliminates the 1099 – K Line on all Business Tax Returns

Tax

The IRS has determined that businesses will not need to reconcile their gross receipts with their merchant credit card transactions reported to them on Form 1099-K. This new ruling is now in effect for the year 2012 and later tax returns. The IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement, Steven T. Miller, said in a written memo to the National Federation of Independent Business that no reconciliation will be required on 2012 or future business tax returns. The IRS previously said in October of last year that no return entry would be required for 2011 tax returns, although they left a line on the returns saying “For 2011, enter 0.” We previously advised our business clients to separately track their cash receipts from merchant card payments beginning in 2012. Please…

Category: Tax